running out of excuses

Did a double set of jumps yesterday so this morning was not feeling the jumps -- calves and shins a bit sore.
Wife said that the kids came home from school and simply passed out on the couch before dinner, so they all had 12 hours of sleep and everyone was up this morning by 5:15. So I pulled on the shorts and went for a short run. Probably the third time in my life I have ever gone for a run. I set the timer to 8 minutes and ran away from home. When it beeped, I reset it and ran back home.
Ended up going right up to the main shopping street in Azabujyuban. Saw a few other runners, a couple of dog-walkers, and at least two party couples on their way back from a late night out (nice!)
Because of my martial arts background, I run (and walk, too actually) kinda strange. It's hard to explain but basically I imagine that my legs are connected below my shoulders instead of my hips. Or more specifically, that my shoulder and hip and connected, making two main left and right trunks in my body. So instead of left foot - right arm, right foot - left arm, which puts serious torque on the body, imagine left foot - left arm, right foot - right arm. That's an extreme exaggeration of course, but the basic idea is not to twist the body. I imagine that when my right leg lifts up and moves forward, I drop my right shoulder blade and move my right shoulder down and forwards in conjunction with my right hip. The hip and shoulder drive the right side of the body, and the leg and arm swings out because they are connected to the hip and shoulder. Also I try not to kick off with the back foot, extended the ankle. Instead I bend the knee of the left leg, letting the right side of the body fall forward as I move the right hip and shoulder forward (raising the right leg).
Anyway it is a strange, kind of loping, wobbling gate. Not terribly fast and my steps are not long, but that is not the point. I am trying to run efficiently (defined as not twisting or torquing the trunk of the body) and really use the back, shoulders, hips, and core.
So I ran for about 18 minutes and felt pretty much like I do after jumping. Perhaps a bit more winded because unlike with jumping where I trip and stop a few times, I ran straight through and did not stop.
Got back home and finished off the exercises as the family had breakfast. Noticed that my abs were really burning nicely; I think I used more abs running than I do jumping? Or maybe it was the extra abs work I did last night...
Either way I think I will mix in some running a couple times a week; fun to get out and see the neighborhood and move around a bit, feel the cool morning wind and sun, smell the stinky Tokyo air!