On the TM again. The yellow air day and the cold kept me from wanting to go outside. The TM is getting old. I hope the inversion clears by the time finals are over. I planned on doing 6 miles today even though it meant stopping and restarting at the 40 minute mark. The gym was pretty empty and no one was in line so I didn't think it would be an issue. I did the first 4.2 miles at 8:34 per mile then had to stop for an urgent bathroom break. When I returned I decided that I should do 1.5 as fast as possible with a .3 medium effort jog to warm back up. I did the .3 at 8:19 pace then upped the speed to 6:39 pace. I did the remaining 1.5 at that pace. I noticed something tonight that I haven't noticed before. I think I realized this due to the fact that I was on the treadmill. Unlike the road, where I run as fast as I can talk myself into until I get to tired and ultimately slow down, on the TM I am forced to keep moving fast for as long as I leave the speed turned up. After the first half mile I began having a hard time getting my foot to land properly. I don't mean that my form was bad, but rather I couldn't quite close the mental gap between how fast I needed to move my leg to get it underneath me before I stepped down again. I didn't hurt myself, or even break stride, but to me it was quite noticeable how difficult it was to make my brain and my leg work together. I have read a lot of stuff in the last few months about the importance of neuro-muscular training along with aerobic conditioning but it has never been more clear to me than it was tonight. Aerobically, I was fine at the 6:39 pace but had I kept going at that pace for any longer than I did I would have hurt myself simply because I was loosing the ability to control the speed and coordination of my legs. So I guess the point here is that if I want to get faster than I am already, and especially if I want to do so sooner rather than later, I should get back on the treadmill and teach my legs how to move that fast. Clearly it is going to take some practice. One other thing I noticed tonight, though this has nothing to do with me. When I first arrived at the gym I picked a TM and started stretching next to it. One machine to my left was a woman (20's probably) wearing Vibrams. While I stretched I watched her run and I noticed that every time her foot came down it came down heel first. It was painful to watch, almost like she was trying to land on her heel. I'm not sure how long she had been doing that but she stayed for another 10 minutes and left. I'm a fan of minimalist shoes because I think it can teach a person how to run correctly, but I am amazed at how someone can be conscientious enough to buy those shoes but know that the whole point is to train yourself to run correctly. I guess that's the point of all the McDougal hatred I've heard lately, though I don't think that it's his fault or even his suggestion. | 