In September I started to change my running style from a heel strike (guy to right in the picture below) to a more front foot strike (guy to left in the picture below).

With 51.5km last month split over 7 runs (7.3km ave) where the longest being 11km and the shortest 4.5km.  That compared to the 116km in august split over 12 runs (9.66km ave) with 2.5km being the shortest and 42.2km the longest. I noticed that I reached a higher max pulse and my average pulse was significantly higher during my September runs.

I ran Musikmilen (10km) in September and felt great the days after the race. But I had a max pulse of 188 and an average 180. So it seems that it may take my body some time to adjust to this new running style.  I have a higher step frequency and activate more muscles which will take time to get use to.

Going into October I felt good about my new foot strike. I plan on running three times a week. Twice a week working on increasing my speed with shorter runs (under 60min) and one longer trail run to work on endurance and strength.  So far in October I am up to 27km, but Monday evening I did my first real off-road trail run with Jonas Andersson. He biked out to me, then we ran 3km out to Hissö and ran the 4.5km trail around the island before running 3km home again. Running with someone like Jonas is a great experience. Jonas has competed and done well in an Ironman, ÖtillÖ Swimrun, and the Rockman Swimrun.We have been swimming together since 2007 so he knows what I have been through with my training and where I want to go. On Monday I got to set he pace, and then he tried to get me to hold it through the trails.  I felt like a 6 yr old playing soccer for the first time, watching what Jonas was doing in front of me and having to look down at my feet to see where I was going at the same time.  Jonas was like a gazelle, he went over every obstacle on the trail but one like they were there, where as I avoided them as much as I could. I could see that he was looking several feet ahead and able to plan his steps in advance, where I was making last minute decisions on where to step down and even having to slow down to adjust my direction. The first 3km out we held a comfortable 5:40 pace. During the trail run we dropped to just about 6:10 and that was so much harder to hold.  As we approached the road again I started thinking how am I going to get home now.  But as the trail turned to asphalt it because easy again, and we managed to get home in 5:40 pace. My average pulse was 153 with a max of 168 shortly after going off road and then it started to go down again on the road.

This Saturday I will attempt to run fast again, this time at Superloppet, a race to raise money for the local children’s hospital where everyone dresses up like their favorite super hero or villain.

I will be going as Ironman 😉