Dear PE’s:
Last month marked the 2nd anniversary of my new love affair with Chi Running. Many years ago, Ozzie Gontang, guru of the San Diego Mission Bay Marathon Clinic, started propounding many of the basic concepts of Chi Running (although the term was not yet in vogue). Ozzie, a veteran of many marathons with a keen sense of biomechanics and movement would exhort his “students” to stand tall and elongate the chest (as if a tie line suspended from above kept the head up) , step lightly and quickly as if running on hot coals (sometimes even mouthing silently or out loud “Oh…oh…oh…oh…oh…), relax the shoulders and other muscles, engage the core muscles by leveling the pelvis, keep the eyes focused ahead and shoulders perpendicular to the direction of forward movement! These concepts reached a much larger audience 5 years ago when Danny and Katherine Dreyer published the 1st edition of Chi Running. An expanded 2nd edition was just released. I don’t think the Dreyers really originated Chi running, just as Evelyn Wood didn’t really originate speed reading. Each, in his own way, observed practitioners (of running or reading) who were naturally gifted with efficient and effortless mechanics. Each was able to deconstruct the activity into its component parts, learn to teach those individual components, and then reconstruct the activity. It bascially comes down to astute observation and an ability to teach (and write clearly). Now, the method is being taught widely, with thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands) practitioners across this land and around the world. From my personal experience, IT WORKS! From time to time, I will “republish” some of Danny Dreyer’s blogs, as I feel strongly that wider dissemination of this material will serve to expand the numbers of uninjured runners who can continue to enjoy this activity for years to come. This said, I would like to start with his observations on how to avoid or minimize pain in the quadricep muscles:
How to Avoid Sore Quads
I’ve been focusing lately on relaxing my quads so that I can get them to work even less than they already do. (It’s a regular practice of mine to use efficiency as my mantra.) Here’s what I’ve been working on. As my leg swings out behind me I allow my spine to twist which in turn allows my hip to go rearward along with my leg.
But, here’s an important aspect of allowing your leg to swing to the rear instead of thinking of swinging it forward. If I think of my leg as swinging to the rear instead of forward, my leading leg (opposite) is much more likely to come down in a mid-foot strike. Whereas, if I lift my leg forward it is more likely to swing too far forward, creating a heel strike. In order to avoid lifting my leg forward, I found that as soon as my rear foot leaves the ground, I need to relax my quads so that I do not engage them to lift my leg forward. The reason why I want to avoid using my quads is because they are the largest muscles in my body; they require lots of fuel and oxygen; and they take time to recover.
What I discovered today was this; in order to keep my quads from engaging I need to keep my knees as low as possible as my feet return to the midfoot strike position. The job of returning my leg to the support phase is left to the recoil action of the tendons in my psoas and hip flexors, which are stretched like elastic bands with each rearward leg swing. The recoiling action of the large tendons in the core muscles takes the place of the quads having to do the work of returning the leg to the support phase.
BUT, keeping my knees low does not imply that I’m keeping my feet low. Quite the opposite. I make sure that my feet are coming up behind me and that my knees bend more as my speed increases.
I know this probably sounds a bit technical, but just take your time digesting it. And when you think you grok what I’m talking about, go out and try it. I will say that this gets into some of the advanced material. I would not expect (or even require) a beginning ChiRunner to be able to apply this to their running in the early stages of learning the ChiRunning form, simply because the basic focuses are more important to think of when you’re first learning this technique.
Happy trails,
Danny
So there you have it. I wholeheartedly endorse the Dreyers’ new edition of Chi Running and its companion DVD. But don’t forget, it is difficult to monitor your own form (especially if you are a beginner). Find a friend to accompany you on this new journey. Perhaps, even through the Pony Espresso Running Club.
Happy Trails (another thing Danny Dreyer and I have in common),
JRB