Jacki I would need to see You running to be able to comment.

however the running intervals between walks should be slow - the same slow speed as is the walking,
so if somebody walks with You that person wouild not notice that You are doing some running in between.


You need to soft land on the ballfront or and on the whole foot but topuching with teh fron first, not slamming the heels to teh ground.

are teh ankles strong and are they flexible ?

how about to get some flipper and do kickboard session up and down teh pool - using both freestyle and backstroke kicks - could Your ankles handle it ? if not that would be great strenghtening activity.

are the ankles flexible and strong sideways, can You keep balance easy standing on 1 leg without pain in the side tendons ?

Can You wash the dishes standing on 1 leg and not loosing the balance (keep swithcing the legs at regular intervals of course ).

Personaly I used to have very week ankles - teh whole feet structure, the tiny joints, bones and tendons,
and am only now building it back, the main issue is was lack of minerals in my body, and it is one of the reason I am not raw, since I need to digest volume and variety of vegs (minerals are not destroyed by heat)...

I also do barefoot minitrampoline running, in a way similar to sprint drills, inddor in front of the TV, lately as part of the wii fit running the running island.

Jackie,


when considering any spec prob with body part during activity, the holisctic approach is needed, the whole chain of action needs to be looked at.


There are studies showing, that maybe 90% of probs with lower leg - achiles aaaaankles etc during running is caused by week muscles somewhere in the lower core - glutes, lower back, lower abs and various stabilizing muscles running accross between hips, groin etc, also the week quads or hams could be teh culprit.


So if any of those are not able to perform , that the running style changes to the uncontrolled slamming of the foot to the ground.


Whe gtradual buildup is mentioned that is usualy because if thosese muscles are weak, they could hold on for minutes and when become tired they become stif and uncontrolable and so teh prob styarts,, so thye are runners who tell You they can run for 20 minutes of 90 minutes or in some km distance, but above that the pain - injury comes, and it also works with weekly kms, since those muscles can recover after 1-3 days and produce some work later.


when I said do some leg fin kicks up and down the pool , that would also test lower back and abs, glutes hams and bottom of the quads- holding the lnees.


sometimes it get even more complicated, when I study the proper racewalking technique, often I come accross the situation when the wrong action of the arms, moves the shoulder the wrong way, which buggers the shoulders vs hips rotation and stability and from there it goes down the leg sometimes causing injuries sometimes just the bad performence and often DQ by breaking the rules, or if  not the arms, the position of the neck - how we hold the head, which can start with the way we use the eyes - look down or in front, or how we look sideways etc.


as for the long stride - for the beggining with chi or pose etc, what is said is that You need to place the foot under You, not in fron of You, and than later to extend teh stride - You keep pushing the back leg behind You - holding it back longer and pushing off it, but still not reaching in front with the front leg, this is again initiated from teh core
and teh proper core - upper body posture is deciding.


You need to let somebody who knows to look at You, otr take pics from side position as TYou run and post it here, if You in Melb I can have a look.


alll the best

Rudolf

Jacki well done on teh progress.

if the speed You run is tireing - too fast for legs to keep up, than slow down by leaning less.

The amount of lean forward is basicaly teh speed regulator.


You need to lean from the ankles, not from the hips,


this means You are NOT bending in teh waist to stick teh chest, shopulders or face to teh front, but instead You keep the upper body straight up and push forward teh hips.


I will use teh language which will hopefuly stick in Your head while running and make it easy to remeber :


face teh wall (preferable with the mirror from the side) step back about 1-2 feet.

place teh hands on teh wall in fron of You.


Now keep the feet on teh fl;oor where they are, and lean teh body to teh wall, by bending teh elbows - kinda standing pushup.

If You touch the wal with the face - forehead or nose - that wrong, if You touch teh wall with shoulders or chest, thats wrong.

Here comes teh nonforgetable language :

Touch the wall with Your fury pleasure spot first , belly button second, and only let the milky points touch thiord, and the face still not touching the wall. Check Yourself in the side mirror.


That how You should run, hips first, teh back straight up.

so the leaning goes from ankles.


This can cause intitial probs, if ankles not flexibel, if calves, achilles tio short, if plantar is stiff, also if some of the hip area tendons and muscles are short or weak, sometimes its hams to protest.

lmao

KittyK - I normally get around with those singlets that have the hidden support underneath and I have never really been bothered by the fact that I ocassionally have to return the straps to my shoulders....until I have started running!  Now they are driving me crazy constantly falling off my shoulders!!

On a different note, I have had the chance to read through the Chi Running book and am no longer having any problems with my ankles whatsoever.  Yayyy

Thanks Rudy, your replies were very helpful.

i believe the urge to run comes when we are feeling so damn good....its a feeling of 'i want to fly,i want to run...'