Re-learning running

7 comments August 12th, 2008

I’ve been trying to teach myself Chi Running, the method popularized by ultramarathon runner Danny Dreyer and his wife Katherine in their 2004 book, without getting into the Eastern philosophy parts.

The reason is simple. I haven’t been all that thrilled with my results after returning to running almost a year ago following damaging my Achilles tendons while playing softball.

The central point of Chi Running is to land each step more on your midfoot and push off with your toes, avoiding letting the heel land. The idea is that the traditional heel-strike-to-toe roll actually works like a brake to slow you down, and that the more is better mentality that goes with it leads to almost certain running injuries.

So far, I’ve been able to get into the Chi Running technique just by lifting my knees a little higher, shortening my stride and concentrating more on leg turnover.

The result has been faster half-mile times — 4:40s compared to low 5:00s — for three-mile runs and putting more distance on my hill runs around Sinnissippi Park. Chi Running also supposedly lowers your rate of perceived exertion.

In any event, re-learning running is working so far. I hope the times come down even more as I get better at the technique.