Posted at: 07/07/2009 11:53 AM
By: Benita Zahn

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Pain Free Running

I love stories with this title .. pain free running .. hah. With 5 marathons under my belt and more than half a dozen half marathons, countless 5k and 10k races .. I don't know anyone who runs pain free ALL the time.

A big part of pain stems from your mechanics. Some of us are just better built for running - that is, we have fewer 'hitches in our giddyup' as someone once told me.

There's a woman in Clifton Park, Lichu Sloan who at either 59 or 60 ran 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 weeks. I'm tired just thinking about it. But you've got to see Lichu run. She's petite and has a very compact stride and her feet hit the ground in a neutral position, meaning she doesn't have any excess foot motion.

All that said there are suggestions that can help prevent injury or maximize what you've got. This is a  non glitzy article  http://tinyurl.com/kul7vk you might want to read. I do question the stretching before suggestion as that's come under fire. The latest thinking is warm up by walking, then stretch, then ramp up your workout . One more thing - your shoes have a lifetime even if they still appear to be in good shape .. depending on how hard you strike the ground and your weight, shoes should be retired after 300 - 500 miles.