Drinking The ChiRunning Kool-Aid

I have been plagued with calf muscle injuries. If I am going to achieve my ultramarathon goal, I realize that something needs to change, and I'm working on it. 

Danny Dreyer
ChiRunning Founder

I took a week off of running to heal from my latest calf muscle strain. During that time I researched running techniques and decided to try the ChiRunning method. The author promises an effortless, injury-free running experience. Sounds good to me. So I read the ChiRunning book front to back. 

After reading the book, on Thursday I went for a short half-mile practice run on the treadmill. I also video taped myself running so that I could analyze my form. The video taping was a good idea. I was able to quickly spot a few flaws in my form, including running with my head too far forward. Otherwise, I found the ChiRunning technique fairly simple to emulate.

On Friday I did another practice run on the treadmill, this time for about 1.5 miles. I ran barefoot so that I could better feel my feet hitting the ground (treadmill). I was trying to focus on my foot strike to ensure I was landing mid-foot. I found the mid-foot strike rather natural once I aligned my body properly and shortened my stride.

Today I returned to the Northshore Trail for a short ChiRunning test. Before I started running, I warmed up for about 5 minutes. I also keep my pace slow. During the run I decided to focus on three areas:

First, I kept my cadence at the recommended speed, much faster than I am used to moving my legs. This had the effect of shortening my stride, which put less strain on my calf muscles.

Second, I concentrated on landing on my mid-foot as gently and as lightly as possible. I tried to keep my foot strike under me or slightly behind my hips. I also avoided pushing off with my toes. These changes also reduced the strain on my calf muscles.

Third, I tried to ensure I was keeping my body properly aligned (head, shoulders, hips, feet), and standing tall with a slight lean forward. I found whenever I checked in with my body, something was out of line somewhere, so I corrected it and kept running. 

I am happy to report that my calf muscles did not bother me, on any of my last three test runs. As a matter of face, they actually felt better after my run today than they did before. I think that might be because I worked out some of the stiffness during my run. I also did the hot tub thing after my run, which I also think helped to work out the stiffness. 

So does ChiRunning work? 

Well, I think it's too soon for me to say that I am a believer. Why wouldn't I become a ChiRunning evangelist after my successful run today? Because I changed a bunch of stuff today. I warmed up before I started into my run. I ran at a slower pace. I stayed off my toes on the inclines. And I treated my legs with a hot bath after the run. Add to that the specific ChiRunning techniques I focused on today--the mid-foot strike, better aligned posture, and a faster cadence--and who knows which of these actually helped with my run today. All I know for sure is that it worked! 

I need more runs and more time to work on this before I am sold on drinking the ChiRunning kool-aid. But I will say at this point, its tasting pretty good!

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