Running Technique and GORE-TEX photo shoot

I do not consider myself a runner. This past Monday and Tuesday I got booked to do a photo shoot for GORE-TEX in Rhode Island. When I talked to the photographer on the phone I asked "So, we are going to be getting some running shots?" he said "We are going to be getting ALL running shots". I have never done a shoot that was ALL running, so I was not sure how my body would respond.

Let's just say I am SO SORE. It is all in my calfs and my tibialis anterior (shins). It is not shin splints, it  just feels like tight muscles. I have been massaging myself and foam rolling,

We did some regular street running,

and we also did trail running.

The shoot was really focused on GORE shoes; Nike, Sauconmy, and Brooks. We got shots of wet, cold/dry and snowy terrain. (We had to spray down the deck to make it look wet, it was actually a beautiful sunny day!)

The snow was made from huge spools of cotton and then sprayed with water. People walking by thought it was real.

I also had to run though some watery mud with my Nike shoes to show how the GORE trail Nike shoes can really manage the outdoor elements.

This shoot made me really think about my running form, where I was landing and how I was holding my body. I started the shoot heel striking, which is fine and actually gets a great angle of the shoe for the camera. And then we switched to landing more on the mid area of my food. I had to really THINK about doing this as it did not come naturally. But as the shoot went on and by the second day it felt much easier!

Watch this short video on running form.

The photographer on the set,Trevor Brown, was really amazing. He knew how to catch my stride at the right time and he got really amazing shots. He never settled for "good". I also met one of the founders of "The Most Informal Running Club Ever", Alex. He was the male running model on the shoot! I learned about his running club and it seems awesome. So if you live in Boston, you have to check it out!

The pictures above were taken from iPhones. I will share the real picture when they come!

How is your running form? Do you have any advice? How do you land?

Starving for a photo shoot

I recently had a photo shoot with Eric Levin, from Elevin Studios. The photos are for a composite card, which is like a portfolio/business card combo. This will be a really useful tool for me as I am trying to get into fitness modeling and/or commercial modeling. When I say fitness modeling I do not mean that my goal is to do muscle posing on the cover of Oxygen, I mean I want to display exercises in a spread in SHAPE magazine!

After my shoot someone asked me if I went on "some crazy diet" before the shoot.  Legit question. I can totally understand wanting to look your best for photos that will be in the public eye, but here is my answer… NO!  This was my second photo shoot, the first being with Lucie Wicker Photography, and before that one I DID restrict my food intake more. After that experience, I told myself I would not do it again for the following reasons:

1. I hate restrictions! I like to eat what my body needs.

2. I was so grumpy and all I thought about was food.

3. I ate even worse AFTER the shoot that I did before I started my “diet." I had an “I am free” feeling and thought “let me eat the world!”

4. I eat clean enough that there was no noticeable difference in my body, even with the restrictions.

5. Who  am I trying to fool? I know what my body looks like and the photos should be a strong representation of that. It would not be good business practice to advertise myself a certain way on my comp card and show up to a photo shoot with my body looking different.

I guess my restrictive diet before my first photo shoot was kind of a test. Would I still feel good for a photo shoot without restrictions before? Would I be bloated?  Would I look my best? For my most recent shoot with Elevin I ate my PB, almond butter, oatmeal, quinoa, nuts, mango (dried no sugar added), and mini dark chocolate chips, which are all the things I did not allow myself to have before that first shoot.

While I didn't completely restrict, I DID do things differently for the three days before the shoot:

1. I LOVE broccoli and brussels sprouts, but they can make me bloated and, errr, gassy so I stayed away from them! Yes, they are great foods for a healthy diet when you're trying to lose weight, but I was more concerned with avoiding bloat than dropping pounds.

2. I traded in my daily apples for grapefruit. I chose grapefruit thinking that the fiber pectin would help cleanse my body. I'm not sure if it did anything, but mentally it made me feel better.

How did I feel at this shoot with Eric, you're wondering? AMAZING! I felt better than I did during my first shoot. I felt I had more energy, I was stronger, and I was ready to conquer!

On the morning of the shoot I ate oatmeal, half a banana, and PB. During the day,though, I was only able to scarf down an apple and Asian pear in between shots. My body is used to eating every 2-3 hours, so eating nothing that day wasn't a great idea. But my energy was so high and I was so excited to be doing what I was doing I didn't feel hungry or shaky. It's weird how your body can go in to a ZONE and just GO.

I can’t wait to share more about the shoot with you, tips from the makeup artist, advice from the photographer, and all the other things I learned during the shoot! Stay tuned!