Queens 10k Race Report and Worst Race Pic Ever

Last weekend I ran in the Queens 10k.  For those not following NY weather, the previous week and Saturday were brutally hot -- like 95 degrees and humidity.  I saw one report from Friday the 19th where it was 99 and felt like 109 in NYC.  That is crazy.,  So, for the 10k planned for July 20, NYRR cancelled the event (still gave everyone NY marathon credit though).

Sunday though, brought cooler temps -- in the mid seventies, and relatively mild humidity -- and a Queens 10k around the Flushing Meadow Park.  Getting to the race was a little confusing, and I ended up parking in the back forty and had about a mile to walk to the race.  And then the race had run out of  t shirts, which was a mild bummer because the shirts were a technical running shirt, not a cotton tee (NYRR has ordered more and promised to mail one to me).  And there was a big crowd -- nearly 7,000 runners.

The course itself while technically in Flushing Meadow Park (home of the Unissphere) was really not very picturesque.  The vast majority of the course was around the edge of the park, running parallel to highways.  And the Park includes natural water from the Long Island Sound, which at low tide is mudflat.  And smells bad.  The course also had some mud on it in a couple places, for about 30 or so yards.  My shoes and clothes got muddy, with stinky swampy mud.  Ugh.

The race itself was Ok, and I ended up finishing right at a 8:10 pace and 51 minutes.  I felt good, my heart rate didn't go crazy and ran a pretty solid race.  And finished in the 1600's.  I was kind of disappointed because I thought I had done well, but I guess a top 20% finish is Ok.  I can't post any of my run data (or even examine it) because my new running watch, the Tom Tom runner, won't update and let me get the data off.  I will refrain from passing judgment on the watch publicly until later. All in all I felt pretty good about it.

And then yesterday, the running photos came.  Oh wow, was that depressing.  I didn't dress to look studly, in that I wore compression socks up to my knees. (Haven't worn them enough to know if they help.)  But the look was terrible, with my green running shirt.  I  looked fat, like a pudgy Jolly Green Giant, with mirrored sunglasses and a yellow/black running hat.  And my running form looked atrocious.  You know they "keep on trucking" guy?  That looked like me, heel striking, leaning back..



(Imagine that guy in green, with about 50 pounds on him and you have my running pic).

I am used to bad race pics, but wow, this one took the cake.  I know the event is a run and not a fashion show, but i have this mental image of myself as like a locomotive, steady strong, poised.  Not the Jolly green giant heel striker.  Motivation to lose weight and improve form, and a lesson for the future...

On Form and Overstriding

One of the the things I have learned in having a couple of running video analyses is that I am a pronounced heel striker.  Very pronounced.  Now, for years, I haven't thought much of it, other than that is the way I run, so that is it.  But, after reading various blog posts (such as this one at Runblogger.com and JG here) Runners World this month, I have given much more thought about footstriking as a means to avoid  injury.  For those who aren't keeping assiduous track, over last several years I have had ITB issues, PFS, and a couple of foot injuries.  I am not looking to change my form to get faster; I think I can get faster by training.  No, I am interested in form as a means to reduce stress and thus reduce injury.

I am not a proponent of barefoot running and forefoot striking.  I think that is just too radical of a change and one I could never fully implement.  If that means I am doomed to never compete at the highest level, so be it.  Instead, one thing every form guru seems to agree on is that overstriding is bad.  Overstriding -- landing too far ahead of your body -- is bad form in that it translates force through the leg, ankle and knee and it causes deceleration as it brakes your forward momentum.  Thus, no matter where you land on your foot overstriding is too be avoided.  And overstriding is most common in heel strikers.

I run at the gym on a treadmill next to a mirror so I can see my form.  It is not always pretty (nor is the sight of my sweaty torso trudging along.  And I need a haircut too.)   In my last several workouts, I have been trying to change my stride.  Shorten it up.  Land more under my body, and less reaching for it out front.  I have noticed several things.  First, I have to turn my feet over faster.  More steps.  Second, I run more straight up and down and less forward lean.  Third, it is harder on my feet.  I don't know if that is better or worse -- I just feel the pounding more in my feet rather than in my quads and glutes, aka, butt.  That maybe because my feet have been getting a free ride at the expense of hips and glutes, but I do feel it.  Oh, and as I get tired, I lapse back into longer strides.

Will any of this really change the way I run?  I am not sure. I do not seem to tire as quickly, but I have no real data to support that.  And I seem to be running slower, at least at first. 

Does anyone have a clues or cues that they look for in avoiding overstriding?  I have mainly been going by how hard I land on my feet.  I sort of feel like I am starting to pull my landing leg back to land flat on my foot.  I imagine the forward sweep of my leg as if it turned on a wheel or as if my knee rotates 360 degrees and my legs spun like hands on a clock. Myfeet now land now at about 6 o'clock rather than 4 or 5 o'clock.  It feels different, almost like I am hopping, or running with bent knees and not stretching out.

If any anyone has similar experiences or images or thoughts, I'd love to hear them so I can watch for them.