GETTING FIT:Are you running in the mini-marathon? Catherina McKiernan is a big fan of ChiRunning, which claims to take much of the pain out of running, writes ANGELA RUTLEDGE
THOUGH IT IS new here, ChiRunning has been well established in the US with its claim to making running less stressful on the joints by switching to a more natural posture.
According to its founder, Danny Dreyer, “ChiRunning combines the inner focus and flow of T’ai Chi with the power and energy of running to create a revolutionary running form and philosophy that takes the pounding, pain, and potential damage out of the sport.
This all sounded a bit airy-fairy to me when I first read it, but I was getting desperate, with my gammy knees preventing me from getting into my running stride. So I attended one of Catherina McKiernan’s full-day ChiRunning workshops in the Castleknock Hotel, Co Dublin.
After learning all about the new techniques at McKiernan’s session, I went away to practise them. I met her again to tell her how I was getting on with the technique and to ask about her own interest in ChiRunning.
What drew McKiernan to ChiRunning was simply “the love of running”, she says in her calming Cavan lilt. “I ran from a very young age and I want to continue running to my old age. I felt I needed a change of style, something that was more efficient and could prevent injuries. Friends of mine were in the US on holidays in 2004 and they came across Danny Dreyer’s book ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-free Running, I read it and tried out some of his suggestions; they made a lot of sense. So I decided to go over to find out all about it. I’ve been back half a dozen times. What I learnt is so beneficial, I just wanted to pass it on because I understand the frustration people feel when they can’t run.
“I went over again just a month ago to New York to pick Danny’s brains and make sure I was doing everything right . . . see if there was anything new to learn. Danny has also been to Ireland a couple of times and he is coming again next summer, we’ll do some seminars and workshops together.”
McKiernan takes any sniff of waffle out of the concept. “ChiRunning is good mechanics for running. Primarily, it’s about relaxation, good posture and good alignment. When people go out running they hold tension without realising it, pounding the ground hard, hard. The more you can relax the better.”
Out of long habit, I tense my shoulders and lean forward. During the workshop McKiernan points out that, like many, when I stand in what I think is a straight-backed pose, my back is arched with my backside sticking out. Good posture involves engaging your core muscles, tucking in your bum, having a back that is straight, but not too straight.
McKiernan explains: “Once your posture is correct and you have good body alignment, you lean that posture forward as a unit from your ankles, so that gravity can pull you forward, as opposed to using your legs to push yourself forward, so that your centre of mass is always ahead of your foot strike. Then, when you start running, there is much less impact on your body, gravity is doing the work to pull you forward and you are simply picking up your feet to keep up with your forward fall. There is less impact, helping to avoid knee injury, shin splints, calf strains and plantar faciitus .”
McKiernan moves on to the arms. Up to this point I have been labouring under the illusion that while running I should keep my elbows clamped at my sides to conserve energy. In fact our arms help us run more efficiently, as McKiernan explains: “When you are running on flat surfaces, your arms should be doing as much work as your legs, if you are just holding your arms by your sides you are asking your legs to do too much work. Think of the body as a balanced machine with the arms and legs working together. The range of motion is that the hands come back as far as the hips; the elbows come forward to the hip, keeping the shoulders down and relaxed.”
The technique encourages the runner to be more focused on his or her body, to feel what’s going on with the legs, the arms and the back, and to make as few adjustments as are necessary. I mention to McKiernan that since her workshop I have managed to incorporate the relaxation and the arm swing but not “the lean”, even though this seems the best part, the go-faster stripes. If you get the lean right for a few steps, it makes you feel very light and graceful. You are making contact with the ground only to stop yourself running away altogether.
McKiernan explains that there might be a fear-factor here, fear of falling over. She suggests that I practise a “leaning against the wall” exercise she showed me in the workshop, and advises that I don’t try to resist the pull of gravity.
There are other loosening exercises or drills that McKiernan showed us at the workshop which, with focus and regular practice will help to “automate” the ChiRunning technique. I’ve been coming across this idea of automation and muscle memory a lot lately. I’m a novice on the exercise front. What I’ve discovered is that, with a bit of technique and a lot of practice, I will be reasonably competent at activities such as running and tennis. It’s like learning to drive a car – difficult at first to co-ordinate the clutch and the gearstick, it seems a deliberate puzzle, but after a while you don’t have to think about it. Obviously there are gifted sports men and women and then there are the rest of us. But there was me thinking for the best part of three decades that I was lazy, un-coordinated and clumsy. But no, I just need to try stuff out, get involved, to be willing to learn from others.
Anyway, I ask McKiernan whether people could learn the technique from Dreyer’s ChiRunning book, conscious that the commitment of attending a full day workshop might discourage people from trying the technique at all. McKiernan says: “People can certainly buy the book and the DVD to see if ChiRunning is something that could work for them; the website is also very good. However, bear in mind that runners are perfectionists, so from reading the book alone I think that people may get the wrong idea about some of the advice and may end up exaggerating the movement. The main thing is to relax, focus on your posture and alignment, take short, snappy strides, don’t push off with your feet, your heels should be just ‘picked up’ off the ground to catch up with the rest of your body.”
McKiernan doesn’t do the guru sales pitch, simply observes: “There seems to be a boom with running at the moment. I think people are using it as a relaxation, a means of getting away from the recession. I know people who have lost their jobs, who say that only for the running things would really get on top of them.”
The only thing you really need for running is a good pair of runners, she says. Eager to get kitted out to my best advantage, I ask what she thinks are the best running shoes. For instance I had heard that Asics were the runner’s runner.
“In my opinion, it’s completely personal,” she says. “Get a pair that you are comfortable in. Go into the shop and try on a few pairs, try to find the pair that fits like a glove, without going overboard with cushioning – I sometimes think that people rely too much on cushioning and support in a runner and that as a result our feet are getting lazy. Try to find a pair that feels natural and comfortable.”
One final question, with a business and two children does she still go running every day? “It’s harder for me not to. The Phoenix Park is just across the road. Sometimes I think it’s too convenient for me. I’ve travelled all over the world and haven’t come across anything to beat this amenity. It is splendid, especially now with the brighter days, if only we get out and use it.”
See www.catherinamckiernan.com or www.chirunning.com; ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-free Running, by Danny Dreyer (Pocket Books, £8.99)