Welcome to Form Week! As you know, there are books about the proper running form, none of which I have read. There are numerous blogs, websites, and experts. Nope. There are YouTube videos, brochures, and running stores in every corner. Meh. And more experts. Yawn. I did not read or watch any of that for today’s Q. Instead, I decided to go with what I know works for me. My cheat sheet only has two simple notes: keep your knees high and pace yourself. I have learned that keeping high knees while running ensures that the whole machinery works well: foot strike using the center of your foot, good stress distribution among calves, thighs, and glutes, and good position to launch yourself forward. And pace yourself, so you can push when you need to push and recover when you need it without having to stop. Easier said that done, right? Which is *precisely* why I need to remind myself of these two things when I run.

I arrived to an empty AO at 5:25 to see Bright Idea arrive soon after. We quickly realized that it was going to be just the two of us today. The clock marked 0530 and we were down to business:

WARM UP

SSH x15IC

Imperial Walker x15IC

High Knees

Butt Kicks

Proper warm-up: one-mile jog to Great Meadows. Soon after we started jogging, Bright Idea mentioned that in his cheat sheet he keeps ‘proper tray holding’, which is pretending you are running while holding a tray in front of you. I did it while running and noticed that my hips were stabilized right away. What a bright idea, that is!

THE THANG

At the Great Meadows, we chose an incline of two blocks along Beacon Ridge Blvd (which measured 0.12 miles) for hill repeats. The goal was to go 70-80% effort during the incline and drop down to 20% effort during the return (Juneberry Dr, Meadows Edge Dr., Salt Cedar Ln, measured at 0.17 miles).

Repeat 10 times, trying to keep a 180 steps-per-minute cadence. Somewhere around lap 7-8, I noticed my form was starting to drop, and Bright Idea responded by taking out the trays so we started holding them. It worked.

Proper cool-down: one-mile job back to the AO. Total distance 5.1 miles.

BOM

It is great to be back out after a few weeks of crazy work schedule and battling a cold. I certainly miss it. The holiday season is upon us, so it is time to make this holiday season special for our kids and families. Until we meet next time in the gloom. Aye!