ixty-five percent of all runners will have to stop running at least once every year due to injury. The ChiRunning technique offers a real solution to this high rate of injury and makes running not only safer, but also more efficient and more enjoyable for runners of all levels. Contained within the technique are movement principles found in t’ai chi, the mother of all martial arts. These guidelines are applied to running allowing you to bring your mind and body together to make the most of every move you make.

In T’ai Chi, correct postural alignment is used to allow chi, or life-force energy, to flow more freely throughout the body. When your body is out of alignment, it is like a bent pipe that restricts the flow of water. Much attention is also paid to loosening all of the other joints in the body by relaxing one’s muscles as much as possible during movement. Movement originates from one’s center, also known as your core, and everything else relaxes to allow for fluid movement. When these concepts of alignment and relaxation were combined with a slight forward lean and applied to running, ChiRunning was born.

The result was profound for my own running and has now helped thousands of runners increase speed and improve overall performance while reducing injuries and recovery time.

Here’s what a couple of runners have had to say:

Mark just completed the Ironman Wisconsin in September, finishing is the top 15% of the 2200 person field. “…I gave it a chance and it completely changed my running style in a matter of weeks. I would go on these long runs and try to run my old way (which was just run anyway it felt good) and then mid-run, I’d switch to the ChiRunning style. People who I had been following for miles, were now behind me in a few strides, and I exerted no extra energy to do it!”

Catherina McKiernan of Ireland, winner of London, Berlin and Amsterdam marathons in ’99, and Silver Medalist in two World Cross Country Championships, has become a Certified ChiRunning Instructor due to the profound affect it has had on her running. Catherina writes, “My career was plagued by injury. When I discovered ChiRunning I knew that this information was important for every day runners and for competitive athletes. You know, I get more of a buzz out of teaching than I did out of any of the big races I won during my career. I am constantly getting great feedback and all my clients are thrilled. My own running is going great also – no niggles whatsoever.” Add a rich Irish brogue and you get the picture.

The Formula for Success

In ChiRunning we have a formula for success. We call it FDS, which stands for Form, Distance and Speed. The way to ensure your success as a runnere is to work on your form first, then add distance, with speed added as the last component. Your training schedule is, of course, a huge part of how your prepare for an event, but in ChiRunning we suggest that you focus on your form first, because when you’re running form is maximized for efficiency and injury-prevention, you can make the most of every training session. You then add in distance by working to hold your form for longer periods of time. Once you can hold your form over the distance you need, you then start adding speed to your workouts. Speed is the last component and is a result of good technique and conditioning and not reliant on strength alone. Speed workouts are also a place to refine your form, not just build strength.

In the ChiRunning method, there is a specific technique for every aspect of your training. For example it is more energy efficient to use a specific technique for running uphill and a different technique for running downhill. Likewise there are very specific techniques for increasing speed, for holding a fast pace, for resting muscles on the run, or for using a greater variety of muscles. ChiRunning is a mindful approach to running which encourages listening to and responding to your body so that you can quickly and accurately respond to any situation. Like a T’ai Chi Master, you will have a perfect response for anything that comes at you during a run.

Make Gravity Your Ally

The ChiRunning form uses a slight forward lean to engage the pull of gravity as the main propulsive force. While using your core muscles to keep your posture aligned the rest of your body learns to relax and offer no resistance to the pull of gravity. Overused, tense muscles create inertia and which works against your forward motion. To whatever extent you can rely on gravity to pull you forward, you can reduce your muscle usage. In doing so, not only do you reduce the potential for injury that comes from overused muscles, you also gain much greater efficiency, reduce your recovery time, and you can actually increase your speed with less perceived effort.

Relaxed muscles can absorb oxygen more efficiently than tense muscles. When your muscles are relaxed, it allows the recoiling action of your tendons to move your arms and legs rather than the contraction of your muscles. Additionally, when you’re relaxed you can increase your range of motion, reduce your breathe rate and lower your oxygen and fuel requirements. (when you’re muscles are always firing they are using up valuable muscle glycogen).

Align Yourself

In order to engage the pull of gravity, your body must first be aligned correctly which means:

•Every time your weight is supported by your foot, there is a straight line between your shoulders, hip bones and ankles. This allows your body weight to be supported by your structure (bones, ligaments and tendons) rather than your muscles, which reduces the energy expenditure of your leg and lower back muscles.

•Your left and right side are moving symmetrically.

•Every part of your body is aligned in the direction you are headed.

-your upper body doesn’t sway side-to-side,

-your hips don’t move laterally as your foot hits the ground

-your body does not bounce up and down

-your arms don’t cross your centerline

-your legs and feet are pointed forward as they swing

These are but a few of the possible misalignments ChiRunning helps to correct.

Master Your Body

Bringing this mind-body approach to running actually transforms running from a sport to a practice and allows you to gain much more from your running than merely staying in good physical shape. ChiRunning fully supports runners in understanding how their body works best and how to combine that with the mental focus needed to bring the highest level of quality into each and every run.

ChiRunning is particularly helpful when something is not going quite right, when your body feels sluggish, or when you get slung off course by that nagging pain that hits halfway through a race. What you need at that moment is a great toolkit and knowledge of what you can focus on, physically or mentally, to correct the problem.

I suggest that you work to master the connection between your mind and your body. It is a necessary skill that every top athlete in the world has. Try something, practice it, see the results and discover for yourself what works best for you. The ChiRunning form focuses are guideposts for your own personal research. Every time I go out for a run, I come back with something new to practice. I’m constantly working with my breath, my lean, relaxing more deeply. It is an ongoing process of discovery that I see no end to. It takes more focus than you might be used to with your running, but the payoff of years of pain-free, injury-free running will be well worth the effort…and you can look forward to becoming the master of your own movement.

For further information on ChiRunning, please go to our website at: www.chirunning.com