Sorry I didn't explain that too well. You're absolutely right Jo.

How long did it take you guys to get used to the lack of cushioning in your shoes? I ran 6.1 miles in my H Streets last night, and the soles of my feet felt like they were on fire. They are still very tender on the outside where I land. I didn't get the pins and needles during my run as much as on previous runs so maybe it is just a case of getting used to running again.

I don't know much about Pose and all the talk about the H Streets makes me think you are turning a shoe into a fetish.

But I do know that barefoot running is strangely liberating.

I discovered this last month when on the 2:09 running camp on the Algarve (a slightly fuller description is here

I did not try to analyse what I was doing when I was running, I just knew it felt right.

But if you are going to make a cult of a pair of shoes then I think these have more potential

I run in the H Street. It's a terrific shoe for Pose Method runners because it is extremely minimalist and surprisingly durable.

I'm sure that is true and if we find a shoe we like we should stick with it. I was not trying to sarky about those of you who run in H Streets.

However when I read this thread I sense they are referred to with almost religious fervour. To me they look no different to a number of flat trainers that I see being worn.

I don't know what makes them unique.

I'm still wearing NB150's simply because I bought two pairs a while ago and, like most people on this forum have found, that once cushioning is no longer an issue shoes just last for ever. In fact, the more worn the first pair became the better they got, but eventually they just fell apart. They're not very pretty, but I didn't buy them for their looks.
I think most people like H Streets because of their simplicity. They're about as minimal as you can get whilst offering a sensible amount of protection from stones and other irregularities on the ground. They're also cheap!

beeble,
I'm not an expert but I think that you might be actively landing. I had all sorts of problems learning pose, but I don't ever remember having sore feet. As jo pinted out on a previous posting, the outside of your shoe touches the ground first but it is only when the whole of the ball of your foot is on the ground that your foot supports your whole weight. Unfortunately, all of this happens so quickly that it's almost impossible to break down the movement - and we're not supposed to be concentrating on the landing anyway! The easy answer would be to say, just concentrate on pulling and the landing will take care of itself, but in reality it's never that simple. Pose is not easy. It might be an idea to post a video on the posetech forum.

terryh - I'll try again with the video. The last time all I saw was a fat blob running across the screen. i need to find someone that will film my running instead of trying to set up the camera myself. As soon as I get decent footage I'll post it up. I did another 5 miles today and again the pain appears on the sole at the outside of the right foot. it feels as if it's blistered (but it's not). I assumed it was just my feet getting used to having no cushioning to protect them, but now I'm not so sure.

Gary

Blimey - I forgot to post here....

I ran Rotterdam Marathon last Sunday 9th April. I did 3:16, a PB of 4 mins.

I wanted a sub3 but due to reasons below I was aiming for 3:05-3:10. I ran the first half in a comfortable 1:28-ish, got tripped up and amost fell. Second half (Km28 onwards) I started to find it increasingly difficult and form started to suffer. Towards the latter stages both hamstrings were cramping and I had to walk often. I certainly had not hit the wall, as I was fully in control of my mind, it was just the legs.

To be honest I thought I'd do much better but there were a number of problems I had made:
1. My last week of taper went well but I didn't hydrate enough before or during the first half of the race. For breakfast I had two bananas and an energy bottle about 3 hrs before race start. Then nothing. And I forgot my energy drink for the race start. During the first half I was keen to work through the slower runners and hence at the 5k drink stops I could not get enough liquid in me as they gave out paper cups.
2. In the last 3 weeks before the race I picked up a nasty virus and I could not train for well-over a week. Even at the end of Rotterdam I had a coughing fit.
3. I used the Hadd-based approach which has served me well. But I didn't get in enough higher HR runs ie 85% and beyond this year. Also my longest LSD run was 19miles.
4. Due to family tragedy my mileage during late last year was fairly low.

However, I recovered very very quickly and only had slight DOMS in the following days. My daily training last week has consisted of: resting, eating, walking and then after two-days: two-leg squats, pose section 1 drills, hopping, calf-raises, cycling, core-work.

I haven't done much running cos I seem to have picked up an injury (maybe from the fall) which is concerning me.

After 10-15mins of running the right ankle starts to hurt in the vicintity of the inside ankle tibia bone - mainly when I'm on support in the mid-run pose stance. As soon as I stop it goes away. There is no swelling. I had a sports massage yesterday (legs in great shape!) and my friend thinks the ankle could be a slight stress fracture as the pain seems to emanate from the bony part of the ankle - but he had to press fairly hard to make the ankle hurt (see below).

Other then that the Pose worked great especially in the first half. I've now entered Amsterdam marathon for 15Oct06. I think I need more structure to my training so I plan to use the Pfitzinger & Douglas schedules from their book Advanced Marathoning.

Rotterdam is excellent. The organisation is first-rate, quite safe, drink stops every 5K, lots of help after the race in terms of medics, tea, bananas, oranges, water and energy drink. Crowd support was awesome and the course is extremely flat ie the largest hill is over Erasmus Bridge ie 20meters. You start and finish in the same place on Coolsingel and there are loads of hotels within walking distance. Rotterdam airport is only a short 15-20min drive from the main area. And that's only a quick 50min flight from London. I would love to do Rotterdam again in 2007.

I've been researching my niggly right ankle. I reckon the symptoms match that of Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis. Immediately after the marathon, I had slight shin and knee pain in the right leg. Yesterday's sports massage revealed that the right ITB was a little tight.

PTT and Shin/ITB pain seem to go together. My shin/knee pain is gone, the ITB is back to normal operation, only the PTT remains.

I've found one set of PTT rehab. exercises on Sports Injury Bulletin website: http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/tibialis-tendini tis.html

I was wondering where you had got to NRG-B!

My conversion to Pose is on hold at the moment. With my hip problems which I think is due to the sciatica nerve (from speaking to someone who has had a lot of hip problems) my NB756's are more comfy. I've found some hip stenghtening exercises and coupled with yoga it's doing the business.

I don't know where I'm mid-foot striking or fore-foot striking however all I know is that I'm not heel striking and things are getting better which is the main thing.

I've got some gait analysis booked on an Asics road show. And having looked at their website couple with what I know so far about my feet I think/hope they say that the DS Trainer is for me. I know that the Pose site doesn't recommend them but at the moment if it fits and suits me I don't care. Does anyone else on here use these shoes?

This doesn't mean that my H-Streets have gone out the window.

Hi Bharat,
I thought I'd answer your question from the Posetech forum here. They're all so serious there. Very North American - no deviating from the point. No, I'm not doing any marathons this year. I've signed up for the London Triathlon in August and that's my main goal this year. What with all the cycling and swimming I'm lucky if I can get two runs a week now, but I haven't got significantly slower, so obviously cross training does work.
However, the problems I had with pose in the past, pale into insignificance compared with the problems I'm having trying to improve my front crawl. I will probably be making triathlon history - the slowest swim ever recorded! Hopefully pose will save me in the run at the end.

I run mid-foot (not POSE) and wear Asics Cumulus for my long runs.

It is a myth that you can't run mid-foot in cushioned shoes. I'm currently wearing Mizuno Reovolvers for short runs.

Whatever works for you HY4. There's no commandment saying that you must run POSE, it's just another method of running injury-free.

Tonight I did section 1&2 Pose drills (twice), and it felt great. For the first time I felt like I understood properly what it was meant to feel like. With the hopping and skipping I could feel the muscle elasticity coming into effect.

NRG-B - the advice re running downhill seems to do the trick, but I did just do a little on grass in the back garden. Tomorrow I may try a little more on a bit of a bigger area to get moving a bit and see how that feels. I'll probably do it on the grass again until I feel comfortable moving onto the pavements.

I'll let you know how I get on, and one of these days I will post a video clip.

Gary

Beeble: Excellent! When you run down the hill, you don't have to lean so much to get that feeling of falling. So remember that perception, as this is what you want to feel when you run horizontally.

Grass is forgiving. With pavement you have to make sure the calfs are very supple.

Will lookforward to the clip.

I found it very hard to learn pose from the dvd and book so 2 years ago I did the course with Dr R. Far better to have someone else watching you run and offer advise than try to figure out what you are doing wrong. Never looked back since.
Another good way to learn pose was running up the hill rather than down it, that way you naturally lean into the hill and remember to keep knees bent and lean from your hips not from your waist and don't hold any tightness in your ankles or knees.

I would love to go on a Pose course, but unfortunately I cannot justify the cost at the moment. Doing the drills are certainly helping, and what I am doing feels right. I suppose once I've managed to get a video clip done and had some feedback I'll know if what I perceive I am doing is actually what I am doing.
Running downhill was giving me problems and blisters on the soles of my feet. With NRG-B's help I am hoping that I can get this sorted soon and start to enjoy pain free running again. This is the main thing that is stopping me from managing to do more running. I'll just keep plugging away with the drills and hope that it all falls into place before too long. I'll try the uphill running as well (well, I need to get to the top of a hill to run down, eh?).

Of all those who have learned and run Pose, how often do you practice the drills, and for how long? I currently do the drills far too few times a week (sometimes only once) and I do the first 2 sections from the DVD/training book. My calfs hurt like hell half way through the second section usually.

Just wondered.

beeble: That's great progress. I was doing the section1/section2 drills from the DVD dilligently everyday but now that I'm a bit more able I do some combination every morning for about 10mins or so. When moving about indoors I do the Forward Pony or Change of Support (only a few raised eyebrows from wife/kids). Other times of the day eg waiting for a train etc I balance on one leg etc. When using the stairs I try to stay light on my feet and avoid an active perception of push-off. I do some drills as part of my warm-up - I think Dr R recommended this as well in an article.

Your calfs shouldn't be hurting for any drill as they should be relaxed - else this will make you focus on them and the tightness could increase. (Then again if you did loads of single leg hops then your calf muscles will obviously fatigue!!).

So don't over-do the drills, perhaps make your movements smaller, easier? Take a break in between each drill to stretch the calfs gently.

Focus on a feeling of lightness and minimise the time spent on support.

Finally, if you feel that Pose is the way forward for you and that you could not go back to heel-striking then I would recommend a Pose clinic. Or at least try to run with other people who have learnt (or are learning) Pose.

I forgot to say that in the Dr R's DVD, he's the de facto expert Pose runner. All his movements are extreme, hence you have to initially limit the intensities/ROM appropriately as per your ability. Nevertheless, you will still benefit from all the correct feelings/perceptions, quickness of pull.

I'm not sure if I've given up on Pose at the moment or not. I'm just concentrating on building things up slowly as I've decided to enter a half marathon which is on October.

I went to an Asics gait analysis roadshow. I couldn't run properly on the treadmill so he had to look at my shoes and see me run up and down in the shop.

The good news was he said that by the looks of my shoes I'm forefoot striking, even though I was only plodding slowly in the shop he said that the faster my running pace the more on my toes I'd be!