Sitting through injury recovery and not being able to do much on the trails it seems I’m getting my fix indirectly by reading about running. More specifically I’ve been reading a lot about injuries, injury prevention and training programs that claim to get people beyond injury and back on the trails or roads. The Cool Impossible by Eric Orton is the latest in a series of such books I’ve ready.
Eric was Christopher McDougall‘s running coach for Born to Run. Since BtR was the book that got me into minimalist and trail running this book was a must-read for me and I pre-ordered the deluxe version of the book from iBooks as soon as I could. Once the book arrived I devoured it in about 3 days but have since gone back over some sections over and over.
The book covers Eric’s training program in both theory and practice written in a style that is like you are working directly with Eric in Jackson Hole. The practice portion is focused on a strength training program that starts at the feet and works through the entire body. The tools required for his whole workout program are minimal – a slant board (which I made in a few hours), some ski poles, stability disks and a Fitball. The next major section is running specific training which requires only that you run and use a heart monitor for testing and zone training. The last big section is on nutrition and specifically getting off sugar and onto whole foods. I’ve got the whole foods thing down but damn, I love my coconut milk ice cream and dark chocolate so the sugar fast would be a challenge.
What I found interesting is how much the book relates to the injury I’m recovering from. I’m 8 weeks in and am at least back on the trails to a limited degree. After weeks of no progress I gave up on my traditional doctor/PT and found some real relief in A.R.T. and new strength routines given to my by the staff at Elite Sports and Spine. The crux of my problem was verified again as a non-firing glute medius, the conclusion I came to after reading and reviewing Anatomy for Runners. Guess what Eric Orton has to say…
“Weakness – or, more specifically, poor activation of the gluteus medius – is the most frequent culprit I find inhibiting an athlete’s optimal performance or causing pain. Yet again, the effectiveness of our gluteus medius begins with the feet.”
Wait a minute, you mean after 3 years of running in minimalist shoes I still had a weak glute and weak feet? Yes, it is true. I found this out pretty quickly trying to do balance work in PT and especially trying to do the slant board exercises in this book. I couldn’t even do a squat properly. After a few weeks of squat training and the other exercises I’ve been doing recently I feel that I’m finally activating my butt yet there is still a long way to go.
Will I take on Eric’s program in full? I think I will as soon as I’m a bit more recovered from this hamstring injury. Right now the strength work is a bit much for what I can handle but I’m betting in another month I’ll be up for it. This season is turning into a get fixed and rebuild season for me and with the tools I’ve found in these books and the treatment I’m getting from Elite Sports and Spine I believe that I can use the rest of this year to really strengthen and get to where I can build my mileage back up and be injury free going forward. I may not get in my ultra or even a marathon this season but next season I’ll be ready for my own Cool Impossible.