Category Archives: Technique Tips

The Key to Avoiding Knee Pain When Running

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

‘Running will be hard on your knees,’ they said… and, hey, they’re not wrong, but it’s not ‘running’ that causes pain. It’s HOW you run.

Today I want to talk a little bit about running technique. (Of course, if you’ve been following me for a while, you already know that I’m a ChiRunning Master Instructor and that ChiRunning has absolutely changed my life.) A lot of times, when we talk about knee pain, there are various things in your run that will cause knee pain. I’m going to lay them out for you. At the end of this blog post, I’m also going to give you the quickest tip on how you can avoid all the things I’m talking about without really having to focus on them.

HEEL STRIKING

So first of all, one the major underlying causes of knee pain is heel striking – putting your front foot too far ahead of you during your stride. If you’re looking to avoid knee pain, you really want to avoid heel striking. Ideally, you’re going to land on a midfoot strike.

OVERSTRIDING

The two biggest causes of knee pain are overstriding and heel striking, and many runners do both at the same time. What that looks like is this (see video for demonstration). You can see here that I’m overstriding AND I’m heel striking. When you bring your foot out in front of you, it’s that impact from the heel strike and your foot landing in front of you which can cause knee pain. Again, it’s directly related to overstriding. What happens is that runners reach out with their foot, they heel strike, they land, they brake, they put that impact on the knee, and then they paw their way across the ground to move forward. This style of running ‘technically’ works, but running this way is also potentially an easy way to get injured. And it’s also pretty inefficient, since you’re actually slowing yourself down when you’re heel striking.

LIFTING THE KNEES

Another thing I see a lot of runners do is that they lift their knee. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos and I see a lot of people talking about lifting your knee for power. While this style might be appropriate for power sprinting quick short distances, it’s much less efficient for longer distances and actually takes more energy, so we don’t do that at all in ChiRunning. We keep our knees down because we use our core and posture to help us fall forward. By lifting your knee higher, you’re going to be using a lot more leg muscle than we like to do.

If you want to become a more efficient runner, you’ll want to avoid heel striking AND you want to avoid lifting your knee as much as possible. You always want to make sure that your knee is bent and it’s soft when you land, instead of it coming out in front of you and locking.

FOOT SPLAY

You also want to make sure that you don’t have a ‘splay’ in your gait. That would mean that your feet should always be pointing straight forward. If your feet splay out like this (see video for demonstration), what’s happening is you’re torqueing your whole entire leg, which is basically affecting your entire kinetic chain from the hip all the way down.  Over time and miles, this is going to have a negative effect on your running and your body.

RUNNING CADENCE

Keeping a good cadence is another way to avoid knee pain and that will actually bring everything together. 170 to 180 bpm is the ideal cadence that you want to keep. This cadence will keep your strides shorter and quicker, which should naturally help you heel strike and overstride less.

HOW TO INCORPORATE ALL THESE WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT

Now, for my favorite tip on how to avoid all of those things without focusing on them…
What I have found as I’ve been teaching running technique to thousands of runners over the last 10 years is that when runners think too hard about not overstriding and not heel striking and not doing all the things they’re trying so hard to make it happen, that they’re really not RELAXED anymore.

So, the best way to go about it is to really think about moving from the center of your body (basically your center of gravity). In ChiRunning and in Tai Chi, we call it your ‘dantien.’ Basically, your dantien is going to be about a couple of inches below and about one to two inches behind your belly button. That is your center of gravity. It’s just a location in your body that is an energetic location but also your center of gravity or your center of mass.

So what you want to do is you always just want to make sure that you’re keeping the center of your body directly above your feet, so your feet should never come out in front of the center of your body. It’s going to look something like this (see video for demonstration). And the wrong way to do it would be to reach out in front of you like this.

So these are a few individual elements to avoid developing knee pain. These technique focuses all build on one another, but instead of focusing on each ‘individual’ thing that your leg should not be doing, just try putting your center (dantien) ahead of your feet, and this could eliminate the heel striking or lifting the knees as a result of this one change.

At this point in the workshop, people often ask me about opening up their stride and getting faster! That topic is a little too much to go into right now, so I’ll save that for another video. But yes, that’s how it will eventually happen. Your stride will open up behind you as you move your center farther forward and you pick up speed. Just keep in mind that, as you get faster, your stride doesn’t open up IN FRONT OF you (which can bring back the heel striking and lifting the knees), but BEHIND you (which avoids these potentially harmful and less efficient motions).

A QUICK TRU REVIEW: HOW TO AVOID KNEE PAIN FROM RUNNING 

  • Avoid Heel Striking
  • Avoid Overstriding
  • Don’t Lift the Knees
  • Check for Foot Splay
  • Running Cadence of 170 to 180 bpm to Keep Shorter Quicker Strides
  • Move your center of mass/gravity (your dantien) forward (in front of your feet)

Let me know how it goes!

Fix Your Chin Position To Run Faster & Breathe Better

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

Fix Your Chin Position To Run Faster & Breathe Better

Common Head Positioning

If you remember that scene from the movie Jerry Maguire, you may already know that the human head weighs eight pounds. 😉 

All this weight can also down your run! Today, I want to talk a little bit about a technique tip that will really help you out with this. I see this happen a lot in finish line photos, where people have their chin way up high. Not only are they cutting off their airway, but let’s talk a little about what happens with the different positioning of your head. 

If you just notice (in the video), by tilting my head back, it’s throwing all my energy backwards and it’s slowing you down. Now, it might not matter at the very end at the finish line, because you’re done with your run. But I see it happen a lot when I do video analysis throughout my workshops. Let me tell you the quickest way to fix this, and you can actually follow along with me and even feel this out.

Improved, More Efficient Head Positioning

The first thing we always do (and this is, of course, part of ChiRunning) is that we get into our posture. So when we get into our posture, I’m going to give you just the quickest tip (there’s a lot more to this but..) go ahead and just lift through the crown of your head. So, (in the video) I have my ponytail in my hand and I’m gently pulling upwards and lifting through the crown of my head. This will help me engage my core.

NOTE: What often happens is that people think ‘lifting through the crown of your head’ is something different that what it actually is. If you’ve never done this before, it’s easy not to realize and feel like ‘crown of their head’ is your forehead. So what do many people first do? They tilt their head backwards to lift up their forehead. That’s not what you want to do! The ‘crown of your head’ is actually the highest point of your head. Like the point you used to measure and mark on the doorway when you were a kid! You want to lift through the crown (topmost part of your head). Here’s how to check to know if you’re doing this correctly.. put your hand right behind on your neck and your neck should be nice and flat. Now keep your right hand there and if I were to lift my chin, I’m crunching my right hand with the back of my neck. My chin is going up so that’s a good way to feel if your chin is in the right position or if you’re holding it maybe too high. 

When I do this correctly, you can see that my chin drops slightly. My next step in a run would be to fall forward. So, if my chin is facing in that direction, it’s going to help propel me forward, okay? If I tried to start running and my chin was up here I will still fall forward, but now because my head (which we already know now, weighs eight pounds or more) is lifted up this way, that’s going to cause me to slow down (weight more toward the back, rather than toward the direct I’m running/falling).

What else can I do to improve my running efficiency?  

You probably already know there are a lot of things involved in your running technique that can really impact what you’re doing. Many people just think that running is just when you put one foot in front of the other, but there’s so much that you could do in your body that’ll help make your run so much easier and more efficient, which then, of course, will make it funner!

I love to do running video analysis. I try to do one on myself periodically, just to check in to see how I’m doing. (If you go check out this video right here, you’ll see one of my very own video self-analyses.

ChiWalking Self Video Analysis

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

The video doesn’t lie!

Even though I’ve been teaching ChiRunning/ChiWalking since 2010, reviewing my technique regularly helps me get better. This is my 1st Q 2022 review.

Walking is a great way to get your fitness on. I walk as cross-training and also walk quite a bit during my runs. ChiWalking was a gamechanger for me! Since there is still impact on your joints, walkers are also susceptible to common injuries like plantar fasciitis, knee problems, back pain, etc. In this video, I share a video analysis of me walking “normally” and ChiWalking.

Click here to win a free online gait analysis of your running/walking form

Chi Walking® will help you:

  • improve your posture
  • strengthen crucial core muscles
  • relax tight and overused muscles
  • gain cardio and aerobic conditioning

Whether you are a fitness walker already, want to manage or release weight, are rehabilitating after illness or injury, or have signed up for a walking event and want support, Chi Walking will help you reach your personal goals, including looking and feeling better than ever.

The Chi Walking technique emphasizes the proper biomechanics of walking including: good  posture, loose joints, engaging one’s core muscles, and relaxing the peripheral muscles of the arms and legs. This approach makes walking easier on the body and helps improve and eliminate the aches, pains and discomfort of walking incorrectly.

The Five Mindful Steps are used throughout the book and program to reinforce the body-mind component inherent in each step.

The Chi Walking program offers 12 different types of walks to create a balanced and exciting health program. The “menu” of walks includes: a Cardio Walk, an Aerobic Walk, a Flexibility Walk, a Loosening Walk, a Focusing Walk, an Energizing Walk, a Walking Meditation and more. The walks are presented in the Chi Walking book in a detailed and understandable way, then summarized in an easy to read matrix which shows the key benefits of each walk.

Since walking is such a basic, every day movement, when your walking form is improved, the benefits are far reaching.

Click here to win a free online gait analysis of your running form

To find out more about walking technique visit ChiWalking

Get Your Free ChiWalk-Run Digital Booklet here

What do you do with your arms?!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni
Not too many people talk about arms when discussing running. The assumption is that running is all about your legs. This couldn’t be further than the truth. In ChiRunning we learn the importance of using all of our body to maximize running efficiency.
𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧?
The more energy you use unnecessarily, the harder you are making it for yourself.
 
𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥:
⭐ Make running easier when you are doing it
⭐ Help you recover quicker so you can do it more often
⭐ Help you get faster
⭐ Help you go longer
In this video I share a few tips that will help you use your arms so you can be more efficient.
 
𝙎𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜?

ChiRunners VS Runners: What’s the difference?

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

Why are ChiRunners different than other runners?

Since I’m the Community Manager of our Online ChiRunning/ChiWalking Community which is all ChiRunners and ChiWalkers, I definitely see that we have a different mindset than most other runners. Add that to reading some of these posts in running facebook groups and sometimes I can’t help but cringe at some of the questions and advice given there!

Then I remembered that Danny Dreyer, the founder of ChiRunning, had addressed this in the ChiMarathon book.  Here is what he shared on page 11:

The difference between ChiRunners and Runners

In this video I combine a few and add my own spin to them but here it is in a nutshell:

  1. Mind WITH body, not mind OVER body: we don’t push through pain. We are our own body detectives. If we feel pain while running, our body talks to our mind, we reach into our toolbox to figure out why that pain may be happening, and then make adjustments in our technique to help the pain go away. You learn how to listen to your body and body sense.
  2. Intelligent movement vs physical exertion: our goal is to maximize running economy. Yes we do hill repeats, speed workouts etc. But we have a different spin: we try to figure how we can “push” our bodies but without increasing physical effort. How can the movement be more efficient? How can we maximize gravity, balance and relaxation vs powering through?
  3. Conserve energy vs burning it: as mentioned in the last one, this is a priority. Instead of pushing through to go faster or longer, we listen to our bodies, take into account external and internal factors and work from there.
  4. Core strength vs leg strength: we prefer not to use our legs for propulsion. This is a good way to get injured as well as wasting a lot of unnecessary energy. Most runners use their legs to propel forward. We use good postural alignment, which requires core strength, and gravity to help us move forward. When your legs aren’t working so hard, you’re less likely to hurt yourself and running is more effortless because you are not using all the muscle to push you through.
  5. Learn and listen TO our bodies, we don’t test or push: our bodies have the answers. Too many times people push through pain hoping it will go away or they will get over it. I’ve had too many people come to my ChiRunning workshops who have said, “I wish I knew this information before my {insert injury issue/surgery here}. If you are in pain, your body is telling you something. Ignoring it can possibly make it worse.

Who wants to be sidelined with another running injury? Not us!

Who wants running to be exhausting and hard? Not us!

Who wants to feel like crap right after a race or the next day? Not us!

Who wants to keep running in a way that your likelihood of injury is so much lower, where running can be easier and you can have a joyful, sustainable running practice for the rest of your life? That’s us!

Click here to win a free online gait analysis of your running form

To find out more about running technique visit ChiRunning

ChiRunning Self Video Analysis

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

The video doesn’t lie!

Even though I’ve been teaching ChiRunning since 2010, reviewing my technique regularly helps me get better. This is my 1st Q 2022 review. I will be posting these quarterly because practice makes progress.

Background:

I did my first 100 miler over New Year’s on a one mile loop course. While I trained as much as I could, I ended up injuring myself. I had to cancel 3 ultra events that were scheduled after this.

I’ve worked with Jody, my acupuncturist right after the injury. I’ve been focusing on shorter distances, strength training and stretching (not consistently though). I know focusing on that and my technique again will help get me ready for some bigger mileage goals that I have in the next 2-4 years. Gradual progress and patience have been key for me during this time.

Click here to win a free online gait analysis of your running form

Some of my key takeaways for this quarter:

  • Make strength training a priority minimum 2x a week but goal of 3x
  • Lower leg relaxation more specifically ankles. Will focus on more ankle mobility as well.
  • I continue to work on upper body rotation. It’s better but still some work to do there along with shoulder/upper body relaxation. I love rocking and doing Original Strength work to help with shoulder stabilization.
  • Drop my chin a bit more for a more neutral head position

Click here to win a free online gait analysis of your running form

To find out more about running technique visit ChiRunning

Is Sitting Really The New Smoking?

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni
They say sitting is the new smoking. What we do with our bodies all day effects us when we are walking and running.⁠
⁠
In my latest video, I give you a quick tip on how you can maximize the time you spend sitting on your butt all day in under 2 minutes.

When you first start lifting from the crown of your head, make sure you do this for small periods of time. You are working out your core muscles with this practice so you want to do it gradually. I recommend setting a phone reminder or alarm every hour to mindfully practice this for a minute or two to get used to it.

Bonus Tip: I work on this while I’m sitting in my car as well. I lift my rear view mirror up a little higher to keep my spine lengthened. I bring the back of the chair a little closer so I do allow the seat to help me but I’m still doing the work just with a bit of assistance.

There you have it! I am just relaunching my You Tube channel so head over to subscribe because I’ll be dropping a new video every week!

Let me know if you try these tips and they work for you!

3 RIDICULOUSLY EASY TIPS to Start Running!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

Do you want to start running? Not sure where to start?

Or have you tried it a few times and given up because maybe “running is not for me”?

Even if you’re not a beginner runner, these tips will help make your running more enjoyable. Here are 3 quick running tips for you as a Beginner Beginner Runner™:

Always make sure to check with your Doctor before starting physical activity.

  1. Running is not just a physical sport. Mindset and mental training go hand in hand with being a runner. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to this though. It’s easy to compare ourselves to what other runners might be doing, we may judge ourselves thinking we are too overweight or too old. Running has a bad reputation and many people get into the “no pain no gain” mindset…..which isn’t how it should be! Running should be fun! If you like it too hurt and that’s part of your running story than I’m probably not the right person to be following. If you want to learn to enjoy running, the first thing you have to do is forget about all the negative things you’ve heard about running. You are writing your own running story! If you tried it and it’s still hard then maybe my next two tips will help you too!
  2. Learning how to run can make or break your experience not only as a beginner runner but all runners. Putting one foot in front of the other sounds logical but there wouldn’t be a 65% annual injury rate for runners. Of course I am biased to ChiRunning but I always encourage all my runners to investigate different options because at the end of the day, our bodies are all different. In the video above, I share a form tip that will make a difference!
  3. Get a coach! I think newbie runners assume that coaches are for elite athletes…this couldn’t be further than the truth! Just because people run, doesn’t mean they have all the answers. I’ve seen the worst advice given in facebook groups. I don’t care if it’s me or not, but find yourself a coach that can show you the ropes and help make the experience so much more enjoyable. Here is link to a blog I wrote about finding a running coach.

There you have it! I am just relaunching my You Tube channel so head over to subscribe because I’ll be dropping a new video every week!

Let me know if you try these tips and they work for you!

Race Report

Race Report: Black Canyon 100K & My First Buckle

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I DID IT!!! And it was the amazing experience I absolutely expected it to be!  Where to even begin?!  It’s been 3 days and I am still flying high from completing this race!  My longest distance ever and one of the most amazing experiences of my life! (WARNING: there may be a lot of exclamation points in this blog and maybe some swear words too)

I’ve been wanting to cross this finish line for the last two years and I finally did it.  You may recall that last year I attempted it and had to drop to the 60K due to the awful weather.  I was disappointed but it was the right call and I don’t have any regrets.  I will share some learning lessons and then a race report with pictures sprinkled in between 😉

My favorite picture of all! This at about 3am with my pace/crew team that helped make it all possible! I love that we are still laughing at the end!

Learning Lessons….

Be prepared:  Leading up to the race, I had logged about 900 miles, completed two marathons, two 50Ks and one 40 miler as part of my training. The longest I had been on my feet was a little over 11 hours for the 40 miler at Across The Years in December.  Needless to say, I felt ready going into it.  This is a great feeling to have and something I try to impart with my runners.  When you follow a training plan, and do all the work, there is nothing else to worry about but do the race!  The week before was strange as I never got nervous…I had never really felt this prepared for a race.  I also ran on the entire course on 3 different occasions so this helped. However, running each leg on 3 separate occasions (a month apart each time) was definitely not the same as running it all back to back (and at night time).  This was more challenging than I expected and caused me to finish 2 hours longer than I expected.  I also prepared a detailed spreadsheet with my expected arrival times to each aid station and finish and met with my crew/pace team. There is no better feeling for me than going into a race feeling prepared.

Get technique down:  No way I would ever be doing ultra marathons if it weren’t for ChiRunning.  This course had a negative elevation profile but still had some good amount of uphills too (while I was running, it did feel like there were more uphills than downhills though).  I focused on my technique on many of my training runs (I purposely did some races that had more hills).  I am a geek about running technique.  I love being present and focused on what my body is doing and how can I tackle the environment coming at me as efficiently as possible.  One of the things I love most about ChiRunning is I get to constantly get better the more I practice. This keeps me more process oriented vs goal oriented. Even though I had a finish goal, I was not attached to it. So long as I finished and got my buckle!

Have fun:  I can’t stress this enough!  The week before I was visualizing and I kept telling myself that I GET TO go run around our gorgeous desert for a “few” hours.  I was not attached to any expectations and truly just wanted to enjoy every minute of my event. I know that if I get too focused on time, it starts sucking the fun out of a race for me and why bother? I am never going to win the race…and personally I run because I truly enjoy it and have fun so I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.  If it starts feeling not fun, I won’t do it, bottom line.  Fun factor is a huge necessity for me during  a race, especially one this long!

Race Report:

Even though I had paid for the shuttle to take me to the start line (the race was a point to point which means we were dropped off at Mayer High School and then ran 62 miles south), I decided not to take it.  I would’ve had to wake up an hour earlier (3am vs 4am) and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be in a bus with a bunch of excited runners. I know I need some quiet time before an event this big so I can get centered and relax.  The 1 hour and 20 minute drive was a perfect way to do this.

Jubilee, the race director, giving the pre race briefing before the start

I arrived with 30 minutes to go, did a facebook live in my car and then headed to get my bib.  I saw several friends who were running as well.  After the race briefing, we headed to the track to start.

Startline selfie!

I knew the first part of the course had more downhills and I wanted to take advantage of that but also need to make sure to conserve energy for later in the day.  I started at the back of the pack (as usual).  I had projected finishing around 12:30 in the morning. I had my spreadsheet in my pocket so I could check it at each aid station and text my team to keep them posted. At this point, I was loving this trail.

So much fun running down switch backs.  I also welcomed the uphills as that’s where I tend to rest more with ChiWalking/Hiking.  One of the things I don’t like about this trail is that it’s a single track. The 60K runners started an hour after us but the faster runners quickly caught up to me.  I had to move over to the side of the trail many times to let them pass by me so that was a bit annoying. I’d get some momentum down hill and then would hear footsteps behind me and have to stop and let them pass. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of their race but it got old after awhile.

I was so focused on the trail that it took a few moos from the cows to get my attention and notice them!

Part of the jeep road trail…then we would go down the canyon on some fun switchbacks and up again…and repeat…

Ran into one of the Aravaipa race directors, Noah, who was running the 60K with his brother. Love the night Insomniac Series that are part of his races!

One of my favorite parts of the trail is seeing the windmill that is pictured on the belt buckle

I was tracking 30 minutes ahead of schedule at each aid station (my estimates were conservative so I knew this would happen at the beginning).  During this time I kept myself entertained several ways:

  • I love being in nature so I started and spent quite a bit of time just being present, focusing on my technique and enjoying the scenery.
  • I listened to a few motivating podcasts:  Trail Runner Nation’s Intuitive Training with Courtney Dauwalter and Final Surge’s with Camille Herron.  I was hoping to see Courtney at the start as I was lucky enough to get a picture with her in the middle of her course record on the Coldwater 50 mile course. Huge amount of respect for both of these ladies and love that they both mentioned beer as part of their nutrition (more on this later!)  I couldn’t get beer out of my head after these podcasts!
  • I went back to nothing and then decided to listen to some ChiSchool to keep me focused on technique again. I have about 105 lessons on shuffle on my phone and ironicallly, the first one that came on was the lesson called, Dealing with Fatigue.  Perfect timing to get refocused.

In between this, I got to the Bumble Bee Aid station ( Mile 19) and it was great to see some familiar faces there. The key at aid stations is not to spend too much time there.

So great to see my friend Nancy at Bumble Aid station with her husband Bill. Also some Surprise Running Club peeps!

This was an awesome aid station (I think Bumble Ranch..maybe a dude ranch?) At any rate, they had a bar that was open! So tempted but too early in the game!

Had to get a photo opp with the “man eating cows” for my Run Heifer Run friends!

My next aid station was 4.5 miles away and my new friend Denise was there with Will and Mike. I switched my socks out here because they were rubbing (they were a new brand and I know better than not to try new stuff on race day but I brought a back up pair in case. Glad I switched when I did because I did end up getting some hot spots that impacted me later in the day).  Another couple volunteering at this aid station were asking me about Girls On The Run (I had my hat and shirt on) and I started getting into it when Denise said to me “This is about you today, you need to keep moving.”  As much as I love talking about GOTR, she was right and I need to stay focused (one of the hardest things for me to do at aid stations LOL).  By the way, icing on the cake, thanks to all of you that donated in one way or another to Girls On The Run!  I raised about $2,600 for our local council!

Getting into the aid station to change out my socks that were rubbing and bugging me. Glad I planned ahead and brought an extra pair with me!

I look at my pictures and love that I truly was smiling and having a good time pretty much the entire time! Taking a break at the aid station for sock exchange 😉

At the next aid station (last one before picking up my pacer at the 60K exchange), I was still 30 minutes ahead of schedule so I decided to take my time here.  My Garmin was running out of juice and I had brought a charger for it. I put it on the charger and put it in my pocket. I also choose to do another facebook live here.

I knew all I had to do was get to the 60K aid station and that’s where I would pick up my first pacer, Elaine.  I took my Garmin out of my pocket and realized it had paused.  Ugh, not sure how long it was paused but now I couldn’t update my crew on where I was.  This leg was harder than I remember so that ended up taking me 15 minutes later than I expected.  Good news is that I was able to text them when I was a mile away due to a course sign. I have to admit, the markings on the course were great!  One of my biggest fears in ultras is getting lost.  I’m not even sure how at one point in my life, I was actually an Underwater Navigation instructor! (yes I used to teach scuba diving!).  Navigation is definitely not my strong point.

Part of the single track uphill trail…this was one was clean with rocks on the side but a lot of it, especially towards the end, had lots of rocks filling the trail.

River crossing before the 60K aid station. The cold water felt good on my feet…I didn’t even try to keep them dry…I knew I would be at the next aid station soon to change shoes and socks again.

I was excited about seeing my team at the aid station…and what an amazing surprise when I got there!  In addition to my crew, there were several other friends that came out to cheer me on!  At first I saw my friend Heather and her daughter who were waiting a big ahead and ran in with me…As soon as I crossed the mat, I noticed the bigger group. I was so excited that I stopped and took this picture of them!

A picture of my crew/pace team and friends waiting to cheer me on! Wasn’t expecting this (and there are more friends not pictured like Heather and her daughter)…Elaine is already yelling at me to hurry! LOL

Got a little chaotic here because of all the excitement but I needed to stay focused.  I changed my shoes, socks and got some warmer clothes. One of the things that I had been thinking about for awhile was a cold beer!  Both Courtney and Camille had mentioned beers in their podcasts and I figured a little beer would keep me relaxed.  My friends had one in the car but further away…and this is what I love about trail runners…all of the sudden, this girl I’ve never met before walked up to me and brought me two Lagunitas! I only drank half of one but it was the best beer ever! I stayed a little longer than I projected but it was so re-energizing to see my friends. And I have to admit, I still felt pretty darn good!

That was one of the best beers I tasted! Only had half of one but was perfect! Cheers to Courtney and Camille!

They finally kicked me out with Elaine.

Not before I could try to get another selfie with my friends!

OK Elaine and I are finally really leaving!

I’ve blogged about Elaine before here as she did my first 50 miler with me.  We were 30 minutes behind my projected time but at this point, I didn’t care at all.  We started running but this is when the trail started getting rockier than I remember.  It was single track with lots of loose rocks so it was hard to get any momentum going.  Plus those hot spots on my feet seemed worse when I was walking but I just couldn’t get any momentum and run on those rocks.  Even though we were hiking mostly at this point, we were still keeping a good pace.  Any time the trail got smooth with no rocks, we’d start running (which felt so much better) but we would literally go for 20 feet and then ….the Mother Effin’ rocks again!!  This happened a lot on this last 25 mile stretch!  OMG, it was getting frustrating but Elaine kept telling me not to focus on them.  As much as I love running alone, having Elaine to talk to really helped time go by! At one point she said, we’ve been out for 4 hours!  I couldn’t believe that much time had gone by because it only felt like one.  We hit one of the aid stations and I had the best tortilla filled with peanut butter, some coke and M + Ms.  It was night and getting cold and there were several people at the aid station that looked like death warmed over.  I was grateful that I was feeling pretty darn good still at this point! Elaine did about 13 miles with me which included a few river crossings but they were not bad at all.  At one point we stopped and turned our headlamps off to enjoy the night sky!  What a trip to be out in the middle of the desert running a 100K!  We reached the next aid station and she switched out with Lori.

This aid station had sausages and Somoas!  So crazy how you never know what your body is craving under these conditions!.  It was great to see my honey again and my friend Vicki who kept me on track and filled my water pack at the aid stations so I could focus on food and clothing.  Lori paced me for the last 12 miles.  How can I be at mile 50ish of a 100K and talking about upcoming races?  I think I had this conversation with Elaine too.  Weird thing about ultra running is that it can get addicting.  The terrain was the same…..we’d get a little momentum running and the Mother Effin’ rocks again!

My crew/pace team did it again with an awesome cake the next day with my Mother Effin’ Rocks on it!  They added candy rocks and love the purple sneakers to match my favorite color and business logos!

Of course I was using the real word and our joke is how much I swear.  Lori was trying to count them but she must be used to hearing me swear because at one point she said I was at 4 and I know I had to have least swore 10 times.  I was really surprised at how good I felt considering I had been on my feet for 15 hours (this is how long my 50 miler took me).  My original goal was to finish by about 12:30 am but that last 25 miles was so rocky that it slowed us down considerably.  At one point I realized my food alarms were not going off.

I set food alarms to remind me to eat 150-200 calories every 90 minutes. I’ve posted about this before and thanks to Fuel To The Finish (Brooke Schohl) who changed my nutrition world when it comes to ultra running and my regular diet. http://www.therunninguniversity.com/2016/02/25/50-miles-of-gratitude-2-nutrition/

I had set them to go off every 90 minutes as a reminder to get 150-200 calories in me.  I looked at the time and I realized it was 1am and I had only set them through 11 with the assumption I was coming in at 12:30.  This is when I started to panic. I looked at my spreadsheet and we were cutting it close.  We could barely see the the last aid station…a light far away…a mirage and depending on how we were winding on the road, it would disappear and reappear.  It seemed like it was not getting closer.  I was worrying because the last leg was showing to be 4.8 miles and we were really cutting it close. There was no way I was going to be able to run 5 miles in the last hour…not with those rocks!  I am sure I could’ve done it on smooth trail because running felt pretty good still.  Thankfully when we reached that aid station, they told us it was only 3.5 miles and we finally got more relief with less rocks so we could run more.  This last section was surreal…I couldn’t believe I was doing it and almost done!  In a weird way I didn’t want it to end….but a the same time I was ready for it to end too.  I kept looking at my watch and was saying “I really don’t want to have the same dramatic finish from my 50 miler”! (I came in with 12 seconds to spare on the clock!).  We could see the lights where the finish line was and I was starting to get excited.  We could hear Elaine calling out to us and I knew we were going to make it in time.  And before you know it, there was the finish line!  Before getting there, I was trying to figure out how I would feel when I crossed…would I cry, get emotional?  I was surprised at how excited I was to cross it….as a matter of fact, when I crossed the finish line, the official picture didn’t come out so my friend Kisha (who volunteered at the finish line just to see me finish!) had me run back through it for the picture. She also gave the buckle to my honey so he could give it to me.  I did a Facebook live in my car on the way back home!

Still smiling big at the finish with my first belt buckle! I finished in 19:46:01 with 14 minutes to spare on the cutoff! I was out there from 7am Saturday to 2:26am on Sunday. And I loved every minute of it! (mostly, except for the mother effin’ rocks!) There was a 20% DNF (Did Not Finish) rate so pretty proud that I finished!

with Jubilee, the race director! What an amazing, well organized race!

This blog took me several days to write.  It’s 5 days after the race and I am still on cloud nine!  I describe it as one of the most epic experiences of my life…part of it is because I affirmed that and wanted it to be that way!  I know they can’t always be this way but one of the pieces of advice I received from fellow ultra runner and Chirunning Instructor from WI was “You’ll have highs and you’ll have lows, just ride the waves.”  Greatest thing about this event is that I never really had a low.  Don’t get me wrong, those Mother Effin’ rocks were getting on my last nerve but I kept a positive attitude all day and felt great the whole time!  Of course I was sore for a few days afterwards and I know it will take me a few weeks to truly recover but today I feel great!  And no injuries during my 900+ miles of training or at the race! Thank you ChiRunning!

A huge thank you to all the aid station volunteers, Aravaipa Running and race director Jubilee for making it a great event, and most importantly to my crew:  my best friends Lori, Elaine and Vicki for crewing and pacing me and my boyfriend for crewing as well but also for supporting me throughout my crazy training schedule.  I seriously don’t know that I would’ve made the cutoff without my pace/crew team keeping focused and moving!

I DID IT!!

I celebrated my finish and 47th birthday the next day. NO one escapes a cake in the face from Erica! And yes, I AM WEARING THAT BUCKLE!

Yep, I’ll show my buckle off! Hanging with fellow 100K finisher Chris Worden. He was the last one to come in to get the lottery entry for the Western States!

Wearing the buckle a few days later with my shirt at Running for Brews. I’m the Organizer so I picked the theme: Favorite Medal 😉 Hehehe (funny is that I don’t wear buckles so I had to buy a belt for one. I did it last minute and it arrived 30 minutes before my party….then I realized I got the wrong size so Greg had to make a new whole it in for me too)

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

Race Report

Race Report: Sedona Marathon

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

This was my 3rd time doing the Sedona Marathon (did the half marathon as well once).  I absolutely love this race!  It is incredibly scenic and even though I really don’t like road races, the middle part of the marathon is on a jeep road so trailish.  I also love the fact that it is a hilly course.  I love this because I get to use a lot of my ChiRunning skills and this is one of the reasons I love running. I am definitely a geek about this technique but I love having my mind and body working together to tackle the course as efficiently as possible. Click here to see the elevation profile.

Night before the race. Since the race starts at 9ish for all distances, you could come up the day of but I alway like getting there the day before. Don’t like sitting in a car for a few hours and then run 26.2 miles…plus it adds to the experience!

Thanks to Connie for this great pre race photo…just love that scenery!

Here my roses and thorns about this race:

Roses:  

  • Scenery is gorgeous!  I think you get the most bang for your buck on this if you do the half or the full marathon.  It’s an out and back course (this could be a rose or thorn) so you don’t get back as far with the 5K or 10K.
  • Nice small town feel of a race. I’ve stopped doing the Rock N Rolls because they are too commercial and too big.  First time I did this race was 2014 and it has grown but not to an extreme.
  • Hills, hills, hills! I love using my ChiHill techniques and Chirunning in general.  This marathon is my PR (2014) with a 4:58:49 and it was mainly due to form and strategy.    Even though half is on road, it’s technical enough for me to feel like I’m on a trail because I have to match my running technique to the variety of the road coming at me. This makes running fun for me because it’s a fun challenge to see how I can use my technique to be as efficient as possible.
  • The finish has always been small but this year they added a few food trucks and a BEER garden!  My favorite beer is Piehole Porter from Historic Brewing Company and minutes after my finish, I got a nice cold one and it was possibly the best beer I’ve had 😉  I did a Facebook live at the end…but not before I got my beer!

This was Piehole Porter #2 of the day. We’ve enjoyed stopping at R.I.O.T. in Cottonwood on the way back home which has great craft beer and food!

  • I like the out and back because I love to see the elite runners on the top of their game. It’s fun to be able to yell great job at them as they run by you.  Although I will say, road runners are not the same as trail runners.  Most of the time there wouldn’t be any acknowledgment to the “good job”s where on trail, you normally get a “thank you” and/or “you too.”
  • Lots of energy at their aid stations. They have a contest for this but it did dwindle on the way back.  Aid stations provided water, Gatorade, Cliff gels and bananas.

Aid stations compete for the best one. This one had a circus theme and had the most energy in my opinion. I also went under the lady in the stilts! Camera was probably fogged up when I pulled it out so not a clear picture ;(

Superhero theme aid station….this was on the way back so I was in chill mode…was trying to get selfie but then let the aid station volunteer get a better shot 😉

  • Friends!  I went up with a few friends and met other friends that I didn’t even know were going to be there!

with Connie and Aaron at the start…ran into several other friends but forgot selfies!

Thorns:

  • I am not a medal person but it doesn’t seem fair that everyone gets the same exact medal.  A 5K person gets the same medal as a marathoner and that just doesn’t seem right to me. I think they can step up their game for sure on this one!
  • Not crazy about the shirt you get for the race. I know they have to give props to sponsors but way too many sponsors on front and back.  Not crazy about the color. I wouldn’t normally buy another shirt but since I love this race, I sucked it up buying a purple/pink tank top that has the map of the course on the back.
  • I am normally a back of the pack runner and this was a training run for me.  This was one of my longest marathons because it was just a training run for me but I got to the last aid station and they barely had water (no more Gatorade or food).  It seems like the energy at the aid stations really dropped on the way back when you need it the most.  There was still people at the finish and maybe because this year it was bigger…but the cutoff is 7 hours for the marathon and I don’t know how much support the other back of the packer received.  I remember getting bagels, bananas, etc at the end and didn’t see any of that this year unless I missed it.
  • I think for the price you can get a bit more swag in the goodie bag.
  • I love the smaller feel of this race but I don’t remember that there was as much traffic on both the paved and non paved road.  RECOMMENDATION: I am really glad I had my buff around my neck because the cars made a lot of dust on the dirt road so I would pull it over my mouth and nose when they passed by. Again, seemed like more than usual traffic there.

My Experience

I love this course because I get to really practice my ChiRunning technique. For some people, running is just a means to an end and is goal oriented. ChiRunning is process oriented. This means that it’s a practice (like yoga is a practice).   The more you focus on your technique, the more you’ll have breakthrough “aha” moments and continuosly get better and better.  So when I’m running on a technical course (many hills) I love working on my technique.  In Martial Arts/Tai Chi, your opponent is a person…in running, your opponent is the environment coming at you.  In Martial Arts, you don’t meet your opponent with a force but you cooperate with that force to neutralize it…..we do the same in ChiRunning.  Most people will use way too much leg muscle to propel themselves up a hill (meeting a force with a force) and then get to the top and walk down because they are so tired.  In ChiRunning, we use specific techniques that help us cooperate with the uphills and then crank down the hill because that’s cooperating with gravity all the way down.  Every time I do this race I always chuckle to myself because I will constantly leap frog with people doing this.  They pass me on the uphills and then I run right past them on the downhill using less effort up and down.

I knew this was supposed to be a training run. It was my last long run before my first 100K (2 weeks after Sedona).  I wanted to really PR and even though I told myself I wouldn’t do it, I did try to PR through the first half of the course.  When I reached the half point, I was on schedule to PR….then I forgot the next 5 miles were back uphill…..then I remembered this was only a training run…… so I quickly decided to chill out because the 100K is my priority.  The second half of the race took an extra 30 minutes which was absolutely fine with me.  My legs were feeling like I had pushed myself and I also felt that I was still recovering from the 52K a few weeks before.

All in all, if you like beautiful scenery and a challenging course, I highly recommend this race!  May become an annual tradition for me…maybe it will be my A race next year so I can really train for it rather than use it as a training run.

some amazing scenery!

more amazing scenery

 

 

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