I think this photo is in City Park.  It meets my primary criteria of showing both feet airborne.  Not sure why I find these pictures so cool when both feet are completely off the ground during about 50% of any running stride, but I do.  I’m less happy with the poor form this photo illustrates.  Note how my forward foot is heel-down.  That’s not unusual for distance running, but it’s poor form nonetheless.  I’ve been working hard to run toe-down and I do much of the time.  At only 5 miles into the Denver Marathon, I am clearly over-striding here.  Something for me to continue to work on this fall.  Might need to work on my double chin too, another thing this pic illustrates.  Why do race photographers think kneeling down is a good angle for pictures?  You’ll see what I’m talking about if you click on the pic to enlarge it.

The best method I know to practice running with downward pointing toes is to run fast.  Wearing minimalist shoes also helps.  I decided on a 9 mile run today on Eagle Trail with Keith.  Nine miles is too far for me to wear minimalist shoes so I wore my training flats.  I’ll work those more into my routine though on shorter runs.  After DST ends and I start running more 3 and 4 milers.

Keith and I worked speed into our trail run today by leveraging a downhill mile on the Eagle Trail loop.  The loop is around 2.7 miles.  We circled it 3 times.  On miles 3, 6 and 9, we picked up our pace.  Our regular pace was about 8.5 minutes per mile.  For our fast miles, we dropped our pace under 7 minutes per mile.  Actually about 6.5 minutes per mile.  At some points I ran under a 6 minute pace.  The weather was 54° and sunny.  There are no additional health benefits to running fast, but it feels good.

My late fall to early winter running plan looks to include some shorter events – like 5Ks.  History suggests I don’t necessarily run a 5K any faster than a 10K.  In fact, my recent PRs have me with a 7:09 pace for a 10K but only 7:12 for a 5K.  I know I can break a 7 minute pace for a 5K.  Some speed training will teach my legs to run that fast.  This final pic is before the Denver Marathon.  Before the dawn.