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Lately, I've been getting pulled in a lot of stuff, be it at work or outside. My hobbies which I once loved and looked forward to are now a chore. The reason I'm writing this is, we all get stuck in our own whirlpool of expectations.

Savoring the moment which we worked for - be it the magic number for 10K or a marathon is no more at leisure. Rather the new targets are already set and we are doing the back calculations with the time at hand and the pace at which we have to achieve it.

Taking a break from work, leisure and people around us is a good idea. We are all built differently, some enjoy routine, while others enjoy a bit of hibernation. As long as it revitalises us, it is all good.

I think getting bored is underrated. The best ideas come to our mind when it is empty.

Stay safe and happy reading!

- Aditi Pandya

@ShoeGeeks

Shoe of the Week

Continuing our series of workouts/drills to improve running form, our next workout helps better our hip mechanics (courtesy: runmechanics.in).

Workout of the week - Monster Walk

Weak hips affect our running in different ways. Higher Pelvic Drop, Cross over of the foot when landing, and a multitude of other issues. Monster walk is a simple and effective workout to improve hip strength, more specifically hip abductors; and all we need is a resistance band.

How to do it?

You will need a resistance band for this workout.

1. Loop the resistance band just below the knees.

2. Stand with hip and knees slightly bent, and move your feet wide apart to stretch the band and feel the resistance.

3. Move forward with one foot at a time slowly, while keeping the resistance on (See the picture above).

4. You can adjust the position of the resistance band downwards to increase the difficulty of this workout.

When to do it?

Monster walk can be done as part of an activation routine before the run, or part of your strength training. When done as an activation routine, restrict it to 2 sets of 20 steps. When done as part of strength training 4-5 sets of 30-50 steps is a good start point.

Berlin Marathon Special

The Berlin Marathon is scheduled for this Sunday, 26 September. After cancelled in 2020, with 25,000 participants this year’s will be the largest world marathon major since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Unlike the marathon event at Tokyo Olympics, spectators will also be allowed. The organisers have mandated vaccination or RT-PCR tests for all participants and wearing masks at the start line and the finish line.

The city's flat course mean fast performances and the marathon world record has been broken on 11 occasions so far, particularly the most recent 7 instances on the men's progression. Eliud Kipchoge's world record shattering run was in Berlin in 2018, the race which saw Kipchoge executing a nearly perfect race, clocking a 2:01:41. Not to forget, Kenenisa Bekele’s near attempt to break the world record the following year, having missed it by mere 2 seconds. Bekele, who will be seen at the start line once again or for one last time in Berlin, after having missed out on the Tokyo Olympics, can put Kipchoge’s record in jeopardy.

Here is start point field in both men’s and women’s categories.

Men’s Field

Women’s Field

Past Marathon World Records at Berlin

Men

• 1998: Ronaldo da Costa (Brazil; 2:06:05)

• 2003: Paul Tergat (Kenya; 2:04:55)

• 2007: Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia; 2:04:26)

• 2008: Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia; 2:03:59)

• 2011: Patrick Makau Musyoki (Kenya; 2:03:38)

• 2013: Wilson Kipsang (Kenya; 2:03:23)

• 2014: Dennis Kimetto (Kenya; 2:02:57)

• 2018: Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya; 2:01:39)

Women

• 1977: Christa Vahlensieck (W. Germany; 2:34:48)

• 1999: Tegla Loroupe (Kenya; 2:20:43)

• 2001: Naoko Takahashi (Japan; 2:19:46)

Two world records fell at the Adizero Road to Records event in Herzogenaurach, Germany on 12 September. Senbere Teferi shattered the outright world record in the 5K, and Anges Tirop lowered the women’s only 10K world record by 28 seconds. In the women’s 5K, Teferi clocked 14:29, breaking the previous record of 14:43 set by Beatrice Chepkoech in February at the 2021 Monaco Run, and the women’s-only world record of 14:44 set by Sifan Hassan in 2019. She also beat the fastest 5K in history—14:32 set by Joyciline Jepkosgei—before the distance became an official world record event. Kenya’s Anges Tirop lowered the women’s-only 10K world record by 28 seconds, clocking the distance in 30:01 minutes. Read more here

Highlights from Around the World

Tokyo marathon postponed to March 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions

The 2021 Tokyo Marathon has been postponed until March 6, 2022, because of the surge in the Delta variant of COVID-19, the Tokyo Marathon Foundation announced on Friday, September 17. The event was originally scheduled for October 17, 2021, and it was not going to allow international runners. COVID-19 cases have been rising in Tokyo since July, when the city hosted the Tokyo Olympics. A state of emergency for Tokyo had been extended until September 30. The race is the only World Marathon Major so far to move the date from this season. Read more here

Upcoming races:

• Kundalika River Marathon 2021 - September 26, 2021

• BMW Berlin Marathon 2021 - September 26, 2021

• Virgin Money London Marathon: October 3, 2021

• AFLI Bangalore 10K Challenge: October 10, 2021

• Bank of America Chicago Marathon: October 10, 2021

• Boston Marathon: October 11, 2021

• TCS New York City Marathon: November 7, 2021

@geeksonfeet

Improve Pelvic Rotation for Better Running Stride

As runners, we put a lot of focus on the foot, ankle, and knees. We look for things like foot strike, foot pronation, and ankle dorsiflexion. However, much of the running performance is decided higher up the chain, that is by the muscles of the core and hips.

In the past articles, we touched on Hip Extension and Pelvic Drop which are important for efficient running form and performance. In this article, we cover “Pelvic Rotation”, which is another important aspect of the hip that affects our running stride.

Race walking is a sport where the importance of Pelvic Rotation is very evident. Since the athlete cannot bend knees and has to be in contact with the ground all the time, pelvic rotation is the primary way to increase the stride in race walking. In running, however, there are more ways to increase stride, including more power from the hip extension, and better flight. Apart from these Pelvic Rotation also plays an important role in running, which is often ignored. Click here to understand how it affects performance, guidance on optimal pelvic rotation, drills, and workouts to improve pelvic rotation.

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