Chirunning Foundations

I'm a pretty rational person, but the concept of chirunning is a fascinating way to look at something simple and natural - running - and have fun with our running by thinking in new frame of reference. Chi running is related to the concepts of T'ai Chi, a Chinese discipline we westerners often associate with martial arts. T'ai Chi, however, is fundamentally an observation and awareness of animal movements.

A foundational thought of chirunning is that the child runs more efficiently than the adult. Like a lot of educational processes, the conscious learning of sports and running "layers over" our innate running abilities. And yes, our coached running is effective - at least in the short term. Danny Dreyer, the guru of chi running, calls this kind of running "power running".

As we age power running begins to exact it's price. As runners become more mature - master runners - investigating the chi in running can have great benefits.

Chirunning is based on the principal of "chi" as a life force, and the idea that as we are alive we possess chi - life itself. Practitioners and devotees of chi say chi is self evident: Evident in the living, and absent in the dead.

Here are five principles of chi running that have appealed to me and helped me gain a better understanding of chirunning.

Find Your Centre

Most of us have an idea where our hearts are, or where our liver is - at least approximately! Chi running asks us to find another part of ourselves: our centre. The thought is that when an animal moves from its centre it moves from a position of power, and it moves efficiently - with an economy of energy. Chi running visualizes a runner's centre as a line from the neck, through the spine, and down to the tailbone. Chi running uses the power of the spine and pelvis to efficiently move the legs and arms.

This is different than using the legs (peripheral to the centre) to move everything else. Moving from the centre is restful and powerful, while using relatively small leg muscles to propel body mass is inherently inefficient.
A foundation of chi running is that once we can feel our centre we can use gravity to help us propel our bodies forward, save energy, and increase efficiency.

Look at this picture of a Bighorn Mountain Sheep. We stumbled across each other in the mountains above Jasper, AB a few years ago. Look at the power of it's centre compared to the little skinny legs. Bighorn sheep survive in their rocky environments not because they wear great traction sneakers - but because they keep their centre in balance.

Believe in One Step Progress

We know a run begins at the beginning: with the first step.This is what really counts - taking that first step. What is far less relevant, and much less important, is the length or speed of the run. A run of ten steps can be just as significant as a run of 100 miles to the runner. What is relevant to each runner is that as we run we are progressing towards our running goals.

Chi running helps us to visualize, execute, and measure our running progress.

We begin our accomplishments with the mind - we visualize what we want to do.
We centre ourselves and begin our running.
We reflect on our progress as measured by our own success benchmarks - and not by the standards of someone else's progress.

Build Your Foundation First

Chirunning emphasizes the foundation: We build a solid base of running and training experience. We use principles of running that energize our core muscles rather than exhausting peripheral muscles.
The chi running foundation is really twofold: It is our training plan building on a solid running platform, but more importantly our foundation is within us, and relates to our "centre".

Chi running teaches that the rotation of the body around the axis of the spine provides a low cost torsional energy that propels us forward. As we build this foundation awareness around our core our running becomes more powerful - with less effort.

Find Your Balance

The Chinese speak of a balance between light and dark, light and heavy, the yin and the yang. Yin and Yang

Martial arts are executed from a body in balance, and work to destabilize an out of balance opponent. Running chi is a balance: as one leg goes forward the other leg recedes. One arm is extended, the other is retracted. Our running movements are balanced around our foundation.

There are other balances in chi running: We gauge the beginning of our run with the end in our minds - balancing our need for speed with our need for endurance. We balance our desired distance with our available time, and we balance our fitness goals with our own body's abilities..

Sometimes Something is Nothing

Obstacles are part of running: hills, down hill running, roots, rocks and cement. Chirunning seeks to work with our environment. We know we can't run as fast or as far in the heat, right? And we know we need to conserve our body heat in the the cold. These are reactions to our environment. Likewise, we can relax and shorten our stride as we ascend a hill; or lengthen our stride and lower our body as we descend a trail.

We know from trail running that extra muscular energy and awareness is used along uneven surfaces. On the other hand, running on pavement is easy in terms of feet and ankles, but hard in terms of relaxing the legs to absorb the hardness of the flat paved surface.

Summary

Chi running gives us a different way to look at our running "box". Running with chi gives us a new perspective on our training goals and programs. For master's runners, chi running principles can extend the enjoyment and length of our running.

Danny and Katherine Dreyer's book Chi Running is a wonderful introduction to chirunning principles. Look for it in your local bookstores or online. I'd recommend it!

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