LIGHT BULB! Take the dog running with you! Well, he’s just now 6 mos old so I’ve been waiting until he gets a bit bigger. But I figured it couldn’t hurt and he certainly has plenty of energy to burn.

Oliver was looking at me very strangely when I did the Body Looseners, especially the Gumby arm-flinging one. He literally cocked his head sideways and watched me.

We went to Carrier Park, a loop he’s familiar with. I tied the leash around my waist and started off running very slowly, really trying to focus mostly on myself and my own running form, but having awareness around this 4-legged companion running alongside. [Note: Mei Ling, the Dreyer’s dog, is an amazing creature to watch when she’s running. While I am certain Oliver will be an excellent running companion for me, he’s no Mei-Ling, just like I’ll never be a Danny Dreyer!]

Since I had the leash around my waist, it brought extra attention to my core muscles, encouraging me to keep them engaged the whole time I was running. Since I was able to keep my arms moving, I focused on keeping them at 90 degrees with rearward momentum. I also thought about keeping my lower legs limp and loose. I didn’t want the dog’s presence or excitedness to transfer to tenseness in my legs.  The whole run felt really good. It was about a 1.5 mile run altogether with a little bit of walking on either end and, of course stretches. During a few low grade downhills I opened up my hips and sped up a bit. Oliver took it all in stride (pun intended) and switched from a canter to a gallop. He looked up at me as if to say, “Now we’re talkin’!”

My knee has been in really good shape lately. The shorter distances are suiting me well, and since I don’t have anything specific I am training for, it’s just about the process and experiment of running just for the sake of it.

For those of you with dogs, if they’re in good enough health to take running or walking, I highly encourage it. Danny and Mei go out running everyday together, and Katherine often takes Mei running and walking, too. She’s one of the happiest dogs I’ve ever met, and as you all know, the Dreyer’s are certainly happy and healthy.  What a model to follow!

Denver is the Mile High City: elevation 5, 280. I grew up there, so I have a fair advantage of a few more red blood cells than sea-level dwellers, and because Asheville is about 2,100 feet.

In any case, I went for about a two mile run around the neighborhood and flood plain where I grew up. I have distinct memories of riding my bike and (dreadfully) running the same route years ago. It was such a visceral moment remembering the frustration I felt when I used to run that it sort of alarmed me. But it ended up being a great quick jaunt through memory lane.

It’s a basically flat course, with a few gradual hills. Always aware of my chin now, I kept my crown high and my core engaged and my stride short. When I finally got into a rhythm, I switched my focus to pelvic rotation: because there were a few downhills, I was able to get a pretty good-feeling pelvic rotation and could tell that my feet were landing underneath/behind me and not in front of my on the downhills. That was great feeling.

I passed a few other runners and walkers to whom I desperately wanted to shout, “Chi Running, follow me, Chi Running, follow me! I can show you the way!” Strange, I know.

The funny part was at the wedding: I chatted with a few friends/neighbors who said, “Liz, I saw you running in the flood plain today. Was that you? You looked good!” Jaw dropped. Really? You saw me? And I looked decent? I got a good chuckle out of that one.

I did my Body Looseners and walked before running, and walked a bit and stretched after running. I felt great, no soreness, no knee pain, no side aches, just a bit of breath shortness because of altitude. Hoorah!

(I was sore the next day from dancing for 4 hours straight, though… next up: Chi Dancing!)

I decided to test myself with a set of six ½-mile intervals on the track to see how well my breathing would hold up. All of that aerobic training is paying off, because I was able to run the entire set without getting winded.

Here are my splits for the set in the order I ran them. My main goal with the workout was to progressively run each interval faster without increasing my perceived rate of exertion (which I wanted to keep at a constant 6-7 on a scale of 1-10). This is the perceived rate of exertion I plan to use on race day.

Six ½-mile intervals
Resting heart rate: 41
Max heart rate during exercise: 155
Resting heart rate during 200m jog breaks: 114

1. 4:09
2. 3:45
3. 3:35
4. 3:24
5. 3:21
6. 3:10
Average of the six: 3:34

According to “Yasso’s Rule” I should be able to run a 3:34 marathon if I take the average of my 6 intervals and convert the split time from minutes to hours and seconds to minutes. This not only tells me that I’m ready to run a marathon at a Boston qualifying pace, but that I’m now ready to safely add speed work into my workouts without overtaxing my lungs or starving my legs of oxygen.

My current training plan from now until race day:
I plan to change my daily running workouts to include sets of 10 x 3-minute hill intervals twice weekly for the next two weeks. I’ll then increase the length of the intervals to 4 or 5 minutes each and do six of these intervals twice weekly. One run per week will be a 6 mile run at race pace and one run per week will be a Long Slow Distance run of 10-12 miles. ALL of my weekly runs will be on trails up to race day and I plan to do a 4-day taper before the race.

Within all of these various workouts I will always be working to perfect both my uphill and my downhill running technique so that on race day I can run efficiently and fast. Let’s hope my plan works.

Cheers,
Danny

Doing the Body Looseners and a bit of ChiWalking before and after running is going to save me, I believe. Patience is certainly not one of my highest strengths, and by doing the Looseners and stretches and walking before and after running, it’s forcing me to take things a bit more slowly and in manageable bits.

I think this process is good because as Danny often says, getting your brain to really focus for steady periods of time is hard — your mind wants to wander! So if I can really practice focusing for the entire run (by starting with shorter times and distances), then it will get easier over time to focus for longer periods of time.

We talk about refocusing in the Beginner Marathon Training Program (and in the Intermediate, due out next month). This idea of focusing and refocusing is so imperative to all of us… not only when we’re running but when we’re doing anything in life. What’s so exciting, though, is that as runners and walkers, we can practice refocusing while we’re exercising (doing something we love) and then it starts to become 2nd nature and you can refocus more easily on anything in other veins of life.

So if I loosen, walk, run, walk and stretch, in that order each time I go out for a run, the entire process turns into a series of events when I must refocus, over and over again. If I apply this same reasoning to the rest of my life, say for example, my morning when I arrive at the office, perhaps I could use the same idea of refocusing:

Check email, get tea ready, respond to 5 emails, return phone calls, rebrew tea, walk around the office for 5 minutes, check email, prepare for meeting…

I think the most important thing about the practice of refocusing is that you make a choice about what you need to focus on (during your day, your run, your vacation, etc.) and have an implicit understanding with yourself that while there may be temporary distractions, going back to focusing on “this list” is the most important thing…

So, on that note, I am off to brew some tea.

Bless Carrier Park in all its flatness. I walked down there and did two laps around. It’s just over 3 miles if you go twice around, like a 5k. I don’t know how long it took me, and I don’t mind!

I started with these focuses: tall crown, engaged core, 90 degree arms. I have a tendency to pull my arms up, so it’s really helped me to start running by standing still and then falling, but setting up the 90 degrees first and then recognizing as soon as I start how low it is compared to how I tend to bend my arms if I don’t think about it. I also worked on a short stride and relaxing my pelvic region to let my legs go behind me to help out my precious knees. No twinge of knee pain whatsoever. !

I wish you could all see Danny run. Seriously, I don’t mean to gloat because I get to see him at his best, but the man is so beautiful when he runs. I sometimes find myself imagining his form when I go running and try to emulate it. I don’t think  I do very well, but it’s fun to try.

I tried to take it easy with my breathing. I recognized about 1/2 way through that I was “efforting” too much, and using my lower legs to propel. I immediately let off and let myself fall. I could tell my PRE changed very quickly and I was able to pick up the pace just a touch by relaxing more. What a gift!

I might go for another run on Sunday. It’s feeling so good again, I am totally reinvigorated and hopeful and mindful of what’s been going on with my body and trying to honor it. I do notice, however, that my PRE is much elevated compared to several months ago… so I take it with a grain of salt because I know what I am capable of. I just have to get out there again!

Standing over a bowl of cereal and a Sudoku puzzle after my run, I rolled a frozen juice can alternately on each foot to help out my plantar fascia. It hasn’t bothered too much lately, but I certainly don’t want to nuture it.

Bon weekend folks!

Sunday was like that here; it ended up in the 90s by the afternoon, but the morning was crisp. I didn’t have plans to go walk or run, but decided that it was a nice morning for it.

After doing my Body Looseners, I headed down to Carrier Park, the loop of flat land around the river. I paid close attention to my “C” Shape and walked down to the park and did one loop around ChiWalking. It felt great to be outdoors, in my body, listening and responding.

I took short strides, lead with my upper body, pumped my arms, and let my hips swing. I noticed I kept holding tension in my feet (plantar fasciitis isn’t totally gone yet), so I kept reminding myself to relax relax relax.

After one nice loop of walking around the park, I decided to see about a slow run. I transitioned from ChiWalking into ChiRunning very slowly, keeping my core engaged, lengthening from my crown and letting my body fall. I wanted to be careful of my knee, and so took very short strides, keeping a visualization of my head that my feet never landed in front of my hips.

I kept a slow pace and did Body Scans over and over again, transitioning from focus to focus as I moved along, depending on what part of my body needed attention. When my shoulders started to sway, I thought of my elbows really going rearward. When my breathing got a little more intense, I practiced Y’Chi. When my knee made a miniature twinge, I reengaged my core and let my pelvis get looser.

At the end of one loop, I transitioned back into ChiWalking and cooked down for a little while. I chose to stretch at the park instead of at home because I get anxious and go to quickly through my stretches when I do them at home. I feel great today, and have two golfballs rolling underneath my feet to keep my feet nice and relaxed and loose.

Here’s to going for a walk or run just for the pure pleasure of it. I realized yesterday that right now, I don’t have an event that I have to train for right now. It’s sort of a strange, liberating feeling. I can just do what I want when I want and can give myself permission to go short or long, easy or hard, with friends or without, with music or without… Hooray!

The key to training and conditioning oneself properly for long distance running and walking (and the most sane way), is aerobic training which was used quite effectively by Arthur Lydiard, one of the best running coaches ever. Training in your “aerobic zone” means that you do the vast majority of your workouts at a pace where you’re not gasping for breath or feeling like your heart is trying to jump out of your chest. So, if I’m going to be giving advice I need to make sure it’s good, accurate advice and not just theory.

There have been volumes of books written about how to train for all of the distances I mentioned, but what is needed today more than ever is a system that helps runners and walkers to realize their fitness goals in the safest and most energy-efficient way. To me that means not just putting out another training manual that tells you how many minutes or miles to run during each workout. That’s easy. But if you’re training for a 10k race, you’ll get a lot more bang for your training buck if you add great running technique onto all of that great conditioning. My goal is to offer training programs for running and walking that not only help you too increase your conditioning level by training within your aerobic zone, but actually help you to master your technique at the same time. As long as you’re going to be out there, why not kill two birds with one stone?

So, to make a long story (what could be an entire book, in fact) short, I bought a heart rate monitor so I can measure the effect that any of the ChiRunning form focuses might have on my performance and efficiency…measured in heartbeats per minute. For me it’s a biofeedback tool for measuring whether or not my efficiency is effected by making slight adjustments in how I run or walk. I’ll let you know how it goes.

My first use of the heart rate monitor was to measure my resting heart rate as soon as I opened my eyes… it was 41. I’m going out for a hilly trail run this morning, so we’ll see if I can get this thing to help me run hills more easily.

See ya later,
Danny

Seattle was great. The Expo was fantastic (great to see all of you runners there!) and the weather on race day was wonderful; sunny and fairly cool. Sarah and I were in a rearward corral and waited almost an hour to cross the start line, but we kept a positive attitude and enjoyed the many other walkers and runners and the beautiful sunshine.

It was a really lovely course, with enough hills but nothing too killer. Sarah and I walked, but threw in a couple of run “breaks” for good measure. I focused a lot on trying to keep my forward stride short, and the end of my stride long, extending rearward, aided by good pelvic rotation. I kept my core engaged the whole time (that afternoon my core muscles were sore!) and I think that helped alleviate stress on my knee. I kept my arms moving at a nice clip and we definitely made sure to slow down for a picture-op or to listen to the many great bands that were along the route.

The “C” Shape is something I constantly need to work on, and so I spent a great deal of time reestablishing my form during the race using the “C” Shape imagery: core engaged creates the bottom of the C, crown tall/chin down creates the top of the C.

About mile 11, the bottoms of my feet started to hurt. I did a Body Scan, and after a few minutes, was certain my form was in very good condition. I believe the amount of time on my feet the two days prior at the Expo, put some strain on my feet that I wasn’t adequately prepared for.  Sarah and I made it to the finish line in a respectable 3:07, where I soon propped up for a leg drain and ate a banana. We walked back to the hotel gingerly and spent the afternoon lounging around the hotel floor, stretching and rubbing our legs out.

The next several days I had some soreness in the bottoms of my feet (but no where else!), which extended to the lateral side of the top of my feet. Plantar fasciitis was trying to rear its nastiness on my feet. With a couple good doses of Advil, rolling golf balls under my feet and staying off my feet, the plantar seems to be almost back to normal. For those of you who have suffered from plantar fasciitis, I have the greatest sympathy and understanding. And for those of you who haven’t had it, do everything you can to avoid it. As Danny says, “There are a few things in this world I would not wish on my worst enemy.”

Thank you for supporting me along the way, folks. I appreciate it greatly. I’ll keep posting about my running and walking practices, which I am excited to keep developing and deepening. Ivan and I got a dog, too, so that’s sure to keep me motivated for daily walks and runs.

Here’s the keeping yourself centered with mindfulness and strength.

What is Aerobic running?

Whenever you're training with the goal in mind to run at higher speeds and/or for longer distances, it is crucial that you first build your aerobic capacity, the ability of your body to uptake oxygen into your bloodstream and transport that oxygen to your muscles. Aerobic running is done at a speed where your body can easily keep up with the oxygen requirements of your running. It's generally considered a "conversational" pace, meaning that you could comfortably carry on a conversation with a running buddy while running. By training at this speed you can build a good aerobic base from scratch in about 12 weeks. 

Here's a basic training rule developed by Dr. Phillip Maffetone*, one of the most prominent training experts of our time: "To build a good aerobic base, you should train only aerobically. This means that during the base-building phase of your training no anaerobic workouts (including speed intervals, racing or weight training) should be done. Anaerobic exercise will jeopardize the efficient development of your aerobic base, so every workout should be run at an aerobic pace including your LSD run, your hilly runs, and any tempo runs or interval workouts." 
 

What is Anaerobic running?

Anaerobic running means you're running hard enough that your lungs can't keep up with the oxygen demands of your muscles. When you run out of oxygen in your muscles they won't fire properly. It takes blood sugar (glycogen) to fuel your muscles, but it takes oxygen to burn glycogen. If that's not there, your muscles will eventually cease to fire. When you run anaerobically you have difficulty speaking in complete, unbroken sentences. These workouts generally include sprinting, speed intervals, hill intervals, racing and plyometric exercises.

There are several reasons why anaerobic workouts can inhibit aerobic base building:

    * Anaerobic training can decrease the number of aerobic muscle fibers, sometimes significantly. This can happen in just a few short weeks of higher heart rate training.
    * The lactic acid produced during anaerobic training may inhibit the aerobic muscle enzymes necessary for building an aerobic base.
    * Anaerobic training raises your respiratory quotient. This means the percentage of energy derived from sugar increases and fat burning decreases. In time, this may force more anaerobic metabolism and less aerobic function.
    * Stress can also inhibit the aerobic system. Stress is nearly synonymous with anaerobic training. Excess stress raises cortisol levels, which ultimately increases insulin levels, inhibiting fat burning and increasing sugar usage. This promotes anaerobic metabolism and inhibits aerobic activity."

 

At what heart rate should I train?

Dr. Maffatone's "180 Formula" establishes the best heart rate for building an aerobic base. 

The 180 Formula

To find your maximum aerobic heart rate:

1. Subtract your age from 180 (180 - age).
2. Modify this number by selecting one of the following categories:

   1. If you are recovering from a major illness, surgery or on any regular medication, subtract 10.
   2. If you have not exercised before, or have been injured, regressing in your running,  often get colds, or you have allergies, subtract 5.
   3. If you have been exercising for up to two years with no real problems and have not had colds or flu more than once or twice a year, subtract 0.
   4. If you have been exercising for more than two years without any problems, making progress in competition without injury, add 5.
 
For example, if you are 30 years old and fit into category B: 180 - 30 = 150, and 150 - 5 = 145. This is your maximum aerobic heart rate. For efficient base building, you should train at or below this level throughout your base-building period (Phases I and II in the Chi Running Marathon Training Program)

Using heart rate to monitor your conditioning level

An advantage of monitoring your heart rate is to be able to measure improvements over a period of time using the Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) test which objectively measures your improvements in aerobic speed during base building. Aerobic speed means you can run faster at the same aerobic heart rate without the wear and tear on your body which often accompanies hard training. 

The easiest way to monitor your heart rate is with a heart rate monitor. If you can beg, borrow or buy a heart rate monitor, do a monthly MAF test on a track. Following an easy warmup, run three to five miles at your maximum aerobic heart rate. Below is an actual example of a runner performing the MAF test at a heart rate of 150:

                   April   May   June   July

     Mile 1    8:21   8:11   7:57   7:44

     Mile 2    8:27   8:18   8:05   7:52

     Mile 3    8:38   8:26   8:10   7:59 

If you're training at your maximum aerobic heart rate the MAF test should show faster times as the weeks pass. If you add anaerobic work or racing to your aerobic base training phase, your progress will be slower or none at all."  

If you don't have access to a heart rate monitor you can still do this training without one. Measure your pulse manually by pressing your fingertips on the side of your neck just below your jawbone. If you'd like to measure your pulse in the middle of a run or at the end of an interval, just stop and count your pulse for 15 seconds then multiply that number by four to get your heart beats per minute. If you stop for too long in the midst of a run, your heart rate will slow down and not give you an accurate reading of your true current heart rate.

I've heard many reports from runners who have run faster times in races from a 5K to a marathon training strictly aerobically and without doing any speed work. So, if you're interested in running faster by easing up on the gas pedal, give it a try. When you can train at your maximum aerobic heart rate and take full advantage of using the ChiRunning focuses, you'll see how easy it is to run at faster speeds without your body feeling an increase in effort … and I'm definitely not pulling your leg.

Train well,
Danny
 
*We'd like to acknowledge Dr. Phillip Maffetone for this information, as well as FootNotes and the RRCA.