Some thoughts from this morning's run (warning: contains rambling!)

[simonwilliamstutor]

1. Should I be kicking my heels more when I pick my feet up? i.e. flexing my foot more when it leaves the ground so that my heel goes a tiny bit closer to my bottom. What I am trying to ask is, are there any benefits in terms of the power I get from each stride or could it help the tight calves I get after each run?

2. Pedestrians do have right of way on pavements, correct? I had quite an indignant look from a 4x4 driver this morning as he was forced to stop when leaving his drive so that I could pass.

3. The mist over the River Avon first thing in the morning is absolutely beautiful and possibly the best reason for running first thing.

4. If I remove the long but slight hill from my route I may get very close to 5k in my graduation run this weekend. It slows me down significantly when I reach it about 17/18 mins into my run, but once I get past it I feel fine within another minute and I'm actually a bit disappointed when Laura says that there's only a minute to go.

[Curlygurly2 Graduate]

1) Bazza posted quite a while ago about how your legs should make a sort of circular motion when you run, that helped me hugely. Laura also says in one of the + podcasts about picking your heels up... I guess you shouldn't go too far with it though.....

2) Pedestrians have right of way at all times, even (or especially) in the road. Make drivers wait!

3) Lucky you!

4) If it was me I would probably skip the hill for my graduation run, you want to make it memorable, and that hill will still be there when you've graduated!

Good luck and enjoy your graduation run xxx

[misswobble Graduate in reply to Curlygurly2]

Yep, I agree on all counts.

It's hard to get those heels up, and create the cycling motion Laura talks about. You are new to running so don't sweat this. Just do what you feel comfy with. You can refine your technique as you get stronger.

Have fun on your Graduation Run. I'd miss the hill too!

You can tackle as many hills as you like afterwards

[rmnsuk Graduate in reply to Curlygurly2]

pedestrians always have right of way.

But beware of two things

1. in a collision a car will damage you a LOT more than you will damage a car

2. road rage is all too common

Which is another reason I run in a park

[sarah469 Graduate]

I listened to the C25K+ Stamina podcast on my run this morning and I focused on Laura's comment about heels too as CurlyGurly2 says. I did try to do it a bit as I'm trying to get myself a stronger running style at the moment, but I felt it made my feet smack the Tarmac harder when they came back down again. If you go to Parkrun though you'll see how much the faster runners pick their feet up than the slower! So I think it is all about experience and speed.

If you haven't graduated yet, I'd say don't worry about it - you can revisit afterwards if you want! Good luck with your final runs!