Running is about Middle Management

Running is about middle management - land midfoot and keep your body straight at the middle - and lean forward.
Simple way to a flying start
Look below to a visual guide.




The Oct 2nd gorgeous weather, smiles and new faces




- with many 1st time 5k attempters, all made it a wonderful morning at Leisure Valley.
Lots of links to the snaps on our Running And Living facebook page.
Tanuja Sodhi kicked off the warm up with some music, and led us through post run stretches when she finished her 15k. Gyaan sessions on shoes, schedules, shin splints and more, followed, with some gels and running gear sales too!
The focus is on running style this month, as all of us gear up to get into shape for the cooler season. We decided to focus on the many of us yesterday who have great running styles
( of a lean forward - from the ankles up, straight body, midfoot landing and straight rear foot) for the rest of us to emulate.








Don't worry if your pic is in the set where we have a heel landing or a bent rear leg, or a full foot landing, and our body upright or some part of the same. I very often run like that too and we are part of the majority. The aim of running in a group is to get you to observe and give feedback to your running partner - focus on running style this month and see how you improve too with the inputs you get.



A more efficient running style results in fewer running injuries and various joint aches, lower energy utilization and therefore potentially greater stamina/ speed, and an opportunity for you to give gyaan to your fellow runners :-) But most importantly you will feel better.

Try this:
Buy a pair of BATA PT shoes @300.
Stand straight with your toes of both feet parallel and pointing directly forward
Lean forward at about a 5-10 degree angle and start your run
Do not bend at the torso

You will probably notice it feeling odd for a while but will find that your midfoot is striking the ground as you run now, and soon enough you will find it decidedly easier to complete your usual running routine. Heel and flat foot landings will jar you and urge you to get back into the gait and style with which you started.

Re look at he snaps of the people running in groups and individually with the foot strike and body as the focus - and become your own best teacher over time

Run with a friend and apart from the chat, hand out your observations to each other on foot landing

We have a vibrant running community in Chennai and Hyderabad and you can join them for any of their runs - all over the area and through the week, or post your very own run and have others in your neighbourhood join you.


We would love to have you participate in the 4th Gurgaon Running And Living Marathon and a Half on Dec 18th - it's flat cold and uncrowded and we are sure you will do your season's personal best here. There is a full marathon, half marathon, a 10K and a 5k run.Come with a load of your colleagues and get them to register together as a group and perhaps run away with an award for the largest group participation.A great way to also get ready for your Mumbai marathon participation
Check out the details and the early bird registration at http://runningandliving.com/Gurgaonmarathonandahalf/# why pay more?

Have fun on the run
Rahul

The best time to start running is now - Hindustan Times

The best time to start running is now - Hindustan Times

The Gurgaon Running And Living XC Run Powered by Salomon

Gurgaon Running And Living XC Runs Powered by Salomon from Lavneet Gyani on Vimeo.

Is Running 15km a day on the road bad for you and only a heart and legs workout??

I saw this question posed on one of our running groups in the NCR and found it to be very inetersting so I took a crack at putting in my 2 penny bit, which is below.
Lots of interesting questions and no one answer to fit all of us for each of the bits - surface, schedules, holistic:

Surface:
It is best to mix up surfaces during a running week or a running month
- trails, asphalt, mud tracks, grass, treadmill, and even sand -
though that is not found in Delhi - as each gives a slightly different
workout.
Trails can focus a lot more on mental concentration on the road,
anticipation, ankle strengthening, balance etc, plus some random
movements compared to a more predictable stride length and impact of
road running.
A treadmill is great for giving you the data bang in front of your
eyes as you train to push yourself for a speed or a hill work out.
A manicured grass stretch - if you can find one- is great for barefoot
running.

Running on the side of the road in a place like Delhi where there is a thin flm of dust on the tar is great as it gives you a nice padded surface.
Once a week on the flat road - check out wearing the 'Indian Vibram
one finger' or the Bata PT shoes available at Rs 299/- as that would
help focus footstrike on the midfoot more than anything.
Some info on surfaces is at http://runningandliving.com/GettingStarted/#what

Schedules:
Best to follow a schedule during some periods, specific to an
objective, and other times to just chill and have fun and free wheel
(which by the way is also an objective)
Train for speed, endurance, strength and flexiblity or
for a 5k or marathon or whatever
Loads of schedules are available on the internet and some are at
http://runningandliving.com/KeenRunner/ and http://runningandliving.com/HalfandFullMarathon/

All round development:
Any decent schedule mixes up different types of runs and distances -
based on the objective
And flexibility, strength and cross training

and just to clarify - running is not just a workout for the legs and
heart BUT if you want to be a better runner you need to tone and
strengthen your upper body as your arms play a role in propelling you,
your heart and lungs get a great work out and get stronger, ALL your
internal organs get exercised with the impact of running, and running
uphill, downhill, on trails, sprinting running slow, with short
strides and long strides impacts virtually all your muscles from your
neck to your toes - so mixing it up becomes important - and dont
follow the same routine day in and day out. Variety is the spice of
life - just as in food - so also in running.

:-)
Just some things I picked up over time
Enjoy the run