Pro Consult on Running Form

My running goal is simple: I want running to be my primary fitness program, and I want to be able to sustain it injury-free into my 60s. I am not in a hurry to get anywhere in particular; I want to develop myself as a runner in a slow and steady fashion. By April of 2010, I would like to be a moderately serious 10-K runner logging 25-30 miles per week. I hope to run 4x per week and have a pace of approximately 8:30/M. Currently I run anywhere from 8:15/M to 10:00/M; my longest run to date is 4 miles and I am up to 12 miles per week. My guess is that 8 months is plenty of time to accomplish the 25-30 mile per week goal without being crazy about it. Once I achieve this kind of plateau, I would like to re-evaluate my goals and see where I go from there.

My current running shoe is Saucony Jazz 12, a shoe I've been in for about 4 weeks. I like this shoe, but I'll be interested in your recommendation after a gait analysis. At a recent 5K race, friends noticed that I stick my left foot out in a "duck footed" or "splay footed" fashion. I notice that this is the way I walk, too. Since then, I have been concerned about my form and I am trying to straighten my feet as I run. Rather than make this up as I go along, I have decided to get some professional help while working on my gait.

Another reason to seek some pro guidance is a slight injury I've developed. I have some pain near my left ankle at the beginning of runs--sometimes it gets quite uncomfortable after runs. After that 5K race the pain was pretty bad and caused a slight limp. I backed off the following week and just walked a few miles. I am not a doctor, but this pain most resembles the descriptions I have read of peroneal tendon strain, as it occurs right above my ankle on the outside of my left leg. My guess is that my "duck footed" gait is responsible for this (along with the fact that I am starting an exercise program after many years of being fairly sedentary). I plan to walk during my workouts this week until we get a chance to meet and evaluate my stride. I may ramp up some very easy run/walk ratios (1 minute run/4 minutes walk, etc.) until I get a handle on what is going on. I currently have almost no discomfort in the ankle now: again, I am in this for the long haul and don't want to develop anything serious.

While I don't follow it to the letter, I've been using Galloway's Book on Running as a rough guide. I find the walk breaks helpful, but I don't take them all the time, and I don't really use them the way he recommends. I have an interval timing watch and use walk breaks as I increase miles. In the recent past, I've used 4:1, 6:1, and 9:1 run/walk ratios to add distance. I find this to be helpful both psychologically and physiologically. When I do a longer distance at 4:1, I get a sense of what that distance feels like. At 4:1 I am running 80% of the time. 6:1 is a middle step between the next interval, 9:1, which is 90% running.

I am planning to run the 8K Crim in 2 weeks. Because I backed off due to the ankle pain, I am not quite as far along as I planned to be by now. I still plan to do it, but I will use a lower run/walk ratio--perhaps a 4:1 or 6:1. I had hoped to run this race in 45 minutes, but that just isn't going to happen this year.

Oh, and that 5K last Saturday: my time was 28:08, which isn't terrible. I'd like to run another 5K this season with a time around 25 minutes. I kept track of the splits on that race, and I did the first mile in 8:14, which was way too fast for me. I think this was the adrenaline and nervous energy of my first race. It was really windy (this race was along Lake Michigan in Muskegon) and I blew apart in the middle of the second mile. I had a blast, though--I am definitely hooked! My pace was about 9:00/M, which is just fine for me right now.