Butt Kicks, Skipping, High Knees, and Grapvines Oh My!

With the East 6th track covered in snow and Yves-Marc (who was subbing for Coach Kate) thinking we've run one too many Fartleks on the West Side, YM decided to shake thing up tonight. We ran loops around Washington Square Park and incorporated some "old school" type running drills. We did 8 loops of the park, 4 with drills and 4 without. Before leaving Paragon, YM and the other pacers demonstrated the drills:

Butt Kicks: the purpose of this drill is to run to your feet touch your butt. Click here for a demonstration of the butt kick
Skipping: There were two levels of skipping; Level 1 was the way we skipped when we were kids. Level 2 was more like a hop than a skip. The goal was to get good height off the leg you're pushing off. Here is Jamaican Sprinter Asafa Powell demonstrating the level 2 skip.


High Knees: This is similar to Level 2 Skipping but with less height. The goal was to get our knees towards our chin. It's very similar to the drill you football players do when they go through the tires. Here is Mr. Powell demonstrating high knees


Grapevine: this is very hard to explain and I failed miserably at it. The goal was to strengthen the hips by putting one leg in front then in back creating a twisting like motion. It's a common dance move, and I'm a terrible dancer. Check this out to get a better sense.


YM and Pacer Joe mentioned that all of the drills, while not traditional track intervals, are still designed to increase your turnover and stregthen your quads, calves, and hips.

It's not exactly what I was expecting when I showed up at Paraon tonight but it was nice to do something different. I'm definitely feeling the effect of the workout in my quads and calves. With some warmer forecasted for the weekend, we hope to back on the track next week.