ORN: 2.5 km in 15:04. This was a PR for me -- a 9:34/mile pace. Granted, it was only a 2.5 km run, but I celebrate every victory. Besides, I only had a limited amount of time to run yesterday, and I had to grab what I could grab.
I have a confession. I don't know how to run. You'd think it was the easiest thing in the world. One foot in front of the other and all that. I was on the track team in high school, and for a time, I had aspirations of being a USMC officer and trained for that in ROTC in college. In both endeavors, there was a strong incentive for me to run swiftly. I mean, in track, I ran the mile, and more often than not, the next event was setting up before I finished. In the military, I only barely passed my physical fitness tests. No amount of training has ever helped. In short, I have historically been damn slow. Apparently, running is something you need to learn, and nobody has ever coached me on how to do it well.
But now all that seems to be changing. As I have mentioned before, I am reading the book ChiRunning by Danny and Katherine Dreyer. In addition to being a well-put-together book, it's proving to be worth the $14. Last night on the way home from work, I started reading the magical chapter 4, which followed three chapters of explanation of the ChiRunning philosophy. Those chapters were interesting, but I have read about Taoism and even practiced a little Tai Chi, so I am totally sold on the theory. I get it. Chapter 4 brings the theory out of the library, laces up its shoes, and hits the road.
Yesterday's big lesson-learned had to do with posture and body lean. I noticed that when I run, I tend to stand straight up. That's not a bad thing, unless of course you are trying to move a 185+ pound mass through space in opposition to inertia, gravity, and wind resistance. My usual posture works against me in at least one key area. My legs end up doing more work than they need to because they sort of drag my body along. The Dreyers suggested that I lean into my run, lean forward from the ankle, like the forward slash on a keyboard. / That places my center of mass ahead of my feet, and I end up in a persistent state of nearly falling over. Of course, my feet are flapping around down there to keep me from doing that, for which I am very grateful.
So when I leaned into my run and let gravity help me along, I found that I was running faster. The author also recommends lengthening my stride. Historically, when I have done that, I have lifted my knees high into the air, forced my leg far forward -- ahead of my body -- with my thigh muscles, and huffed and puffed my way forward. It was very intense and tired me out almost instantly. However, the authors recommend just lifting the foot and putting it in front of you. The leg below the knee, feet included, ought to be limp, they say.
Also, they recommend being mindful of tension in your body. I found that I hold a lot of tension in my shoulders and neck, and I have to be vigilant to avoid falling into that. Here's what my run last night was like inside my head.
"OK, lean, lean farther. Now stride it out. Wow, I'm breathing hard, but this isn't that hard. Oh, watch those shoulders. I'm not leaning anymore -- lean! Now make sure the calves are loose. Loosen up the ankle. Lean!"
And so forth. I was constantly correcting myself, which explains why my pace looked like me when I was learning how to drive a stick shift. But the funny thing is that I was running faster! Amazing! I haven't finished chapter 4 and already results!
Technorati Tags: PR, running, ChiRunning, bragging
I have a confession. I don't know how to run. You'd think it was the easiest thing in the world. One foot in front of the other and all that. I was on the track team in high school, and for a time, I had aspirations of being a USMC officer and trained for that in ROTC in college. In both endeavors, there was a strong incentive for me to run swiftly. I mean, in track, I ran the mile, and more often than not, the next event was setting up before I finished. In the military, I only barely passed my physical fitness tests. No amount of training has ever helped. In short, I have historically been damn slow. Apparently, running is something you need to learn, and nobody has ever coached me on how to do it well.
But now all that seems to be changing. As I have mentioned before, I am reading the book ChiRunning by Danny and Katherine Dreyer. In addition to being a well-put-together book, it's proving to be worth the $14. Last night on the way home from work, I started reading the magical chapter 4, which followed three chapters of explanation of the ChiRunning philosophy. Those chapters were interesting, but I have read about Taoism and even practiced a little Tai Chi, so I am totally sold on the theory. I get it. Chapter 4 brings the theory out of the library, laces up its shoes, and hits the road.
Yesterday's big lesson-learned had to do with posture and body lean. I noticed that when I run, I tend to stand straight up. That's not a bad thing, unless of course you are trying to move a 185+ pound mass through space in opposition to inertia, gravity, and wind resistance. My usual posture works against me in at least one key area. My legs end up doing more work than they need to because they sort of drag my body along. The Dreyers suggested that I lean into my run, lean forward from the ankle, like the forward slash on a keyboard. / That places my center of mass ahead of my feet, and I end up in a persistent state of nearly falling over. Of course, my feet are flapping around down there to keep me from doing that, for which I am very grateful.
So when I leaned into my run and let gravity help me along, I found that I was running faster. The author also recommends lengthening my stride. Historically, when I have done that, I have lifted my knees high into the air, forced my leg far forward -- ahead of my body -- with my thigh muscles, and huffed and puffed my way forward. It was very intense and tired me out almost instantly. However, the authors recommend just lifting the foot and putting it in front of you. The leg below the knee, feet included, ought to be limp, they say.
Also, they recommend being mindful of tension in your body. I found that I hold a lot of tension in my shoulders and neck, and I have to be vigilant to avoid falling into that. Here's what my run last night was like inside my head.
"OK, lean, lean farther. Now stride it out. Wow, I'm breathing hard, but this isn't that hard. Oh, watch those shoulders. I'm not leaning anymore -- lean! Now make sure the calves are loose. Loosen up the ankle. Lean!"
And so forth. I was constantly correcting myself, which explains why my pace looked like me when I was learning how to drive a stick shift. But the funny thing is that I was running faster! Amazing! I haven't finished chapter 4 and already results!
Technorati Tags: PR, running, ChiRunning, bragging
I'll have to try this out. I've started training for a marathon and feel that towards the end of my runs I'm dragging my feet... It maybe that my posture is just all messed up...
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. The authors are very good about explaining things, and the book has tons of pictures and exercises to guide you. I get something out of it every time I read it.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, the authors are not paying me to shill for them. ;)