As a distance runner and student of running technique, I have had to learn to love running slower.  Last year, when I first started to experiment with running to heart rate, I found that I had to run a lot slower than I was used to in order to keep my heart rate down.  I didn’t enjoy it for a while but the truth is it was a golden opportunity to work on my Chi Running technique.  If I was going to stick with it and enjoy it, I simply had to do more work on my form.  I cannot pretend I found it easy and it took me a few months to start to enjoy it. (more…)

There is much debate in the running community about barefoot running these days .  The author of Born to Run, Chris McDougall, a book largely responsible for the increased interest in barefoot running, was in London this week and gave a talk hosted by Terra Plana.  It was interesting to learn that he does not do all his running barefoot but only when the terrain allows.  He accepts that it is important to learn how to run and that it is not just a question of getting rid of your shoes and running as if nothing had changed. (more…)

I haven’t blogged for a while, very sadly my Mum passed away a month ago from breast cancer, she was too young to go and still had a lot of living left to do.  My family and I are devastated but we have to get used to learning to live without her.  I was in two minds whether to blog about it but it would be difficult to blog and not mention something so life changing.  Needless to say the stress of dealing with a terminal illness takes its toll and that stress crept into my body and my running without me noticing.

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Running is not usually known as an aid to flexibility, in fact it is notoriously known for tightening us up: tight hamstrings, tight calves, tight hip flexors and a tight back.  Well the good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way.  (more…)

As those of you who have been reading my blog will know, I had hoped to run my first marathon in April this year.  I have been following the ChiRunning Beginner Marathon Program which I was really enjoying but I simply wasn’t able to get in the required long runs due to circumstances beyond my control.  I could probably still run it but I would not be as well prepared as I would like to be and I really want to be in the best place physically and mentally before I take it on. (more…)

Its week 13 of marathon training and I have managed to keep up with the marathon training plan more or less.  I’m not quite where I should be in terms of the length of my longer runs due to other demands on my time and as the long run is the most important part of marathon training, I will have to decide at some point if my April marathon is too soon.  

Running continues to get better and better.  I am running more often and for longer which gives me the opportunity to practise even more.  The habit of engaging my core and staying aligned has become deeply ingrained.  (more…)

It’s week 10 of marathon training.  The weather is conspiring against me and the ‘big freeze’ has made following the marathon training plan challenging to say the least. I was away for Christmas and I brought my beloved NB790s with me not thinking about the weather.  As much as I love these shoes, they have zero traction and are downright dangerous when running in icy conditions.  So I missed a couple of runs and had to reduce the length of my last long run because I fell!  No damage done, just some bruising and I’ve been fine since. (more…)

Life has been pretty stressful over the last week or so.  Of course, the time of year doesn’t help either.  A bit of fire fighting needed to be done and too much time and energy has been spent on it but sometimes you must protect the reputations of others and stand up for what you believe in.  As a ChiRunner, the two most important things for me when running are alignment and relaxation.  So I am very grateful that I am able to run and escape from the stresses of life and spend a highly focused period of time switched on to my running form and how I am moving. (more…)

A student said to me during the week, when we were talking about their running form, “I don’t think I can change.”  I just want to say to anyone out there learning ChiRunning that you absolutely can change. You have it within your power.  If you are diligent about practising the form focuses as often as you can, integrating them into your daily life and your running at every opportunity, you will form new movement habits that will allow you to enjoy running more and be able to run injury free for the rest of your life.  It takes discipline and effort to improve though.  (more…)

It’s week 4 of marathon training and it’s not been a good week as I managed to pick up one of the many bugs which seem to be affecting everyone I know, as a result I wasn’t able to run for a week - a whole week!  Running is part of my life and now that I can run injury free, it is rare that I cannot go out running so I found it frustrating to say the least.  However, on the bright side, there is always something I can be doing to practise my running form.

This week’s goal in the Beginner Marathon Training Program form phase was Passive Lower Legs.  During the time I was unable to run, I was able to practise some of this week’s form focuses when out walking.  Limp lower legs, relaxing everything below the knee: calves, shins, ankles, feet and toes; the slow motion walking exercise and circular feet amongst others. (more…)