VICKY: PRE:  The Story of America’s Greatest Running Legend by Tom Jordan.  I like Prefontaine because he brought attention to the sport of running and contributed largely to making running “sexy”. He once famously said about running:

“Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, `I`ve never seen anyone run like that before.` It`s more than just a race, it`s style. It`s doing something better than anyone else. It`s being creative.”

GRANT: He also brought a lot of attention to amateur athletes, who always seem to struggle opposite professional athletes. This is one subject that I want us to explore as we read through this book.

VICKY: According to the the publisher:

“For five years, no American runner could beat him at any distance over a mile.”

GRANT: I don’t care whether you think he was arrogant or not, that’s a pretty impressive record.

VICKY: What I can gather from watching the movies and doing a bit of Googling, is that he really approached running as a battle.

GRANT: Absolutely. He once said:

“I run to see who has the most guts.”

VICKY: I can’t wait to read this book and discover whether he was really the gladiator everyone has portrayed him to be. I wonder whether this fierce competitiveness is a required trait for track athletes. They always seem more intense than road and trail runners.

GRANT: I don’t know but I get a feeling we’re about to find out!

VICKY: Hey what do you all think? Are track athletes more competitive/fierce/intense than other types of runners?

Just a quick heads on an upcoming movie that will soon join Air Bud and Wildcats in the pantheon of sports films.

There are a number of different running styles that you may choose from including your present natural style (the way you run without thinking about how your body moves) to more standardized styles where each aspect of the running technique is defined from the way your feet move all the way up the body to how your arms swing.

If you asked me what running style was best for you?  My response would be whatever style best meets your running goal(s) which may include improved race time, longer distance, injury avoidance, fun, etc.  If your present running style works for you then I would not be the one to suggest changes. 

You may find that you are looking for something different.  If this is the case my recommendation is to consider the different styles presently available and pick the one that makes the most sense to you and that aligns with your running goals.  It may take some effort to change the way your body moves so you should believe in a particular style before investing the time to adopt it.

The purpose of this blog is to introduce to the iRun readers to the technical aspects and merits of the ChiRunning form.  The type of runners that may be interested in this blog are: (1) existing ChiRunners looking for additional information; (2) non-ChiRunners considering adoption of the form; and (3) non-ChiRunners not considering adoption of the form but may find some aspects of the ChiRunning form worth implementing within their own running style.

The ChiRunning form is extremely well documented in reference material such as books, DVDs and audio CDs.  These materials are available through the ChiRunning website www.chirunning.com.  Ownership of the book “ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running by Danny Dreyer, Katherine Dreyer” is mandatory for anyone looking to adopt the form or looking for detailed information on the form.  It is the ChiRunning bible that is supplemented by the additional ChiRunning materials.

This blog will discuss the different aspects of the ChiRuning form in steps.  The information in the blog will not modify any aspects of the form described in the ChiRunning book but may present these aspects in a different way influenced by my own adoption and experience with this running style.

Lastly I want to thank the iRun staff for giving me this opportunity to write about the ChiRunning form and to you the iRun readers for visiting this blog.

Ok here’s a 15 second description of the physics behind the ChiRunning form that will be expanded in greater detail in future blogs …

“ChiRunning is a running form that uses gravity, not the muscles in your legs and feet to propel you forward.
(1) You first align your posture so you can draw a straight line through your shoulders hips and ankles. 
(2) You then lean this aligned posture forward using your ankles as the hinge point with the ground. 
(3) If you completely relax all the muscles in your legs and feet you will fall forward. 
(4)You maintain your lean and forward fall and only use your feet and legs to momentarily support your aligned posture each time your foot contacts the ground. 
Your feet and legs are not used to propel you forward.  Because you are leaning forward, your feet contact the ground behind your hips and behind your body weight.  This eliminates the potentially injurious impact normally felt through your body when your feet contact the ground in front of your hips”

Hey iRun readers – hope everyones Spring is going well!   This is often the time of year when we start thinking about getting our sandals and summer shoes back out of the closet.  And for many runners and walkers, this comes right around the time our mileage starts getting higher in preparation for spring and summer races.  The combination of these two things can definitely cause a few problems!

The problem is that we often know the benefits of being in our running shoes (they just feel better!), but can’t imagine being in them all the time (for either heat, style or convenience reasons).  So what do we do?  I often recommend a bit of a comprimise here and it depends alot on listening to your body.  Number one priority (especially if you’re injured) should be finding a footwear system that allows you to be comfortable and pain free.  This is generally going to be a running shoe.  Once we have a good system from which to compare to, we can start to find which of our other shoes cause problems.  For example, I definitely wear less than ideal sandals in the summer but I don’t wear them when my feet are sore.  If I’ve done a particularily difficult workout and my feet/knees/legs are sore, I try to wear my running shoes more and avoid my sandals until the pain disappears.  Sounds very simple (which it is) but our bodies are really very good at telling us when we need to do things – we’re just not very good at listening!   If the sandals/dress shoes/casual shoes etc are not causing any problems, then they’re proabably okay for limited wear.  If you really want/need to be wearing sandals or dress shoes and they’re causing problems compared to your running shoes then some changes need to be made.  Finding better sandals/dress shoes, wearing them less or adding inserts (either over the counter or custom made arch supports) are all ways to make a less than optimal system better.

Runners tend to be a grumpy bunch when they’re not able to do the activity they love due to injury (I’m certainly a part of this group)!  Wearing that flip flop for a long walk is often not worth the risk of injury and can easily be avoided by wearing your running shoes.  That being said, there’s often nothing wrong with wearing sandals or dress shoes for casual wear provided there’s no pain. 

Good Luck to everyone in their Spring races!

Injuries from over-training, I’ve had a few – strained hamstrings, wonky IT bands, stress fractures. But this is the first time I’ve had a goal race jeopardized by injuries sustained due to lack of sleep.

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon last week, so my husband and I decided to take our baby girl for a walk along the canal. We were all feeling a little peaked, as Alex’s recent growth spurt meant we were up every two hours every night the week before – sometimes every hour, in fact. But the sunshine (and the big, ol’ coffees we obtained at Starbucks prior) promised to cure all that ailed us. It was a little warm, so I started to slide my hoodie down my shoulders to take it off and put it around my waist. And just like that -bam- I’d rolled my ankle in about the only pothole in the history of Ottawa’s obsessively-maintained canal path, failed to steady myself with my hoodie-occupied arms, and landed shoulder-first on the ground. Well, technically, both my knees and right hand took a lot of the impact, but my shoulder was the real clutch player, saving me from smashing my face right into the asphalt. (Although, of all the people ideally suited to have a concussion, the new mom waking up every two hours with a hungry baby is right up there!) Apparently, as I lay, bruised and bleeding on the ground, I managed to holler “don’t let the stroller roll into traffic!” at my startled husband…good to know I can still bark orders from the prone position!

I assessed the damage as I limped back home: Two skinned knees and the beginnings of a nasty bruise on the right knee; road rash on my hand and shoulder, and pride that might never heal if I missed race day because of a pratfall. I skipped my run that day for obvious reasons, but the next day managed to hobble my way through what should have been a 10k tempo run. (I managed 10k, but the “tempo” best resembled that of an elephant marching band.)  Thankfully, the sore spot giving me the most trouble – a tweaked right knee – was sufficiently mended by my Sunday long run that I managed to pull off  my longest training run yet – 21.1k (precisely), proof positive that I can go the distance on race day, even under less-than-ideal conditions.  And I’m now quite certain that, if I ever manage to string together more than four consecutive hours of sleep sometime before my daughter heads off to university, qualifying for Boston will be a breeze.

Ahhh Spring!

It is such an amazing time to be a runner when it’s spring (unless you have allergies).  It’s like all the trials and denials of winter running just wash away with a little spring rain.  I don’t know about the rest of you but it takes me a while to figure out what to wear so as not to be too cold or to overheat.

I’ve started working out with a group on Tuesdays in the Arboretum/Experimental farm, great to be in a big group of runners again, such social creatures we are!

Last week we were out (in the rain) and here is the workout:

-18min warm-up to the arb

-another 15min warm-up with the group

-4 strides

-4x ~2km with a 3min jogging rest

-(@ 6:22, 6:19, 6:26 and 6:09)

-20min cool down

So it was a rainy night and I of course over dressed by 3 layers.  Anyway great running with people again I always forget all the little things about group running: someone is breathing heavy, some one has a click in there ankle and of course the never ending array of bottley functions.

It certainly is nice to run in peace and quiet, I’ll be the first one to admit that, but every now and then I encourage you to find a group to run with especially if your doing speed and take note of all the noises that you encounter around you I bet you’ll have a little chuckle.

More to come on the speedwork I will be hitting a few hard sessions over the next few weeks to prepare for the Race Weekend 10k!

Tampa-based Kenyan Thomas Omwenga ran away and hid on the field at Sunday’s BMO Vancouver Marathon, winning by just under 9 minutes (2:16:55) over BC’s own Jason Loutitt. This is Omwenga’s third win, adding to his ’07 and ’08 titles. He has enjoyed a fair bit of success on the Canadian circuit over the years, having also won the Around The Bay 30K last year and the Niagara Falls Marathon in 2007.

The women’s marathon was won by Emmah Muthoni Kiruki (2:37:16) over BC’s Sharleen Jackson (2:50:12) and Suzanne Evans (2:52:58).

Each champion took home $2000. This year saw over 3400+ marathon finishers.

The half marathon’s 6500+ runners were led by Lethbridge’s Kip Kangogo (Kan He Ever!) in 1:06:33. Kangogo is a former NCAA All American who once trained under legendary Ed Eyestone at Brigham Young University, before transferring to Texas Christian in 2004. Kip’s younger brother Ed posted a 9th place finish (1:13:29).

On the women’s side, Ontario’s Krista Duchene (1:16:40) won easily. Duchene was third at this spring’s Around The Bay 30K and won both the Hamilton and Mississauga Marathons in ’09. Lisa Harvey edged Heather Gallagher for second place and the extra $250 in prize money ($750 vs $500). The two finished with identical 1:19:15 chip times, but Harvey started 2 seconds ahead of Gallagher so she also finished 2 seconds ahead. (In major road races, awards go by gun time, not chip time.)

Congratulations to all who braved the elements for yesterday’s races!