A very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all. A brief post on the 2011 Running Year …

Running Focus

My primary focus was and probably always will be to run (live) healthy, both physically and mentally. Events are tests of health, not of fitness (related blog post). To increase health, I focused on Read the rest of this entry »

A whole year ago December 20th, 2010 I received this wonderful email. I kept in on my desktop as a great reminder of the people I get to meet and how simple ideas can be shared with great benefits. I have looked at it many times since then.

David,
Thanks so much I am so excited. I also received an email from you the other day wishing us all a Happy Holiday. I must say after taking the Chi running course at the Wellness Center my running has Read the rest of this entry »

We have probably all heard the statistics which suggest running is hard on the body. The numbers you hear range, but they indicate a high % of runners get injured every year in some way that inhibits their running program.

But of course it does not have to be that way; a focus on technique can go a long way to reduce this *hardness* and bring running back to a place where it is enjoyable, supportive of consistent mobility and of overall health.

Here are my three categories of Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was the 1st Annual Staten Island Trail Run Festival at Willowbrook Park. I had just heard of this event 2 weeks before; and at first I thought … a trail 50K on Staten Island? … where? Well, it turns out there exists The Greebelt – about 2800 acres of parks and natural areas with an interconnected trail system. This event was only three weeks after my JFK50 Mile Ultra, but I could not resist the opportunity to explore a new area. My recovery after the JFK50 was minimal and I was comfortable getting back out there for a long event. I planned to use it more as a training run to safely explore a bit at first, then consider the safe plan from there.

Here is a brief event description from

Read the rest of this entry »

Our “civilized” world dramatically removes us from our natural environment. This greatly affects our health and longevity in a number of ways. A significant example of this is probably where you are right now – in a C.H.A.I.R. It does not matter if it is a desk chair, a lounge chair, a couch, or a car, train, bus seat. Google images for chairs and you can see how much of a mine field exists out there …

In general, too much sitting reduces mobility – and just as in nature, our mobility is directly tied to our longevity. But the reality is our lives, homes, travel, jobs utilize chairs for most of our day. So how do we manage this public enemy? Read the rest of this entry »

The 49th Annual JFK 50 Mile Ultramarathon was this past Saturday November 19, 2011. It was my 4th consecutive JFK50 (see previous year’s summaries: 2010, 2009, 2008). This year’s training approach resulted in a course PR by 38 minutes over last year.

Preparation:

Preparation this year was very different than in previous years. My training for this event began way back in May when I started a 3-4x/week core strength training program. The main focus was core strength, but I also did a lot of overall strength training. The core training consisted of exercises like Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I presented a four hour ChiRunning clinic in Central New Jersey. After the clinic a number of followup emails were sent to remind participants of the key principles and focuses to “practice” them. There was also a followup video review sent which highlighted each participant’s form with their “landing” position and their “loading” position.

Here is an email message I received  Read the rest of this entry »

In a previous post, Your Inner Unicyclist, the concept of running or walking cooperating with gravity was compared to what a unicyclist, or a young child, does instinctively. When a unicyclist wants to move forward, they lean first and then pedal just enough to keep up with their forward momentum and stay balanced.

But how does this change on hills? or does it?
Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday this week, I presented the first of two ChiWalking clinics in a group fitness program at the Hunterdon Wellness Center in Clinton NJ. We spent about 2 hours learning and “feeling” the individual parts of the ChiWalking position and motion, then put the parts together for short distances of practice and finally provided specific feedback to each participant.

Here is the email message I received  Read the rest of this entry »

This blog is mainly about creating efficiency in our movement so that we can improve our health and, if desired, increase our performance. But this blog is also about supporting efficiency in all aspects of life. Efficiency in movement is created by balancing effort across all parts of the body relative to their ability. But what if one part of the body is not able to efficiently contribute to this balance; or worse yet detract from it? An example might be upper body vs. lower body or maybe the leg vs. the big toe.

Yet another relationship exists between “levels”. For example, muscles are limited by their “parts” which are cells. And all of those cells are in turn limited by Read the rest of this entry »

When describing the concept of running or walking like a kid and cooperating with gravity to aid in forward propulsion, a good analogy is that of a unicyclist. When I unicyclist wants to move forward, do they:

• Pedal? <OR>
• Lean first, then pedal just enough to keep up with their forward momentum to stay balanced?

I will suggest that if they pedal first, then they will likely fall backwards. So they lean first. But how much do they lean? They lean enough to create the desired momentum, then Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I worked with a small group getting starting with running. ChiRunning was recommended to them and then found me online through my website. We spent about 2 hours learning and “feeling” the individual parts of the position and motion, then put the parts together for short distances of practice and finally provided specific feedback to each person.

Here is the email message I received  Read the rest of this entry »

One of the common challenges to efficient and injury-free running in a strong, aligned core. The benefits of this were discussed here: ChiRunning Common Challenges Core. The key to this is engaged lower abdominals to stabilize (and level if necessary) the pelvis which also stabilizes an aligned posture. Here is an online presentation on this Key to Posture. In that presentation an important Lower Abdominal Exercise is described. The purpose of that exercise is to body sense isolating the lower abdominals from the lower back, glutes and upper abdominals. Then you can use this and other exercises (including running and walking) to focus on strengthening the isolated lower abdominals. Below is a variation of this exercise that you can add to your Read the rest of this entry »