Training with No Gravity Part 2

A few people asked me to write a bit more about my experience with the Alter G.  I’ve run on it 5 times now (so I’m not any sort of expert).  I do know I have not regretted a single run.  I haven’t felt pain during or after run, so I’m honestly glad I’ve started using it.  I actually think my recovery is starting to go really well (but I also feel extremely jaded because my last run was at 77% body weight).

Before last week, I had heard about an Alter G treadmill but never used it for myself.  I had seen it downstairs but never used it.  I had seen one of my elite coworkers use it but seeing someone run 5 min miles like no big deal….well you don’t stop to chat while they are doing workouts.

I honestly hadn’t even done that much research about it prior to last week. I was letting an extremely useful training tool pass by me.  After my doctor said I could use the alter G, I did more research and decided to give it a go.

I knew we had one at Haddonfield Running Company to rent and use.  Finding one would have probably been the hardest hurdle.  Life granted me a ray on sunshine though.

So last week I went in to do my 20 minutes.  I knew nothing and once again I had done very little research until about an hour prior.  70% seemed to be the optimal starting point in beginning to run post stress fracture.

You wear a pair of party pants that essentially zip you into the machine.  As it calibrates, you stand completely still with you arms crossed.  It’s a lot easier said then done.   The chamber where you will run fills with air.  The gravity almost feels as if it’s lifting you off the ground. It’s a strange and indescribable feeling. I felt like I was running in the pool but with no resistance.

So with that I ran for 20 minutes at 6.5 pace and 70% body weight.  I didn’t listen to music because I wanted to be hyper aware of my foot.  During the run it felt as if there was no pain or pressure on it.  It felt fine.  I honestly wasn’t surprised since it was putting very little pressure on my foot.

After I made it through my 20 minutes completely pain free, it was more the afterwords I was worried about. The next few minutes I felt fine. I chatted with my coworkers. I drove home and felt fine afterwords. I haven’t had any extra aches, pains or problems since adding these Alter G runs. I’ve started to slowly up my body weight use from 70% body weight to 77%. My plan is to keep slowly upping my body weight until I feel good running at 95%, then I will try running outdoors.

(I’m not being payed to be injured and review an Alter G)

Questions for you:
Have you tried an Alter G?
How do you come back post injury?