I've been cross training a bit more this spring; a few days of running, as well as swimming, weight training, circuit classes and spin classes. Not to mention plenty of gardening, and working in the yard! All of this movement has made me realize a few wonderful things about what the pain-free Chi Running technique and Chi Walking have taught me about how to move my body and be physical. 

In both the Chi Running book and the Chi Walking book, Katherine and Danny discuss how important movement is to the human body, and the more I practice running and walking, the more I realize how true it is - we humans need to move our bodies! We are meant to walk, to run, to jump, play and work hard with our bodies. As our culture has shifted into sedentary patterns, it's all the more important to actively seek out "being physical."

Learning how to move your body in a centered but relaxed way is such an important lesson, and one that can make any activity -- whether you're lifting your child, moving furniture, going running, hiking, biking, or carrying luggage -- much safer and more enjoyable.

Below are a few key points from Chi Running and Chi Walking that I use almost all the time whenever I am doing something physical. (These points are covered in depth in the Chi Running & Chi Walking materials - if you're curious, there's plenty more information in the running and walking books & DVDs.) Most recently, I took on the task of repainting the living room, with its tall ceilings and very thirsty drywall. Amazingly, I have avoided any back or arm soreness, simply by thinking about the way I was moving my body:

5 things to think about when you move your body

• Be centered. Make sure you're moving from your core, keeping your movements anchored to your lower abdominal & psoas muscles. Initiate movement from your center and you'll stay centered while you're moving. It's more efficient and definitely safer.
   
• Get aligned. Rather than twisting and turning in ways that might hurt your back or neck, make sure your body is aligned and pointed in the direction you want to move your body/furniture/grocery cart. Start with your feet and work upward.
   
• Don't slouch. It's easy to get lazy as the day wears on, as you get tired of driving carpool or folding laundry. Just remember to raise the crown of your head: give your neck a good lengthening and open up your chest to allow your lungs to fill with fresh air.
   
• Stay focused. When you're doing something as repetitive as washing dishes, or cleaning the floor, or running, it's easy to "forget" what you're doing, but that inattention can sometimes lead to sore muscles or pinched nerves. It's okay to let your mind wander every now and again, but focusing on the job at hand and moving your body efficiently will probably help you get it done faster and get it done with better results.
   
• Be positive. Maybe mowing the lawn or weeding the garden aren't your favorite weekend activities, but what a gift it is to move your body! Anytime I get a little grumpy about doing chores, I remind myself how lucky I am to be able to move my body, to have the tools to move injury-free, and the opportunity to use my body the way it was designed to move.

Oh, if only I had followed that piece of advice! But I had good reasons not to wear cycling gloves this morning:

1. I had other gloves on
2. I was running on flat terrain
3. I was running on concrete

So why would cycling gloves have been helpful? Because about 20 minutes into running, I found myself sailing toward the sidwalk, hands thrown out, eyes wide - BAM! I hit the concrete, hard.

Having removed my "real" running gloves because I was too warm, and admittedly distracted by my monkey-brain as it flitted all over thinking about anything and everything, my poor palms were exposed to the ravages of cold, hard cement. And, of course, there were cars driving by, on their way to work and school; if I were driving one of those cars and had seen me falling down on perfectly flat terrain, I would have probably laughed!

Oliver was with me, but I can't blame him for tripping me; he was (oddly) running a safe distance behind me on his long leash. Maybe he knew my fate before I did!

As I sat up to assess the damage, he came over and licked my face, glad I was on the same plane as he. There's nothing like a scraped knee to take you hurtling back to the memories of childhood. Plenty bloody on palms and knees, I got up and "walked it off". After several minutes the sting had worn off and I finished running gingerly and with more focus.

At the moment I fell I was so angry with myself, I was almost in tears, but within a few mintues, all I could do was laugh.

Luckily, I have only peripheral damage; my bones and ligaments appear to be intact, thank goodness.

A few things to consider if you're a twinkle-toes like me:

1. To prevent falling, pick up your feet while running. Remember that this doesn't involve lifting your knees, but instead leaving your knees down and lifting your ankles.
2. Stay focused. I was thinking about how I can incorporate more walking into my exercise routine and what that would look like on a daily basis and - BAM, I was on the ground. Remember to think about what you're doing!
3. Stay soft if you fall. One of the most-recommended ways to fall, whether it's from your feet while running, or from a bike or from a ladder, is to stay limp. Children are prime examples of this; they fall all day long, and although they have plenty of bruises and scrapes, most often no structural damage happens because they're so relaxed.
4. Assess the damage. If you fall, before you get up and start running away from the scene of the crime, make sure you're okay. Check to make sure your ankles, wrists, elbows, knees and neck are okay. If you're a bit bloody, that's okay. In my case I just left the wounds alone until I got home where I washed them out with warm water, soap, hydrogen peroxide, and applied a bit of antibiotic to keep them clean.
5. Laugh it off. It's always fun to tell a good story about yourself, and when I got to the office, we all got a good laugh out of my antics. Typing and doing everyday activities is going to be a bit of a hassle for a few days, but I plan to just grin and bear it!

After running the Houston Half Marathon, I have been taking it very easy. I have been traveling a fair amount, working a lot, and playing a lot. My goals this spring are going to be slightly different than in the past: I would like to try to see how I can integrate the pain-free and injury free Chi Walking technique and Chi Running technique into my daily life as a practice, without the long-term goal of an actual race on the calendar.

In the past, I have used a race as the motivation to continue to run and remain steady with my running practice. This spring, I would like to experiment more using Chi Walking as exercise, continuing to practice the Chi Running technique, and do it all without a specific goal at hand.

My dog and my waistline are reason enough to maintain a steady fitness routine, not to mention the immediate, incredible post-workout high I get after a good running or walking workout. I recently took a Pilates class as well, and I am excited about practicing that more and discovering how new muscle strength and usage can help me with my running and walking.

As always, I find myself using both Chi Running and Chi Walking focuses throughout my daily life. Whether I stand evenly on both feet in line at the grocery store, keep my crown tall as I sit in front of the computer, engage my core when the dog pulls fiercely on the rope, or remember to breathe when I get flustered or pressured, I am grateful for the many skills these techniques provide me in my running and walking life and in my daily life. Oliver the dog is grateful, too.

My goals for running the race this year were to finish and to finish uninjured. Kristin (Ivan's sister-in-law) and I had both run the race two years ago, and we were at the start line again together this year... However, this year we decided on running together, which we hadn't done before.

Due to illness, work schedules, traveling and incredibly cold weather, she and I were both less trained than we would have liked and thought it would be good support and more fun if we ran together. If none of you has ever run a whole race with another person, I would highly recommend it. It was so much fun to run together, and it actually made the time go by rather quickly.

Going into running the race, I knew I was going to need to rely on my technique and Body Sensing to get me through the race because I hadn't run the mileage that I would have liked during running training. To stay safe and connected to my body, these are the things I focused on during the race:

1. Core engaged
2. Elbows swinging to the rear
3. Never stepping past my hip
4. Crown tall

The weather was slightly rainy at the start, and again at the finish, but we were able to run in nice cool weather which was fantastic. Running this course is so great -- there are loads of fans and volunteers along the entire course which makes for a very entertaining, fun and supportive race. With the rain, the road was slightly slippery in places, so we just watched our footstrike and made sure to take smaller strides where it was slippery.

About mile 11, I got a very strange, sharp twinge in my lateral left knee. I immediately shortened my stride, back off my speed and watched the way my feet were tracking, making a very conscious effort to strike neutrally on the ground. I haven't fully diagnosed what it was, but I was so grateful to have my running technique "down pat" in order to fix the issue immediately to avoid injury.

We were smiling for the entire race; it was so much fun to run with someone, the course was so well supported, the weather was excellent for running and we both ran a better race than either of us expected. I am thrilled to have done another race. I am thrilled to have another positive experience under my belt. I am grateful I was able to run 13.1 miles at all, and that I was able to run and have so much fun with Kristin. We both have great support systems and had 6 smiling faces at the end of the course to cheer us toward the finish line as we raced the last .5 mile, pace for pace, crossing the finish line at the same moment. Thanks for a great race, Kristin!

While I don't have any other races on the calendar yet, I am going to enjoy running and walking just for the sake of it for the next several months.

Many thanks to those of you who have continued to read my blog and make comments. It is very encouraging to know that many of you are still reading this after several years, and I am looking forward to continuing to blog about my experiences to inform others who are learning and practicing the Chi Running technique.

Little else. I took Oliver for a quick 5-miler yesterday in the neighborhood. We went running in the afternoon, so it was warmer than I have been used to, and sunny! I didn’t take a watch or have any concept of how long or how far I was going, I was just going. It was the first time in a long time that I just up and decided to go running without any planning or scheduling.

It was a rather liberating experience. While I think the goal of running a particular race or event or mileage is important (for me) to maintain consistency with my exercise program, I think there’s a lot to be said for “just doing it” whenever the mood strikes.

As the Houston Half Marathon approaches at the end of the month, I am anticipating running a solid, steady, smiling race. I had thought perhaps I might PR again, but my training hasn’t been quite up-t0-par in order to do that. So, I am going to go to Houston, ready to see family and friends and simply enjoy the race for what it is: 13.1 of flat running!

My goals (right now) are:

1. To keep it slow for the first mile
2. To keep a list of 13 people or things, to whom I will dedicate one mile each
3. To finish with a smile on my face and no pain

Keep it simple, right?

In training for running my pain-free half marathon, today’s LSD running session was supposed to be 9 miles, but I think we did closer to 6. I figure it’s okay; we ended up battling 6″ of snow in some places, which was really fun but definitely challenging with the extra resistance.

At one point, Alyssa said, “This is like we brought our 5-year-old selves along!” She was right. We were laughing and throwing snow at each other and huffing our way up the mountain, running gleefully down the hills.

I don’t have any super great winter running shoes, so I just wore my normal ankle running socks and pulled on blue plastic bags over my feet and tucked the ends up into my tights before putting on my running shoes. It worked really well; only until the last mile or so did the bags loosen up and scoot down, revealing my skin and socks to the elements, but for the bulk of the running session, I was just fine in my regular NB 560 trail runners and a normal pair of socks. The several inches of soft, wet snow definitely helped make the trail less slippery; if I get serious about running on trails in the dead of winter, I am going to have to invest in a pair with more grip.

The snowy ground added a level of resistance to a consistently uphill first portion of the run, which really put me in my place. I was really wanting to run up the whole hill and not walk at all. I just wanted to keep running, so it encouraged me to stay slow and easy, not overdoing it or getting over excited. I had a moment of major relaxation when we got to the first flat/downhill portion and I just let myself open up and glide down the trail. I was conscious about not using my legs to get me up the hill, but rather momentum and my arm swing.

It’s been about 5 hours since we finished, and legs have yet to show symptoms of wear. What a great feeling! The principle of the Chi Running technique help me so much running in any conditions, but especially on challenging, mind-using terrain. The best part is that I never feel badly or tanked after running. Sometimes I get tired during the run, but afterward, once it’s all over and I have maintained good running form, I am always elated at how good I feel.

Today was the very definition of winter running, in my mind; snow, quiet, stillness, friends, sweat, heartbeats and smiles. Thanks to my running buddies for making it a great morning and for the trails of Asheville for being so friendly and beckoning.
 

I found myself jumping out of bed at the first sign of light yesterday to take Oliver on a quick neighborhood run before work. It was so glorious to start running and finish running in daylight.

Just last Friday I found myself meeting some girlfriends to go running in the early morning, and was somewhat astonished to discover that the entire run was cloaked in darkness. There was definitely something fun about it, especially because these ladies totally pushed me to my limit running at a quick pace, talking the whole way and loving every minute of it.  I think Oliver was even a bit tired when we were finished!

While the sunlight definitely makes running in the morning easier, the cold temperatures that come with autumn/winter are a bit of a challenge. I think most of our natural tendencies are to stay home, curl up with a book, a cup of tea and enjoy the warmth of the season…

But aren’t we lucky, those of us who can recognize the joy of being able to stand outside, post-run, in our most-fashionable tights, stretching away and steaming up the air, even though it might be freezing outside? And what’s more fun than being able to clear your sinuses after a good, hearty running workout? Winter running also has the ability to help us stay trim and healthy all winter long, despite the food-heavy and sometimes stressful holidays.

As Danny and Katherine discuss in the Chi Running book, there are enormous benefits to transitioning into and out of a running workout. I believe that the cold weather helps nurture appropriate transitions for runners: the cold might make us “pause” before heading outdoors (and therefor further reinforcing our desire/need to go running) and the necessary-post run stretch, which is (in my opinion) essential after running in the cold, the winter is a great time to take advantage of the pre and post-run times.

So, here’s to all of us who can understand why getting up to go running at dawn in the freezing weather is worth it…