Here are 4 Components of Running Form Alignment:

Internal Postural Alignment

Posture is the most important element in ChiRunning. It is the ‘framework’ for all the other elements. Your posture manages the force of gravity acting down on you. Efficient posture aligns your shoulders over your hips over your ankles with a neutral head position and feet pointed forward. It also maintains a level pelvis to stabilize both your pelvis and your posture line.

When your posture is aligned your structure efficiently maintains your position, against the downward force of gravity, with limited effort from your muscles. In motion, postural alignment also engages proper muscles and limits the use of compensating muscles.

See a related posture presentation here:
- The Key to Posture for Efficiency and Injury Prevention

Directional Alignment

For increased efficiency you can also focus on having as many parts of your body moving in the same direction as you are - horizontally forward. If there are parts of your body moving from side to side, there is wasted energy and possibly unnecessary stress on the body. The most common forms of excess motion are rotation in the legs/knees, hips sliding side to side, shoulders/torso rocking side to side, shoulders rotating, and a side to side arm swing crossing your centerline.

If parts of the body are moving vertically, then again there is effort and potential stress in that direction. The most common causes of vertical motion are pushing off with the feet/toes, lifting the thigh vertically and allowing the knee to ’sag’ or bend at mid-stance.

[Note: In ChiRunning the knees stay 'soft'. This means slightly bent or not 'locked', and not enough to significantly engage the quad muscle.]

When your effort and motion is aligned forward you can add efficiency while reducing stress and impact.

External Alignment with the Forces of Nature

There are two big forces of nature you can use to your advantage and cooperate with. The first is gravity which will pull you forward if you tilt your posture line from relaxed ankles. The more you lean into gravity the more focus you need on maintaining your aligned position. And the more relaxed you must be to not resist the forward pull of gravity.

The second is the force of the approaching ground. When you allow your feet to land midfoot (or fullfoot) under your posture line and allow them to move to the rear as the land, you are cooperating with this very big force. You can enhance this cooperation by allowing your pelvis to rotate back to soften impact and extend stride length. There are even ways to use this force to your advantage.

See a related article here:
- A T’ai Chi Lesson for Your Running: Cooperating with the Force of Gravity and the Force of the Road

When your body’s position is cooperating with the external forces of nature, then the body can move with these forces for external propulsion and minimal resistance.

Mental Alignment with Your Intention

An even higher level of alignment is your mental focus on your intention. Your intention is where you are headed and how you plan to get there. With this alignment, your eyes are focused down your path and you senses are focused on your body.

When you are aligned mentally, then the body and mind are acting congruently as a team.

Alignment and Relaxation

If you wish to run efficiently while reducing stress, impact and injury; then your alignment internally, directionally, externally and mentally are all focus points that can enhance your running form. Two questions to ask often: How can I be more aligned? How can I be more relaxed?

[Note: If you are a walker (aren't we all ...), then ChiWalking is a great way to apply the same principles of nature to walking and hiking. And applying more focus to walking can lead to higher levels of running technique since we get to practice our running all day long].

Please share your thoughts and any questions in a comment below.

Enjoy,
David Stretanski
ChiRunning®/ChiWalking® Certified Instructor
NJ/Northeast USA

It is an exciting time for distance running! Running form, once barely considered by running coaches, is now the main topic of discussion amongst distance running enthusiasts. The old school heel-toe running form has yielded to the midfoot strike. Even the fastest runners in America are tweaking their running form. Danny has been saying for years that Chi Running is paradigm shift. I’m feeling now, more than ever, that the paradigm has shifted.

I am so happy to see running form being talked about and examined in scientific studies, blog posts, and message board discussions. The examinations of running form, as well as the incredible amount of personal success stories are signs that distance running is moving in the right direction. We still have a lot to learn as far as preventing injury and maximizing enjoyment of running, but we are certainly off to a great start.

I’ll be perfectly honest. I’m a total geek when it comes to distance running. I spend a great deal of time searching my iphone for the latest discussions on running form. While I have been thrilled with the recent rise in chatter surrounding running technique, I have been wondering if more balance is needed in the discussion.

I have found the main benefit of Chi Running to be that it is a holistic practice. This is an often overlooked, yet highly critical element of the Chi Running approach to distance running. With Chi Running you are aiming to improve your focus, relaxation, awareness and presence.  While the discussions on biomechanics and technique are valuable, it is important to first look at how you are going to approach running from an emotional standpoint.

Many people read an article or two on running form and think if they can get their bodies to match the description from the text they will be pain free and full of joy. Transformation comes from within. If you are looking to improve your running form, start internally. Begin with body sensing. How do you feel? This is where barefoot running comes in. It is much easier to get in tune with your body when you are barefoot.

Many runners I’ve spoken to recently have researched the information, read Born to Run and have a good intellectual understanding of good running form. The problem is they don’t have the ability to feel this form in their body. This is where Chi Running and Yoga come in. Working with a good Chi Running instructor or a Yoga teacher will help you learn the internal art of body sensing. Body sensing will allow you to intuitively correct your running form and help you prevent pain and injury before they surface. The more you practice body sensing, the more in tune you will be with your body throughout the course of your day.

For a great opportunity to practice body sensing and learn to apply these techniques to your daily life please join me at the Kripalu Yoga Center in Western MA for a 5 day Chi Running and Yoga retreat.

Whether it was the beautifual, wild trails outside of Missoula, Montana or the dirt roads and trails around lakes in central Ontario or Quebec, Mother Nature consistently offered us natural and enriching experiences we would not have had if we hadn’t made running integral to our trip. Every morning, off we would go, exploring wherever we were, earning the “way to go” comments of our hosts, and always coming back with some story of our adventure - a vigorous workout, a fox that we saw, a loon calling to us, an unexpected sight, a shared experience.

Beyond the fun and informal runs we took, it turned out that our pre trip planning and a little luck also gave us the chance to run in two very different organized runs. One, the Missoula Marathon where we both did the Half, and the other, a 5K community run in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, Ontario.

In 2009, a comprehensive Runners world survey led to The Missoula Marathon being voted the Best Marthon of the Year. In light of that recognition, we decided to schedule our trip to have a first hand look at this marathon while simultaneously giving us the chance to pay a visit to Kathy’s pregnant daughter and husband in Missoula. So, what was it like to run in the year’s best marathon event? “Fantastic” is one word for it yet other descriptors are much calmer and understated in tone - e.g., informal, friendly, well organized, community supported - an event that was not a big or over crowded extravaganza. The entrants numbered less than 5,000, so this was not another New York or Chicago marathon; yet the size was just right to get the sense of feeling a part of a large group of like minded, running and walking friends.  From its early 6 a.m. start on a perfect day for running to the postive mood of its finish, and even its low key Expo the day before the race, everything fell in place smoothly.  We left Missoula glad to have had that unique “we tried the best” experience.

Fast forward a week, as we were fortunate to come upon a local 5K run that was a fund raiser for community programs in a neighborhood of Ottawa so we decided to give that race a try. In the spirit of community and family which were so prevalent at this event, we also decided to run the race as a couple, running together, experiencing the vibes that go with cooperation and relationship support rather than the more common feelings that come up when we would try to run as quickly  as possible. And this different approach led to a whole different experience. Awareness of our fellow runners, the people cheering us along the city streets, the time to check in with each other and to absorb how fortunate we were to be healthy and fit enough to share in this activity -  all in all, a special run on a special trip.

So, if you are not already a practitioner of “Running while Travelling”, I do suggest that you give it a try. You can’t go wrong!

Some shoes have a good enough tread that they can be worn on both road and trails, but many runners have a selection of road and trail shoes and base their choice upon their intended running route. The other day I set off for a flat road run but switched gears and found myself running up a gnarly, hilly trail. Oops. Wrong shoes.

There was one section of the trail that was covered in eucalyptus leaves and I found that my feet started to slide out from under me. I started to regret my decision to change course in the middle of my run, but then I remembered an old article that Danny had written, Make the Most Out of a Bad Run. I realized that my choice of running shoes that day had inadvertently given me the opportunity to focus on a couple of aspects of the Chi Running technique that would help me navigate the terrain. Since the soles of my shoes were completely smooth and had no grip, I quickly realized the only way I could get up the hill was to focus on lifting my ankles and eliminate any push off. Just to see what would happen, I tried pushing off for a few steps. Sure enough, my feet slid backwards and I lost stability. Then, I focused on relaxing my lower legs and lifting my ankles. What a difference! Then, I included the focus of my arm swing to bring my elbows forward to give me that “lift” up the hill (see page 176 of the Chi Running book) for a description of how to swing your arms when running uphill. Aha! Now, I was really moving.

I picked a dirt road — which also happened to be covered in eucalyptus leaves, for the downhill portion of the run. Again, I decided that the only way I could run downhill efficiently was to focus on form. My shoes were of no help. I found that thinking about the C shape created the balance and stability I needed. I paid extra attention to letting my pelvis rotate and just focused on letting my stride open up behind me. My feet seemed to barely touch the ground. In fact, the whole experience was so positive and I was having so much fun I decided to do the loop again! I was excited to discover that what had initially seemed like bad planning gave me the opportunity to practice my running form. It reminded me that there’s a reason for the choices we make and that we have a choice to make the best we can of them.

The first serious hill came five minutes into the run - I was not warmed up. I started to run up it gently, but soon had to walk while Danny made the most of his lateral stride, floating all the way to the top! I usually run at a cadence of 90 but I noticed the I was a little fast; Danny noticed this too and said it’s probably because of the very minimal cushioning. Many barefoot runners have very quick turn over to lessen the impact. In Chi Running, the impact is reduced as your leg swings out behind, following the force of the oncoming road. Danny suggested I “soften” my hips and allow the pelvis to open up and rotate. I let go just a little - like when your knees are locked, and you let go just enough that they aren’t tense anymore. By doing this, I was able to lean and get more hip extension out the back, which opened up my stride length to the rear. My cadence fell to 90, and the impact was no worse. In fact, it felt better since I was working less! Ah-ha!

The next day at the workshop,  while practicing the posture lesson, one of the participants got dizzy and nauseated, and had to sit down. After a moment, I asked her to stand and guided her back into the correct posture. She still felt bad, so I asked her to feel the bottoms of her feet (in her mind’s eye). She was more on her heels, so I asked her to rock on the bottoms of her feet until they felt even on the ground. As soon as she did, she felt much better. It was pretty powerful to see what grounding could do! It was as if the energy could flow again as she connected to the earth. Wow!

The next ah-ha moments came on Sunday in the Level II workshop. A fellow in our group had trouble with the pelvic rotation and had been struggling several months to get it - not an uncommon problem with tight hips. I was trying all my tricks (spread the arms to a T, lean a little forward) but no success. Then Danny said ‘Make sure you engage your core. Level your pelvis.’  and he suddenly got it! The ah-ha look on his face was priceless!

In the hill climbing lesson, Danny was demonstrating how to bend the arms relative to the incline of the ground. One of the instructors, Alice Diffely,  said she always thinks of the forearms as being parallel to the ground, so that as you climb, you bend them so that they remain parallel to the ground. Danny added to shorten the stride length relative to the distance between the hands and the shoulders. Hills are much more fun now!

There were many more ah-ha moments, but those were the highlights. As I put these insights into practice, the ah-ha moments continue to happen, making my running a whole lot of fun! You never know where your next ah-ha moment is going to come from!

In the past, I have used the metronome at a slower beat than what I am used to, trying to match an ‘average’ beat of about 85 (I run at 90 bpm). I have always instructed clients to meet their body where it’s at and start with a cadence that they are running at, increasing one beat per week until they are in the 85-90 bpm range. One of the clients already ran at 90 bpm, and the other ran at 85, but he wanted to see how 90 would feel. Instead of setting it at 90 bpm,  I set it at 180, so that there was a beat for each foot landing. I told him if it felt uncomfortable, to let me know and I would slow it down. It should be noted that this client hadn’t been running much  since last fall, only going about a mile at most.

The other thing I did was incorporate a focus I learned at the instructor training workshop last May in Chicago. As you lean to fall with the pull of gravity, feel your shoulders over your toes, just before you pick up your feet. This focus gives one a feeling of that nice straight column that is leaning into the pull of gravity.

We started off in a very easy first gear, and focused mainly on posture and the cadence, using the arm swing to match the beat. By about mile one, we were running in sync, and the 1 mile runner said he was feeling great. He had no problem with the increased cadence, and feeling every beat made a difference. Without noticing it, soon we were running in second gear, still in lock step with one another. Occasionally, I would remind them of something, like feeling the shoulders over the toes, feeling the circular motion of the heels and elbows, or using their Y’chi (focusing the eyes on one spot in the distance). But mostly we just ran. As we came to the end of our loop, the 1 mile runner said he was surprised how easy that was. He pointed out having others in step beside him was helpful, as it provided a visual cue. Hearing (and feeling) the metronome added to that ease. It was a great refresher and a great reminder of how effortless running can happen when you get ‘yourself’ out of the way!

When I see a student struggling with their technique and still getting niggles, I often suggest they do some slower running.  Invariably, I will be told that they don’t enjoy it and that it feels awkward and uncomfortable.  That is music to my ears!

This is a sure sign that they have more work to do on their form.  When we learn to run slower, we are better able to listen to our bodies, look for any flaws in our technique and any tension that may be there.  We can more clearly body sense how we are moving and begin to make the necessary corrections.  If we can master our running form at slower paces, we are laying solid foundations for the future.

Put aside any race goals and invest the time, look at the bigger picture and take as long as you need to feel fluid and relaxed at slower paces.

Happy running.

Michelle

What I love about running the Dipsea is that it is not just about running a hard and historic race. It is steeped in tradition. Over the years people create their own traditions too. Three of my favorites are Saturday morning practice runs over the trail with friends followed by breakfast at the beach, Thursday night practice runs followed by a salmon dinner barbecue and a scone breakfast at a friend’s house the weekend before the race. There has to be some reward to compensate for the pain of running such a hard course.

It’s a quirky race and people either love it or hate it. Most people who run it love it and come back for more. Jack Kirk did for 67 years. He was 96 years old when he ran his last Dipsea. Every year, one of my favorite Dipsea moments was when the crowd would roar as Jack came into view near the finish line and everyone would rush over to watch and cheer just as I did when I was lucky to capture him on camera. He was an amazing man and runner. And check out his footwear. Talk about minimal running shoes!

The Dipsea Race is a true spectacle for spectators and runners alike. Since it is a handicapped race with staggered starts spanning 25 minutes many racers get to watch their running buddies start. It was quite a sight to see an 8 year old and 68 year old start running together — and with an interesting twist, the spectators saw them finish almost together with 8 year old Reilly Johnson just seconds ahead of runner-up Melody-Anne Schultz. During the race I was able to observe all the different elements of running form as people would come flying by. I couldn’t help but notice Alex Varner when he passed me — he looked smooth and relaxed, and he had the fastest time of the day. Good running form does make a difference.

A highlight for me was at the starting line when the race announcer looked down at my starting group and said “Hazel Wood is still here running after all these years, it must be the ChiRunning that keeps her from running injuries!”. That put a smile on my face and helped me relax. It was an incredible day and I feel very fortunate to have been part of the experience. Everything was in alignment — the weather, the beauty, the challenge, and the camaraderie. Post race activities were fun and festive. It doesn’t get much better than that. I’ll be back. Same time, same place next year.

Another Sport Psych technique that I typically include in my distance training programs is Imagery. To get the flavor of Imagery, try the following. “Close your eyes and imagine that you are running (or walking) in an area that you love, perhaps a trail or path that is one of your favorites, and see yourself flowing with ease and joy, moving along effortlessly, in your own perfect form. …….”  Take a moment and enjoy this Imagery. What did you come up with? How was it for you?

Sometimes, I will modify the directions to have participants imagine that they are running like an animal (of their choice) or I might have them see themselves finishing a race that they have done or will be doing. If the latter, the technique becomes more one of Mental Rehearsal, a technique often seen on TV as we watch elite athletes, e.g. skiers and skaters,  doing their pre-event preparations.

As a Sport Psychologist, I have a particular interest in the application of Psychology to distance running and walking and I have found that techniques such as those described do make a difference in my students’ experience and performance in their training and in the actual running or walking event that they undertake. I receive  consistent feedback that they can affect what goes on physically by using these simple psychological tools.  Comments at the  Follow-Up Celebration after the Eugene Marathon confirmed this exciting outcome. Completing their long distance event, especially during any tough periods, became much more a positive challenge than a matter of just hanging on and persisting. They found that their mental side was very helpful in anticipating and handling the physical challenges that naturally come with such running or walking activities.

One especially rewarding aspects of Sport Psychology techniques is that they are consistent with the underlying assumptions and theory of ChiRunning and ChiWalking, namely that the mind and the body are designed to be a unified whole, working together as one.  I find that including  techniques like those described above is straight forward and easy to do because I have already taught the students about form focusing, self-monitoring and many other key ingredients of ChiRunning/ChiWalking. Try them yourself and see if you agree. In other words: “You can and you will!” 

He and I are in agreement on that score. However, he does not favour ‘transitioning’ and feels that the runner should go ‘cold turkey’.  This is where he and I disagree.  Although I am a Vibram Five Fingers wearer these days and I do some running in them, most of the time I wear a running shoe that has a little more protection in them.  Four years ago when I decided to focus on running technique, I took some ChiRunning lessons.  At that time, no-one could have persuaded me to run barefoot or even in minimal shoes, given the particular injuries I had.  Many people feel this way.  If you have been running for a long time, I believe it is better to start working on your running form in the shoes you are in and gradually reduce the amount of support and cushioning.  If you have just taken up running, then choosing a minimal shoe is a great start.  In both cases, you can mix it up with a little barefoot running and still get the benefits of enhanced proprioception while allowing your body time to adapt.