Posts
Natural Running - Elkins YMCA: Saturday
3/3 from 9:00 to 10:30am
What is Natural Running? As explained by Donald Buraglio at RunningandRambling.com, “Natural
Running is a very interesting read. Abshire – along with contributor Brian
Metzler, who has written extensively about barefoot running for Running
Times and Outside magazines – explains the basic biomechanics of
midfoot and forefoot running, and how the modern running shoe has progressively
prohibited runners from practicing this technique. He presents a nice synopsis
of how the conventional wisdom of running shoe design has evolved over the past
four decades, and how recent biomechanics studies are causing the entire
industry to rethink everything they thought they understood about how their
products contribute to performance and injury prevention.
More than anything, though, this is an instruction manual for how to give up your heel-striking habit and learning to run more forward on your feet. If you think of Chris McDougall’s Born to Run … as the battle cry for running naturally, consider Abshire’s book the field manual. He emphasizes proper posture, forward weight shifting, and the correct positioning your center of gravity, which in turn leads to a shorter stride length and correct foot strike. In addition to detailed explanations, the book is filled with multiple photos and diagrams that make the concepts of natural running form very easy to understand.” RunningandRambling.com
More than anything, though, this is an instruction manual for how to give up your heel-striking habit and learning to run more forward on your feet. If you think of Chris McDougall’s Born to Run … as the battle cry for running naturally, consider Abshire’s book the field manual. He emphasizes proper posture, forward weight shifting, and the correct positioning your center of gravity, which in turn leads to a shorter stride length and correct foot strike. In addition to detailed explanations, the book is filled with multiple photos and diagrams that make the concepts of natural running form very easy to understand.” RunningandRambling.com
Now you have the
opportunity to learn the basics of these principles taught by Darlene Clark,
physical therapist and Natural Running instructor. Darlene has run races from
5k up to the half marathon and works professionally to help others move more
naturally. Darlene will be teaching this workshop at the YMCA in Elkins, WV and
it will be free as part of
the YMCA Learn to Run class being taught at the YMCA this spring.
As part of our Learn to Run Class on Wednesday 2/29, I'll talk about the current history of minimalist running and set the stage for Darlene's class on Saturday. Don't miss these sessions where you'll get the theory and the hands on for better movement patterns in your own running.
