One issue was ankle related. We had been running up a pretty long hill, and my friend would occasionally say “Ow!”  – not a good sign. Her ankle would twitch now and then. Since we had been running on this rolling course for a while, I thought maybe her calves might be tightening up. I suggested she shorten her stride length and peel her foot up while she was running, really allowing the ankle to relax and the foot go floppy. Within a minute she reported that the ankle had calmed down and she was able to run without pain. She stayed on top of it by body sensing a relaxed ankle, and if her mind strayed (we chatted a lot) she knew what to do if the ankle twitched. We were able to finish the run painfree. The added benefit (for me) is I was reminded myself to keep my lower legs relaxed, and after twelve miles of rolling terrain, I felt fresh, almost like I had just started. Only the salt on my face gave it away!

Another favorite trick I use when running is the C shape. With this one, I can level my pelvis and lengthen my spine, all in one move. It’s a great way to hit the “running refresher button” as it opens up all the channels for the chi to flow. I have a tendency to let my head fall back if I get really tired, and coming back to that C shape brings it all back into line. I also like to practice this one while I am driving, by setting my rearview mirror up a little, so I have to crane my neck to see in it. This gives my body a reminder to feel what it feels like to have a nice long spine, and makes it feel more natural when I apply it in my running.

These ‘tricks’ and more (also know as form focuses) are outlined in the ChiRunning book (p. 117), as well as how to use them (Ch. 5). If there is an instructor in your area, a good way to learn some tricks is to take a workshop or lesson from them. You’ll learn a lot of the tricks throughout the lesson, and your instructor will guide you through a practice run using them. As you become more familiar with them, you’ll come to appreciate the bag o’ tricks to take on your runs. I know I do!

This morning, just as I was about to start running I suddenly remembered a conversation I had recently with a friend who had just returned from vacation. She had told me how much she had enjoyed exploring the places she had visited by virtue of just putting on her running shoes. She said that if she had been in a car she would not have been able to observe, absorb and experience the new surroundings at a comfortable pace. When I am running by myself I usually focus on my running form but today I decided to take a vacation and observe, absorb and experience.

A few minutes later I was in a neighborhood that is off my usual running path. Isn’t it amazing how surroundings can impact your mood? At home when we’ve changed things around by decorating or painting the walls I feel brighter and more inspired and today, just by running a totally different route I found myself feeling more alert and adventurous. Occasionally I would check in with my running form, making sure I was holding my running posture could feel my midfoot strike, but mostly I enjoyed looking at the different architecture of the homes I saw and I even took a few walking breaks to get a better look at some of the gardens where bushes were still flowering.

At one point I found myself at the foot of a very short hill — just 25 yards or so and on the spur of the moment I decided to practice my uphill running technique. I did six hill repeats. It was so short and I was feeling so energized it would have been easy to have got lured in to some power running, but I was true to my ChiRunning form. I concentrated on a short stride and on my arm swing — using my upper body with my focus on the tips of my elbows swinging forward instead of backward. I also worked with my breathing to expand my chest cavity. At the crest of the hill there was a building very close to the street with two doors — one a deep but bright burgundy and the other a lively green. They were happy colors. I made the doors my goal point on my hill repeats because I enjoyed seeing them so much. Every time I would start running uphill I knew there was a reward at the top.

Finally, I found myself on a street that took me back to familiar surroundings. Although my total running time was fairly short (45 minutes) it felt like I had been gone for longer as I had covered new ground. If you are traveling to visit family or friends over the holidays I encourage you to explore your new surroundings by running. And, if you are staying home trying running on a new trail or in a different neighborhood and tell me if your fun quotient doesn’t go up a little.

A lot of what ChiRunning and ChiWalking provide for us as we move our bodies is a) the proper thoughts and focuses to have and then b) the belief, through positive experience, that good thoughts can create great results.

I imagine that many of you have workouts like I do, when you think, “Geez, what is wrong with me today? Why doesn’t this feel good? Why am I breathing so hard?” So, what if we all just changed the tune: “Okay, this doesn’t feel great, but I can do something about it. My knee hurts, which may be because I am stepping to far forward…”

And suddenly, your knee might stop hurting. Your brain might float to another part of your body that’s asking for attention, so you Body Sense that part of your body, and direct it with a Form Focus.  And that part of your body will relax and loosen.

I remember these lessons during my working days, too, or when I get home from work and need to do things around my house. There’s always an opportunity to change your thoughts, your beliefs, your perspectives and therefore, your experience.

So if you’re having a not-so-hot run, or a slightly-painful walk, or a crazy-pull-my-hair-out-day, take a moment and change your thoughts. Change the tone to positive. I remember a few years ago when I adamantly told myself, “Liz, you just aren’t ever gonna be a runner!”

… fast forward to today: I’ve completed two half marathons and find running to be one of the most cathartic and enjoyable things I can do for myself. All from a few positive pieces of thinking.

Go forth and think positively!

Week 6 of marathon training continued to be educational with the focus on upper body.  Many people hold tension in their shoulders due to the fact that we spend a lot of time sitting at desks and in front of computers these days.  When running, the upper body is just as important as the lower body.  Next time you are out for a run, try to keep your upper body facing forward and allow your arms to swing gently to the rear.  Keep the shoulders down and quiet.  This is much easier to do if your body is aligned and the back of your neck is long.  Have a look at Danny’s video blog which explains how to lengthen the back of your neck.  If your arms are not swinging enough, then you are asking your lower body to do too much work.  Running is all about balance.

One of the week’s focuses was Y’chi, focusing on a point in the middle distance and getting your body to follow the direction of your eyes.  This is something I need to practise more; it fits well with the ‘C’ Shape focus and stops me from dropping my head and/or eyes. It keeps me aligned and I feel my effort level drop.  During my long run, I put it to good use and also worked on some focus pairs combining upper and lower body focuses.  Again, I finished the run feeling very strong with no trace of any muscle overuse in my body.  The day after my long run, I treated myself to a short run in my Vibram Five Fingers.  I love the freedom of running in them.  I intend to do a bit more running in them over the next few months but gradual progress is the key.

Another thing I love about running on a team is working with a coach. I have been very lucky to work with the coaches I’ve had throughout my running career. My high school coach, Dennis Driscoll taught me the value of a scientific approach. Coach Driscoll had his athletes train with a heart rate monitor which allowed us to stay within our training zone and learn about the various systems of the body that contribute to the overall act of running.

My college coach, Jim Jellison, taught me the value of core strength and being a total athlete. This allowed me to step outside the typical power running paradigm of “run more miles,” and strengthen my whole body. Working with a stability ball, stability disc and various other items has improved my running and life dramatically.

I’m now running post collegiately for a team called The Sisu Project, which was started by my good friend and college teammate Matt Germain. Being a part of this team has been instrumental in my continued success as an athlete, and more importantly as a person.  Having a network of people sharing a similar vision and goals helps keep me focused and motivated.

Running with a team can also help improve your running form. When running behind someone it is more difficult to overstride because you will step on their heels. A great ChiRunning focus to practice while doing track intervals with your team is feeling the one legged posture stance while trying to eliminate any forward reaching with the leg. If you clip the heels of the runner in front of you it is likely that you are over striding.

]]> 2009-12-17T15:21:34+00:00 http://www.chirunning.com/blog/entry/running-form-the-key-to-uphill-running-part-two http://www.chirunning.com/blog/entry/running-form-the-key-to-uphill-running-part-two#When:15:16:34Z Continuing  my Uphill running effort at Mt. Ashland, my ChiWalking identity soon became the major player in its collaboration with ChiRunning. It seemed a rational strategy to conserve energy for the many miles ahead by ChiWalking at a fast pace rather than ChiRunning at a slow pace. That seemed to be the way I could cover the overall distance in the least time – and isn’t that one of the primary goals of a “race”!

So, there I went, switching into ChiWalking form landing in front of the heel and peeling the foot, relaxing my lower body with legs in a support role, using my upper body focus with a reduced arm swing angle as needed, retaining an overall increased lean from the ankles into the hills, and increasing my cadence as much as I could without increasing my perceived effort too much.

Somewhere about mile 10, the dirt road became a single, winding steep trail. At this point I started to draw upon my lateral running/walking form where I turned my body to 2 o’clock or 10 o’clock continuing with my small running or walking steps, feet still landing flat, using my lower arm swing to help me up the hill. It was also during this phase that I drew upon the y’chi focus up the trail letting the energy pull me forward.  At this point, the views were incredible and the big “ball” at the summit  had come into tantalizing view.

Approaching the ski lodge at mile 12, I paused long enough at the aid station for some sport drink for the final push. Just over a mile to go. I was happy to see my lady friend, Kathy at the aid station, with a big encouraging smile as she had driven up to that level and had lots of energy to get me started on the final steep uphill. I, on the other hand, was very tired and I was starting to experience some cramping along the outside of my lower right leg and ankle joint. For a minute, the muscles simply locked so that I was immobilized. It took an adjustment in my running form to free up the muscles and from then on, I had to stay especially aware of that muscle group. One change in running form I made was to use the “hands on quads and push” approach as it seemed the only way I could keep progressing up the  final ascent.

But there was even more of an uphill challenge ahead as with a half mile remaining, a sign at a fork in the trail gave us two ways to the summit: 1). “Shorter, steeper, very hard”, and 2). “Longer, steep, hard”.  I took number 2 as I wanted to be sure to make it to the top. One of the few running form focuses I could still successfully implement at this point was to increase the turnover rate of my very short strides, leading to my surging toward the top which now just yards away – and then I was there. Whew! I had conquered Mt Ashland– well, sort of – and now I could let it all out. What a relief – to laugh, cry and catch my breath. Let’s hear it for uphill running – and the running  forms of ChiRunning and ChiWalking!

Postscript: As it turned out, a quarter of the starters stopped at the ski lodge.  Overall, I finished a respectable 110th, 4th in my 60 – 69 age group, in 3 hrs 48 minutes. For more on Running form, check the ChiRunning Library.

Just before the posting of my last blog, I attended the ChiRunning instructors weekend in Asheville, NC, where, like many other instructors, I had my running form analyzed by my fellow instructors and Danny Dreyer. It was, at first, disappointing to learn that my form was not as correct as I had imagined. The video of me running showed that I was not running as tall as I could have been, as well as some shoulder movement and I was also lifting my knees which caused my foot to be out in front of me. I really looked bad in the video! As the old saying goes – an opportunity was presented.

The first task I gave myself was to use the base training time to revisit the ChiRunning principals and to re-read the newest 2009 editionChiRunning book and watch the newest ChiRunning video. I also learned some new techniques at the instructors weekend that I wanted to try to incorporate into my running. My base training time was to be used to correct my deficiencies and further my ChiRunning abilities. (BTW the new 2009 edition ChiRunning book is a lot easier to read and understand than the original version. If you have the older version, the new content and explanationsare well worth the investment.)

So here we are at the end of four weeks, and I really feel a good difference in my running technique. Heals higher, knees are down, feet landing under my column, and my neck extended to lengthen my body fully making me a lot lighter on my feet. At first, when I changed my form and technique, my body did complain a bit, but now everything has settled in and I feel strong and confident as I continue my base training into the new year. The other thing that has really helped my form is that I am simultaneously teaching and walking with a ChiWalking class three times a week. ChiWalking really does help loosen up the hips for (and from) running.
My message today is simple – maybe it would be beneficial to review, revisit, re-read, and analyze your running form before you start a new race training program. The many miles leading up to the marathon will be a lot more enjoyable with your form tuned up! Contact an instructor near you for a video session.

To create this wheel, the focus is to allow the knee to bend and to not consciously lift the knee. Lifting the knee can bring the leg forward; and allow the foot to move horizontally and land in front of the body.  Bending the knee creates an arc with the heel and keeps the heel/foot moving vertically.  See the diagram below showing this orange arc.

When practicing our running form we usually maintain focus directly on an adjustment.  In this case a good exercise to consider is the Knee Bending Exercise.  But there are also many ways to focus indirectly.  Here is an example of an indirect focus. Recently I was out running in a park and I came to a meadow. The grass was very wet. I don’t mind getting my shoes wet but I decided to use the wet grass as a test of my running technique. I decided to see if I could run across the meadow without getting my shoes wet.  This required me to not only be light on my feet but to also create this vertical arc motion with my feet while landing midfoot, peeling my heel/foot off the ground and allowing the knee to bend. This vertical arc motion of my heel combined with the horizontal forward motion of my body creates the wheel. This ‘land, peel and lift’ focus kept my feet/legs from shuffling horizontally – and my feet from landing in front of me. This also kept my feet dry (OK, ‘dry-er’) as I minimized the horizontal contact with the wet grass.

At the same time I considered making as little noise against the wet blades of grass as possible. Even though the grass was relatively high, about 5-6″, my feet stayed relatively dry. I was running with someone (a non-ChiRunner) and the noise, splashing and then resulting sloshing/squeaking/etc from very wet feet was evident. This all due to horizontal motion of the feet – and therefore lots of horizontal contact with wet grass.

So the next time you come to grass (wet or dry), try running across it without making horizontal contact with the blades of grass.  Land vertically on the midfoot, peel the foot and lift the heel vertically. Then, imagine running across ‘wet grass’ no matter what surface you are on.

Please share your thoughts and any questions in a comment below.

Enjoy,
David Stretanski
ChiRunning®/ChiWalking® Certified Instructor
NJ/Northeast USA

I finished week 5 of marathon training on a running high. The focuses for this week revolved around pelvic rotation and adding fluidity to my running form.  Still recovering from my bug, although the shorter runs felt fairly effortless, my heart rate said otherwise.  However, the week finished with my long run of an hour and forty minutes and it was probably the most enjoyable long run I have ever had.  This was despite the fact that the skies were even angrier than last week and during the run, the heavy rain turned into a monsoon.  Visibility was practically zero, the Thames turned a murky brown (well murkier than usual!), canoeists were struggling to find shelter in the banks and there was so much water falling from the sky, it took my breath away.  To any of my fellow runners in London out there on Sunday morning, I salute you!  Because it was so difficult to keep my eyes open with sheer volume of rain, I kept them closed for short periods to focus on how my body was moving.  If you know the terrain and the route well, and you have the opportunity, I suggest you give it a go for short bursts.  It heightens your senses and allows you to body sense more clearly your running form.

Some of my focuses were pivot point, rotate lower body, hip swinging back with my leg, column falling in front of feet and so on.  The result was a very relaxed, fluid run and the lowest heart rate I have ever recorded which actually decreased over the course of the run for the same pace.  The day after, when teaching in the park, there was no evidence anywhere in my body that I had even been running the previous day.  I love ChiRunning.

Michelle

To clarify what I mean by “running” when I talk about uphill running, I would like to emphasize that many times in a “running” race, it is to a runner’s advantage to walk parts of the uphills. As I noted in my recent article about a hilly, 50K trail run, the “marriage” between ChiRunning and ChiWalking can be highly efficient and successful whenever hills are involved. Consequently, prior to the race, I had been practicing my uphill running forms and building up a solid base of uphill running and walking at the local hills near where I live in Eugene, Oregon. I knew that I would need all of my uphill “bag of tricks” as the traditional running form focuses for “runnable” hills would not be enough in this event.

In light of the searing heat in the days before the race (temperatures reached 107 degrees at times), the 250 of us were happy to take off running at 7:30 a.m. when it was still refreshingly cool. Off we went, cameras flashing and supporters cheering us on. Little did I know that I was about to be tested with one of the most challenging and tiring athletic undertakings I had ever experienced.

Although the early phase of the race was not as steep as the final phase, it wasn’t long before I found myself alternating between running and walking. If you have not yet taken a ChiRunning workshop or studied Danny’s ChiRunning DVD closely, my descriptions may not make a lot of sense but, hang in there; I’m sure you’ll get the idea. When I was able to comfortably run, I implemented the standard uphill focuses and running form adjustments – relaxing my legs (heels still down), reducing the length of my stride and focusing on my upper body as I increased my lean and the forward zip in my arm swing while reducing the angle of the swing at the elbow from 90 degrees towards 45 degrees so that my hands began to move in an upward, upper-cut like motion. In terms of my running “gears”, I down shifted to a lower one so that I could keep my steps short, stay close to my standard cadence (approximately 90) and keep my feet landing under my leading upper body. Essentially, I was leaning like 4th gear but my strides were more like 1st gear, effective team work between upper and lower body. Periodically, I also used the power of my pelvic rotation to assist in the uphill motion although that running form was constrained by the short stride length. Overall, I seemed to be able to keep my effort level fairly constant as I adjusted to the variations of grade of the uphill trail while minimizing any running pain – no pushing uphill as in power running - basically, I tried to ”fall” up the hills.

As we moved into the middle phase of the race, my ChiWalking identity began to take over as the major player in its collaboration with ChiRunning. It was not the case that the hills became so much steeper, but rather it seemed a rational strategy to conserve energy for the many miles ahead by ChiWalking at a fast pace rather than ChiRunning at a slow pace. That seemed to be the way I could cover the distance in the least time – and isn’t that one of the primary goals of a “race”! (to be continued…)