Is it possible to forget how to run properly? When we were children we could run all day. We could do that because our body naturally fell into the proper alignment. It seems that most of my knee/ITB problems are that somehow along the way I stopped running like a child. Now I am learning how to run properly. I've been looking into Chi Running since I first heard about proper running technique from a seminar I went to at Fleet Feet Midtown that was put on by Dr. Justin Lau. He didn't call it that but I had an idea that was what he was talking about.
It turns out that proper alignment is as easy as falling down. Imagine standing tall with your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in a straight line. Now imagine falling forward and letting gravity propel you. This is just the start of Chi Running. The more you look into it, the more it feels like learning to swing a golf club which I found incredibly hard to do. These are the things that are now running around in my head when I attempt to run properly: straight line from head to ankle, lean forward, shoulders relaxed, elbows at 90 degrees, hands firm but relaxed, landing on the midfoot, feet taking small quick light steps as they sweep the ground away and behind you. If you want to go faster, then lean further forward but with the same cadence in your feet.
I didn't want to invest in a book that I might not get anything out of so I checked out the book "Chi Running" by Danny Dreyer from the library. I haven't read too much, most of what I have learned has been through watching a couple of videos on youtube and listening to a couple of podcasts of people that have tried it and detail what they have learned in their podcast. By the way, if you haven't checked into podcasts, you really should. I listen to a lot of them while running and walking and they are a lot more interesting then listening to music all the time. You can go to ITunes and select podcast and then search for what ever interests you. I like one called ITunes Celebrity Podcast. Usually it is musicians that talk about music and other musicians that inspire them both today and in the past. I've listened to ones from Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, Cindy Lauper, and many others. I also listen to running podcasts. One I particularly like is called Running with the Pack. The two people that do this one are from Penn State so you get to hear about things that go on on the East Coast plus they talk about new products they have tried, races they have done, all sorts of stuff. I diverge, sorry. Anyway check them out and maybe I will do a post on podcasts soon.
I hope that I can get my running technique corrected in the near future so I can start training for some longer runs. Right now I have the Bay to Breakers in May to do and am hoping to be ok by then even if I have to run/walk it. It's only 7 miles and it should be absolutely wild. I'm doing it with my friend Rubi who has never ran in a race before and trains only on a treadmill. She is a fun lady so we will have a blast.
Tonight I am practicing my chi running as chi walking because I can't run until I get the technique mastered. My ITB was really inflamed from the last run I did over a month ago, which was an 11 miler so I am being cautious.
Here is a link to a fun Chi Running Video. I hope you like it.
Mini Distance Widget
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Perspective
I admit that complaining feels good or whining like in my last post. Sometimes though, things happen that put your life back into perspective. That happened to me last week. I hadn't talked to my brother Brett in a couple of weeks. My Mom called me to talk to me about a couple of things. One of them being that my brother Brett was really sick. He had been running a fever and had what they thought was a bad cough at least that is what he and his attendent thought. He had been sick for over 10 days already. He went to the Doctor and had a chest XRay. The news came back that he had pneumonia. This news absolutely floored me. Pneumonia is dangerous in a healthy person yet alone a person whose health is compromised by their disability. When my brother broke his neck, he lost about 50% of his lung capacity. He sleeps in a hospital type bed which was in an upright position because he felt like he was drowning in the fluid in his lungs. Thank God the antibiotics kicked in and did their job.
My knee problems don't mean a lot when put into the perspective of losing your life. This is why I have really been so upset with my knee troubles. I really want to run a marathon for him. Everyday is a challenge to my brother and others with disabilities. He has moments when he feels bad for himself. He also has perspective. There is always someone in worse condition then you. Brett has limited use of his arms, but he can feed himself and do other things with them to make his life more independent. He had a friend that could move nothing below his chin and moved around in a wheelchair that he blew air into a tube to make it move. Perspective.
My knee problems don't mean a lot when put into the perspective of losing your life. This is why I have really been so upset with my knee troubles. I really want to run a marathon for him. Everyday is a challenge to my brother and others with disabilities. He has moments when he feels bad for himself. He also has perspective. There is always someone in worse condition then you. Brett has limited use of his arms, but he can feed himself and do other things with them to make his life more independent. He had a friend that could move nothing below his chin and moved around in a wheelchair that he blew air into a tube to make it move. Perspective.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Can I have some wine with that whine?
I haven't ran since Sunday February 20th and I've been whining about it and I've been drinking wine. I'm trying to drink away my sorrows and take the edge off my incessant thigh pain. The details are that I ran 11 miles that day with an already achy IT Band. I thought I had stretched and foam rolled enough the day before and I would be fine. NOT!! I was supposed to run around Lake Natoma that day and got half way around when I realized that I had some tightening in my quads specifically my old nemesis the IT Band. I decided I could make it back but took it easy and ran/walked the rest of the way back to my meeting place with my club. I foam rolled it when I got home but it wasn't enough. The next day I was miserable. I could barely walk faster then my 93 year old Grandma.
My thigh was so tight any kneeling or squatting was out of the question. The crackling noises as I went up and down the stairs in my house were almost loud enough to wake the undead. What really hurt was the rubbing of my pants against my thigh. If I closed my eyes it felt like my pants were made of sandpaper and not a fine grit either. As you can see, I whine with the best of them.
So I did what any self respecting college graduate would do...I drank some more whine. LOL. I know now I am being (and I am using my husband's favorite word) ridiculous. What I did do was really think of what my options were with my IT Band. What was the root cause of all of this pain? As luck would have it, Fleet Feet Mid Town was having a 1 hour seminar about running injury free (serendipity coming into play) so I went. I then made an appointment with a Podiatrist who is a runner. I don't have foot pain but thought maybe he could check me out and rule out whether I had one leg longer then the other which is one symptom of IT Band syndrome and any other physical problems. I then made an appointment with an Exercise Physiologist who is also a certified massage therapist who is also a local ace bicycle racer who also trains tri-athletes. I then went to a 1 hour demo on Trigger Point Therapy products. I got a lot accomplished in a week.
Today I went to the Exercise Physiologist, who I am just going to call Mike from now on. We had a long talk about my troubles and he basically told me a bunch of things I already knew. My VMO muscle is weak and underdeveloped. I thought I was doing exercises to strengthen them but he seemed unimpressed by them. He did ultrasound along the whole length of my IT Band and then followed that up with massage. Very painful massage. Turns out besides the very tight ITB, there is something way up high on my thigh that is equally tight. I forget the terminology because he threw some very long scientific type names at me over the hour I was with him. Depending on how sore I am tomorrow, as he wants me to be pain free, he is going to do a gait analysis to see if I am running properly which we may do Friday. I am guessing that I am not running properly and that is why I am having so much trouble.
Who knew running could be so hard? Obviously it can be hard on your body, but hard in that there is a lot to remember. The running seminar I went to demonstrated that to me. Feet under knees, knees under hips, hips under shoulders, head/neck in line with those points all the way down. Like a marionette. Arms at 90 degrees. Tuck your pelvis up and back without tightening your glutes. Always run with a cadence of 170-180. Lean 1/4" from hips not waist when you take off, from there if you increase your speed it's in the degree of lean and how your legs flow behind you. Let gravity propel you forward. He said your arms and legs work in unison so if you want to run faster pump your arms faster your legs will follow. He said to only work on one thing at a time for 30 seconds or so. I don't know how I could possibly remember to do all of this stuff. Handouts would have been great.
My final thoughts are that I have hope. I really have to get this corrected or my running days are over. It might not be today but someday the tracking problems I am having with the patella will wear down and give out. If I can rule out all the what ifs and work on what can be corrected then I should be able to continue on this journey to run a marathon. I didn't even tell Mike about that. He doesn't know me yet so he doesn't know how fixated I can be with things. When I get fixated I rarely let up until I have followed something to an extraordinary end or the bitter end. Which one will this be? BTW, I'm drinking Petite Sirah from Six Hands Winery in Walnut Grove as I write this. They are a small family run winery out in the Delta.
My thigh was so tight any kneeling or squatting was out of the question. The crackling noises as I went up and down the stairs in my house were almost loud enough to wake the undead. What really hurt was the rubbing of my pants against my thigh. If I closed my eyes it felt like my pants were made of sandpaper and not a fine grit either. As you can see, I whine with the best of them.
So I did what any self respecting college graduate would do...I drank some more whine. LOL. I know now I am being (and I am using my husband's favorite word) ridiculous. What I did do was really think of what my options were with my IT Band. What was the root cause of all of this pain? As luck would have it, Fleet Feet Mid Town was having a 1 hour seminar about running injury free (serendipity coming into play) so I went. I then made an appointment with a Podiatrist who is a runner. I don't have foot pain but thought maybe he could check me out and rule out whether I had one leg longer then the other which is one symptom of IT Band syndrome and any other physical problems. I then made an appointment with an Exercise Physiologist who is also a certified massage therapist who is also a local ace bicycle racer who also trains tri-athletes. I then went to a 1 hour demo on Trigger Point Therapy products. I got a lot accomplished in a week.
Today I went to the Exercise Physiologist, who I am just going to call Mike from now on. We had a long talk about my troubles and he basically told me a bunch of things I already knew. My VMO muscle is weak and underdeveloped. I thought I was doing exercises to strengthen them but he seemed unimpressed by them. He did ultrasound along the whole length of my IT Band and then followed that up with massage. Very painful massage. Turns out besides the very tight ITB, there is something way up high on my thigh that is equally tight. I forget the terminology because he threw some very long scientific type names at me over the hour I was with him. Depending on how sore I am tomorrow, as he wants me to be pain free, he is going to do a gait analysis to see if I am running properly which we may do Friday. I am guessing that I am not running properly and that is why I am having so much trouble.
Who knew running could be so hard? Obviously it can be hard on your body, but hard in that there is a lot to remember. The running seminar I went to demonstrated that to me. Feet under knees, knees under hips, hips under shoulders, head/neck in line with those points all the way down. Like a marionette. Arms at 90 degrees. Tuck your pelvis up and back without tightening your glutes. Always run with a cadence of 170-180. Lean 1/4" from hips not waist when you take off, from there if you increase your speed it's in the degree of lean and how your legs flow behind you. Let gravity propel you forward. He said your arms and legs work in unison so if you want to run faster pump your arms faster your legs will follow. He said to only work on one thing at a time for 30 seconds or so. I don't know how I could possibly remember to do all of this stuff. Handouts would have been great.
My final thoughts are that I have hope. I really have to get this corrected or my running days are over. It might not be today but someday the tracking problems I am having with the patella will wear down and give out. If I can rule out all the what ifs and work on what can be corrected then I should be able to continue on this journey to run a marathon. I didn't even tell Mike about that. He doesn't know me yet so he doesn't know how fixated I can be with things. When I get fixated I rarely let up until I have followed something to an extraordinary end or the bitter end. Which one will this be? BTW, I'm drinking Petite Sirah from Six Hands Winery in Walnut Grove as I write this. They are a small family run winery out in the Delta.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Future Races
Currently I am training for the Shamrock'n Half Marathon on March 13th. It begins and ends at Raley Field in West Sacramento.http://www.shamrocknhalf.com/. Should be fun since a lot of my running group will be there also. I think I need to figure out if I am going to be wearing any goofy St. Patrick's Day clothing items. More then likely I will be running in capris so I guess I could find some men's underwear to wear over them.
The other race that I have registered for is the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco on May 15th. http://baytobreakers.com/. I am really looking forward to this one. I understand it is one of the oldest organized races in this country. This year will be the 100th Anniversary of the race. I'm thinking I will probably only run this once so the 100th anniversary sounded like the right time for me. It was pretty expensive though. I had race fees, then mailing fees, then bus fees, then I decided to get the tech shirt instead of the T-shirt which cost me an additional $30 so all in all $120. The nice thing is I get to spend the day before in Berkeley with Brett. We always have a good time together and I love Berkeley.
The other race that I have registered for is the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco on May 15th. http://baytobreakers.com/. I am really looking forward to this one. I understand it is one of the oldest organized races in this country. This year will be the 100th Anniversary of the race. I'm thinking I will probably only run this once so the 100th anniversary sounded like the right time for me. It was pretty expensive though. I had race fees, then mailing fees, then bus fees, then I decided to get the tech shirt instead of the T-shirt which cost me an additional $30 so all in all $120. The nice thing is I get to spend the day before in Berkeley with Brett. We always have a good time together and I love Berkeley.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
More about Brett
It's almost been 32 years since I got the phone call from parents that my brother was at a hospital in Modesto. My first thought was that he had been in a car accident. He and a friend were taking two girls to Turlock Lake for the day. It was Memorial Day so there would be a lot of traffic on the way there. Turlock Lake was the closest lake to Modesto and had a really nice beach. My parents wouldn't tell me what had happened but to get myself to the hospital as quick as I could.
My brother was in the ER. He was hooked up to machines, he had a tube down his nose and I think through his mouth. He was awake and scared. Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to have no feeling below your head? I found out that he and his friend had decided to cool off after they got to the lake. They had both ran out into the water to about hip level and dove in. Brett hit something on the bottom of the lake, his friend kept swimming unaware that something had happened. He at one point turned around and saw Brett floating in the water and laughed thinking he was playing around. When Brett didn't respond he swam over to him and grabbed him and brought his head above the water. Brett had been holding his breath and told his friend he couldn't feel anything. His friend they yelled for help and some guys came over and helped drag Brett up to the beach. They called an ambulance and it took him to a hospital in Modesto about 30 miles away.
We found out much later what had happened to Brett at the beach. He had no feeling below his shoulders but his head hurt really bad and my Mom could feel an indentation on his skull. Turlock Lake had boat races during the summer. People would make cement blocks and use them for ballast and then toss them over the side when the race was over. This is what Brett hit. Later the day that he was injured, some boaters pulled into the beach and jumped out of their boat onto the cement block that Brett had hit. It weighed about 50 pounds. They then brought it onto the shore.
My family endured some very hard times that summer. My brother was transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center because they had a spinal cord injury unit there and would be better taken care of. My Mom packed her clothes up and didn't come home until August. We had friends in San Jose so she stayed at alternating friends houses so she could be with Brett.
My brother's spine was unstable so he had to be put into what is called a halo. Basically as I remember it, they drilled 4 holes into his skull so that they could insert screws that would connect to a piece of metal that encircled his skull (like a halo). The long metal pieces that were screwed into his head came down to a body cast that would then stabilize his spinal cord. If his spinal cord was not stabilized it would begin to disintegrate and would kill him. After about 6-8 weeks it was determined by his doctors that the halo was not working. The only option was surgery. The had to cut open his hip and take bone fragments from there and fuse them to his neck which would be wired together for stability. Fortunately this procedure worked and his spine was stabilized.
Part of the reason I am laying bare my brother's life is to introduce people to the disabled. They really are your neighbor, your high school friend, your sister. The one thing I noticed after spending many days at a spinal cord injury unit is that paralysis by an accident was by and large something that happened to boys/men. The other people in his ward were young men. They had been paralyzed by surfing, motorcycle and car accidents, gunshot. If you lead an active life this can happen to you. Be careful out there people.
My brother was in the ER. He was hooked up to machines, he had a tube down his nose and I think through his mouth. He was awake and scared. Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to have no feeling below your head? I found out that he and his friend had decided to cool off after they got to the lake. They had both ran out into the water to about hip level and dove in. Brett hit something on the bottom of the lake, his friend kept swimming unaware that something had happened. He at one point turned around and saw Brett floating in the water and laughed thinking he was playing around. When Brett didn't respond he swam over to him and grabbed him and brought his head above the water. Brett had been holding his breath and told his friend he couldn't feel anything. His friend they yelled for help and some guys came over and helped drag Brett up to the beach. They called an ambulance and it took him to a hospital in Modesto about 30 miles away.
We found out much later what had happened to Brett at the beach. He had no feeling below his shoulders but his head hurt really bad and my Mom could feel an indentation on his skull. Turlock Lake had boat races during the summer. People would make cement blocks and use them for ballast and then toss them over the side when the race was over. This is what Brett hit. Later the day that he was injured, some boaters pulled into the beach and jumped out of their boat onto the cement block that Brett had hit. It weighed about 50 pounds. They then brought it onto the shore.
My family endured some very hard times that summer. My brother was transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center because they had a spinal cord injury unit there and would be better taken care of. My Mom packed her clothes up and didn't come home until August. We had friends in San Jose so she stayed at alternating friends houses so she could be with Brett.
My brother's spine was unstable so he had to be put into what is called a halo. Basically as I remember it, they drilled 4 holes into his skull so that they could insert screws that would connect to a piece of metal that encircled his skull (like a halo). The long metal pieces that were screwed into his head came down to a body cast that would then stabilize his spinal cord. If his spinal cord was not stabilized it would begin to disintegrate and would kill him. After about 6-8 weeks it was determined by his doctors that the halo was not working. The only option was surgery. The had to cut open his hip and take bone fragments from there and fuse them to his neck which would be wired together for stability. Fortunately this procedure worked and his spine was stabilized.
Part of the reason I am laying bare my brother's life is to introduce people to the disabled. They really are your neighbor, your high school friend, your sister. The one thing I noticed after spending many days at a spinal cord injury unit is that paralysis by an accident was by and large something that happened to boys/men. The other people in his ward were young men. They had been paralyzed by surfing, motorcycle and car accidents, gunshot. If you lead an active life this can happen to you. Be careful out there people.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Fartlek, fartlek, fartlek
FARTLEK. Try saying that fast three times!! Went out for a run this morning by myself. I haven't done that in months and months. I was going to listen to my favorite running podcast, but stupid me dragged the podcast that I listened to last night over to my shuffle so instead I listened to music. I'm such a running geek now. I listen to running podcasts.
There is something so great about running in the morning. The sun had just come up so there was still a bit of color in the sky. There was plenty of blue sky too. It was probably about 45 degrees so I had on my capris, long sleeve shirt, gloves and hat. At first you always think, I don't have enough clothes on, I'm cold. After about 5 minutes you don't even notice the cold anymore.
I've been running now for almost 2 years. The first 3-4 months were just as much a physical battle as it was a mental battle. I say battle and mean that because I always hated running. I played soccer for 20 plus years and tried to run distances as little as possible. I got in shape by playing the game and never stop playing which meant I went from one season to another without a break. Basically soccer 12 months a year.
Back to running...so running was very much a mental battle. Telling myself that I could run the distance required. Sometimes I talked myself into feeling sick or tired and I would stop and walk. I soon realized that to be able to run I was going to have to get over that mental issue. I was going to have to step up my game on the mental challenge of running. I probably took the easy way out by running with my IPOD Shuffle. I have to say that the music helped me run that first year. Looking back, most of the music I never heard. I would tune into the songs that were my favorites of the moment but the others were just background to my thoughts.
There is a lot of thinking to running. You can change the world, change your life all in the space of your run. I have talked to people I no longer see. I have had conversations with people that are dead. I have relived moments in my life. It is weird what will come into your mind when there are no distractions to keep them out.
Today I just enjoyed the morning and that I felt good. There weren't many people out at 7:30 am. On the way back I had a mile and a half to go so I thought I would do some fartlek training. Fartlek means speed play in Swedish. I ran from stop signs to telephone poles, whatever was easy to use at that moment. I actually got my speed up 8:30 per mile then would slow down to 10:15. It was fun. The time went by fast and I wondered why I had never done these before on my own. I guess I thought I would look stupid running fast and then running slow if anyone saw me. I realized that for one thing no one knows what you are doing out there and can't really tell fast from slow and the rate of speed I was running. Who cares what people think anyway? That felt good letting that go.
I had a realization as I was walking up my driveway. I feel at peace. I feel happy. I just burned 400+ calories and started my day with a smile on my face. I am no longer ambivalent about running. I love running. I am a runner.
There is something so great about running in the morning. The sun had just come up so there was still a bit of color in the sky. There was plenty of blue sky too. It was probably about 45 degrees so I had on my capris, long sleeve shirt, gloves and hat. At first you always think, I don't have enough clothes on, I'm cold. After about 5 minutes you don't even notice the cold anymore.
I've been running now for almost 2 years. The first 3-4 months were just as much a physical battle as it was a mental battle. I say battle and mean that because I always hated running. I played soccer for 20 plus years and tried to run distances as little as possible. I got in shape by playing the game and never stop playing which meant I went from one season to another without a break. Basically soccer 12 months a year.
Back to running...so running was very much a mental battle. Telling myself that I could run the distance required. Sometimes I talked myself into feeling sick or tired and I would stop and walk. I soon realized that to be able to run I was going to have to get over that mental issue. I was going to have to step up my game on the mental challenge of running. I probably took the easy way out by running with my IPOD Shuffle. I have to say that the music helped me run that first year. Looking back, most of the music I never heard. I would tune into the songs that were my favorites of the moment but the others were just background to my thoughts.
There is a lot of thinking to running. You can change the world, change your life all in the space of your run. I have talked to people I no longer see. I have had conversations with people that are dead. I have relived moments in my life. It is weird what will come into your mind when there are no distractions to keep them out.
Today I just enjoyed the morning and that I felt good. There weren't many people out at 7:30 am. On the way back I had a mile and a half to go so I thought I would do some fartlek training. Fartlek means speed play in Swedish. I ran from stop signs to telephone poles, whatever was easy to use at that moment. I actually got my speed up 8:30 per mile then would slow down to 10:15. It was fun. The time went by fast and I wondered why I had never done these before on my own. I guess I thought I would look stupid running fast and then running slow if anyone saw me. I realized that for one thing no one knows what you are doing out there and can't really tell fast from slow and the rate of speed I was running. Who cares what people think anyway? That felt good letting that go.
I had a realization as I was walking up my driveway. I feel at peace. I feel happy. I just burned 400+ calories and started my day with a smile on my face. I am no longer ambivalent about running. I love running. I am a runner.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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