Barefoot run with my Coach

Today I had my second appointment with Derek, my new coach I found on Coachup.com.  The first time I ran on the treadmill while he took videos of my form to critique.  His gym doesn't allow street shoes and I'm still not sure how they would respond to a barefooter, so I wore my Xero sandals and brought some socks to wear in the gym.

The last time Derek gave me some tips on what to concentrate on while he worked on a more comprehensive plan.  Mind you the advice he me gave is specific to my body.  He told me to work on pushing my knees out and mentioned activating my glutes.  I worked on this just walking, due to my crazy schedule this past month.   I found that when I pushed my knees, I tended to stand up a bit straighter and activated my glutes.  When I explained to him the muscles I felt stretching during my walks he said I was on the right track.

Derek's plan for today was to start with a 2 mile run.  I had nothing to run in, since my Xero sandals still bother me walking around, so I had to run barefoot.  Strange how this gave me pause, perhaps since this was my first barefoot run with anyone.  Derek knew that I was training to run barefoot, so it didn't surprise him.  I'm not sure if it was because I was running with someone else or if the tips Derek gave me the last time but this was my best run of the year and my first two mile barefoot run.  Though it was probably a bit of both.

During the run my right leg definitely felt some strain, but nothing that I felt like I was pushing too hard.  Tonight after everything has settled down I don't feel the normal blister bubble on my right foot between the big toe and second.  I do have a little spot now on my left foot that feels slightly off, but I can't seem to pinpoint it.

I Hired a Coach - now you can get $25 off CoachUp.com

I need a coach to help me with my running form.  I can keep working on this myself, but it is going to take me forever.  Even walking I seem to have a blister or something next to my big toe.  The forums I read have no running coaches posted nearby, so I took to the internet to locate a coach.  I found a site call CoachUp.com 

How it works:  You submit a coaching request with what you are looking for.  They ask your location, availability and a few other basic questions and then they email your request to their list of coaches.  The coaches are required to respond within 24 hours.  Use referral code danal1-10-t gets you $25 off your first coaching session through them.  I recommend you book just one session to see how things go and then book a package deal, if things work out. 

I got 4 responses within 12 hours.  They all were qualified to assist me, and I ended up choosing Drew based upon his thoughtful response telling me less about himself (they all have bios I can read) and more about what he would do to help me.  First steps he would video tape me running and analysis my form.   His location is close to me, and his price was reasonable at $69 per hour.  One of the guys wanted $159 for an hour 1-on-1 session.  The lowest was $53. 

Walking into the gym they ask you to remove your shoes before stepping on the floor.  It looked like everyone else has dedicated gym shoes, but I did the session in my socks.  Though I did mention in my request for services that I was a barefoot runner or at least working towards running barefoot.

First Drew had me do some squats and took videos, then I jogged on the treadmill for a bit while he took more video.  Drew then pointed out my problems and talked about form and function.  Of course I have no clue if he knows what he is talking about, but it sounded good and lined up with what I had been reading online.  (Like you can believe everything you read online.)  We spent the remainder of the session doing foam rolling, stretches and some exercises.  He gave me just one area to concentrate on when running, for me I need to push the knees out slightly.  He's now working on my homework and a package pricing.  I feel it was definitely worth it. 

Unfortunately there is no quick fix and it will take a while.   But the areas he has me working on should carry over into the problems I'm having with some of my mobility in gymnasticbodies exercise routine.