Category Archives: Injuries

Blog Series: #1 Cross training- Dahn Yoga

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

As many of you know, I’ve had to take a break from running due to a heel spur.  I blogged about it a few times in  What? The ChiRunning Instructor is injured?? and  My Worst Running Tragedy so far…..  After being a big baby about this, I realized how many silver linings I’ve found for this part of My Running Story.  So I decided to blog about them. First one is: Cross Training.

Thanks so much to Flip’n Fit because if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be having these experiences.  You basically pay a monthly membership but get to try out a lot of different modalities from Dahn Yoga to Spinning to Cross Fit!

Today I had an amazing experience. I signed up for what I thought was a Yoga Foundations class at Dahn Yoga.  They are 8 minutes from my apartment so I figured why not. I love trying new things and always like to see how it could improve my fitness level as well as my running.  I’m always a bit nervous to go somewhere new by myself but that’s part of the process too. If I tell people to get out of their comfort zones, I better walk the talk too!

I honestly cannot explain to you exactly what happened but it was awesome! I’m thankful to be flexible (mentally) so I went with the flow.

I walked in right before the 9:30am start time and participants were in a circle punching their stomachs. I’d heard about this from Qi Gong so I started in with them.  I think we did it 100x?  We just kept counting to 10 and starting over.

The next series of exercises included a few things that I recognized from the ChiRunning body looseners but very small movements that had big impact.  At one point we were doing some movements and trying to balance these plates in our hands while moving and twisting.

Plate balancing while twisting the intestines and stretching!

Plate balancing while twisting the intestines and stretching!

After several standing exercises we moved to the floor and did many reps of chest and belly breathing.  I’m trying to body sense as I write this and not sure if it’s my core muscles or my intestines that are sore…I think it’s both!

The last part of the class included a 10 minute Energy Meditation which I loved.

I remember being so mad at myself for letting my heel spur get to where it is but today I’m very grateful that it happened.  As cliche as it sounds, I truly believe there is a reason for everything and this is part of My Running Story.

Moral of the story:

  • Get out of your comfort zone and try something new
  • Always find the silver lining no matter how hard it seems sometimes
  • Be flexible.  Go with the flow and just allow things to happen as they are supposed to.

Anyone ever try this?  I talked to them after class and looks like on Wed they focus on Tai Chi, Thu is Back and Spine and Friday is Brain Wave Energy work. Decisions, decisions! I have Spin tomorrow too…next blog post about that!

Can’t wait to see how all these things are going to impact my ChiRunning when I’m able to get serious again about running!

There were a lot of neat posters in the room and this one caught my eye...

There were a lot of neat posters in the room and this one caught my eye…

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!)

Tips for Running Downhill

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month!  There have been so many opportunities to blog but not enough time to sit down and do it.  There has been a theme in my running life for the last few weeks though so I’m picking that as an opportunity to share some tips about it:  DOWNHILL RUNNING!

The best kind, right?!  So many people are afraid to let go or concerned about getting injured when running downhill but there are a few secrets to getting around it.  When I’m flying down a hill, I feel like a little kid, free as a bird, especially on a trail!  But trust me, it takes practice!

Here are a few ChiRunning tips for running downhill on road and trail (not a steep hill but an easy downhill):

  • Core must be engaged to hold you up.  Keep your upper body ahead of your foot strike.
  • Relax everything from the waist down, especially your quads and calves.  Let gravity pull you down the hill.
  • Let your pelvis rotate more. Feel the road bringing your leg back and feel your leg bringing your hip back.
  • Relax your ankles so you don’t land on your heel.  You may want to try pointing your toes as your leg swings forward to avoid heel striking.
  • Relax your mind. This is probably the hardest thing to do because most people tense up and are ‘afraid’ to let go in fear of falling. That tension is what causes more issues.  If you have control issues, this will require more work.  This is great practice in letting go physically (by relaxing as mentioned above) but more importantly, letting go mentally by not trying to control it but allowing the downhill to just take you. Trust it!

A few weeks ago I had the honor of doing at 10 mile trail run with Danny Dreyer (founder of ChiRunning) while he was teaching here in Phoenix.  He coached me a bit on my downhill technique (I basically need to learn to relax more!) but gave me one piece of advice that I love:

Be the water.  Think about next time you are going a trail.  If water were flowing down it, which way would gravity and energy take it?

Be the water flow

Be the water

And check out this 16 second video clip of Danny running down these boulders like they were not even there!

What are you tips for running downhill?  Please share below!

This is one of my favorite DVDs from ChiRunning 😉

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 →


Curing a broken heart with running?

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Reply

….and My Story Runs On….

This past weekend, I received an email from someone interested in ChiRunning.  I always ask people if they have any current injuries so I have an idea of how I can help them run without pain.  I’ve been teaching for 3 years now and this is the first time someone responded to me with “nothing other than a broken heart.”

This got me thinking….when was the last time I had a broken heart?  My last 10-year relationship ended 2 years ago and my heart was broken.   Although I was running then, I started meditating as a way to heal.  As I focused on this daily practice, I realized how much meditation was in sync with my ChiRunning practice.  One of the many unique aspects of ChiRunning is the mind/body connection that you develop through your running practice.  I believe both of these cured my broken heart.

What was my biggest learning lessons that I applied to life AND running as soon as I learned them?

Present moment awareness.  What does this mean exactly?  Don’t live in the past and don’t stress about the future (especially if you have no control over the situation).  Once the past is over, there is nothing you can do to change it, so focus on detaching from the situation and letting go.  This is the same for a run!  If you have a “bad” run, just let it go and try to learn from the experience instead of stressing or beating yourself up about it.  LET IT GO!  We can rarely control our future so do the best you can but don’t stress about circumstances you can’t control.  Next time you go on a run, try not having any expectations about that run and see what happens.

Being in the present moment can be so relaxing.  So next time you go out on a run, focus on the present moment:  scenery, your breathing, what your body is doing and leave your mind (ego) at home…no judgement, no beating yourself up….

I found this response from Deepak Chopra (my primary source of meditations) on why it’s important to live in the present:

“Being fully present in the moment is valuable, not because you will remember it as a significant event, but because the present is the only place where you really live life. If you are imagining your future, then you aren’t here now, living life, making choices. Your attention is in the future where no choices can be made. If you are afraid or angry, then you are in the past, remembering old hurts and injustices. But to heal the past you need to bring your attention to the present, otherwise you are just reinforcing the old pain. There is nothing special to do or acknowledge in order to be present. It a matter of simply Being.”

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

How have you cured a broken heart?

Broken Heart

PS. Deepak and Oprah just started a free 21-Day meditation challenge that started yesterday.  This was how I originally started meditating a few years ago…I love these!