Hi all, I hope you do not mind me asking this here even though it is not about the type of running most members of this forum do... I am looking for suggestions on best (injury/pain-preventing) technical form for stopping quickly, accellerating quickly, and quick changes of direction.
Reason being, last year I took up dog agility (dog does course of jumps etc off-leash with handler running along directing him) and immediately discovered that the limiting factor for me is in fact HANDLER agility, lack thereof
I have never been seriously athletic to begin with and over the past 10 years have become mostly a flabby overweight couch potato. (Middle aged stay at home mom blah blah blah). In particular, while I used to walk several hrs at a time most days when I was younger, I have always loathed actual running (sorry!) and especially sprint-type running. So, of course I had to go and get interested in something now that in significant part *hinges on* running like mad for like a dozen yards in one direction, sharp stop and/or turn, sprint off in other direction, lather rinse repeat. Courses are only maybe 1 min long, but they sure add up during the span of a practice session.
When I started this, I immediately developed major PF and other sorenesses, to the point where from about April to October of this past year I had quite a lot of trouble just hobbling in daily life and mostly sat around, despite NSAIDS and ice and such. (Kept doing agility with dog, of course) Then as a last-ditch wild whim one day I tried practicing in the backyard with the dog barefoot, despite being sure it would hurt much worse than with shoes... I just wanted to be able to say I'd tried *everything*... and darnit if it didn't feel WONDERFUL. And I run CORRECTLY barefoot -- in shoes I am a massive heel-striker and overstrider, but barefoot or in socks I don't do that at all and it doesn't hurt at all.
So since October I have been barefoot as much as possible (I live an hour north of Toronto and although it's been a freakishly warm winter, it is still Canada, LOL) and have made enough progress revamping my running form that I can actually do a few miles of slow jogging in traditional running shoes (b/c weather) without pain, which is pretty a first for me since high school. In fact I'm actually starting to enjoy it enough to want to try some (barefoot) running on local trails a few times a week when spring comes...! I have to wear boots for most outdoor activities right now due to the weather, but fortunately weekly dog- agility class is in an indoor horse arena where I can run sockfoot.
The thing is, while I have found much valuable information on footstrike etc aspects of form for "typical" straight-line distance-type running, especially here on thsi forum, and it's helped me a LOT, the fast stops/starts/turns on agility courses are still beating my feet up more than I would like. (Also I feel like if I were more efficient I could be faster, which would make my dog go faster).
So, does anyone have any suggestions for proper body use and technical form for those type movements (sudden stops/starts/turns)? Any advice MUCH appreciated,
Pat
Reason being, last year I took up dog agility (dog does course of jumps etc off-leash with handler running along directing him) and immediately discovered that the limiting factor for me is in fact HANDLER agility, lack thereof
I have never been seriously athletic to begin with and over the past 10 years have become mostly a flabby overweight couch potato. (Middle aged stay at home mom blah blah blah). In particular, while I used to walk several hrs at a time most days when I was younger, I have always loathed actual running (sorry!) and especially sprint-type running. So, of course I had to go and get interested in something now that in significant part *hinges on* running like mad for like a dozen yards in one direction, sharp stop and/or turn, sprint off in other direction, lather rinse repeat. Courses are only maybe 1 min long, but they sure add up during the span of a practice session.
When I started this, I immediately developed major PF and other sorenesses, to the point where from about April to October of this past year I had quite a lot of trouble just hobbling in daily life and mostly sat around, despite NSAIDS and ice and such. (Kept doing agility with dog, of course
) Then as a last-ditch wild whim one day I tried practicing in the backyard with the dog barefoot, despite being sure it would hurt much worse than with shoes... I just wanted to be able to say I'd tried *everything*... and darnit if it didn't feel WONDERFUL. And I run CORRECTLY barefoot -- in shoes I am a massive heel-striker and overstrider, but barefoot or in socks I don't do that at all and it doesn't hurt at all.So since October I have been barefoot as much as possible (I live an hour north of Toronto and although it's been a freakishly warm winter, it is still Canada, LOL) and have made enough progress revamping my running form that I can actually do a few miles of slow jogging in traditional running shoes (b/c weather) without pain, which is pretty a first for me since high school. In fact I'm actually starting to enjoy it enough to want to try some (barefoot) running on local trails a few times a week when spring comes...! I have to wear boots for most outdoor activities right now due to the weather, but fortunately weekly dog- agility class is in an indoor horse arena where I can run sockfoot.
The thing is, while I have found much valuable information on footstrike etc aspects of form for "typical" straight-line distance-type running, especially here on thsi forum, and it's helped me a LOT, the fast stops/starts/turns on agility courses are still beating my feet up more than I would like. (Also I feel like if I were more efficient I could be faster, which would make my dog go faster).
So, does anyone have any suggestions for proper body use and technical form for those type movements (sudden stops/starts/turns)? Any advice MUCH appreciated,
Pat
