Fingers, Toes, Ironman Training, And The Power Of Human Imagination

Hi folks,

The tips of your fingers and toes are remarkable sensory devices, which can be used to great effect during training.

The tips of your fingers and toes are remarkable sensory devices, which can be used to great effect during training.

We have many sensors with which to explore our environment, and now the Universe in general, including sight, sound and touch. We have extended our senses through the development of tools, which increase the reach of our bodies, from earth moving machinery to the Hubble Telescope. Feedback from these tools markedly extends the range of our minds, but once you start to train for an Ironman or other endurance sport, with the exception of running shoes, GPS units, and a bike, you are basically back to the original machine, your body. How you use your body, especially processing of data from your sensory organs, can dramatically alter your performance and the level of enjoyment of your sport, whether you are a serious athlete, undertaking safe exercise for better health, or are under doctors orders to exercise to reverse the effects of diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

What a great book, and what a great image of the subtle knife exploring links between multiple universes.

What a great book, and what a great image of the subtle knife exploring links between multiple universes.

Two sensory systems that can easily be forgotten are your fingers and toes. When I swim I employ my finger tips much like the subtle knife in those great books, ‘The Golden Compass Series.’ The tips of my fingers explore the water in order to find the best purchase for my power stroke and lines of least resistance to reduce drag, with my body following along the channels that my fingers detect in the complex flow field of the swimming pool. This sensory input is especially important when drafting another swimmer. But how about our toes?

Most people are terribly out of touch with their toes, it would appear, only really noticing them when pain is induced in this remote region of the body. One of my first lessons in both Feldenkrais with Karen and Continuum with Rebecca  involved working to move each toe individually, and to separate them to improve my relationship to the ground. It turns out to be remarkably difficult. Imagine that you wore a blindfold all your life, until suddenly, one day, it was removed. The sensations would be overwhelming, confusing, and extremely difficult to interpret. This must be how our feet feel if we wear shoes all of the time, never going barefoot. In fact, even though the barefoot running craze has resulted in some unnecessary injuries in a small number of people who are genetically unable to handle it (such as myself), I am sure that many more people have really discovered their feet for the first time as a result of inspiration gained from that wonderful book, Born to Run,’ by Christopher McDougall. This can only be good. If you are aware of your feet, you will find that not only do the tips of your toes help to align your kick in the pool, but increased foot awareness will lead you to more correctly assess the angle of attack of your feet during running.

Finally, awareness of your feet, and especially your toes, makes a real difference to dance as you learn to read the ground and your relationship to the gravitational field of the earth.

-k @FitOldDog

Today’s workouts:

Workout PLAN Coach: Chris Hauth
 Swim
Distance: 4150.0 yd
Duration: 01:20:00
Description:
400 warm up, 10×50 kick down, free back – 10×75 swim/catchup/swim – 10×100 free pace with 15’sec rest – 10×150 easy/medium/fast by 50 in the 150 with 20 sec. rest between the 150’s

 

Speak Your Mind

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Disclaimer: As a veterinarian, I do not provide medical advice for human animals. If you undertake or modify an exercise program, consult your medical advisors before doing so. Undertaking activities pursued by the author does not mean that he endorses your undertaking such activities, which is clearly your decision and responsibility. Be careful and sensible, please.