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The Peaceful Runner Newsletter #25 - October 31, 2012 - Find Your True Potential
October 31, 2012
Hello

Happy Halloween and welcome to the October edition of The Peaceful Runner Newsletter. It is the season for pumpkins, goblins and getting serious about running now that the hot summer days have passed.

In this issue:

1) Quote of the Month
2) Article: Find Your True Potential
3) Solar Technology Back Pack
4) Recipe of the Month: Barry's Baked Pumpkin

Quote of the Month:

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Find Your True Potential


If you want to get serious about running and find your true potential, you need to start running like an elite runner. Have you considered your running posture lately? Are you running as efficiently as the elites?

Improving your running form is perhaps the best thing that you can do to help yourself run better and avoid injuries. Thanks to the very sophisticated cameras available today, the running posture of many elite runners has been captured and fully analyzed and they all basically have the same "perfect" running form.

An elite runnner's running form usually consists of these aspects:

  • Tall from the waist
  • Slight forward body lean from the ankles
  • Forefoot strike
  • Foot lands close under the hips
  • Quick foot turnover (cadence)
  • Short ground contact time
  • Compact arm swing at 90 degrees or less

It is easy to state these aspects, but how do you incorporate them into your running posture? First of all you need to know what good running form looks like. Watching videos of the elite runners can help you get a great visual of good running posture. Keep the image in your mind and make it your goal to eventually achieve the same good running form.

Start to become aware of how you are currently running. Start with only one aspect at a time and try to improve upon that. Then try another one. Some will be harder to change than others and sometimes changing one will help you change another. The running foot strike is perhaps the most difficult to change. However, once you begin to lean from the ankles, it will become much more natural to forefoot strike.

This article on running posture includes a very helpful video which demonstrates the differences between the running form of an elite runner and an average runner. You can watch the Kenyan, Moses Mosop, during the Rotterdam 2012 marathon. He has a wonderful and very desirable running technique--a great one to model. Then you will see an average runner making many mistakes. It is a great comparison video which clearly demonstrates the differences between a good running form and an average running form.

Do you want to be a good runner or an average runner? To find your true potential as a runner, start by concentrating on improving your running posture.

Read more about Running Posture.

Solar Technology Back Pack


Solar technology makes it easy to keep smart phones and tablets charged while you are on the move. Check out these cool backpacks that are made from recycled plastic bottles. You will no longer need to worry about battery failure when you are on your next long hike.

Solar Technology Back Pack

Recipe of the month: Barry's Baked Pumpkin


As it is the season for pumpkins, I thought it would be a great time to share an easy and delicious pumpkin recipe. Although pumpkin is thought to be a super food, the other ingredients are perhaps not as healthy but it is a delicious way to have pumpkin. We were served this dish recently at the home of our friends, Barry and Jackie.


Barry's Baked Pumpkin

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 small pumpkin or squash
  • 2 tbsps butter
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup


Directions:

  1. Scoop out all the seeds from the center of the pumpkin or squash and discard.
  2. Add the butter and maple syrup to pumpkin and cover with foil wrap.
  3. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees and let sit for 15 minutes.
  4. The pumpkin will be soft, mushy and delicious. It can be served in its own "bowl".


If you have enjoyed this ezine, feel free to share it with friends. If a friend has forwarded this to you, you can subscribe here.

Keep peaceful and keep running injury free,

Jackie

ThePeacefulRunner.com

facebook.com/thepeacefulrunner

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