Stability Through Motion

In line with my new decision to link together my art and running lives a bit more, can I just mention the fantastic book Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form by Eliot Goldfinger (available from Amazon via the link – other book shops are available). I’ve had the book on the shelves for ages, and even though I haven’t sketched from the human figure in over ten years, it’s beautifully illustrated and much more detailed than some of the more ‘artistic’ books I’ve seen. The model in the photographs is spectacularly muscled, but not in a body-builder kind of way, just in the way that his muscles are so clearly defined.

So I can  now assuage my art appetite even while attempting to discover which of the muscles of my lower leg is currently giving me grief and preventing me from running more than two days in a row. Is it the Tibialis Posterior, or the Soleus, or quite possibly even the Peroneus Longus? Ah, self diagnosis with an anatomy book – it simply must be safer than posting a question on a forum! Don’t worry, I am seeing an osteopath next week.

Okay so I tried the running downhill thing. You know how you can get sore thighs (quadriceps) - from even walking downhill for a long time? Well, you need to induce those sore thighs to make them stronger, and a good way to do that is to keep running downhill fast about 10 times in a session. So I donned/doffed my pretty and lightweight Mizuno Wave Harrier off-road shoes (pictured, right*) and head for South Parks, a nice gentle grass-covered slope on a sunny evening. By the second rep I’m getting used to this idea of actually speeding up while going downhill, trying not to brake at all, and springing off the balls of my feet. Except the ball or my right foot is beginning to feel some chafing. By the tenth repetition there is definite pain down there, and it’s a bloomin blister – first one in a year!

The only thing I can think is that the shoes don’t quite fit me snugly enough at the front, so my foot was moving around down there.

Bah.

And to top it all, as a result of the pain I probably wasn’t going fast enough as I have no quad strain at all after that session.

And to top that top off I’ve had a bad neck since last Friday from some computer work that had me completely immobile for six hours a day. Thank goodness for this grumble blog where I can let it all out.

I’ve whacked on a blister plaster and stopped running for the rest of the week, as I’m still really keen to run in the Black Mountains at the weekend. As a result I’ve rediscovered the gym and the various sorts of chafing you can develop on the bike. I can also tell you that spending an hour on the cross-trainer is just about the most bored you can be.

*The Wave Harriers have amazing grip on any surface, and are lovely and lightweight. I had no problems in them off-road until now, but the front of the shoe is not very soft and a bit roomier than my other shoes. Why oh why do most road running shoes have to be in such disgusting designs – whereas the trail shoes are so much nicer looking?