Slow Motion Running

Steve Magness over at The Science of Running has a post today  analyzing the footstikes in a slow motion video of the top women at the Sunday's 5th Avenue Mile in New York.  I just find the viewing of running form presented in this fashion as fascinating. Here is the video.



Here is another wonderful slow-motion video showing the elite male runners at the 2010 Boston Marathon at about the 17 miles mark.


Elite Men in the 2010 Boston Marathon - Super Slow Motion from Runblogger on Vimeo.

Runners in order on video are: 1. Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, 2. Deriba Merga, 3. Tekeste Kebede, 4. Moses Kigen Kipkosgei (red/green singlet); 5. Abderrahim Goumri (purple singlet w/ yellow stripe), and 6. Mebrahtom Keflezighi. Video is from runblogger.com.

Here is Ryan Hall (also at the 17 mile mark) in Boston.


Ryan Hall - Boston Marathon 2010 from Runblogger on Vimeo.

In case you missed the 5th Avenue Miles last week. Here is the video of the women's race (actual race at 2:25).



Here is the video of the men's race (actual race at 4:25).


It has been two weeks since my last run. That is not even slow-motion running. I am just not running. I have no desire to run. Oh, I would love to, but I am tired of the pain and trying to fix imbalances. All the muscles that were bracing around my hip have loosened up and now I am left with pelvis and hips that are definitely out of alignment: up, down, back, and forward. I don't know what to do about it anymore. I tried a second MRI and that went worse than the first. They lie you flat on a table that slowly slides you into the jaws of the MRI machine like you are being swallowed alive by a monster. It just wasn't my idea of a fun time, even though I knew how important those images would be. I am waiting to hear from the doctor to see what his advice or next line of action is going to be. I would love to be running, but until someone can tell me what I need to do, I can't muster the energy for it anymore. I just know that I am tilting at windmills and I can't think of anything else to try to keep my legs and hips in alignment. It is good that I stopped and let things unwind. I can feel exactly what is going on.

Whether from a labral tear or bad positioning, my left hip is pushed forward and the femur doesn't sit properly. It then is rotated inward. This makes the whole femur twisted on down to the knee where it seems to rest on the inside of the knee which compensates by twisting the lower leg out. This stresses the outer quads and inner hamstrings. Then it angles down wrong on the heel which makes it feel like the foot is everted out and I can't bend the knee forward over the foot properly. It doesn't feel in aligment when walking let alone running. I have tried everything that I can think of to fix this over the years, and I can't think of anything else that would solve it. Right now, my body isn't a body that should be running. Hopefully the doctor can figure out if it is a labral tear or find some fix that I haven't thought of. Until then, I can only dream of having such wonderful running form as in these videos.



Update:
This new book from the author of The Entrepreneurial Patient blog is a must read book for anyone with hip problems and is thinking about about arthroscopic hip surgery or has had arthroscopic hip surgery for a labral tear or FAI.