Well, I finally ran today. After screwing up my back again I am now feeling pretty much back to normal....yes, I know, I know...that's relative for me. But even in my usually abnormal state, I am not a normal runner. Did that make sense? I have crappy form, gasp for air, am prone to injury and I'm not even talking about when I fall on trail runs! Since TriHawg runs with me on occasion, he has seen the scary running form...not a pretty sight. In fact he just recently pointed out how bad it all is and mentioned the funny way I point my toes too. To be completely fair he is just looking out for my well being....he thinks mobility in old age is a good thing.
So, he brings home a book for me called CHI RUNNING (pronounced chee). Now I believe in the whole mind/body thing, really, I do....I even do yoga....and I picked up on when my appendix was going bad really fast...and I usually can predict when I am going to throw my back out (this usually involves a lot of stress). So what does all this have to do with running and running better?....cuz, I really need some help or my knees are going to completely disintegrate one of these days! According to the book (I'm halfway through it) we must focus, body sense and relax. Sounds easy right? Riiiiggghhhtttt. I know that there are plenty of people out there that are great at multi-tasking.....and they love to toot their own horn about it too...."I closed five deals, read the paper and had outpatient surgery and THEN I went to lunch, what did you do today?"....I really don't like these people. I am not a multi tasker, but I digress....that would probably make a great blog post though.
So, since I'm not great at multi tasking, focusing, being aware of body sense, and trying to relax while running is downright hard.
First I would get down the focus part....I'm leaning and my body is going forward (physics at work here). Now I am trying to sense what my body is telling me. Pain somewhere, what...is that my ankle? Do I need to relax that a little? Now I've lost my focus! That's just great, back to focusing. There we go, just concentrate....I think I'm finding a groove here. Now I've forgotten what pain I was having! Jeez, I need to be relaxing here people!
Okay, If I can just get my legs and arms to feel like cotton and my core to be the steel that moves my body I just might fly. That's what the book says...I may not ever be a gazelle, but then again, I just might find my Chee.
About Me
- kozzy
- I am a mom to three wonderful childen and wife to a perfectly outstanding individual and my soul mate...Trihawg, you know I love you. This is the Road to Tri...the journey to Ironman ....life is good :0)
2 comments:
I finished reading the Chi Running book. I haven't done EVERYTHING that it says, but it really helped me through the first couple of months of running. I had this problem with my achilles tendons, and now, they are fairly 100%. The point of body sensing is to recognize when the little aches and pains are telling you something about your form, and relaxing and running properly can ease the strain on the various ole body parts. Trust me, I know. I don't think I'll ever become 100% Chi compliant, but some of it is good stuff.
Hello there,
Are you still interested in the NATT wristbands? They are $3.00 a piece. How many should I be sending you? Thanks for letting me know about your interest. Good luck with following the teachings in the book. The most of it out and use it to your advantage. All the best!
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