Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And happy almost-spring! That means it’s also almost my birthday. My birthday is March 21st and I always get happy when it coincides with the first day of spring- unfortunately, this year spring starts on the 20th. Still, birthday plans are being made! But first…
What happened with all those pies?
Here they are! Two deep-dish pizzas, one apple pie and one coconut cream pie. You can tell they’re all homemade, ha ha. The coconut cream pie is from this website and is vegan AND keto! I don’t follow a ketogenic diet (obviously) but since I don’t eat sugar, occasionally I’ll make myself a keto treat. This pie was really yummy- or I should say IS really yummy. I’m still making my way through it. I know- the website has a weird name (“Big Man’s World”???) but he has some good recipes.
The deep dish pizzas were delicious! Notice the line of “sausages” on one of them. Since for this kind of pizza the toppings go under the sauce, this was a line showing me where the Beyond sausages were. Beyond sausages are vegan but they’re so, so meaty. I don’t like them, but my husband and son love them. They got a whole “meat” lovers pizza, plus half of my veggie one. They eat more than I do.
Okay, let’s talk about form!
Last week I listened to this Strength Running podcast which was called “Tension, Impact Force, and Energy Return: A Running Technique Masterclass.” All sorts of great information here, and the guest, Shane Benzie, recommended that if you want to work on your form, take some videos of yourself running from all different angles. Then you can analyze them and see what you need to work on.
For the running pictures on this blog, I take a video of myself and then pick a frame where I look good (ha ha) and screenshot that. When I do these running videos I treat them a little like strides, where you really focus on form. So picking a good picture isn’t that hard.
However! A couple times lately I’ve just taken videos of myself running without focusing on form- I just let myself run “normally.” Ahem. This was an eye-opening experience, and I have photos! Here’s the first beauty:
Granted- there were plenty of shots where I did look much, much better than this. I picked the absolute worst one. And this was on my ten mile trail run so maybe I was a little tired. But still- my body WAS in this position for a moment while I was running- and that’s a huge problem. (Btw I also love the look on my face- I was actually enjoying myself but you wouldn’t know it!). Get ready for the next one:
It’s hard to tell from just a screen shot, but watching this video in slow motion made it clear that my left leg, especially, is crossing over my midline. I never, ever would have thought I was doing these things during my runs, but the camera doesn’t lie. No wonder I’m having foot issues. I really have some work to do!
Do you work on form? Ever analyze videos of yourself running? Does your form look like you imagine it to be?
11 Responses
What a good idea to look out for bad photos and analyze them!
I have many that look like your first one – you’re not alone!
Whenever I want to work on form, I tell myself “hot lava, hot lava”. That makes me pick up my feet faster and I automatically straighten my posture.
(oh, and delicious pies, by the way)
Ha ha… i’ll tell myself “pick up, pick up” but “hot lava” is more fun!
Pretty sure my form looks jacked (I’ve seen many a scary race photo), but it feels “perfect” to me LOL I’ve been trying to work on my foot strike. It feels like a mid-foot thing (no heel pressure), but most pics tell a different story. And my strides are probably too long, one of the perks of being tall. Ha ha I’m a piece of work !
Oh yes that’s the other thing- i’ll see picture where it looks like my foot is way out in front of me and my heel is about to land- what??? I thought I was midfoot striking!
oh watching yourself run on video is an eye opening experience to say the least! I am like-who. is that and what is she doing? Ha! Happy birthday to you hope you have a fantastic day
Yes, what you think you’re doing and what you’re actually doing are miles apart!
Love this idea! I know my form is terrible, and I’d love to see where I could improve. We have local form clinics I’ve been wanting to attend, but they’re a little pricy, so this may be something I can do until I can afford a class!
Yes, I would love to have a professional analyze my form, but I hesitate because of the cost. It would probably be worth it though!
Yum on the pie.
I cringe sometimes when I see my race photos. I don’t post those.
My form deteriorates when I am tired.
I do try to maintain correct form. Keeping my shoulders down and not shuffling my feet.
Great idea with the video. I usually use the timer and pick the best
Ever since seeing those picture I’ve been thinking about my form while I run! I try to imagine standing tall, and also driving my elbows back. I’ll have to take more videos soon to check my progress.