UVA Gait Clinic

My parents did an amazing job with my Christmas gifts this year. One of my gifts was a trip to the UVA Gait Clinic, which really may have been just as much as a Christmas present for them as me since it takes me FOREVER to run the Ironman marathon, and it's always a challenge to have a good running picture of me.  But rest assured, I have some great walking ones (insert eye roll).



4:01 marathon here - best to date


Previously (2010 & 2011), I would go out and run attempting to do what my CTS coaches told me with varying success. As hard as I tried, progress was minimal and my frustration continued to mount.  This fall after Kona was probably the worst, especially after I hurt my foot and couldn't run all of December.

Luckily, my mom asked Chris if he thought I'd want a new IPhone for Christmas (who needs an IPhone 4s?), and he suggested this.  I was very skeptical of the gift and really didn't expect much. I figured I was destined to run slow and wasn't too rushed to go. Not to mention I get 20 days off a year including holidays (umm yes, that really sucks), so it was a challenge to take time off to go.

All winter long I slogged along in cold, ice, wind, etc, with little progress and more than a few tears shed.  So when the day finally came two Tuesdays ago, I was excited and nervous.  Jay immediately put me at ease and within 10 minutes, he was analyzing my feet, legs, strength, mobility, etc.  Next up was a run on this snazzy $2m treadmill.  Talk about feeling self conscious, there were no arms and I had three people watching me run.  Pretty much my worst nightmare!

After about 10 minutes of jogging, he increased the speed for a bit and then started having me do a few drills.  Turns out I completely over stride, but somehow don't extend at all.  The opposite of what I should do.  Jay set me up with some glute exercises, which Lindsay has added to (lucky me), and some other key things that Lindsay had touched on previously after watching some running footage.

The first run out was pretty funny.  I started running and tried to do everything at once.  You'd think I'd know better with all the children I've taught to swim :-)  After that, I gotten smart and I've been concentrating on extension and cadence.

I think the proof is in my running speeds.  This past weekend Chris and I went exploring for our long run.  Mixture of gravel and roads, lots of rolling hills and somehow it was one of the fastest long runs I've ever done with a LOWER heart rate.  But the best part is running is now fun.  I am not fighting the entire time.

Pretty views from Sunday's run

Happy Tuesday :)