it was a pretty uneventful 8K for me, start, run, finish…it was interesting…

I guess I’m the polite runner….I don’t know if I noticed this before, but runners, some, just do not pay any attention to what’s going on around them; I don’t know how many I was almost run over by, and then passed the same people later on…..the instant ‘I’ve gotta take a walk break right now in front of you” people…..and the, I’ve gotta race to that finish line now, even though, well, I guess it may be a PB, a PR or I heard someone say they had a PQ – what is that? —-

There was the issue with the delayed start…..there was a suspicious package found on the course before the half marathoners began – for this race, the BMO Vancouver; the half marathoners start before the marathoners, and the 8K starts in a different location, so we didn’t know why there was a delay, I didn’t until I got back to my AirB&B and watched the news….

To kill time waiting for the start, and what an amazing place to start a race, right in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, I started watching what others do before the start, and caught myself kind of questioning some of the routines, and wondered why?

You usually always se some stretching their quads at every race, even though we now know that stretching before is now thought to be a no no – there’s a danger of injury – but, do they stretch because they have to or feel they need to, or is it just a nerve thing?…….I say one person working on the Cs of his ABCs….I’m guess he did his butt kicks and high knees at another time, but it looked like a half hearted attempt, or maybe it was something he was told he should do, or he just thought it’d impress people if he did his warm up in such a confined space………most of us just chatted away, got to know our neighbours,and tried to stay warm….great running weather is not necessarily great standing around weather…..

Once we finally got going…lots and lots of people, there were a few pinch points where we’re all looking for that tangent on a curve or a turn, and bumping into each other…..it’s a wide enough rode people, none of us are going to win…but well, okay….

I thought I had a great race/run…but looking at some of the run photos maybe not?

why are my ams so high?………gotta try to correct that..and I seriously don’t look as happy as I felt?

A few other things I noticed……a lot of people toe striking?…..I’m not sure why I noticed that, I wondered, are they people trying to force themselves to mid-foot strike and feel like that’s what they’re doing?…usually toe striking is rare, so maybe it was something I was subconsciously looking for…

and really huge kick backs?…..I noticed that more in women runners more than the guys…is that a thing?

I’ve seen that before on training runs, there are certain people you don’t want to run to closely behind because of that…..

I often tell those in my clinics that there really isn’t a wrong way to run, you just run how your run, and you’re body usually figures out the right way to run for you…..problems really only start when you significantly try to change that gait quickly, or not over a long period of time with drills and exercises…..but, you wonder…and then I look at my race photos, I can pick out a lot of things that I would say are wrong…

my stride is a bit funky, my gait for sure…I pronate on one side, supinate on the other…no shoe really corrects that, and I’ve found no exercises either…it just is……I fractured a lower left fibula years ago that never heeled properly so that’s part of the issue, but the pronation on that foot I think is either gotten worse, or I just notice it more…so the search for that right shoe continues….tried the ASICS Nimbus yesterday, a great shoe, but I felt that yesterday…I’m going to test out my new Brooks Adrenalines this morning for a short run to see how they feel….both shoes have a kind of guidance system which is supposed to work with both issues, but yesterday, the ASICS didn’t quite work for the 8K, cannot guess how that would work with the half or full marathons…trails may be fine……so that search continues..

I kind of look better here…the stride looks okay….and I think that’s a smile..maybe it’s because I’m passing people?…

anyway, back to the Run Club in St. Albert tomorrow..and back to normal..now for a walk, or maybe a short run to get rid if this built up lattice aci