Choose Strong
For Tim.
During the 3.5-hour Mission Peak (MP) run on Sat, a revelation hit me: I need to
take micro-steps.
AhTang's blog mentioned a similar point a few times. I also read about Victor
often in Tim Ferriss's post "The Painless Path To Endurance." But I had to touch
the truth at a deeper level to make it mine. As someone said "Knowing is not
enough. We must apply."
Unlike AhTang or Victor, I wear sandals. Among the people I know, only my Tim
appreciates the challenges as he has switched to Xeros early this year and hiked
MP a few times. My ultra-running friends, L and S, have found it unique that
downhill is harder for me than uphill and have prescribed the simple fix: just
change the shoes. We have also suspected weak quads but no doubt the feet are
the bottleneck.
To me, however, the sandals are the fundation of health, on which everything
builds. I cannot give them up. Unlike people who strive to run fast and long, I
feel content with whatever distance my Xeroes can carry me. If I cannot run a
50k, that's fine. This idea seems backwards, willfully ignorant, or maybe even
arrogant to a goal-oriented mind. For L, e.g., there is always a clearly defined
and unforgiving goal, be it 50, 100, or 200 miles, and his crazy race schedule
constantly propels himself forward. It has indeed worked for him. But my
inspiration comes mainly from the Tarahumaras who live the lifestyle.
Sat, for no particular reason, I practiced tiny or micro-steps both up- and
downhill. On the way up, small steps made it easy on my glutes so that at no
point I ran out of gas. It did not slow me down because I could keep on running
even up the steepest climb. Sure, the steps felt Lilliputian. But I was running
nonetheless, passing hikers in their heavy boots and long strides easily.
I suspect it a natural desire as many enjoy sliding and sports like downhill
skiiing. When I see a slope, often instictively I would think about how good it
would feel charging down from the top to bottom, taking a free ride with help
from gravity. I actually did it in my late twenties, once on roller blades and
another time dashing down a river bank. More recently, I did it when pacing L at
Quick Silver. Everytime it ended in disaster and in the same fashion. As speed
accelerated toward the bottom, my legs could not keep up and neither could I
slow down against gravity. Control was gone and the gleeful glide turned into a
desperate fight to break a free fall.
I used to think I need more braking muscles to maintain precise control. That
might be true. But today I found out that I could shrink the steps and rev up
cadence to reduce the surge demand on those muscles. I had already been doing it
descending very steep slopes but I practiced this idea deliberately and with
even gentle slopes today. The ground impact on the soles (and on the whole body)
was much lessened per step. It seemed many small impacts took much less toll
than fewer larger ones. (The black swan, antifragility, etc., come to mind.)
In the end, my feet hurt much less than in the past. This was the first time
after visiting the summit twice, I actually ran all the way back to the car and
felt I could go for some more. I have not become stronger but more skilled.
I had a small meal of almonds, sweet potato, and a few cookies with coffee
before the hike/run. That seemed to keep the energy level high as I only had one
granola bar afterwards when resting at the top.
The next morning, the quads were a little sore. I did yoga, squated, pressed,
and pulled myself up on the bar. No problem. Low-intensity running delivered.
It's great your daughter's taking up running. The most important thing, IMHO, is to enjoy. No need to push too hard. A great book on this is "Body, Mind And Sport" by John Douillard, if she'd like to read. Best Wishes.
Btw, propelled, propels, I think. Happy micro steps running!