Adarqui's Journal

Just a thought on these pics, you might consider doing some posture exercises. I know you can’t really tell from these, but you look a bit kyphotic. If you are, placing your back against a wall and pinning your scapulae against said wall while pushing the back of your head against the wall while tucking your chin can help.

You’re looking lean AF and I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but staying healthy is also key. If you got it in hand, feel free to disregard.

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Yo! Thanks for the advice & info.

I agree, I think I look a bit kyphotic also. I do posture exercises during my warmups & cooldowns, and also during my very light runs, so it’s definitely something i’m trying to focus on. I’m also just trying to be more aware of it in general. I don’t really know the true degree of it, ie i’ve noticed different degrees of it in different photos/video. I feel like I had better posture when I was into dunking, the heavy lifting probably helped AND the several additional years of bad posture while working on the computer probably hasn’t helped either, more so the latter probably.

I’ve posted several photos of Mo in this thread, he’s basically the prototype. He’s got tons of photos on his IG, posture is pretty perfect IMHO. Need to get on that level eventually.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXF0HlyA4f0/?taken-by=gomofarah

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVcL05pAiJi/?taken-by=gomofarah

https://www.instagram.com/p/BT97Fm1AvOm/?taken-by=gomofarah

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRAlhXlg1Fx/?taken-by=gomofarah

This is a great clip:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWcDd--gtgV/?taken-by=gomofarah

As far as aches/health goes, I feel good, ie I don’t have any back/neck/knee/ankle pains/issues, and i’m putting in some solid volume. So that’s a good sign at least.

Regardless though, I need to keep chipping away at it consistently. This might be something I can make even more progress in once I focus more on my bodyweight strength training in January, unlike what i’m doing now which is just some general strength maintenance…Going to hit the calisthenics alot harder, get back on the rings too etc.

Also thanks for the lean AF statement! Again, Mo is the prototype… Need to get MoFarahLean & MoFarahPosture, and maybe a bit closer to MoFarahFast. lmao.

peace man!!

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So, last night I was supposed to get well over 100 miles for the week. Reached 92.0 before my scheduled long run, which means I should have hit ~105 miles or so via a ~13 mile long run.

The long run got destroyed by gastro issues.

Felt amazing warming up: body felt great etc. Was going to try and hit low 7 min/mi pace for the ~13 miles, which should have been fairly easy given how good I felt. But, 0.5 miles in to the run, GI issues - I felt that “spicy feeling” in my GI + “thick mucous” creeping up. So anyway I hocked a loogie and it was so heavy that it literally landed on my arm. lmfao… I knew then that my body was in meltdown. Anyway I finished the mile, did one more, then shut it down. No point pushing myself with some junk miles to reach some arbitrary number. Finished the week @ 97.4.

But that got me thinking… Sunday morning, I had a small bit of that during my morning speed session, which went well. I did start cramping up after my second 400, but that was my last interval anyway so I didn’t think much of it. When I got home, I drank lots of milk off and on throughout, and had that turkey burger + sauteed onion + green pepper + 1 jalapeno.

Whatever the combination or “perfect storm” of ingredients, I really wrecked myself.

What’s fairly interesting is, as my mileage has gone up, i’ve had to cut out these foods:

  • bananas
  • eggs
  • watermelon
  • cheese
  • rice
  • instant oatmeal
  • some non sourdough breads
  • broccoli
  • cauliflower
  • peanuts / peanutbutter
  • jalapenos (just added)

Some of those foods I REALLY like … but they seem to routinely make my stomach “bubble up” & cause issues. I could be wrong about some of them, but this is just what i’m finding from experimentation. Often when the stomach issues get “crippling”, ie literally can’t continue running, i’ll start “hearing fluid” bouncing around in my stomach etc. I’ll hear that for a little bit, prior to getting the crippling cramp. Also, the cramp is usually in my “right abdomen/stomach” area. Also, it’s not just stomach cramps, sometimes it’s also abdominal, but in the same area. I imagine my stomach bloats up and causes issues that effect my abdominal muscles/ribs etc. Not sure though.

Contrast that to these foods which seem to make me feel incredible:

  • avocados
  • grapefruit
  • yams / sweet potato
  • coconut water
  • green/black tea
  • water with lemon

Those “foods” make me feel amazing. I can feel the difference when I eat alot of that, and how it effects my training.

Other things i’m still eating:

  • sauteed onion (white or yellow)
  • sauteed green pepper
  • milk
  • kefir
  • skyr
  • siggi’s
  • sourdough breads
  • red kidney beans on occasion
  • chicken
  • steak/beef but not often
  • strawberries
  • black coffee before important training sessions (speed) or races

Other things I might add:

  • beet juice on occasion (had some last night, need to reduce the concentration maybe, or it goes on the bad list)
  • almond milk
  • cucumber
  • spinach
  • carrots

These stomach issues I get on occasion are basically my arch nemesis. I hold back in races sometimes because i’m worried about them surfacing. Training sessions get ruined, no matter the intensity: “crippling” stomach cramps could pop up at really slow paces etc. It’s just kind of nuts… So this list of foods that I can/can’t eat, is something that i’ve been trying to figure out over the last 4 months or so. I’m trying to figure out how to eliminate any possibility of cramping, near 0% chance.

So that brings me to this week … I’m actually going to go on a no-dairy experiment & stick to things that I feel are way less risky. I had a nice thing of brie waiting for me last night, but I didn’t eat it. Just too annoyed at how wrecked I felt. I enjoy the foods I CAN eat, so there’s no problem there… I’d rather cut foods out then experience cramping & GI issues during running/training, it’s a kind of hell for me, I really hate it.

So, the temporary ban list becomes:

  • milk
  • kefir
  • skyr
  • siggi’s

New “good foods” list becomes:

  • avocados
  • grapefruit
  • yams / sweet potato
  • coconut water
  • green/black tea
  • water with lemon
  • sauteed onion (white or yellow)
  • sauteed green pepper
  • sourdough breads
  • red kidney beans on occasion
  • chicken
  • steak/beef but not often
  • strawberries
  • beet juice on occasion (had some last night, need to reduce the concentration maybe, or it goes on the bad list)
  • almond milk
  • cucumber
  • spinach
  • carrots
  • black coffee before important training sessions (speed) or races

Edit: Once “racing season” is over (December 18 2017), i’ll start trying to phase some things that I like, back into my diet, such as bananas, rice, and cheese for example. I will try some new foods as well. So these lists aren’t permanent, it’s me trying to figure out how to make my body feel & perform at its best, and reduce the risk of bloat/cramping substantially.

peace!!

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Quick weird post…

137 lb. This morning, but feeling strong and hit some running “training PR’s” this morning: fastest ever 4 x ~400 + ~100m jog rest, and 8 x ~200m + ~100m jog rest. So, even being so light, i’m still strong & feeling great. But that brings me to this:

Starting to see more groin/abdominal vascularity. Don’t recall ever seeing it like this, so possibly nearing the leanest i’ve ever been. Honestly it’s a bit freaky, which I didn’t expect. Just noticing it in the mirror kind of freaked me out. I’m basically injury phobic, two things I constantly worry about (and have for years, it drives me insane) are: achilles tear, hernia. Certain things cause my to think about them more, like calf tightness/ankle aches, ab soreness etc, and now groin vascularity. Anyway just need to be careful, safety number 1. Also, I imagine i’m going to have to get used to it, doesn’t possible to be “MoFarahLean” without some crazy vascularity. I’ve never been too vascular tbh, even when I was pretty lean when boxing and dunking… So it’s not something i’m used to, at all.

The second weird thing is, my “BO” (bad odor) is considerably less after getting down into the low 140’s and sub 140’s. Contrast that to when I was cutting fat (and maybe some muscle) from ~160 down to low 140’s, where it became a real problem. Now it’s almost non-existent… That’s kind of nuts.

dno, weird.

peace

edit: I think i’ll include a quick body comp shot I took last night (~139 with food)… I took it because I looked noticeably leaner. Groin/ab vascularity wasn’t noticeable last night IIRC, but today it is.

Took an “arm up pose” to see if I could get a serratus shot lol, but it’s kind of out of the lighting. Can still see it there popping out a bit. Seems way more defined than last month for example.

IMHO, I look leaner than the last photos I posted. Definitely lighter soo… Also, lmfao @ my stereotypical “semi side stance” for posing. lul.

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Copying & Pasting my workout from this morning. I have another speed workout soon, but it’s “relaxed 5k speed” so, shouldn’t be too crazy. Just going to do 6 x ~800m with ~400m jog rest hopefully, but staying relaxed and no pushing it too hard. That’s the plan anyway…

Here’s this morning’s workout:

workout: morning hard road track speed with Mitchell the monster: best ever 4 x lap (~400-420m) + ~100m jog rest @ {74.8/4:48, 73.8/4:47, 75.5/4:55, 73.0/4:51}, 8 x ~200-220m @ {36.2/4:48, 39.1/4:49, 35.7/4:45, 37.3/4:48, 38.2/5:02, 35.6/4:42, 33.6/4:25}, tough

good stuff. very happy with the 4 x 4 laps (lane 2 except for the last one) with 100m jog rest … felt really good.

The 8 x ~200-220’s were much more brutal. I think that’s because the “average moving pace” and “best pace” on those was considerably faster than the 400’s, like 4:1X-4:2X paces injected into the 200’s … so that really smoked me. Also I was getting smoked by Mitchell on the 200’s, completely dropped. lmfao.

basically a 4 x ~400 with short rest :personal-record: session.

That’s the garmin data.

The thing that makes these splits even more “appetizing” to me, is that I don’t do a crazy acceleration. I do a “safe acceleration”, which is more gradual. So when I hit a 1:15 (75s) in a 400m from a gradual accel, it’s more like 73s/74s which is pretty cool.

Tough workout… Dude I have been training with recently is pretty crazy, he pushes it HARD. Pure beast mode.

After tonight, just two light days (2x very light workouts each), then 5k race saturday morning and long run saturday evening, complete rest sunday, speed double on monday, light doubles on tues/wed, 5k race on thurs, complete rest fri, 5k race sat. Quick rundown :d

peace!

One thing with you training that stands out to me (and I know sweet FA about running training) is that you do a bunch of sprints as well as long distance. I’m curious, is it along the lines of getting faster over the short distances translates to being faster over long distances; or is it so you can be fast over short distances when necessary? Or something else entirely?

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you’re getting crazy lean, great work. I started noticing the same thing once I started getting very lean, IE under 10% bf. small weight fluctuations change appearance considerably, vascularity can vary day to day. It’s pretty rad IMO. Do you have quad vascularity too? That came shortly after I started seeing the ab veins. My legs look like a spiderweb lol.

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Yo @MarkKO,

Short answer: yes to both, getting faster over shorter distances (using running form, not really sprinting form), translates to getting faster over longer distances. It’s also my main goal right now, everything 1 mile and below (to 200m).

Getting faster over shorter distances does a few things, but the most simple way of looking at it, is kind of like improving your 1RM in some lift, which makes work at, or along the rep max scale, of the previous 1RM easier. So going from 1 x BW squat 1RM, to 2 x BW squat 1RM, and now being able to easily rep out and manhandle that old 1 x BW squat. So with running, that “1RM” is basically your “running economy”. Most people would probably give you a 1RM example over some distance, but to me it’s more of a running economy thing. Targeting all of the energy systems through short speed, middle speed, and long distance, pretty much allows you to cover all of the bases. One of the keys to it though, is knowing how NOT to turn things into sprints, when they shouldn’t be. For example, my 4x~400 & 8x~200 today wasn’t done with “sprinter form”, ie more on forefoot with my cadence way too fast, requiring more rest after each effort AND tapping way too much into the faster fibers. So since i’m trying to improve my mile (and 5k somewhat), I need to make sure i’m doing my shorter intervals using a form I can sustain at longer intervals, otherwise i’d be training “too much” like a sprinter and it would have a bit less carry over to distance running.

So, improving your 200 & 400m for example, gives you more potential at improving your mile, but one won’t be able to utilize that potential to its fullest unless they are also performing work that targets the other energy systems as well, and improves the efficiency of the heart etc. You improve your maximal power by throwing in some strides at 60m-100m, ATP-PC. You improve the lactic acid system using 200’s-400’s. Then you improve the mix of lactic + aerobic in the 800-3k range. And finally you improve the pure aerobic system & efficiency of the heart by performing the long, slower work (~2 hour runs, at least 1x/wk). The biggest gains in running economy, related to the nervous system, happen in the <= 400m range from what i’ve seen & experienced. So all of these systems just feed off of each other, neglecting any one of them and you won’t really reach your full potential.

So, say I want to make my 5:06 mile last year, into a 4:40. That’d be an enormous jump. But basically, i’d have to be able to go from 4 x 76s 400’s to 4 x 70s, shaving off 6 seconds per 400. If 70s for one single 400 is a struggle, there’s no way i’d be able to hit 4 x 70s. So i’d need to be able at least knock out fairly easy 70s 400 when fresh, which might mean i’d need to be able to hit a 65s 400 or lower at a more maximal effort, etc. How much lower your maximal 400 has to be, kind of depends on how much aerobic work you do & how you are built. If you are more of a distance guy and do TONS of aerobic work, you might not be able to get your 400 down too much lower. If you are more of a short speed guy and do TONS of speed work, you will probably be able to get your 400 considerably lower.

I’ve mentioned earlier I think, this feeling of “barely touching the gas pedal” and you fly… That’s the effect you want from the combination of the different types of run training, specifically the speed training. You want to just barely touch the gas pedal and hit a solid pace, then you want all of these other components to contribute to removing waste products/providing energy/oxygen etc. So that CNS factor, just like in jumping and lifting, is also very important in running. A quick example of it might be, ground contact time. Reducing your GCT by 0.01s due to speed training. Add that up over thousands of contacts, and that’s a considerably improvement etc. That can be achieved through other means, but the CNS route is very powerful & often under discussed when it comes to running.

Typed that really fast sorry, hope it makes sense. About to head out,

peace!

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Yo thanks alot man!!

Nah no quad vascularity. That spider web look is dope, but damn it feels weird seeing some of it show up. I think i’ll eventually get used to it, and it’ll become rad not freaky, like you said.

Edit: Also, I probably will end up liking it. I mean it does seem cool to be able to see some of those “internals” without fat blocking it… roots in a tree, spider web, etc. Being able to see nutrients travel through my capillaries, jk.

Here’s some Mo Farah spider web I saw on a video:

Also no idea what my body fat is right now. Maybe a legit 10%? Probably hard to tell from those photos, but general ballpark around there.

I mean, I basically want to achieve it simply because of what it implies, crazy low body fat & potentially my most efficient architecture for running. I’m not sure whether or not it will actually result in substantial performance improvements for running, but just based on how much faster I get as I get lighter & leaner, i’m just assuming it will work that way i’m imagining. It’s still an experiment though, who knows, I could somehow become a weaker runner, like maybe my feet start hurting or something, because I lose too much fat there instead of first losing it elsewhere. Stuff like that could potentially arise, and then i’d have to make sure not to get that low.

But ya i’m more naturally “skinny fat” with probably a poor diet growing up, never been noticeably vascular. So getting maybe -5 lb of fat leaner, will probably have me near that “shredded” stage. Seems like i’m getting towards that last “unnecessary” layer of fat right now. dno. As for a poor diet growing up, I was one of those kids who just was “too busy to eat”, always out playing basketball and such, eating not even crossing my mind. So I really just didn’t eat good growing up, and the types of food I enjoyed/liked were nothing like they are now. Probably malnutritioned for sure growing up, as a result of light eating and tons of activity - not due to what my parents could or couldn’t provide. I mean as an example, in h.s. i’d often play ~1-2 hours of basketball during school (bball class), ~3 hours of basketball a night, and my dad would yell at me for not eating enough dinner. lmfao. He’d get really pissed, but I just wasn’t hungry. I’d eat a little and i’d feel fine & stuffed. It’s interesting thinking about it… I just wasn’t hungry, wtf? lol. As I got older, I ate more, especially when I started lifting. I easily out-ate my co-workers and such, and wouldn’t gain much. It’s easy for me to gain weight though, I mean i’ve force fed myself bulk style for a while and put on some serious weight, so not saying that’s an issue. Anyway, tangenting.

Need to hit cheetah status, lulz.

peace dude!

Makes perfect sense. Sounds to me like working on not having any weak points in a lift by hitting it from all directions: technique, max effort, dynamic effort, individual muscles and work capacity.

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I think you’re probably right around 10%, maybe a little bit below. I know @flipcollar has no use for body fat measurements and shit, but I’m a slave to them because I don’t trust my eye with a mirror. I know they are not accurate, but these are my legs when I measured about 12% on BIA, but was probably really around 15%.

I had no ab veins to speak of, so I think vascularity is individual.

Sharing some recent book learning - not saying any of this is legit, just what I read. Speed is mostly a function of metabolic efficiency and technique. It’s very difficult to lengthen your stride since that is primarily based on anthropometry (I hate that word). So improving speed is about increasing the frequency of stride which is more a metabolic process and technique - as I understand it. Sprints will use the phosphagen metabolic pathway, and towards the end, fast glycolysis. 400’s will use phosphagen, fast glycolysis, and slow glycolysis. Over a certain period of time, not sure what that period is, you’ll switch to oxidative metabolism. Training these pathways is, I believe, the purpose behind interval training - not to mention improving VO2 Max.

Not sure any of this is important, and I’m really just regurgitating learning, so use what you can and toss the rest.

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Dude exactly. I think the lifting analogies are great, especially the part about “weak points”.

ie, improving a squat by: full ROM, partial ROM, paused pins/boards, paused free, ME, RE, submax RE, frequency changes, competition ME, and even things like accommodating resistance/assistance.

So to improve a mile, the mile itself would be “full ROM”, partial ROM would be 200/400/800/1km/1200m etc, paused pins/boards could be breaking it into intervals like the 4 x 400m with light jog rest, paused free could be breaking the mile itself into segments and hitting the segments at various paces (ie 800 moderate, 400 hard, 400 max) all in one effort, ME could be a time trial, RE could be multiple mile repeats with full recovery, submax RE could be multiple mile repeats at a lower intensity with less recovery, frequency changes = high/low freq, competition ME = races, there’s no accommodating resistance equivalent that I can think of, but other tools similar to adding bands/chains/“weight” would be things like hills or using wind resistance/assistance etc - not a fan of vests, ankle weights & stuff like that though.

Lots of similarities, and fun to think about in that way.

Also while utilizing alot of those tools in a proper progression, individuals will find their own “bread & butter / gotos” among them which gives them the best results across the whole spectrum.

peace!!

2 Likes

btw (bBw wtf?), thanks for the post! Been meaning to reply to this, there’s much I agree with and some I don’t, will reply tomorrow I think: more time.

peace!!

btw, CANES pick 6. GET THE CHAIN. ok sorry.

Some fairly cool news specific to running PR’s. Two posts will follow.

The first one is something I wrote up several days ago, some “strategy” going into the 5k race I did today. Normally I don’t strategize this much, but since I figured I might be “running by myself” AND I have some crazy fast races coming up (23rd/25th), I needed to make sure to push myself.

The next one will be the results from today. Basically nailed it, LMFAO.

TLDR, major 5k official & watch PR’s.

Biggest lesson learned from the actual race: I did very well when I periodically surged… It didn’t tire me out as much as I expected it too… This is very interesting news to me. Getting close to maybe, “wanting to always stay in front” (for more than 2 miles).

11/18/2017

Coral Spring Remembrance (9/11) Run 5k

Official results:

Strava results:

Endomondo results:

RECAP:

Coral Springs 5k: 2nd overall. Official 5k PR (18:05) :personal-record:, First sub-18 (17:51) PR watch estimated 5k, First 3 consecutive sub-6 mile splits {5:33.9,5:50.9,5:54.2}. PR CITY.

Awesome race. It was basically me leading for ~1.7, with two dudes right behind. I surged every time they tried to come even with me, to make sure I stayed in front. By 1.7 (turn around), the guy who got 1st overall took the lead, and I mostly stayed right behind or basically even, occasionally trying to test him with some surges. He outkicked me at the end. I mistimed my kick, should have done it a little later. As soon as I started to kick, he kicked and had lots of power around the turn. I should have waited until we got around the turn to just try and go full sprint, would have given me a better chance I think. Lesson learned.

This was basically my first hard 3.1 of the year, so i’m happy with it. Going to be hard to repeat this next race, because it’s the “turkey trot” which has some insanely fast guys, and the goal is to keep up with them for 2 miles so, probably going to be a bit wrecked by 2 miles. But I needed to put in an effort like this today so that I could be more prepared to grind it out in these upcoming races, which are very fast.

Looking to PR my 2 miles/cooper’s test in the next two races. I mean if I can hang on after that and keep it up, I will … but the goal is always to push it hard from the onset & push my first two mile splits way down.

EDIT: Oh also! Motorcycle cops lead the entire way … I love that. It really amps me up more for some reason. Just the sounds of the bikes & the intensity of them trying to make sure we’re safe etc, spazzing out on motorists & pedestrians who have no clue what’s going on or are trying to “violate” the rules etc… When you’re in the lead/lead pack, it’s more intense because there’s nothing in front of you, other than cops in this instance… So they have to make sure no cars are trying to cut through, or people are trying to cross the street etc… The only thing that sucks about it, is the fumes… You can definitely smell more fumes.

I tried to “buzz the tower” (I call it) and almost caught one of the cops slipping… Was right behind him almost about to get even with him before he noticed and floored it to get space. haha. I did that on one of my surges.

data:

strategy:

Based on my strategy from a few days ago, I went with the “go hard from the onset” version. Wind was coming in from the side, so no issue there. Figured i’d try to drop everyone from the onset, but two dudes held on for a while, then it played out like I mentioned above.

My head after the race (and that kyphosis lulz… FWIW, some other photos don’t have it as much, a little harder to take selfies like that etc… In my finish line photo, you can’t tell, but feels like my posture is way more upright/acceptable when actually running):

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbowGzZBJdm/?taken-by=andrewdarqui

Someone took this photo and came up to me/the winner, and texted us both a finish line photo… that was awesome. Otherwise, I may not get one, because these events usually have “poor” photography/social media.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BboxHg7BJ5A/?taken-by=andrewdarqui

^^ I really look like a runner now, IMHO.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbpJffzB-yh/?taken-by=andrewdarqui

I tell you what… i’m amazed when I don’t see people congratulate each other when they get to the “medal ceremony” … like in the age groups, overall, etc… It happens alot. First thing I do is make sure to shake the other competitor’s hands… IDGAF about anything else until I did that. The dude who won was incredible nice & positive, we are now friends on FB. We talked a bit during the 2nd half of the race… He also runs with a (crossfit) club, who had tons of people there, and they all were cheering for him as we came back down the second half. He responded to every single one of them by waving/saying thanks etc. I do that same thing… Seems like a very good dude. Third place dude was a 14 year old, got to stay on our game, he’s gong to be fast… lool.

me getting dusted:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbpJ90kh8tc/?taken-by=andrewdarqui

Anyway, happy.

Not pushing myself as hard as last year, is paying off… I mean, I want to be more easily hitting these paces, not killing myself to do so… I should be killing myself to hit consecutive sub 5’s etc. So, by focusing more on relaxation/less guts, it’s making me focus more on other things like, total mileage, lots of slow relaxed running, better speed sessions, etc… Obviously i’m going to have to push it every mile at some point, like I did today, but the overall mindset is to get faster without killing myself. I want it to be easy… So maybe that means putting in 100+ miles per week, 90% of which are light, etc… Figuring that out, is a key part of the equation.

peace!!!

5 Likes

Not sure if i’m in the minority (in general, not here), but I find women’s physiques (and performance) also very motivating. Especially since at the elite level they absolutely destroy me in terms of performance. Getting faster than an elite woman over some distance (mile, 5k for example) is literally one of my long term goals…

Two women’s physiques on opposite sides of the locomotion spectrum, middle to long distance running vs short sprinting.

Shalane Flanagan has some of the most incredible running shots.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbPp9iKga19/

Natasha Hastings, speed everywhere.

ridiculous.

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Yeah, just puking on the page. Curious to hear your thoughts.

You do look like a runner.

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Good work on your run!

I prefer gymnasts bodies :smile:

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