Behind the Bluff
Uncover best practices to participate in life on your terms. Every week, hosts Jeff Ford and Kendra Till guide listeners with short conversations on trending wellness topics and share interviews with passionate wellness professionals, our private club leaders, and additional subject matter experts offering valuable tips. Each episode conclusion includes Healthy Momentum, five minutes of inspiration to help you reflect and live differently. Subscribe now and discover the keys to living your greatest active lifestyle.
Behind the Bluff
Why Running Causes Injuries, and What to Do about It
Running has been a journey of self-discovery, humor, and personal growth for us. From the humble beginnings at Clemson University to organizing our most successful Turkey Trot yet, we’ve seen how running can transform lives and bring communities together. With over 900 participants and $20,000 raised for Memory Matters, our Thanksgiving Day event was filled with joy, laughter, and heartwarming moments, like the unforgettable family reunion and the pure delight of kids at the Turkey Toss. Our costumes may have been feathered, but the sense of community spirit soared higher than ever.
Running isn't just about endurance—it's about technique, strength, and overcoming challenges. As hosts, we’ve taken our personal running mishaps and turned them into learning opportunities. From comical bar runs that left us nursing injuries to serious lapses in form leading to knee, foot, and back issues, we’ve faced it all. Through these experiences, we've learned the importance of proper movement mechanics, as well as how small adjustments can significantly enhance performance and prevent injuries. By sharing these insights, we hope to guide others on their own path to healthier running.
Imagine running with a glass of water on your head; it's all about balance and posture. This episode unravels the myths surrounding running mechanics and footwear, emphasizing efficiency over equipment. We’ve shifted focus from traditional endurance to mastering techniques like posture, cadence, and stride, advocating for minimalist footwear to strengthen your natural form. Whether you’re new to running or seeking improvement, our conversation promises practical tips and a fresh perspective on achieving a more efficient, injury-free run. Consistent improvement is the key, and we’re here to help you unlock your potential.
Are you ready to live an active lifestyle? Welcome to Behind the Bluff, where we believe every moment of your life is an opportunity to pursue wellness on your terms. I'm your host, jeff Ford, and I am joined once again with fellow co-host, kendra Till.
Speaker 2:Hello listeners, we are thrilled to be with you today because just under a week ago, we hosted our biggest turkey trot ever on Thanksgiving Day, and it boasted over 900 walkers and runners, which is really incredible. The energy was just electric and what was super cool is the proceeds that we raised from the event are just north of $20,000, which means we are sending a lot of money to benefit one of our local charities called Memory Matters, which is super, super cool. So, given our recent high from this event today, we thought it would be cool to talk about running, and not just the importance of participating in these holiday races, but how to actually run so you do it efficiently and don't get hurt. So sadly, no one ever taught us those mechanics. Really, I know I didn't grow up learning that, so I'm pretty excited for this conversation today, jeff. So I think it'd be good to begin with your thoughts on Turkey Chot, because I mean, this is a mammoth event and it took a lot of planning behind the scenes, a lot of logistics.
Speaker 1:And it was so much bigger than last year.
Speaker 2:So much bigger.
Speaker 1:We had 550 participants last year this was the first year we opened it to the public and having 715 folks actually finish, followed by 900 registrations. There was definitely well over a thousand people there if we included the spectators, and I think what's so fun about this annual event is just seeing the families.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's pretty spectacular and it's not a hardcore runner event. That's what I love most about it. I think with so many races, people can take them too seriously or it's more about their time, and this is not one of those events. So everything as you mentioned to begin this episode was exactly accurate. The energy was amazing and we just had such a blast. Any further thoughts you have?
Speaker 2:from the morning. I think you really nailed it. It's an incredible family-friendly event and even in the little precinct area we had a turkey toss throwing thing for the kids.
Speaker 1:Yeah, win the chocolate turkey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that went really well and the kids seemed to love it. And what was really cool is there was, uh, a family that they had flown in from all over the U? S to be together on on Thanksgiving, and I mean there was like 15 of them and they were all participating.
Speaker 1:Were they repping their Turkey truck?
Speaker 2:They were repping their shirts. They were so excited about it and cause I actually took a photo of them in front of the banner, um cool and so, yeah, they were just so excited and they were just thrilled to be together experiencing something like that and yeah, it was just really cool On a holiday, on a holiday, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And turkey trots are such a tradition that I'm so glad and grateful that our team has the opportunity to host one every year. We may have to put a cap on it at some point with parking logistics. One thing that I remember, and probably the best part of the race for me, is the kids fun run. So for our members who listen to the podcast regularly, they definitely saw Nadir and I dressed up as turkeys, and I don't know if it's creepy for like a 35 year old man to be in a turkey costume, but we do it and we rock it and we're confident.
Speaker 1:And the kid, the kid's fun run, though, is probably the biggest fun run that I've ever seen. What, how we do. It is in that village square in Palmetto bluff. For those of you who maybe weren't at the race or have been to Palmetto Bluff before, it's one lap around the village square, so it's in the most scenic. I'll use your words, kendra yeah, precinct of property. And we had 80 kids chasing Nadir and I in our turkey costumes this year. They were so excited, oh my gosh. And we have to put on the jets in order to stay in front of them, and towards the end, we slow down and make sure that at least 10 kids beat us.
Speaker 2:That's usually our general rule of thumb.
Speaker 1:Uh, one quick tale from the event is I had finished with, like the leading kid runners and I walked back to about 20 meters prior to the finish line and there had to. He had to be four years old, this little kid and his mom. They were kind of back of the pack coming up and they're running in going, you know, super excited. This kid's got a big smile on his face. He sees the finish line, he looks at me in the turkey costume and he actually veers right over to me because I'm just cheering the rest of the kids on and he comes over and gives me this big old hug my heart absolutely melted.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, it was nuts and the kid was just pumped to be able to hug a turkey on Thanksgiving and I was like man if we, as adults, just wanted to hug a turkey once in a while, all our mental health would be better. I secretly hope someone got a photo of that, because that would be a great memory to hold there was definitely at least 30 spectators along the perimeter of the finish line that saw it and everyone was like, oh, and that was like the feeling in my heart.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was a little younger than my daughter Mia.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I was just pumped that like he finished and he got to hug a turkey. That was kind of cool. Yeah, big morning for the little guy.
Speaker 2:Totally yeah, so cool, that's awesome. What a fun memory and yeah, and I think those you know, similar experiences are probably shared from for a lot of the participants.
Speaker 1:You just saw so many smiles on people's faces and and even as like we had such a great team behind the scenes, um, and honestly, a huge shout out to everyone who helped because, it was just spectacular, like um our culinary team made homemade protein bars for that many participants, and then, just in our small team alone, we had everyone helping the day before on packet pickup, which was super smooth. Uh, we even had some members jump in. So, shout out to those folks who assisted us on race morning. That was huge. We couldn't have done it without them.
Speaker 2:Especially with that balloon arch. It was huge. Yeah, yeah, balloon arch, yeah. We saved some money to be able to donate more and it all worked out?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, it was really special.
Speaker 2:So I do highly encourage people um you know if you're there's turkey trot races in your area on Thanksgiving or around Thanksgiving? Um, highly recommend looking into it because it is such a fun way to start the day and start the holiday.
Speaker 1:So connect with your family, doing something physical for sure, or?
Speaker 2:if you're in Palmetto, bluff, come on come on over.
Speaker 1:We are currently open to the public for this event. Currently getting quick, though we might have to cap it, yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, let's go ahead and shift gears into you as a runner, jeff, because people who know you know that you enjoy running and it's something that's a huge part of your life. So could you tell us a little bit about your background in running and also in coaching, because I don't know if many people would know that you are?
Speaker 1:Yeah, a previous run coach. We haven't done a ton of run specific workshops here on campus. We did a few early on in my tenure and I'm surprised it took us over 40 episodes to talk about running form, because it is close to my heart. My background in running began in college. I was not good enough to play a college sport, a mediocre hockey player and then I decided to go to Clemson University in South Carolina.
Speaker 1:My later years of high school I got very much into taking care of myself through fitness training and doing my own workouts and I independently logged. Everything was consistent and it sort of became a habit at that time. Now at Clemson I did the same sort of thing, except I added some running. And if you've ever been to university gyms before, there's usually an indoor track, and that's actually how I began. I started doing a mile in the Clemson indoor track, which overlooked the basketball courts, the other parts of the facility, and I remember I'd always have to do like eight laps in order to get a mile and it simply began by doing it right after my strength training.
Speaker 1:I had never been a runner, I'd never been interested in it. I didn't even know that I was godly gifted to be able to run and to do it well, and so I think the excitement really took off there. I actually have some crazy stories about not wanting to pay for a taxi from the bars, so I decided to just run home to my apartment. A lot of the time and that's how Clemson is set up, where there's so much off-campus housing the downtown is maybe three, four miles from most of the housing in the perimeter and yeah, if I was just feeling it, I had had a few drinks. I'm good to run, and I think I was wearing Sperry's at the time.
Speaker 2:I could just picture this.
Speaker 1:I'd have my button-down shirt, my jeans and I would just run home.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 1:That's how weird I was about this newfound passion. So it all began in college and I'm grateful for the journey it took me on as I moved into my professional career.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Yes, I can really picture you running home from the bars.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to burn off those calories. I don't want to wake up the next day in a fatigued state.
Speaker 2:Oh, that cracks me up. That is so funny. So what really inspired you to focus on the running technique?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So as I began my career in fitness at Hilton Head Health on Hilton Head Island, that's when my training took off, so I had a lot more time to train. It was basically work and training in my early twenties, and there are so many races in this local Bluffton Hilton head area that I gravitate, or gravitated, towards the competition and and and more so pushing myself. I think that's an important note about participating in races in general is it isn't about how fast you go, it's about showing up, putting in effort and then building memories. Some of my most precious memories in my between my twenties and thirties are going to races, experiencing new places and training towards something that I had a passion for, that I wanted to do well at.
Speaker 1:I think that's important perspective, for anything we do in life is to have something out in front of you. I've always remembered that when you always have something on the schedule or there's something planned in front of you, it leads to a lot of happiness in your world.
Speaker 1:So in that time, where I wasn't in necessarily a committed relationship and I was very much deer in the headlights, excited about fitness training and running deer in the headlights, excited about fitness training and running that's when I started to experience issues as I progressed the training. So what brought me to running technique was twofold. One I was experiencing a lot of personal issues with breakdown in my feet, my knees and even my lower back in my early 20s and even my lower back in my early 20s. And then, secondly, I stumbled into learning about movement mechanics in general how to squat, how to hinge, how to carry all the same things we talk about today and I knew through research and learning that there is actually a way to run and that I can not only teach myself to run properly, but I want to teach others to do it as well.
Speaker 2:What I saw a lot and still see today in the endurance running, triathlon scene all of it, is many folks over training and and and not paying attention to technique in the same way that we pay attention to technique inside the walls of a gym, right, I think it's pretty cool that you were, you know, obviously getting these signals from your body with your, like you said, your knees and your feet, and so you took it upon yourself to research, figure out ways to fix the issue and then learning about the techniques to do it properly. And I think I find that when you meet people that have gone through the trials and tribulations to get to where they are, it really just it's a great way to learn and to then share that knowledge with other people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're able to share more when we have a personal experience with something. My training had gotten to a point where I was a bit over the top with it that I wouldn't allow my body to recover. It might be similar to how I work these days, not knowing when to recover and take time off, but I had a lot of setbacks due to running improperly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, can you go through some of what they were?
Speaker 1:Yeah, highlights are some of the most common ailments that many of our listeners might be familiar with. So everywhere, from plantar fasciitis to shin splints to iltilioband syndrome, which is essentially like a dull ache running down your legs. So you typically would go out for a jog or a walk and it's painful at first but it subsides as you start to move more. A lot of those common ailments I faced every other month, especially increasing mileage in the traditional pattern that people do, and it all came to a culmination with running technique and becoming a coach when I ran through a 10K with a stress fracture yeah, so I literally ran on a broken foot for 6.2 miles. I still finished in the top 10.
Speaker 1:In case people are wondering, there's my competitive juices coming out, but it was one of those races and just when you're sick as well, it's like man, something's wrong, like we know our bodies better than we think. And, yeah, sure enough, went to the podiatrist, got an x-ray and there was a stress fracture in one of my metatarsals. So I learned the hard way that, one, we can't overtrain and, two, there is a way to move your body. This is what led me to coaching run technique all over the world and all over the states. Actually, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah, it's like my claim to fame.
Speaker 2:So where all did you travel for coaching?
Speaker 1:I had the opportunity to teach run mechanics as far as Seoul Korea.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:And Italy, uh Varisi, uh specifically. So Northern Italy, beautiful, and then about eight different places over the course, uh, over the span of the United States, everywhere from the West uh to mostly East coast. Once I became, uh what, what was considered a head coach, where I was leading not only seminars on running mechanics but how to train more efficiently for endurance activities uh, kind of the black sheep, if you will to how most people train is what we were teaching and what I still, uh am passionate about today kind of a combination of strength and technique versus just layering on miles, is the the short perspective and paradigm shift that I would have for for folks who want to be very efficient about how they move their bodies?
Speaker 2:And you've taken that a lot of those philosophies into what we do now here within our program at Palmetto bluff 100%.
Speaker 1:As fitness professionals and our team knows well, it's not necessarily about how much you do, it's about how you do it. That matters the most.
Speaker 2:Makes sense. That's awesome, jeff. Yeah, I didn't even know that about your background too. With your passion with running, I knew it was there, but it's cool to hear your story.
Speaker 1:I'm very worldly Kendra. You're not the only one who spent time on other continents.
Speaker 2:My time was very brief.
Speaker 1:If I had to do it over again, I would have spent more time in. Seoul, Korea. I think I was there for like four days and I told Lindsay to come because all we had to do was buy the plane ticket, but she missed out and we'll have to go again.
Speaker 2:I heard it's a really cool place.
Speaker 1:Great culture.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:People were so kind and you would see three four-year-olds, five-year-olds, walking down the street with like their seven and eight-year-old siblings. Yeah, very, very safe city. That's awesome I felt safe the entire time.
Speaker 2:Did you like the food?
Speaker 1:I did not mind the food. Korean barbecue is legit, that Korean barbecue is legit. That is good so sitting down at an official Korean barbecue place and like cutting your own meat with scissors. Yeah, that was an experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pretty authentic.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And fresh and fresh, all right. Well, let's go ahead and let's I'm interested to to kind of learn more about this in terms of your you know, your knowledge and with the technique side of things. So what would you say? Some of the most common mistakes runners make.
Speaker 1:Yeah, since we're not on video today, we're going to go very high level and, intellectually, if you listen closely, it'll just make a ton of sense. That was what was so inspired to me personally is that small changes will lead to dramatic results.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I've just seen so many folks make these most common mistakes time and time again for long periods of time and then they end up with greater issues when they're older. So high level heel striking is a big mistake. We do not want to hit on our heels. Secondly, which causes the heel strike when someone runs is pushing versus pulling. We actually want to pull when we run, we don't want to push off the ground, and I can elaborate on that a bit further.
Speaker 1:The other two big mistakes if I'm boiling this down to three or four mistakes is landing in front of your body. So whether, excuse me, even if you heel strike, it is better to heel strike underneath your hips. Even if you land on your ball of foot, which we want to do, it's not good to land on your ball of foot out in front of your hips. This is called your general center of mass and any time in running and in walking, if we're excessively in front of our general center of mass, we're going to be causing more stress on the body. And just to put a bow on most common mistakes crappy posture.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:People walk and run with the most hideous posture I've ever seen. And this is one of those episodes where I will be judgmental and you definitely should be aware that if I see you walking or if I see you running, I'm going through in my head the mistakes that you're making just because I've seen so much of it. And at the seminars that we've led, the heart of those seminars were video analysis, so we would put 30 people on a video camera and then roll through each individual at the beginning of the seminar and at the end of the seminar and we pointed out all of these common mistakes. Newsflash mostly everyone are doing a combination of these.
Speaker 2:Makes sense. It'd be pretty eye-opening for people to see themselves through the film to see where their mistakes are and you're mentioning too. So it sounds like even for people to pay attention to their gait when they're walking, as a bit of a prelude, with the running aspect of it, something you can pay attention to when you're walking around, but then also what you mentioned with your posture, can you just dive in a little bit?
Speaker 1:more on posture. Yeah, more on posture, so people get an idea of what that is. That's. That's great. To add some detail to posture has everything to do from your head all the way down to your feet, right?
Speaker 1:The biggest thing to start thinking about is where your hips in relation to your shoulders and head. So a broken hip position where we're like leaning forward, almost in like a hinge pattern yeah, and we do that for miles on end is not going to be good for lower back. It's going to leak energy. So instead of breaking at the waist, we want to maintain an upright posture is a big key. Other aspects of posture include what's going on with your arms. Your arms should move with your body. There should be a lot of relaxation in the top half of your body. And then secondly, thirdly, excuse me something we would look at is what. What is someone's head doing when they're walking or running? A lot of folks are looking down, which is going to lead to the hips breaking, or they're looking up, which might lead to the back overextending. So posture is very nuanced and even if I were to put myself on camera, there would be some improvements that I know I could personally clean up.
Speaker 2:And again, these are things that people can pay attention to even when they're walking you know is, like you said, it is so impactful for the overall mechanic of your body and the majority of our folks listening are probably more walkers than they are runners.
Speaker 1:Everything is applicable Walking is less impactful regardless of your technique, and yet your posture is probably one of the bigger keys when it comes to walking versus running, definitely.
Speaker 2:So what, in terms of like, what proper technique will help to reduce injury, Because I know a lot of people you know, especially hearing from your story and some of the injuries you experience. So what are these proper techniques that we can implement to help reduce injury?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. The proper techniques really boil down to what you're communicating with your, your legs and your entire body. So we we've spoken a lot about the mistakes, the deviations we see from not so good technique. What we want to try to do and this is important in coaching is we always want to tell people what to do, not what they're doing wrong. Now, it's good to be aware of what you're doing wrong in life, but it's also better to be aware of how to proceed differently.
Speaker 1:So let's start just with posture. I'm going to reiterate proper technique to reduce injury. Don't lean over. Make sure you are upright. And to add a visual to this, it's almost like when you run or walk. Imagine there's a glass of water on your head and you do not want to spill that glass of water. So any deviation from that upright position could cause some injury and specifically, lower back pain. So that bent over position or even shopping cart like position that some people get in is most likely going to cause to cause lower back pain and it's going to lead to our inability to actually keep our feet underneath our hips. So that's the second proper technique here is we want our feet to come back underneath the hips. Hard to visualize just in a discussion like this, but easy to see when you watch someone on camera. So you've probably heard this many times Kendra stride, stride is this common language that has been used in running for a century. From my perspective, ignore stride.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Your stride is literally related to how much you use gravity.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Now a little complex for this conversation today, but if you stride out, as folks have coached, your feet will start to extend out in front of your hips and you'll actually be putting more pressure and creating leverage on your joints in ways that you wouldn't be if your feet were landing underneath your hips. That makes sense, and that is all caused by pushing off. So proper technique comes down to pulling versus pushing, using your hamstrings and actively lifting your feet versus just pushing your feet from the ground. That makes sense, yeah, so interesting way of looking at it. Most people don't aren't cute. Hey, pull, pull, pull.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:But the second biggest thing to think about from a technique perspective is to lift your feet up, and to lift them up quickly.
Speaker 2:Right, don't drag your feet.
Speaker 1:Do not drag your feet. We've all seen individuals like slothing over the ground, yeah, Shuffling is a better word, slothing is really intense. Yeah, if you shuffle and sloth, you're really in trouble.
Speaker 1:But, using the language of sloth, is like you cannot be slow anytime your feet are on the ground, regardless of the speed that you're going at. That's more pressure on your ankles, your knees and all the way up to your hips Right. So we have to make sure we're picking up our feet quickly, which is really the final key a fast cadence, and we're seeing this with activity trackers these days is on Apple watches uh, garments.
Speaker 1:When folks go out for a run, they can now get their cadence after that run. Most people aren't picking up their feet fast enough and that's why they're landing out in front of their body. Cadence that we're looking for, if I'm getting really specific, is closer to 180 pulls per minute. If you're getting close to 170, you're doing pretty good, but most people are spending too much time on the ground, which time on the ground causes injury.
Speaker 2:So that's a good marker. So if you do have a gadget that can help you track that, it's a good way to mark.
Speaker 1:And with. It's an excellent way to mark and without a gadget, just start listening to your feet. If your feet are loud, then you're. You're probably making some mistakes and you need to speed your feet up so that it gets closer to a ball of foot landing versus that heel strike Gotcha.
Speaker 2:So really in terms of those three. So it's, we've got posture, pulling and cadence.
Speaker 1:Right on, love it. You're an expert.
Speaker 2:I'm going to be next time I'm running. Jeff's going to be judging me.
Speaker 1:I like to make that clear before we get into the mechanics, because it's just one of those things. I want you to move well. And if I don't see you moving. Well, I'm happy to tell you yes, and yet sometimes folks just don't want to ask me, you know, they just don't care.
Speaker 2:So are there common myths about running that you would like to debunk? That you've heard through your time.
Speaker 1:Let's go with just the top two today. And this one drives me crazy because you'll see parents doing this when their kids are in cross country or track. They'll say, hey, pump your arms, johnny, pump your arms. That's a common one. Your arms do not make you go faster. The angle of your body makes you go faster. One term we haven't used today is falling. Great runners fall as they pull.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:And so the what separates faster people from slower folks is not just their cardiovascular fitness, like that does play a play, a big role in their training. But faster individuals know how to fall versus lean back. So, many folks have like a negative lean back when they're running and they're almost putting on the brakes when they run.
Speaker 1:When you put on the brakes, your feet land out in front and you heel strike. You're starting to see some themes here. So first myth that is totally a myth. In my professional opinion pumping your arms does not make you go faster.
Speaker 2:But do you think you saw a lot of kids pump their arms really fast when they were running that Turkey trot? Oh, totally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Just taking off and and arms when we, when we pump, pump them, they come across the body. So any energy not in that forward direction. You're just overworking.
Speaker 2:Makes sense. And so you said you had another deep myth you wanted to debunk.
Speaker 1:Well, go back, listen to our shoe episode. I always like to tell folks that you can wear any shoe you want to wear and you need to know how to use that shoe.
Speaker 1:You need to know how much feedback is that shoe giving you. The biggest thing with over cushioned shoes is that they mask how your foot can and should be hitting the ground. So I think it's a big myth and a big marketing play that we need a certain type of footwear in order to run. My perspective on it is you'll want to know how to run and then select the appropriate footwear that feels right to you. We do not want to bandaid our feet. We want our feet to be as strong as every other part of our body, and so just have some awareness that your form and your technique is more Dictative of whether or not you're going to get injured. And some people have crappy technique for 40 years and never get injured. So the other couple of aspects to prevent injury is stability and strength. Yes, but technique precedes both of those.
Speaker 2:Yes, makes sense.
Speaker 1:So sorry footwear enthusiasts, I'm hoping you spend less money, right, and if you're interested in technique analysis, that is out there for running and walking.
Speaker 2:I was going to say that would be out there for people to go and experience and check out if they're interested. So, real quick, what is your take on barefoot or minimalist? Minimalist running for enhanced form?
Speaker 1:Best and worst movement that ever happened in the history of footwear. So in the early nineties, vibram came out in, individuals started wearing more minimal shoes, but they did not know how to use those shoes. So it goes right back to the myth of footwear. We cannot put on lower profiled shoes like less than five millimeter drop and expect the strength of our feet and our lower legs to hold up to those shoes. So, yes, there was more education around landing on your ball of foot and there was a lack of people seeking out coaching, seeking out technique improvements before they put on the footwear.
Speaker 1:So my big thing with minimalist footwear is I am a huge fan. I think start off wearing minimalist footwear in your strength training sessions when you're going on walks, and the best benefit when learning run technique is to of minimal footwear is you actually get feedback from that footwear? So, because the shoe is less cushioned, you're going to feel how you're hitting the ground and be able to make adjustments accordingly. So I love barefoot, minimalist type shoes when you're training technique and you're committed committed being the key word word to actually improving.
Speaker 2:Right, so it sounds like you really do want to work on strengthening your feet, like you said in your strength training classes, and yeah, through the use of these less profiled shoes.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah.
Speaker 2:And getting the feedback from the ground is really important. Love it so, jeff. It's been so super interesting learning more about running mechanics, um, especially for those who want to get started, um with fixing their their running form. So how do you recommend people go about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, form. So how do you recommend people go about that? Yeah, there's. There's a few keys to keep in mind here as you start to change technique. And, if you're willing to, I not only did we want to have this conversation based off our memories from the Turkey Trot this year, but I also had a member who I've been working with in a training capacity say that she wants to start running. I've been working with in a training capacity say that she wants to start running, and so it led me to thinking, wow, we really need to make sure our members don't just jump into this without having the background and the keys to proper form.
Speaker 1:So, in starting number one, start slowly, small, gradual changes. Secondly, if you're currently running and you're doing a lot of miles, you want to back off how much you're doing to ensure you're doing it well. The big key here is quality over quantity. In the beginning, we want to have a quality run where we feel the ground. We focus on posture pulling and a faster cadence so that our body and, more importantly, our brain, knows what's right from wrong.
Speaker 1:The biggest thing that I would do in our technique sessions at these seminars, and even the couple of seminars that we've done here at Palmetto Bluff is have people do it the new way and then go back to the old way and feel the difference between the two. You'll immediately understand why landing on your heels which is just, which is just bone is a bad thing. Yeah, a great visual of this is just hopping up and down on your ball of foot and then go ahead and hop up and down on your heels. You'll feel the immediate difference in what's called muscle elasticity. Your ball of foot has muscle elasticity and so in learning and changing technique, you have to know the difference between muscle elasticity and bone A big difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so start slowly, gradually back off your distance, get a video analysis and then get constant feedback on your form. It's never going to be perfect. I do want to make sure that we keep that in mind, but get some feedback over the course of a three-month period of time, maybe every four weeks, as you're trying to switch things up with this different pattern. Movement is all about teaching ourselves to go into the proper patterns so we don't get injured, and running is a perfect example of a relearning pattern because, as you said at the beginning of this episode, we're never taught these things. So we have adapted to. 95% of people have adapted to poor technique.
Speaker 2:Right, oh, that's interesting, Jeff. Yeah, it sounds like for listeners who are either, you know, a novice runner or an experienced runner, these are all little bits of information that they can make applicable to their running and when they're out there putting the miles in and working on it. That that's, yeah, that they can hopefully apply what they're what they've heard today.
Speaker 1:And ask yourself if you don't care about technique, that's fine, right, but at least know that it is out there and it can help you, because the worst thing, and what I don't love hearing, is folks who very much enjoy running. They have to stop and, in my opinion, because of the way they maybe were doing it over the course of their life.
Speaker 2:Well, well said. Yes, we want a lot of longevity out there for people in their movements. Awesome, jeff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your passion and your expertise in this space. Listeners, make sure you hang around to gain some healthy momentum for the rest of your week.
Speaker 1:Thanks, kendra. Do you ever feel like you have so much on your plate that there's no time to slow down? Maybe you become a bit under the weather, but in your head you believe that everyone needs you quotation marks, so you decide that there just isn't time to be sick. If you're anything like me, you're not the person to take a break until your body forces you to. Just recently, in fact, I shut down my training and I backed off everything because my body just couldn't take it anymore. I was regularly running multiple days during the week and after a few of these runs I felt this deep chest congestion. Nothing major at first, but as I continued to push, I continued to train, I continued to roll through the long hours of work, I started to cough, I started to experience more and more symptoms. The non-significant symptoms turned into significant symptoms pretty quickly and my lack of acknowledgement shifted these symptoms into a full-blown sickness.
Speaker 1:Does this sound familiar to you? You see, we're all guilty of not taking care of ourselves. However, we all must remember that we deserve the same care and kindness that we give to others. Typically, when we push, when we go beyond our capacity, we would never ask others in our life to do that capacity. We would never ask others in our life to do that, but for some reason we push and we continue to go beyond what our bodies are capable of.
Speaker 1:So for this week, I couldn't think of a better time, post-holiday, to share a few tips reminders, if you will that help me prioritize my self-care when I've neglected it. First, I try to make rest a priority. Rest, which means getting to bed at a consistent time each night and taking breaks during the day, backing off everything that you have on that to-do list. Backing off everything that you have on that to-do list. Secondly, I practice being plugged out, or unplugged, if you will, because we're so plugged in that we need to step away from screens from time to time. I work hard to read more consistently, meditate and breathe and to simply spend some time throughout my days sitting quietly and just thinking, without an agenda.
Speaker 1:Lastly, and especially when I'm run down, I try to focus on doing one thing at a time. We all know that when we're not 100%, we don't operate at the same speed, we don't operate at the same level of efficiency and, because multitasking is draining, if we're under the weather, not feeling our best, you can practice self-care by just doing one thing at a time. When we focus on this one task before moving to the next, it allows us to get back to efficiency and to do so with less stress. So for this week, let's practice slowing down. Before we hit the thick of the holiday season, let's make time for rest, let's unplug and let's focus on doing one thing at a time.
Speaker 1:That brings us to the end of our episode today. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to Behind the Bluff. If you enjoy just the episodes with Kendra and I, we'd love to hear from you, and we have many exciting episodes planned for the new year, with more special guests and a lot of episodes that are going to help you refocus your habits so that you can actively participate in life on your terms. Until next week, take care.
