Category Archives: Confessions of ChiRunners

50 Miles of Gratitude: (1) ChiRunning

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I think one of the reasons I want to write a post a day for 50 days is because I want to keep reliving this amazing, life changing experience I had! I promised these to be short and sweet.  Please note that these are not necessarily in any order although ChiRunning is in the top 5 reasons why I had a successful race.  How do I measure my success?  Well, not by speed, obviously! I measure success based on how I felt during training, the race and after.  Although there are several other factors that contributed to my success, ChiRunning is a HUGE part of it.

It was just last year that I suffered from plantar fasciitis and had to take several months off from running due to overuse and not listening to my body.

I would never even consider doing this race if it weren’t for ChiRunning.  If you are a ChiRunner already, you know what I’m talking about. If not, I highly suggest you look into it.

First and foremost, it’s about proper running form. Technique is the key to success with any sport.  In ChiRunning, you learn to minimize using your legs to run and use your core and gravity to do the work for you. When you use your legs less, you are less prone to injury and you use less energy which in turn can translate to better recovery time, speed and/or distance.

Most people run upright, overstride in front of them and use their legs way too much! This causes most running injuries and is an inefficient way to move forward.

Most people run upright, overstride in front of them and use their legs way too much! This causes most running injuries and is an inefficient way to move forward.

I had no pain while training and I was averaging 50+ miles a week for awhile.  I had no pain during the race at all even though we were in sand most of the time and climbing because I knew how to use my body properly for these (you learn to adapt your technique to the environment you are running in).  Of course, I did quite a bit of ChiWalking as well!  I’ll admit that the day after my body was a bit sore and I was waddling around but on Monday, I barely felt any soreness. I know this is also due to my conditioning but I know my technique had a lot to do with it.

One of the reasons I love ChiRunning, is that the more you focus on it, the better you become at it. I’m a Master Instructor and have been teaching it for 6 years. I focused heavily on my form on my training runs with my ChiSchool audios and ChiRunning app and have felt a huge improvement in my form and efficiency.  I felt great pretty much the whole time during the 50 miler.

ChiRunning is great for beginners wanting to learn to properly the first time around and also elite athletes that are looking at getting better/faster at their sport.  As we say, “Practice Makes Progress” and you never know how a little tweak in your arm swing or your head position can negatively impact your running form….and when you are running 50 miles, you want to be as efficient as possible.

ChiRunning just used this comment in one of their facebook posts and I wanted to share: “ChiRunning and Total Immersion share the belief that you are ALWAYS working on your technique, because you can always improve on some level, whether it’s getting more physically fit, focusing your mind, elevating your mood or learning the art of internal stillness in the midst of activity.”

And for the record, ChiRunning has changed my run but more importantly my life in so many ways! I highly recommend checking it out if you are a runner! Imagine the possibilities!

I personally don't want running to be hard...why would I keep doing it? The easier it is on my mind and body, the more likely I'll keep doing it and be able to do it!

I personally don’t want running to be hard…why would I keep doing it? The easier it is on my mind and body, the more likely I’ll keep doing it and be able to do it!

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

 

 

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Getting High….and a Meltdown

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Forget about writing every week for my first 50 Miler…there is no time for that! It seems I can barely get my weekly runs in and my work done these days! But I had to share about my weekend experience….because I was on a serious high on Saturday and a serious low on Sunday….and realized this is probably a normal thing that could happen while training for a 50 Miler or endurance event? Anyone else relate?

runnershigh

Getting High!  Saturday I did Aravaipa’s Coldwater Rumble 20 Mile race. My plan was to do this as a training run (always great to have aid stations and be around other runners for a change!).  I was oddly psyched up for this event.  20 milers don’t seem like a big deal anymore (yikes! did I just say that?!) and I love Estrella Regional Park (my old stomping grounds). My plan was to be as strategic as possible with my energy conservation on this run.  I got a good nights sleep and was excited to see some friends that morning, including Bob, one of my client’s who was doing his first trail race, the 20K.  Not too long ago, I wrote a blog post about my best run ever but I just had another one!  Here are some reasons I had a runner’s high all day on Saturday and why I yelled across the finish line “I feel f%$#king awesome!”:

  • Like Javelina Jangover (my best run to date), I planned.  I knew I had to strategize and manage my energy for the race.  It started out on a hill so I ChiWalked right away rather than wasting energy so soon in the race. I looked behind me and I was 5th to last…everyone was ahead but I didn’t care.
starthill

Hill at the start of the race!

  • I didn’t want to race the event but I did want to see how well I could do. I was alone most of the race which was perfectly fine with me.  I focused on my form, took in the breathtaking views, listened to music once in awhile and all around just focused on enjoying myself.  I’ve been listening to a lot of the audios from the ChiSchool on my canal runs so I kept focusing on my form and most importantly, trying to stay as energy efficient as possible.  My race performance is a clear example of how I am deepening my running practice.
  • 2nd Aid Station was at Mile 11 and since I was half way, I knew I could start tapping into that reserved energy I had been conserving all along.
  • I’ll be doing a separate blog post about my nutrition (after my 50 miler) but this has been huge for me.  I’ve been working with Brooke from Fuel to Finish.  Long story short, I’ve been feeling amazing during the week, during my runs and races.  I’ve never been this dialed in to fueling my body for performance and it feels amazing.
  • My last 9 miles were amazing. I still ChiWalked up the hills but I was very focused on changing my technique based on the environment that was coming at me.  I was paying attention to my pace and my goal was to be comparable to Javelina which was a 13:03 for 15 miles (although I was detached enough by listening to my body first)  It was hard to tell who I was passing since there were several distances going on.
  • The last few miles were downhill and used up all that free energy to my advantage.  I was truly feeling f%$#king awesome by the time I crossed the finish line.  I felt strong and was happy knowing that I could do more miles at that point if I had to (pretty soon I will be!)
  • When I checked my GPS, I found out that my fastest mile was my last one!  and when I checked my placement in the event (not normally a big deal for me but was curious), I was 56th out of 80 people.  By conserving my energy and being strategic, I was able to get in front of 24 people.  I posted this quote on my facebook the other day and the highlighted is definitely how I measured my success on this race!

“Some runners judge performance by whether they won or lost. Others define success or failure by how fast they ran, whether or not they matched their time expectations. Still others judge performance by how good they felt running, focusing on the experience. Only you can judge your performance. Avoid letting others sit in judgment of you.”
– Hal Higdon

And now for my Meltdown:

Note to self:  Don’t schedule 3 ChiRunning Alumni classes, a networking event, a 6 mile training run and dinner with your family the day after a big event (and add only getting 5.5 hours of sleep the night before).  I’ve told myself this before and for some reason I thought I could handle it…Well, I did handle it but at the cost of being a nervous wreck and having a complete crying meltdown at my parents house by the end of the day.  I love love teaching Alumni classes as I get to help my runners deepen their ChiRunning practice but they are always very draining for me as I cover a lot of material.  I started by day at 7am.  I haven’t attended Sisterhood of Superwomen in a while but I had a few friends that were going so I wanted to be there with them…then I had scheduled another training run but had to kill some time in between (when all I could think of is why did I schedule this rather than just doing my own thing so I could start/finish at my convenience)…then add on going to my parents house for dinner with the family.  I left the house at 6:30am and was on the go ALL day.  By the time dinner came, I just wanted to break down and cry as I was physically and mentally exhausted….and I DID!  It’s been a long time since I had one of those moments but I just had to let it out.

Once I got it together, I looked back at the scenario and some things were beyond my control while some where within….

Learning lesson:  Don’t underestimate the amount of rest my mind and body need while training for endurance events.  To go from a huge high on Saturday to a meltdown on Sunday seriously messed with me.  Not the first time I learn this lesson but apparently I need to remember this more often when planning my schedule….

So today is a rest day and I’m honoring getting done what I can and realizing that whatever doesn’t get done today, will get done tomorrow….or the next day…

groupprerace

always love seeing friends at a race!

finsihline

Finish line feeling amazing!

stats

pretty happy with these numbers but more importantly by how good I felt at the end! my pace was a 13:05 which is 2 sec slower than Javelina but 5 more miles sustained at it. I don’t pause my watch at aid stations as I like to see my true time.

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

2nd 50K: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

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….and My Story Runs On….

My 2nd 50K is in the books! I finished the McDowell Mountain Frenzy put on by Aravaipa Running. Not sure where to start but will try and make this as short and sweet as possible.  I’ll start in reverse with the Ugly and saved my biggest aha moments for the end…….

The Ugly
WARNING: this part contains some material that might gross you out.
The worst part about the whole race which impacted me more than I wanted or expected it to was being on my period (feel free to skip down if you aren’t interested in this 😉 ). Sorry, I know this might be TMI but seriously, this is a real issue for women.  I realized too late in the week that it was happening so had no way around it.  I don’t eat until I’m hungry when I run in the morning and I can’t take Motrin until I eat so I started out the first few hours dealing with cramping.  I hate taking Motrin anyways but knew it would help me.  I also couldn’t get control of my heart rate for those first few hours. In addition to dealing with the cramping until I could take some Motrin, I had to deal with no bathrooms.  Therefore I had to get off the course so no one would see me.  Only women will understand this but I didn’t bring enough products and was torn between not going to the bathroom and holding it OR going and not having a tampon to handle it..this impacted my ability to run so I had to walk more than I wanted to.
Lesson #1: Be more prepared.

The Bad

  • I wasn’t attached to any results for this race as it was a training run but I still wanted to do better than my last one. I finished at 8:19 and my last one was an 8:24. So it’s better but I was really hoping to do it in 7 hours.  Issue above impacted me and I’m over it.
  • I trained on part of this course but couldn’t do the whole thing. I wish I had.  Even though I’ve been doing quite a bit of trail running, the 3 mile climb at about mile 20 did me in.  I pretty much hiked most of this way and was hoping to catch up on the downhill…I did a bit but it was a rocky downhill and my knees were starting to bug me.
    Elevation profile

    Elevation profile

    Lesson #2:  Try to run the entire course or talk to more people that have completed it or just be better prepared.
    ChiRunning:      As my knees started bugging me, I realized that I was over striding which was causing the pain. As soon as I realized I was doing this, I immediately shortened my stride and the pain when away. (In ChiRunning you learn what causes pain and how to address it. You become your own detective).  Every time I felt myself getting tired uphill, I realized I wasn’t being efficient and I would start using my upper body.  This is one of my favorite techniques for ChiRunning hills.

The Good
So much to say here and trying to summarize:

  • Before I left for the race, I had a chance to see many of my good friends, my sister, niece and nephew.  I was creating the conditions for Chi to flow by relaxing and doing my body looseners but being surrounded by my family and friends was a great way to start! (They started counting down for the start and I had to rush to the start line…this frazzled me a bit but I tried to get back into my “mode”).
    Pre Race photo with some of my friends and sister!

    Pre Race photo with some of my friends and sister!

    ChiRunning:  Make sure you are relaxed before you start and get together mentally and physically. Nervous energy serves no purpose and doesn’t help with relaxing your body.

  • Shane!  He seriously helped me get through several rough spots during the race. He was doing his first 50K. We met earlier this year as his wife used to take boot camps from me at her work. We ran a bit before together in the Javelina Jangover race. We carry a very similar pace so we started together.  Unfortunately he had to deal with me griping about my “girlie” issues.  We made a deal though.  I told him not to wait for me when I had to get off the beaten path to take care of my business.  So we ran probably about half the race together in total.  We ran the first 6 miles together then we split up…then we found each other at an aid station at mile 12 and ran until I had to go again…then the hardest part of the race came (hilly part) This was the hardest part for me mentally and physically. I was sooo happy to see Shane at the next aid station at mile 22.  We fueled up and he carried a great pace downhill and we made up some good time.  At the end, my legs were tired and there were some steep up and downhills so he went ahead and finished a bit ahead of me.
    Lesson #3 Make a deal if you are running with someone on what you are doing.  I wouldn’t have wanted him to wait for me as this was his race too.  This could go either way..either stay together no matter what happens or decide it’s your own races and it’s OK to separate if necessary. But have no regrets…if you want to finish the race, do it, with or without your friend. These take a lot of training and time and you have take ownership for your race.

    Shane and I nice and fresh at the beginning of the race!

    Shane and I… nice and fresh at the beginning of the race!

  • The trail!  McDowell Mountains are one of my favorite spots to trail run.  I love our Arizona desert.  The trail had a lot of variety.
    ChiRunning:  One of the many things I love about ChiRunning is keeping my mind occupied with form focuses.  Not only is focusing on my form a good way to be as efficient as possible (and injury-free) but when you have a long way to go, being in the present moment helps time go by.  I also love doing a running meditation where I am focusing on each sense one a time for a few minutes.  So great to hear, smell, see and feel the desert.
  • My amazing friends!  I could hear people cheering as we approached the finish line. My legs were pretty tired and the last few miles were the technical part of the trail. I told Shane to go ahead! I could hear cheers for him and realized these were my friends!  Several of them had done the shorter distances and they waited for HOURS to see me finish!  My boyfriend also drove up to see me finish too.  The last few hills sucked and I was cursing at this point (well, I had cursed more than once before this point 😉 ).  As soon as I crawled over the hill, I could see my friends who were all cheering for me.  Elaine was leaning over the fence and handed me a beer….I ran through the finish line, cold beer in hand getting hugs from all my friends. Couldn’t think of a better way to end a race!
    Last hill to get to the finish line..really?!

    Last hill to get to the finish line..really?!

    Post Race with my friends!

    Post Race with my friends!

    Grabbed and beer and ran through the finish line! I love how happy I am here! I did it!

    Grabbed and beer and ran through the finish line! I love how happy I am here! I did it!

    I did it!

    I did it!

Other AHA moments:

  • #NeverSayNever this is my new favorite hashtag. I remember saying I would never do a half marathon!  I have discovered the art form of running.  I love that I can run short or long distances, on road or trail, etc. There is so much to this sport that people don’t realize.  I want to enjoy it for the rest of my life and the possibilities are endless..but always remember, it’s your running story! You choose where you want to take your running journey (and coaxing from friends doesn’t hurt either sometimes!)
  • I had this thought SEVERAL times….and I signed up for a 50 miler?  How the hell am I going to do 20 more miles?  As I’ve been told, you just don’t think about this…this is true regardless of distance….I remember wandering this same thing after a half marathon while in preparation for  a full marathon…but somehow, and sometimes you just can’t even remember how you do it, you just do it.
  • Biggest AHA moment:  Don’t downplay your mileage!  Up until midweek, I kept thinking, “this is just a training run”.  I said that to myself and others several times. Maybe I kept saying it so I wouldn’t get nervous and waste energy…or didn’t want to make it a big deal…but dang it, I finished my 2nd 50K and that’s the 2nd longest distance I have ever ran in my life…so yes, it is a big freaking deal! So don’t downplay your mileage (whatever it is) and celebrate that heck out your finish line!

Thanks to Aravaipa for putting on an amazing event as always and all the volunteers!

Antelope Canyon 50 Miles, here I come!

(P.S. I am raising money for Girls On The Run for my 50 miler.  I’m on the Board of Directors of this amazing organization. The 50 mile run is the day after my 45th birthday. I wish I had this program when I was a kid as I would’ve started running much earlier in my life.  Running has changed my life and I want to help as many young girls as possible realize their full potential.  Any donation is greatly appreciated!)

One of my new favorites!

One of my new favorites!

Life is short! Do It!

Life is short! Do It!

 

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Lisa goes to school….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi

I am a huge proponent of learning! As a matter of fact we should all have a goal of learning something new everyday.  My favorite hashtags now are #neverstoplearning and #alwayslearning.

A big part of my “job” is teaching ChiRunning.  I feel blessed every day that I can teach people how to run injury-free, more efficiently for the rest of their lives.  Testimonials make my day as it confirms that I’ve been part of someone’s journey to live a healthier and happier life!

On the other hand, I know I don’t know everything there is to know about running so I always find opportunities to learn more.  I didn’t even blog about my 5 days assisting Danny Dreyer at Kripalu, MA in August this year (I paid my way just do to this so I could be a sponge and learn some more!). And I’m loving the ChiSchool that gives me something new to work on every week with my form!

As many of you know, I completed my first ultra 50K in February of 2014. I had to take a break after that due to my plantar fasciitis.  Happy to report that I’ve had no pain in at least 6 months and I’m ready to investigate this ultra scene again. So what’s the best way to learn about it outside of googling info on the internet and reaching out to friends that have already completed one?  Go to a running camp and learn from some experts!

So over Labor Day weekend, I headed to the AZ Distance Camp with a few of my friends (I originally thought I’d be going alone which terrified me but as I tell everyone else, you need to get out of your comfort zone so I was ready for that). The camp was put together by Coach James Bonnett who has an impressive background in ultra running.  He ran his first marathon at age 9!  This is a great article about him in Runner’s World.

I’ll admit being intimidated by this crowd since I am a baby in the ultra community. But I knew the best way to start preparing myself for future ultras was to learn from the best.  It was a great weekend where I learned a lot, logged quite a few miles, and met some new friends.  One of my favorite parts of the camp was hearing all the speakers answer the following question:

What was your best and worst race and what did you learn from it?

Mind you, these questions were specifically for ultras but I think can be applied to anyplace you are in Your Running Story.  Here are some of the answers to that question:

  • Don’t be married to your GPS.  Learn to train off your perceived rate of exertion. Ironically something I did in my last race that helped it be one of my best ones.  Also, this falls in line with one of the key ChiRunning principles of Body Sensing.
  • Be realistic about where you are with your fitness level.  Don’t compare yourself to your old self (as you age) or anyone else.  Or as one of my favorite Danny Dreyer quotes: “You’re at where you’re at”.
  • Don’t run through injury or if you are not feeling it.  Learn when not to do a race. Either readjust your goals or don’t “line up”.  I did this at my first 6 hour event last June.  You must know when to stop.  It’s OK to stop…you want to run for the rest of your life and it’s NOT worth pushing through an injury that can keep you out of commission.
  • At the same time, don’t settle.  Don’t be afraid to compete and challenge yourself.  Don’t be afraid to take risks: sometimes you’ll fail and sometimes you’ll succeed.  Always race smart though.
  • Train your crew.  This is something I’ll be working on as I am getting really close to signing up for my first 50 miler!  Yikes!
  • Always have FUN!  Stay happy when you are running and you will have a good race.  I always say this, especially for first time events.  The more you go into a race with a positive, fun attitude, the more likely your race will be that way too!
  • Be a well balanced runner. Study the sport. Learn.  Practice. Be a whole runner not just someone who is running.  Always be open to learning. (this was one of my favorite tips!)  I feel My Running Story is getting ready to make a big shift and I’m ready to start a new chapter because of all the learning I have been doing.
  • These 3 characteristics are crucial to have:  PASSION FOR RUNNING, CONSISTENCY AND PATIENCE.
  • Last but not least, and probably my biggest take away from the weekend was: have a written plan and STICK TO IT. (make sure to triple check weather conditions!)

When I was with Danny in August, I learned a new term:

Kaizen:  Continuous Improvement

Not that I was burning out on my running by any means but I love this idea of always working on improving a skill or art. Thanks to this running camp, I have a lot of new things to be thinking about….including to the next big step to my first 50 mile race….stay tuned 😉

What was your worst or best race and what did you learn from it?

Everyone who was there to learn more about running

Everyone who was there to learn more about running

I posted more pics on my facebook page.

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

To Plan or Not To Plan? That is the Question!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Should you set a goal before a race or not?  Many runners do…..I always tell new runners not to worry about what everyone else is doing and do your own thing.  Running is social for me so I don’t tend to set many concrete goals before I do a race.  Read my blog and/or watch my video to find out about my last race;)

 

This past Saturday night, I completed my longest run in a long time…since dealing with my plantar fascitiis.  It was the 25K Javelina Jangover with Aravaipa Running (15ish miles).  A night trail run that started at 8pm.  I used think people were crazy to do night trail runs but now they are my favorite type of run.

Last year I did this same race with a few friends and we had a blast. It was their first longest race, and at night.  We had not any goals and completed it in 3:57.

This year most of my friends weren’t doing it and since I love this trail, I decided to go for it (I have been training for it).

As I said, I rarely go into a run with a solid plan but this time was different:

Needless to say, I was craving a nice long run where I could really focus on my form… and more importantly energy efficiency.   Here was my plan:

  • Beat last year’s time with a goal of 3:27
  • Not wear my Garmin so I could run strictly by body sensing rather than having the time/mileage rule my mind. I wrote another blog about this before.
  • I actually looked at the map. I new the first half of the race was hillier and that my 2nd half would be easier (was hoping for negative splits-when the 2nd half of your race is faster than the first half)
  • Be as energy efficient as possible by using the ChiRunning form focuses as much as possible. I also wanted to focus on applying the rule of matching my running to the environment.

I’m happy to report that my plan went very well:

  • I ended up with a 3:16:28 time (ended 7th in my Age Group out of 27 other women).  I averaged a 13:02 pace for 13 miles which I was happily surprised with.
  • I looked at my Garmin a few times to gauge the Aid station but happy that it did not “rule” my run.
  •  I was alone most of the run, didn’t listen to any music and was happy to run into a friend after the aid station and we chit chatted for a bit which helped the My favorite part was working on all my form focuses! Time went by so fast. You have to be very present when night trail running already but when you focus on form, it gives you something to work with as well.  My abs were pretty sore at the end which means I focused well on my posture the entire time and allowing gravity to pull me forward.  I focused on letting the trail pick up my feet and did a lot of work with my upper body. I focused on not rotating my upper body. I strategically ChiWalked up every hill which is very efficient and used short strides and my upper body to do more of the work. I focused a lot on breathing, especially nose breathing.  I never focused this much on breathing during a race and I have to say, this paid off. I felt great the entire time and I believe it was the breathing that had the biggest impact.  (I also give credit to Dr. Al Lundeen, my chiropractor, from Fast Forward Chiropractic who I’ve been working with for several months. We are working on some of my posture issues that effect breathing).
  • My other favorite running meditation is to focus on all my senses and be present within each of them.  Try it next time.  Focus on what you hear for a bit, what you see, smell, feel and taste.

I’ve ran quite a few training runs and races but I have to say, that had to be one of my best runs ever if I were to measure it specifically on energy efficiency. I felt great during the run and after the run.

AHA Moment:  It’s up to you if you want to have a plan or not.  But if you do have a plan, don’t get too attached to it.  Sometimes things happen that are out of our control…I’ve seen this happen where people make plans for an event and they couldn’t keep the plan and then they are beating themselves about it for days. It’s not worth it.  Make a plan and see how it goes.  If it doesn’t go as planned, figure out why and use it as a learning lesson next time. No need to beat yourself up about it!

Have you ever planned for a race?  How did it go?

 

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Completely Exposing Myself….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I’ve decided to just go ahead and let it all out!  I debated whether I should do this or not….I’m a true believer in being authentic and I’ve learned that showing vulnerability is not a bad thing at all.

vulnerability-is-our-most-accurate-measurement-of-courage

So here it goes…..

I’m going to share my personal video analysis and Danny Dreyer’s (founder of ChiRunning) critique of my ChiRunning form.  Keep in mind that I started using this form back in 2009, became Certified in 2010 and have been practicing ever since. (Click here and scroll to bottom of the page to see the evolution of my immersion into ChiRunning).

One of the things I love most about ChiRunning is that it’s truly a holistic practice.  We like to say Practice Makes Progress (not perfect) because we are always looking for ways to keep getting better and better at it.  I always tell my students that you get what you put into it.  Even Danny Dreyer has aha moments as he works on “perfecting” his form.

Anyways, here is the video.  Danny gave me specific directions to

“Be pretty nitpicky. This way I can see how good your critical eye is, and also how good your form is.”

The video is 7:37 minutes but note how many “nitpicky” things I found in my own form.

Here is Danny’s email back to me after his review:

“You did a fabulous job of nitpicking your form! Below are some of my comments to add to what you saw.
Foot splay in the flight phase on both feet. Only very slight in the right foot… not enough to worry about. When you were running in a counter-clockwise arc you were pointing your right foot as it swung forward and you were dorsiflexing your left foot as it swung forward. This was accentuated because of the curve and less obvious when running straight.
Landing on the outside of the feet is fine. It creates a natural pronation and makes a midfoot landing softer.
Much of your leg work would improve if your stride were a bit shorter. This would prevent any overuse of your lower legs, reduce over-pronation and help keep your cadence up around 177 where it should be. It’s a more efficient gear for you.
Good alignment and lean
Right calf is pre-firing and plantar flexing for stability but I don’t see it used for propulsion.
Left ankle is dorsiflexing but not heel striking. On both feet you’re landing below your knees, which is great.
Slight upper body rotation: right elbow comes back behind you. Left elbow not as much. I’d say that the main thing you need to work on is your armswing… everything else is very close to right on. With your arms, let your elbows swing in the direction your arms are aligned. When you’re holding an imaginary volleyball your hands are closer to your centerline and your elbows are wider because they’re angled out a bit. The reason why your shoulders rotate is because your elbows are not following the line set up by the volleyball, but instead they’re swinging directly rearward and not rearward at a slight angle to each side… in a “V” shape. Swinging your elbow straight back pulls your shoulder with it. Swinging your elbow in a “V” shape doesn’t.
A small amount of vertical motion is a good thing. If you had no vertical motion, you’d be walking. It’s necessary. But, we teach pelvic rotation just to insure that people aren’t bouncing more than they need to.
I’m happy to go over any of this with you on Skype, so I can demonstrate what’s happening….. You’re doing a fabulous job in many ways.
Keep up the good work.
Danny”

Yesterday I had the privilege of talking to Danny via Google Hangout to discuss my video even further.  We worked on my right arm swing a bit and now I’m excited because I have some more things to focus on when I’m running.

Moral of the story: 

learn

Just because I’ve been teaching and practicing for awhile, doesn’t mean I can’t learn and become a stronger runner.  It wasn’t easy being vulnerable and having the founder of ChiRunning critique my form but boy am I am re-energized and motivated to keep working on it. The better I get, the more I can help my students get better too!

I do video analysis in my 4-hour ChiRunning workshops.  Students tell me this is the most valuable part of the class. There is nothing like making that mind/body connection by seeing what your body is doing so you can correct it.

Although I was pretty nervous about this whole process, I’m so grateful because ChiRunning has changed my life both professionally and personally.  I continue to look forward to helping injured runners change their form so they won’t be injured anymore AND show brand new runners that running doesn’t have to be painful or hard.

“It’s not running that causes pain, but HOW you do it.” Danny Dreyer

P.S  Not sure if you are Ted Talk fan but here is a great one on The Power of Vulnerability from Brene Brown.

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

My Worst Running Tragedy so far….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Tragedy definition according to Google:

  1. an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe.
  2. a play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Both of these definitions work for me at this point.  Although the 2nd definition is a bit dramatic, it works for the way I feel right now…or at least as of yesterday.

I started this blog yesterday and had to draft it because something just wasn’t clicking for me.  And lo and behold, when I “let go” of my obsession with this tragedy, all of the sudden everything became very clear to me.

Let’s start where I was yesterday:

If you read my last blog post, What?  The ChiRunning Instructor is injured??, you know I am now facing an injury, plantar fasciitis.  Since my last blog post I’ve been doing everything I know to do from rolling my foot on a frozen water bottle 3-4x a day to stretching daily and not running (only ran 3x in the last 13 days).  I have to say it’s feeling much better and I’m looking forward to an appointment with Dr. Calvin this week from One Accord Physical Therapy (where I teach my ChiRunning classes) to get a more detailed assessment.

So where is the tragedy?  I have 2 races that are coming up that I REALLY REALLY want to do for various reasons.

  1. My first one, the CYA (Cool Your Ass) 6/12/24hr on 7/12 in Prescott.  I originally signed up for the 12 hours for this race since it would be pushing me outside my comfort zone.  The longest run for me has been 8 hours and 24 minutes (31 miles).  I’ve also completed 5 marathons so I figured I might just be able to do 50 miles in 12 hours….so this was my next big goal this year. I also wanted to be part of the 2014 Equality Walk but couldn’t commit to the time involved so I figured I could use this as a fundraiser to help them raise money (I walked 100 miles in 2012 for Marriage Equality in AZ).  I’ve been training intensely for the last 3 months for this event which is pretty much how I allowed my injury to happen.
  2. The 2nd one is the Skyline to Sea Marathon on October 11th.  My boyfriend and I are doing a road trip to Napa, CA for my cousin’s wedding and of course I had to google races in the area and found this one.  I wanted to do this one because it sounds sooo pretty.  I love trails more and more I figured it would be great timing after the CYA race.  It’s also a chance for me to do a race solo. I love love being a running coach and running with my friends but sometimes, I like to have a race or an event that is just mine and this one was perfect.

Until yesterday, I’ve been obsessing about these 2 races and trying to figure out how I could still make them happen.  I kept saying I wasn’t going to complete 12 hours because that would be just stupid on a foot with an injury but I’ll do the best that I can and see what happens.  (As much as I believed these words, I know myself enough to say that if I have 12 hours, I probably will take them because I don’t want to stop before I’m supposed to)  And on that day, who knows with the adrenaline, etc, I might not feel any pain in my foot and be OK. Who am I kidding? I also kept thinking about all that mileage that I built up over the last 3 months and how I’m “wasting” it and I’m going to have to start all over again….I’ve literally been a wreck about these events since I realized what my injury was….

So yesterday I stopped writing this original blog and decided to take a break and stretch and ice again.  I felt my frustration as I was trying to relax my calf muscles while I stretched and could body sense that relaxation was not happening. All of the sudden I thought:

What if I do the 6 hour race instead of 12 hours?  What if I decide not to run that race in CA in October?

surrender

My body literally relaxed immediately and I had a complete sense of peace and joy.  Body sensing is a huge component of ChiRunning/Walking and I’m amazed every time I have a moment like this how true it is…your body always knows best and will tell you what to do…you may know it as your “gut instinct”  and it really does work if you know how to pay attention to your body and what it’s telling you. I’m getting better and better at it because of ChiRunning but it still amazes me that it works when needing to make a decision about something. I think about it, detach and let go of the outcome and listen to my body.

Fast forward to after this epiphany:

I realized that it would not be the end of the world to drop down to the 6 hours because it would be safe and there would be no temptation to do anymore than that (and if I’m feeling my heal during this time I will stop). And as much as I REALLY REALLY wanted to do the race in CA, I know I would be rushing through the training and potentially making this injury worst. The race will be there next year….and if not, there will always be another race!

All of the sudden, I’m feeling so much better about my recovery process.  I’m getting excited about other things that I can focus on. I’m looking forward to spending more time doing strength training, especially for my glute medius and core muscles.  I’m looking forward to spending more time stretching (which I rarely do).  Last but not least, as I taught another ChiRunning workshop this morning, I realized, I can get back to the basics and remember what it was like to train for a 5K!  Almost like I’m starting the process all over again but with more knowledge now. (Have you ever said I’d go back to high school but only knowing what I know now?  Same idea 😉 ).

Self awareness can be a curse and a blessing at the same time. This whole time I knew I was creating all this extra negative energy about these races but I allowed myself to be self aware yet let it be OK to be mad about it…..NOW, I’m over it (even though still bummed) and I know that I’m only going to be stronger physically and mentally when I train my body again for my longer distances. expectnothing

Have you ever had a running tragedy?  How did you handle it?

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

What? The ChiRunning Instructor is injured??

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

A ChiRunning Instructors biggest nightmare….INJURY!  Please don’t let it be true….

Well, it is true and I’m feeling compelled to blog about it and share my experience with you. How can I be injured when I’ve been teaching ChiRunning for 4 years and I KNOW that my form is good?  Of course not perfect but good enough to know that it’s not my form that caused it.

First of all, let me preface this with saying that yes, we say ChiRunning is injury-free. These are two very powerful words in the running world and many people seek us out for this. And the ChiRunning instructors have had some great conversations on our secret facebook page about injuries and the words “injury-free”.  To summarize, ChiRunning does absolutely lend itself to being less prone to injury than “conventional” running.  From arm swing to foot placement to cadence, we teach people how to use their bodies correctly to move forward without injury.  But is it a gaurantee  that it’s injury-free?  OF COURSE NOT.

Why?  Because there are other variables that can cause injury that are not related to the form.  You could have a postural distortion that requires more correction than technique and need a physical therapist to help you OR in my case, you could’ve made some STUPID moves in your training. So now it’s time for….

Confessions of a ChiRunning Instructor:

One of the things I love most about ChiRunning is that it’s taught me to body sense, listen to my body and be my own detective. Sounds basic but this is not a skill that runners hone in on.  Conventional running tells you to run through the pain and fix it later….not a smart plan if you want to run for the rest of your life because this will backfire on you at some point.

So about a week ago and a half ago, I started feeling pain in my right heel.  I thought maybe I had bruised it since I have some new minimal trail shoes and maybe hit a rock and didn’t remember it. At least this is what I was praying for since I knew in my head what the other alternative was…..yep, you guessed it…. the plant!  I’m talking about plantar fasciitis.  Ugh, are you kidding me?  I already knew the symptoms but looked them up again hoping that my detective work was wrong…

Nope, pretty sure it’s the onset on plantar fasciitis.  If you’ve never had this, I hope you never get it. THANKFULLY, I feel I’ve caught it early enough to “fix” it.  Here is a great article about Everything You Need to Know about Plantar Fasciitis.

plantar_fasciitus

 

So how could this be?  Well, I know for sure it’s not my form.  I’ve been recently video taped by Danny Dreyer himself and I know I’m not heel striking, crunching my toes or toe running. So what could it be?  Here is what I discovered through my detective work:

  • I ran 15 days straight without taking a day off from 5/29-6/12.  (I’m training for a 12 hour event in July which will be another blog post). I got so sucked in to getting mileage and was having so much fun running (yes, crazy I know) that I just never ended up taking a day off.
  • Within this 15 days, I also hiked Havasupai.  11.5 miles in on a Friday and 11.5 miles out on a Sunday.  I didn’t train for hiking since I’ve been running so much and I’ve run more than that so I didn’t think it would effect me…WRONG!  There were some steep uphills/downhills and lots of wash (sand). So even though I really focused on my form, my body was not used to those conditions and I’m sure my calves were working harder than they have in years. Seriously, I don’t remember last time I had tight calves until this trip.
  • Within this time, my weekly mileage went from 33 miles the week ending 5/26 up to 52 miles and 43 miles for those 15 days.  REALLY LISA?  Is that a 10% increase in your weekly mileage?  NO! What the heck what I thinking?  I don’t know but I’m surely kicking myself now.

So even though I’m glad I had another aha moment (or as I tell my friends, these are signs of us “growing up”…lol) that I could learn from and write about, I’m annoyed at myself now because I have to take time off running! As much as it’s KILLING ME, I know this is the advice I would give any of my runners.  I also know better than to beat myself up about a mistake I made as a running coach in my own training.  Thank you for the lesson, Universe and thank you for making me a good detective, ChiRunning!

So I’m crossing my fingers that 5 days off along with a lot of stretching, rolling my foot on frozen water bottles (what I’m doing right now), gravel walking, and gripping towels with my toes, are going to make the difference. This is not the best time for this to be happening since I have a big event on 7/12 but it’s already put me in a place to make some different decisions about that event if I have to.

Please cross your fingers for me 😉

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

You’re doing what at 69 years old?

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

If you know me, you know that I LOVE LOVE when “older” people are doing amazing things when it comes to fitness and running. Too many people think it’s too late or just give up on themselves because of their age…and I always say it’s never too late!

Or as one of my oldest ChiRunning students, Richard “Doc” Gooding from Strategic Advantage, told me this morning “You’re as old as you think you are.” …. and that’s the truth!

You may remember his last testimonial that I posted on my blog on 10/13, Testimonial from a 68 year old Triathlete.

Well a few weeks ago, I was thinking about him and sent him an email to see how things were going. After I received his response, I invited him to join me on a trail run this morning.  As always, I’m so inspired by him….not just because of his age but I forgot that he had a pacemaker!  He actually had to ask his Doctor to change it because I guess most doctors don’t assume their patients are athletes and it was limiting his abilities.  Here was his email to me on 4/28/14:

“Things have been going really well. Here is the record…

Sept 2013 Lifetime Triathlon – came in 1st in my age group (65-69) beat second place by 45 min. Run pace 11:41 for 5K.

 Nov 2013 Phoenix 10K – Run pace 10:29 (time 1:05)

 April  2104 Lifetime Triathlon – came in 1st in age group (70-74) beat second place by 35 min. Run pace 11:29 for 5k.

 April 2014 Pat’s Run – Run pace 10:30 (time 43:10) beat my 2013 time by 9 MINUTES! (and by the way, he raised $3000 for this event as well!)
 So, things are going well…getting stronger and faster…and most importantly…injury free!”
I mean take a look at the guy, does he even look like he’s 69 years old?  Fountain of youth?  Well, exercise is known to slow down the aging process….physically and  mentally 😉 He was even able to get off his blood pressure medication because of his lifestyle…and keep in mind he’s lost 30 lbs since I met him too!
Doc and I
Life is short so don’t let your age stop you. Everyone has to start somewhere and even if it’s baby steps along the way, as Doc said to me today ‘I’d rather die on a trail doing what I love to do than die on the couch watching TV.”
From My Running Story to Yours….

(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

You had me at pumpkin pie….and Coke (1st 50K recap)

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

WOW!  Where do I even begin? Another major goal achieved in My Running Story:  my first 50K. The most exciting part about this is that I feel like a baby learning a bunch of new things about trail and ultra running….it Continue Reading →