Despite the lack of blog posts, I have been running regularly for the last month…

Over Christmas, I met my sister and parents on a Mexican beach, where my sister and I ran a few times together on the soft sand. Then, over the New Year holiday, Ivan and the dog and I were on the cold beach in South Carolina… and then this week, I’ve had the pleasure of running in snow and cold in Asheville. (Running in the sand and snow are great ways to check out your footprint and watch for heel-striking or toeing-off.)

Today was the 1-year anniversary of my 1st half-marathon. It was a beautiful day for a run, and while I was running, was having very happy and fond memories of my first race in Houston, and how wonderful it felt to cross the finish line, feel triupmpant and have a big grin across my face…all thanks to ChiRunning. And congratulations to my running partners from that race, Kristin and Richard, for finishing the race again today… way to go!

Shelly, my coworker, and I ran together in Bent Creek with our dogs this morning for 5 blissful miles. It was a slightly foggy, slightly cold, great day for a run. We headed out around 10am, and discovered that there was still snow on that side of town (and ice!)… The icy ground was isolated to only a few areas of our run, interspersed with wet patches of gravelly path. We had a great time with a very mellow starting pace, staying at a steady and consistent speed for quite awhile. We focused on our Columns, making sure our pelvises were tucked and our crowns tall.

I have found that when I get cold, my posture goes to crumbles. Having someone else to watch helped me stay focused on my own posture, too, and helped me stay tall and give my lungs plenty of room to breathe deeply.

A few times I caught my arms creeping upward and tightening. I took a water bottle and was carrying the dog leash, which made it a little harder to stay at 90 degrees, but it was a good focus to practice. I imagined that for every arm-swing, my knuckles brushed my hip bones — right around where my pockets might be located on a pair of jeans.

Shelly did well, and we both felt so grateful for ChiRunning; just a few years ago, neither of us felt like we could have run any distance at all without despising every step. What a contrary story we can tell now!

Next week, we plan to run a local “Hot Chocolate 10k” in Asheville. If you’re running it, we’ll see you out there!

The crazy rainy and muggy weather has made for some seriously sweaty running workouts. This morning Oliver and I ran about 2.5 miles together, which included about 1/3 mile walking to warm up/cool down.

I’ve been really practicing keeping my feet loose when I walk, around the office or at the grocery or wherever. I’ve also really been trying to work on my posture and make sure I’m not slouching or jutting my chin out.

I’ve felt quite good and proper posture really makes me more alert when I write emails or sit during meetings or drive in the car. It’s all about this daily effort to practice focuses so that when I go run it’s easier to access those Body Senses.

Running today was great. It wasn’t a lot of mileage, but that doesn’t matter to me so much right now. I’m just happy to be healthy, to get out and be active, to feel my heart pumping and to spend time with my dog. I am trying to focus on these things in alternating intervals: tall crown/ level pelvis, no shoulder movement (elbows to the rear), and not stepping past my hip (allowing pelvic rotation).  They’re a nice combination of things that I’ve found really help me avoid knee pain and maintain a healthy stride length.

I suppose finding a race to train for would be a good idea, but I’ve been really working on shorter distances to keep working on my form. I’ve also been working with other people on their form, which is always so satisfying and full of “ah-hah” moments, both for me and for clients.

Hope you are all enjoying these later days of summer, and for those of you are back-to-school, don’t forget to take a moment for yourself.

Yesterday morning I got an itch to go for a quick run, but also needed to get the dog exercised.

LIGHT BULB! Take the dog running with you! Well, he’s just now 6 mos old so I’ve been waiting until he gets a bit bigger. But I figured it couldn’t hurt and he certainly has plenty of energy to burn.

Oliver was looking at me very strangely when I did the Body Looseners, especially the Gumby arm-flinging one. He literally cocked his head sideways and watched me.

We went to Carrier Park, a loop he’s familiar with. I tied the leash around my waist and started off running very slowly, really trying to focus mostly on myself and my own running form, but having awareness around this 4-legged companion running alongside. [Note: Mei Ling, the Dreyer's dog, is an amazing creature to watch when she's running. While I am certain Oliver will be an excellent running companion for me, he's no Mei-Ling, just like I'll never be a Danny Dreyer!]

Since I had the leash around my waist, it brought extra attention to my core muscles, encouraging me to keep them engaged the whole time I was running. Since I was able to keep my arms moving, I focused on keeping them at 90 degrees with rearward momentum. I also thought about keeping my lower legs limp and loose. I didn’t want the dog’s presence or excitedness to transfer to tenseness in my legs.  The whole run felt really good. It was about a 1.5 mile run altogether with a little bit of walking on either end and, of course stretches. During a few low grade downhills I opened up my hips and sped up a bit. Oliver took it all in stride (pun intended) and switched from a canter to a gallop. He looked up at me as if to say, “Now we’re talkin’!”

My knee has been in really good shape lately. The shorter distances are suiting me well, and since I don’t have anything specific I am training for, it’s just about the process and experiment of running just for the sake of it.

For those of you with dogs, if they’re in good enough health to take running or walking, I highly encourage it. Danny and Mei go out running everyday together, and Katherine often takes Mei running and walking, too. She’s one of the happiest dogs I’ve ever met, and as you all know, the Dreyer’s are certainly happy and healthy.  What a model to follow!

So, remember I last blogged about lovely crisp mornings here in Asheville? Well, I must have been mistaken. When I got finished with my short run this morning I was stretching and noticed that I was literally steaming from my head. Granted, I have a large forehead… It was steamy hot this morning, and very muggy. When I was doing my Body Looseners before I got started, I got attacked by mosquitoes (they love my blood).

Bless Carrier Park in all its flatness. I walked down there and did two laps around. It’s just over 3 miles if you go twice around, like a 5k. I don’t know how long it took me, and I don’t mind!

I started with these focuses: tall crown, engaged core, 90 degree arms. I have a tendency to pull my arms up, so it’s really helped me to start running by standing still and then falling, but setting up the 90 degrees first and then recognizing as soon as I start how low it is compared to how I tend to bend my arms if I don’t think about it. I also worked on a short stride and relaxing my pelvic region to let my legs go behind me to help out my precious knees. No twinge of knee pain whatsoever. !

I wish you could all see Danny run. Seriously, I don’t mean to gloat because I get to see him at his best, but the man is so beautiful when he runs. I sometimes find myself imagining his form when I go running and try to emulate it. I don’t think  I do very well, but it’s fun to try.

I tried to take it easy with my breathing. I recognized about 1/2 way through that I was “efforting” too much, and using my lower legs to propel. I immediately let off and let myself fall. I could tell my PRE changed very quickly and I was able to pick up the pace just a touch by relaxing more. What a gift!

I might go for another run on Sunday. It’s feeling so good again, I am totally reinvigorated and hopeful and mindful of what’s been going on with my body and trying to honor it. I do notice, however, that my PRE is much elevated compared to several months ago… so I take it with a grain of salt because I know what I am capable of. I just have to get out there again!

Standing over a bowl of cereal and a Sudoku puzzle after my run, I rolled a frozen juice can alternately on each foot to help out my plantar fascia. It hasn’t bothered too much lately, but I certainly don’t want to nuture it.

Bon weekend folks!

Hi all!

Seattle was great. The Expo was fantastic (great to see all of you runners there!) and the weather on race day was wonderful; sunny and fairly cool. Sarah and I were in a rearward corral and waited almost an hour to cross the start line, but we kept a positive attitude and enjoyed the many other walkers and runners and the beautiful sunshine.

It was a really lovely course, with enough hills but nothing too killer. Sarah and I walked, but threw in a couple of run “breaks” for good measure. I focused a lot on trying to keep my forward stride short, and the end of my stride long, extending rearward, aided by good pelvic rotation. I kept my core engaged the whole time (that afternoon my core muscles were sore!) and I think that helped alleviate stress on my knee. I kept my arms moving at a nice clip and we definitely made sure to slow down for a picture-op or to listen to the many great bands that were along the route.

The “C” Shape is something I constantly need to work on, and so I spent a great deal of time reestablishing my form during the race using the “C” Shape imagery: core engaged creates the bottom of the C, crown tall/chin down creates the top of the C.

About mile 11, the bottoms of my feet started to hurt. I did a Body Scan, and after a few minutes, was certain my form was in very good condition. I believe the amount of time on my feet the two days prior at the Expo, put some strain on my feet that I wasn’t adequately prepared for.  Sarah and I made it to the finish line in a respectable 3:07, where I soon propped up for a leg drain and ate a banana. We walked back to the hotel gingerly and spent the afternoon lounging around the hotel floor, stretching and rubbing our legs out.

The next several days I had some soreness in the bottoms of my feet (but no where else!), which extended to the lateral side of the top of my feet. Plantar fasciitis was trying to rear its nastiness on my feet. With a couple good doses of Advil, rolling golf balls under my feet and staying off my feet, the plantar seems to be almost back to normal. For those of you who have suffered from plantar fasciitis, I have the greatest sympathy and understanding. And for those of you who haven’t had it, do everything you can to avoid it. As Danny says, “There are a few things in this world I would not wish on my worst enemy.”

Thank you for supporting me along the way, folks. I appreciate it greatly. I’ll keep posting about my running and walking practices, which I am excited to keep developing and deepening. Ivan and I got a dog, too, so that’s sure to keep me motivated for daily walks and runs.

Here’s the keeping yourself centered with mindfulness and strength.

Imagine that! I went running again in the rain today, again.

Seriously, for almost a month, we’ve been having these crazy days of rain. I think the longest it’s gone without raining here lately has been maybe three days. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, but literally every time I plan to run, I prepare to go running in the rain!

Took a 9-miler today and did it a little slower than my ususal 10″. I ran this route in Biltmore Forest. It’s a pretty hilly route, and actually matches portions of the Seattle course pretty well in terms of elevation gain.

The first 5.5 miles rocked, and then I hit a wall. Before I hit my wall, my running form felt good, I wasn’t listening to music, and I had a big smile on my face. After the first downhill, my knee started to talk to me a little bit, which I knew to be because my stride was coming too far in front of me. On the next uphill, my knee pain went away immediately. Good lesson for uphills allowing my form to be more or less perfect (or as perfect as it’s going to get!). It’s a lot of uphill for the first half of the run and then a fair amount of downhill at the end.

The last 1.5 miles were okay, but I attribute it to downhills and water (I stashed a water bottle at mile 6).

I imagined writing my blog about my running experience, stating that it was absolutely blissful and amazing and I was so proud of myself… and I think I can do that with about 85% certainty right now, but I was honestly irritated with my (slower) time and sluggish finish.

When I was feeling good, my brain and ChiRunning focuses were all over the place, but mainly concentrated on

• tracking (big toe and pinky toe coming ‘off’ the ground at the same time)
• using my arms appropriately, depending on terrain
• barely using my legs on the uphill
• trying to get my pelvis to rotate on the downhills
• trying to breathe as calmly as possible, but without restriction

It’s so beautiful in Biltmore Forest that it’s hard to complain at all. The rain made the entire neighborhood look like a rain forest, and that was pretty special.

I would say over all, it was a good run. I stretched pretty well when I got home, and also did about a 5 minute leg drain, but I have a feeling I’m going to be a bit sore tomorrow. My knee hasn’t started any painful motions yet (last week by this time it had), so I think that’s a great sign.

I feel like everytime I write a new post, it’s about running in the rain.

So, guess what? I did my LSD run in the rain today… I ran this route, about 7.5 miles. Wasn’t sure when I left to go running this morning how I was going to do. Surprised myself with it, and am glad to say that it went well.

It’s a hilly route, and the hills are pretty steep. As I was running, I was trying to imagine any knee pain that might come about, and really thought about not letting my foot land in front of my hip. I was really working the uphills with my arms, trying to imagine that my legs were very small and not requiring lots of oxygen. When I got to the top of the hills, I kept running, kept leaning: it’s a great little trick to KEEP leaning into the hill as you crest them as you are running. Danny taught me that when we ran together months ago, and I can’t explain it, but it really works to keep your momentum going after finishing an uphill running section of a route.

I didn’t take my watch with me today because I knew the route was about 7 miles and wasn’t concerned with what time it took, I just wanted to make sure that I got the distance running in for the week. Starting last week with 6 miles, each weekend LSD from now until the taper week will be one mile longer than the previous.

Last week was supposed to be 6 miles, but I couldn’t hack it and only ran 5… then this week I managed to run 7.5, and next Sunday is 8 miles. We’ll see how that goes.

I discovered something today: I get bored on flats. Yep, bored. My parents always told me when I was young that “anyone who is bored is boring” so I have always avoided using that term, but I couldn’t think of anything else.

I guess I could play with my Gears more, but on an LSD run, I just want to get through it safely and with enough energy at the end to make it home without walking. I suppose music might make flats are more tolerable… but thankfully the Seattle race is pretty darn hilly. Looking forward to it!

Hope you all are doing well and that your spring training is going well.

I can’t get over how lovely the mornings are this time of year… Brynn and I hauled ourselves out of bed this morning at met @ 6.30 to fit in a quick running workout before work.

We did this route, which we’ve done before… it’s around town and pretty consistently hilly. We ran it in about 26 minutes, and it’s just shy of 3 miles, so we had a pretty decent running pace.

Miraculously, my knee doesn’t hurt yet, as I think my Form Focuses are helping me get through these runs more mindfully and without hurting myself.

I don’t have a whole lot to report, except that running up the first hill, I was feeling my legs beginning to beg for air, so I shortened my stride and worked my arms harder… lo and behold, my legs chilled out and I felt pretty good. I was focusing on ‘tracking’ my feet so that big toe/pinky toe left the ground at the same time. I think that’s helping my knees. I also know I am trying very hard to focus more and more on not letting my feet hit past my hip. It’s such a strange sensation, but gosh my knees really appreciate it.

Thanks for reading, folks. Here’s to cool mornings! … and as Brynn said, “It feels so nice to get running out of the way and done with. And major bonus, I started work only 15 minutes later than normal!  Score!”

I like to have it out of the way, but I really actually do like the act of running, too…

It was an absolutely stunning day yesterday. I got out on my running route at 8.30 am, when it was still cool.

I ran this very hilly 6.16 mile route. It’s all uphill for the first part and then all downhill for the 2nd part. The downhill run is more gradual than the uphill portion, so I got a very sufficient cardio-aerobic workout in.

I went running on this route during lunch time in October. Just to show you the change in my conditioning level: at that time, I ran the 6 miles in 60 minutes (last ~.16 was a cool down walk), but when I went running yesterday, I pooped out at mile 5 at about 57 minutes and walked the last mile. Quite a bit slower, wasn’t it? I reread my blog about running this route last fall, and had described it as “glorious”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say that yesterday.

I think I had eaten some funky food the day before and it was having an effect on my belly, so my running was compromised. The neighborhood that I ran in is lovely and a ton of Chi flows around Asheville, so I felt good about that… Overall, I felt alright, but certainly not great. I really tried to keep my arms pumping on the uphills, keeping my stride very short. Running on hills forces my stride to be shorter, which helps my knee. Good lesson there.

I felt great to have gone running yesterday, and managed to get in a good stretch afterward.

Here’s to the hills!

hey folks.

went running this morning. it was a lovely day, and I was glad I went.

It was also a bit rough, but I added a good hill and still managed about 3 miles in 33 minutes, so I felt okay about it! Danny wrote a pretty important article awhile ago about running hills. Read it here, it’s a great set of focuses/thoughts to get you through the tough ones.

The thing about running is that I can do it now and not feeling like I am dying. Really, when I was running along today, (jogging, really) I realized that I didn’t hurt. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to curl up and sit on a bench and not take another step. Even though my poor heart and lungs are feeling a bit creaky, I could still do it, I could still feel good about getting up early to go running, to see the sun rise. My muscles felt fine, and I just tried to take it easy.

Danny has a great video blog on avoiding heel strike when running, which he says is best done by not stepping past your hip. When he first told me about this last fall, I didn’t like it. It didn’t seem natural, but now, as I keep my core engaged, keep my head tall, and take small, baby steps, I can feel what he is talking about.

I focused on keeping my neck long, crown high, arm swing at a true 45 on flats, using an exaggerated arm swing on the uphills, and on some of the hills I ran sideways, as described in the book.

Here’s to never giving up running. I will get out there again soon.