Ready to Run by Dr. Kelly Starrett and TJ Murphy, (01) The Durable Runner, Notes

Post date: Nov 20, 2016 1:49:42 PM

Ready to Run

Chapter 1. The Durable Runner

• • 1. Courage is a fantastic thing. When that courage is deployed to force an unprepared or otherwise compromised human body over the 33,00 steps required for a marathon, we should be honest about the costs involved. The tremendous task completion mindset of runners can also be their undoing.

    2. 110 Years. If we have any of the following three performance sucking problems, and they tend to come in a set, then we are accelerating the burn rate of our joints and soft tissues each time the foot strikes the ground:

       1. Poor positions

       2. Restricted range of motion

       3. Habitual poor movement patterns

    3. Although designed to last 110 years, we can shred through joints in 20 if we try hard enough. The amazing adaptable human body will jump when asked to jump, through all sorts of past and new injuries that may be rising to the surface. When the mind says yes, the body obeys. Until it comes to a smoking halt.

    4. If we are going to make the demands on the body that being an athlete requires, then it’s our job to support that body. Supporting the body means installing and maintaining the following practices.

• • • 1. Habitually seeking optimal positions from which to transmit power.

      2. Developing the movement systems of the body so that they have access to the full range of motion that the body was designed to have.

      3. Practicing and mastering good movement patterns and positions.

      4. Developing the strength and conditioning to support good movement patterns from the first mile to the 26th and beyond.

• • 5. Key Principles

• • • 1. It’s about performance. By reducing the risk of injury, we get better in the process. When we fix problems and retrain the body to move well, we also allow for greater performance--more power, more speed and the ability to hold it together longer.

      2. Alter the task completion mindset. Hold the quality of our running to a higher standard.

         1. This means asking these questions:

            1. How well do I run a mile?

            2. Do I warm up my system and tissues before I run?

            3. Do I hydrate?

            4. Do I cool down?

            5. Do I spend the bulk of my day standing, moving and sitting with an awareness of the quality of my postures and mechanics.

            6. Do I counter any lousy movement patterns with an appropriate dose of maintenance work?

         2. It is great to be steadfast and consistent with training. By taking it to this next level, we will get the most out of each and every training session.

      3. Take personal responsibility for routine maintenance. Routine maintenance on our personal running machines can be and should be performed by us.

      4. No days off. Take 10 minutes per day for maintenance work. No days off. No excuses

      5. It’s a learning process that never ends. When we find a new problem to be solved, we need to embrace it. Problems are going to keep coming. Each one is a gift waiting to be opened. By addressing problems, we unlock some new area of performance or discover some new efficiency to be gained. We must make it a lifelong commitment to solve each problem that creeps up.

      6. Mobilizing replaces stretching. Two minutes of half assed stretching can do a tight muscle more harm than good. Take haphazard end range stretching out of our routine a relace it with the intention of improving range of motion as a complete system: from how each joint sits into its socket, to the health of our tissues and sliding surfaces, to motor patterns.