Last summer I picked up the book, ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running by Danny Dreyer, and it has completely changed the way I think about running. ChiRunning incorporates elements of Tai Chi with running, so rather than tightening your body and slamming it against the ground, you relax and work with gravity. Although I have some minor issues with it, overall the book is wonderful and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their running form.
Despite the fact that I had read the book and put some of the advice to work, I struggled with finding my ChiRunning form. So, last weekend I attended a half-day ChiRunning workshop with Josh Miller, a certified ChiRunning coach and massage therapist. Going in to the workshop I was nervous about two things:
- The workshop would not be worth my time and money.
- The other people in the workshop would be arrogant, stuck-up runners.
Luckily, the workshop was well worth it and the other participants were awesome! Josh took us through alignment, leaning forward, and putting it all together into a complete running form. I appreciated the 1 on 1 attention Josh gave to each of us. He helped me understand several things that I’ve been doing wrong, such as leaning too far forward, taking too long of a stride, tightening my glutes, and tightening my low back. I’ve only run a couple times since the workshop, but both runs have felt great. I know that I still have a lot of work to do, but I feel I am on my way to running effortlessly and pain-free.
