I had a great run with Matt this morning. Matt brought up an interesting point that really got me thinking. He found it interesting how so many runners and coaches are more than happy to take credit for success but refuse to accept responsibility for failure. The amount of excuses that Matt and I hear from runners on a daily basis is staggering.

When a runner does well you will usually hear them explain how everything they did in training allowed them to run well. You will hear confirmation from the coach that his training plan worked. You will hear congrats from teammates and friends, telling the athlete great job on what they did. Everyone is so happy about what the runner did. The runner feels proud because the training payed off.

When a runner runs poorly or gets injured you will often hear every excuse in the book including people blaming injuries on “bad luck.”

Bad luck? Really?

I would guess at least 90% of running injuries have nothing to do with luck and everything to do with bad training, bad form, wrong shoes, poor mentality, insufficient recovery, poor nutrition and other factors. One of my teammates got hit by a car while she was running on the sidewalk. That’s bad luck. Getting spiked in a race might be bad luck. Getting a stress fracture is not bad luck, it’s bad training.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I have no sympathy for someone who is injured. I feel bad and want to help anytime someone tells me they have a running injury. But I feel even worse when someone tells me they have an injury because of “bad luck” or they “can’t catch a break.” Not only is the person injured, they’re delusional. When they start running again, they will continue doing the same things that got them injured in the first place. When you refuse to accept responsibility for your failures how can you grow?

This is one of the reasons many track athletes have been so resistant to running form. Why work on technique? It’s not poor form that got them injured, it’s just random luck, apparently. When an athlete refuses to acknowledge the reasons for their injuries, correcting the root of the problem will never happen. So we start the cycle of rest, ice, drugs, surgery and then go right back to doing the same stuff that caused the injury in the first place. After all, it wasn’t anything we did wrong that caused the injury, it was completely random. People often run very fast before a major injury, so they think “well my training was working because I ran a PR, then I randomly got injured so when I heal this unlucky injury I will continue training the exact same way that got me the PR."

What makes this even more bizarre is the amount of hate I see people like Ryan Hall getting for expressing his beliefs in god. Ryan Hall gets absolutely blasted on the internet for giving credit to god for his performances. People make fun of him for thinking that god has something to do with his running. NO! It’s hard work they say. It’s his talent. It’s his training. It’s anything BUT god. They make him out to be crazy.

But ask these same runners who are hating on Ryan Hall how they got injured and they will say “I was just unlucky” or “I just caught a tough break.” It seems a bit hypocritical to mock Hall for believing that an invisible, mysterious force (god) was a factor in his running, and then turn around and declare that it was an invisible, mysterious force (luck) that gave them their injury.

I understand that owning up to your errors can be challenging. Admitting a failure is uncomfortable. I can see why people want to blame mysterious, invisible forces for their shin splints. I certainly sympathize with injured athletes who aren’t quite ready to admit defeat. If a runner wants to live in a fantasy world and think that everything good is created by them and everything bad is created by random luck, then great, no problem. That is their choice and I don’t begrudge them for it.

My issue is with the COACHES who promote this type of thinking. You might remember me mentioning a local coach who told me I *needed* to run 100 mile weeks to run under 32 minutes in the 10k (despite my repeating to him that I ran 31:15 on 50-70 mile weeks.)

Well this same coach, (and YES this is a true story) was once going on and on about how he trained a local runner to some very fast times. He spoke at length about the training he gave her and how she ran very fast times specifically because of the training he gave her. He was very clear that it was his training plan that allowed her to run such impressive times. At the time of our conversation the girl was in a wheelchair with stress fractures in both legs. When I made a comment about the stress fractures he said that had NOTHING to do with the training plan he gave her.

It must have been bad luck.

Sadly, this coach will likely never adjust his approach and continue running kids into the ground. This is a huge problem in our sport. Overtraining is right up there with eating disorders as the elephants in the room. If we continue to ignore the problems and write every injury off to bad luck we will never progress.

Today I had the pleasure of competing at the Boston University Mini Meet. B.U. hosts three of these meets per year and they are a great opportunity to get some track races in on a fast track and low key environment. The races are especially cool because it is an all-comers meet, meaning there are kids, masters, high school, college and so on. Only a few events are offered, making the meets quick and efficient. Choosing from a menu of 3,000 meter, 1 mile, 800 meter, 400 meter, 200 meter and a 60 yard dash I decided I would run the 3,000 and 800.

The somewhat tricky thing about track meets are that you have to enter the time you expect to run so the officials can place everyone into heats of the same ability level. Not having run on a track in ages and not racing much recently made my seeding process more of a thought process than it usually is. In college my coach did all that stuff for me, which was great. I sent in my entry early in the week making it even tougher since I would have to not only guess what type of shape I'm in, but also guess how I would feel in five days. After a little bit of thinking I decided I would go with 9:20 for the 3K and 2:15 for the 8. My reasoning for the 3K was that I felt I was in shape to run 9:10 or possibly faster, but wanted to enter on the slower side so I didn't take up a spot in the fast heat to a more deserving runner. Having been to this meet multiple times, I knew that the second heat was where I wanted to be, since the first heat would likely go out a bit fast for me at this time. The 800 presented even more of a challenge since I don't even remember the last time I competed in the half mile event. I figured I should at least be able to manage a 2:15 so I went with that.

Unfortunately for me, there was a mix up with my seed and I was down for a 9:30 and wound up in the third heat, not the second. I realized this before the first heat started, and thought about asking to be switched but decided against it. I figured rather than spend energy trying to get switched at the last minute I would just run in the third heat. Even though it was their mistake that landed me in the third heat, I didn't want to bother the officials. They are doing their best to run an efficient meet and it just wasn't a big enough deal to me at the time.

Before my race I got to watch my teammate Adam Malek run in the first heat of the 3K. Adam has been running great lately and I was excited to see him run. Watching Adam run was truly inspiring and motivating. In college Adam ran for Worcester State, one of my school's rivals. The thing I remember about Adam was that he used to race hard. Adam's favorite sport is actually hockey and he pretty much used to run like a hockey player. And I don't mean one of those finesse players like Gretzky, I mean the big brutes who bash and thrash all over the ice. He had a good deal of success but also had some set backs with injuries. 

Luckily, Adam improved his approach, studied training methods, kept a positive attitude and joined the Sisu Project. As we warmed up we had a great conversation about the role relaxation plays in running. I was so happy to hear and see how far he has come. I knew I was in for something special. Adam's previous best time in the 3K was 8:58 which he ran last week. Today I watched adam cruise to an 8:50 and it almost looked effortless. Today was by far and away the most relaxed I have ever seen Adam run. I have video proof:

Yet another example of someone relaxing more, not trying so hard and running massive PRs.
As the second heat was going around I did a few strides and some jumping to give my strings one final tuning. I didn't have much of a plan for the race and didn't have a clue how I would feel once I attempted to run fast, but it didn't matter. I was just happy to be racing on a track! I love track. Luckily my college coach Jamie Aubuchon was there to run the mile and he helped make sure I didn't let off the throttle. I got a bit of wisdom from Jamie once per lap and that was a huge help. As you can see from the video below, I ran in front the whole time, pretty much solo for the entire race. This is definately not my preferred style as I tend to like to hang back behind guys that are faster than me, but being outside my comfort zone was good for me and I think it helped give me a little confidence boost. Since I was running by myself the whole race I got a chance to focus even more internally than I usually do in a race. Normally I'm focused internally as well as keeping an eye on the runners in front, to the side and behind me. Today the competitors melted away and I was really able to focus on myself.

The coolest thing about this race was that I managed to get my face so relaxed that my eyelids would flicker and shut every time my foot hit the ground. Taking about 180 strides per minute, this makes for a very cool special effect. There were a couple times where I looked around and lost focus, but I quickly gained it back and once I was able to deeply relax again, my eyes would start the flickering. 

I think this was the most relaxed I've ever been in a race. I had felt the eyelid flickering thing on a few training runs before, but getting there in a race was just awesome. I cruised my way in for a 9:25 finish and stepped off the track feeling fresh as a daisy. I think had I been in the second heat I could have run about 9:15. I felt like I had a lot more in me, and had there been some guys around me, I'm confident I could have easily run ten seconds faster. The good news is I will have two more cracks at the 3K on upcoming Saturdays. 

After the 3K I had a couple hours before my next race, the 800. I watched my coach Jamie run a smooth 4:39 mile. Pretty good for a 44 year old father of 2! Unfortunately my camera stopped working seconds before Jamie's race and I could not obtain video footage. This is not surprising as Jamie Aubuchon is more like a myth or legend than an actual person.

After watching Jamie I sat down for a little while, drank some coconut water and ate an energy gel. About 30 minutes before my race I ran around the outside of the track for a little while in my socks and was just springing along feeling great. I was thinking through the 800 and playing out various scenarios in my head, preparing myself for just about anything. After about a mile I decided I would do some walking around the track. This felt really great for my hips and pelvis. I felt loose, relaxed and ready to go.

Once it was showtime I got on my spikes, did a few jumps and set my mind on running fast. There were only about 5 or so other guys in my heat, so it wasn't a crowded race at all. For the first two laps I was a little bit behind the first place runner, and had a good distance on the runners behind me. I tried my best to stay with the runner in front of me, but he ended up pulling away during the third (of 4) laps. Since I haven't run in an 800 in years and was never great at it in the first place, I did not run a very well paced race. I ran the first half in 62 seconds and the second half in 70 seconds, finishing with a 2:12. This was not a well run race by any means but I'm still happy about it. The reason I am happy about it is that I was willing to step outside of my current comfort zone today in order to improve for the future. Another positive was that once again I felt totally relaxed and at peace while racing. The race didn't feel as fast as I thought it would, but then again, I didn't really run that fast. I thought I would be winded heavy afterwards but I felt great after finishing, so that's promising. Since my camera stopped working right before the Legend Of Jamie Aubuchon crushed the mile, my camera crew (the lovely Fawn) had to film the 800 with my phone.

Next week I will return to BU for the second mini meet. I plan to run the 3K and one other event again, but probably something different than the 800. I might go with the mile, but I'm also contemplating doing a 200 just out of curiosity of what I could run in a sprint. Unfortunately, athletes are limited to two events per meet, or else I would just run all of the races. 

Yesterday I posted a blog listing what I consider to be some of the worst running tips still making the rounds. The post was written as a joke intended highlight how ridiculous some of this “expert” advice really is. Today I will briefly revisit each point, this time giving my actual advice.

Tip 1: If the engine is hot enough, anything will burn!

While the above phrase sounds cool is it even true? It might be. But just because your body burns something, does it absorb it? Furthermore, if the trash you are eating is completely void of any nutritional value, does it even matter if it burns? Any coach worth their stopwatch will tell you nutrition matters. While I agree that many diet salesman take things way to far causing stress and confusion, there are plenty of people out there who can help you find a nutritional strategy that works for you.

Tip 2: Any training other than running is a complete waste of time

Just about everyone I’ve seen make a solid effort with core and stability work not only gets hurt less they perform better. Every other sport encourages cross training, why not running. When you get injured and go to physical therapy, they might have you do some stability work, like standing on a balance board. My theory is – why wait until your injured? Start training now so you are BULLETPROOF. The main argument against this that I’ve seen is “in order to get better at running, you need to run.” Yes, that is true. Cross training is done IN ADDITION to running, not as a replacement for it. I would also suggest you take it even further than doing crunches for 2 minutes followed by planks for 2 minutes. Build yourself up to handle TONS of core stability work. More coming on this soon...

Tip 3: To perform your best don’t think about what you are doing

Great athletes are in the moment. Great athletes can focus during clutch time. Great athletes think a great deal about what they are doing. The problem – runners are notorious for being OVER-thinkers. Over thinking will hinder you because you will be more and more removed from your body. Remember, mind body connection is 50/50. Practicing focusing on your regular runs and you will be more focused come race day. Look at the people winning races, most have incredible focus.

Tip 4: Don’t change your form

I’m not sure how this theory came about but it is so ridiculous I can only chalk it up to lazy runners who don’t want to work on their skill, they just want to run. In order to maximize your running potential it’s important to find your optimal stride. This is done by listening to what your body is saying and making the necessary adjustments to your technique. It’s an ongoing and GRADUAL process. As long as you make small tweaks and do it in the spirit of playfulness, you will likely notice benefits.

Tip 5: Wear the right shoes to change your form

Shoes are good. I like shoes. I work for a shoe company. I suggest buying shoes based on comfort, not on what the shoe salesman recommends. You know your body better than anyone else. Dig around online and make sure you listen to both sides of the story on this one. For decades runners have only gotten one side of the story – specifically “the only way to improve your running is to train more and get better shoes” story. Thankfully, leaders in the natural running movement such as Danny Dreyer and his team of Chi Running instructors, along with folks like Dr. Mark Cucuzella are now offering their thoughts on the other side of the story.  Finally, when it comes to shoes, my personal advice is to not even bother looking into the science. It’s not that I think science is bad, I think its great. The problem is that the current science tells us next to NOTHING about the relationship between shoes and injuries. It is a confusing, muddled mess. In my estimation, we are AT LEAST 20 years out from having some solid data to really understand this complicated relationship.

In conclusion – find a shoe that will COMPLIMENT your stride. Don’t rely on the shoe as a magic bullet cure all band-aid. Be very skeptical of anyone telling you not to change your form but to buy a shoe that will change your form.

Tip 6: Never run barefoot

I think the majority of runners can get some very significant benefits from barefoot running. The common knock I see against it is that for competitive runners doing all their mileage barefoot is unreasonable. Well, the good news is once again, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE ALL OR NOTHING. Remember – the better the performance, the less things need to change. If you are running well, consider adding some barefoot strides after a run once or twice a week. If you aren’t running well consider slowly building up your barefoot running until you start to get the magic back in your stride. Barefoot running is fun and interesting. You will learn things about your running. Be aware of your surroundings and start out with just a little barefoot running, monitoring how you adapt to it.

Tip 7: Copy what the elite americans do

This one seems to make the most sense at first glance, but is copying an elite runner reasonable for the majority of the rest of us? I see this advice given out all the time on running message boards. “Just run like the elites. Do the same workouts as the athletes." Unfortunately, copying elite runners with no idea how they get to where they are is dangerous. Don’t copy other runners, find your own path.

Tip 8:  If you aren’t hurt you aren’t running enough

If you aren’t hurt, good job! Running should feel GOOD. If you feel good then great! Don’t let anyone convince you that running should hurt. Don’t let anyone convince you that you are under-training because you aren’t hurt. It’s completely possible to train yourself to your potential with NO PAIN. My senior year of college was the best year ever for me running wise. I ran many of the best races of my life that year and I wasn’t hurt, in pain, sore, or sick AT ALL that year. There wasn’t a single day that I felt pain from running. I ran 31:15 for 10K that year and during the race I felt FREE and HAPPY. At the conference meet I ran a 10K in 32:20, a 1500 in 4:10 and a 5K in 16:00 all in the same day, with no pain or soreness. If you train smart, you should never be in pain.   Earlier in my running career I would feel pain during races. Looking back I realized something – the more pain I was in during the race the worse I did. The less pain I was in, the better I did. The “no pain, no gain” attitude is completely bogus.

Tip 9 – If you are hurt you aren’t running enough

Interesting that conventional running wisdom suggests running more for both lack of pain and too much pain. If you are hurt there is a lot you should start looking into such as nutrition, form, imbalances in the body, overall stress level, sleep, other activities etc. The last thing you want to be doing is upping your mileage through an injury. You should REDUCE the mileage if you have an injury.it's amazing I even have to write this here, but unfortunately I still hear and read people telling injured runners they need to run more so they don't get injured.

Tip 10 – 100 miles per week is a magic number that produces magic results

The truth is, there is no magic number. Everybody is different. Some people do well on high mileage, others do well on low mileage. It’s a matter of finding what works for you. I have NEVER run 100 miles in a week and have done pretty well.  My Prs in high school were around 4:48 mile and 16:41 5K cross country (franklin park course) I went on to run 4:05 1500, 15:28 5K (track), 31:15 10K (track) on about 70 miles a week in summer base training and 50 miles a week during the season. Yes, that’s right I was running HALF of the magical 100 mile number and managed to improve a great deal. Basically, I took my high school 5K pr – took a minute off and was able to do it twice in a row. I am sure I’m not the only one who has done well on relatively low mileage. As Matt Germain always says "if it's been done, it can be done."

So there you have it. A brief summary of my response to the worst running tips ever. I will go into more detail on each point in future posts.

What are your thoughts? What is the best and worst running advice you have ever gotten?

In my last post, I exposed why the phrase “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” doesn’t apply to athletes and is possibly the worst bit of advice an athlete could ever receive. In this post I continue with the theme of bad advice, exposing the ten worst running tips ever. Below I will tell you what you want to hear. I will tell you good things about your bad habits. I will help you justify your lack of cross training, junk food eating, and lack of receptivity to anything new. Enjoy!

(Please do not take the below advice seriously. It’s just a joke and is meant to expose some of the lingering dogma that exists in the running community. In a follow up post I will counter each of these tips with real advice. For now, let’s have a little fun)

Tip 1: If the engine is hot enough, anything will burn!

Don’t worry about what you eat. Don’t waste your time trying to eat healthy. As long as you are running enough miles you can eat just about anything. In fact, eating as much junk food as you want is one of the best reasons to run in the first place!

Tip 2: Any training other than running is a complete waste of time

Any time you spend doing core work, stability work, weight training, or yoga is time that you COULD be running. Other than improved strength, range of motion, body awareness, reaction time, focus, balance, agility, speed, endurance and quickness there is NO reason to do anything but RUN. You are a RUNNER, not a weight lifter. Do you think running backs lift weights?

Tip 3: To perform your best don’t think about what you are doing

In order to have a great race, it’s best to put your mind as far away from your body as possible. Running HURTS and you do not want your ability to sense pain anywhere near the battle between you and the road. The longer you can ignore the pain the better you will perform. Pain from running is just like any other problem – ignore it long enough and it will go away. Using an ipod during a race can help distract you from the event. Sure you will be oblivious to the runners around you and a huge nuisance, but that's besides the point.

Tip 4: Don’t change your form

Your running form was hardwired into your body when you were born. You cannot change your technique and attempting to do so will surely land you an injury. The same thing goes for everything else. Trying to improve your skill at anything is only going to make you worse. Do you think master musicians spend hours perfecting their skill at their instrument? NO! They just wail on baby!

Tip 5: Wear the right shoes to change your form

Go to your local running store and have them watch you walk barefoot. If there is any rolling at all of your foot you are going to need to change your form by being properly fitted for a shoe. Correcting your biomechanics with a shoe will keep you running along with no problems.

(side note: I work for a shoe company and think running shoes are good. I’m not anti-shoe by any means, but giving out tip 4 immediately followed by tip 5 is ridiculous and happens way more than you’d like to think)

Tip 6: Never run barefoot

You know those shoes you got that corrected your form? Never take them off. You should be so adapted to shoes that it is painful to stand barefoot. Running barefoot will pretty much cripple you. No elite runners ever run barefoot.

Tip 7: Copy what the elite americans do

No matter what your objective is with running, the best approach is to copy what elite American runners do. Africans are good because of their genetics, Americans are good because of their training. Just because elite runners run for a living, and you just want to run a decent 5K doesn’t mean you should consider a customized or scaled down approach. Just because elite runners plan their whole day/week/life around their workouts and you have a job and kids DOES NOT mean you should be slacking off by only running 50 miles a week. Just because many elites have an extremely high tolerance for volume and intensity does not give you a free pass to be slacking and taking days off. Objective does not matter. Everyone should train exactly like elite runners train, regardless of goals and objectives.

Tip 8:  If you aren’t hurt you aren’t running enough

If you actually feel good and aren’t in any pain this makes it very clear that you aren’t running enough. Remember, running hurts and you should be in pain. A well trained runner is always right on the brink of collapse. To maximize your running experience you should always be right on the cusp of a stress fracture or major illness. If you feel like absolute crap during your taper week, you know you have done a  good job with your training. If you ain’t injured, you ain’t trying!

Tip 9 – If you are hurt you aren’t running enough

Similar to tip 8, if you get an injury it is a clear sign that you aren’t running enough. Injuries happen when the body is not adapted to running. The only way to adapt to running is to run more, so we must conclude that the best way to prevent injuries is to run more.

Tip 10 – 100 miles per week is a magic number that produces magic results

It’s not enough to say just run more, we need to be specific.  Runners need to be told exactly how far and how fast they should be running. While your body will magically figure out the best form for you, it has absolutely no way of telling you how much is too much and how much is not enough. Luckily we have conventional running wisdom that tells us 100 miles per week is the magic number. Why 100? Well for starters 100 is THREE DIGITS instead of a measly two digits. Also, 100 is such a nice round number. Once you hit 100 of anything, you are good to go!

*End Sarcasm*

As sad as it is many people actually buy into the above advice. I see people actually giving out these tips on a regular basis.  I once had a track coach tell me the only way to get better is to run 100 mile weeks. I explained to him that I took over 2 minutes off my 10K time and was only running AT MOST 70 miles a week. Despite clear evidence against his absolutist viewpoint he continued to lecture me that the only way to get better is to run 100 miles a week. The scary thing is this guy coaches youth athletes!

In a follow up post I will revisit each of the above tips and give actual advice, so stay tuned for that.

When reading about running form I often see naysayers using the phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it." I can somewhat understand hearing this phrase from someone who is just running for fitness, and doesn't want to be bothered by learning the fundamentals of the exercise they are partaking in.

Hearing this phrase come out of the mouth of athletes completely baffles and saddens me. It's even more upsetting when I see supposed mentors encouraging student-athletes to keep repeating the same things over and over while producing the same mediocre results. I understand that tinkering with a successful formula TOO MUCH is not wise, but the notion of not trying to improve at all is completely ridiculous and completely against the spirit of athletic competition.


The formula for success in athletics is pretty simple:
Great performances indicate that very little needs to change
Horrible performances indicate that a lot needs to change


Evaluate how you are doing, decide how you want to be doing, calculate the difference and fill the gaps.

Even if you're doing great, there is room to improve! There is ALWAYS more to learn, more to experience. Add in a few new drills, new exercises, small tweaks to your form and see how much better you can be. Never be fully satisfied until you are done competing. If you consider yourself an athlete, strive for the best.

If you are doing terrible, hate running, can't run without pain, then you may want to consider making some major changes to your routine. 

For track and cross country runners, don't get tricked into running like a robot, especially if you run cross country. If you want to be a great cross country runner, you will need to run with your WHOLE BODY, not just your legs. Run like an ATHLETE not a RUNNER. 

An Athlete acts and reacts from their body. An athlete thinks about form. An athlete has an understanding of the basic fundamentals of their sport because they were taught the fundamentals, probably at a young age.

Not runners. Runners just run. Runners act from their heads. They run by 100% thought/0% feel. Don't believe me? Go to any track meet and undoubtedly you will hear multiple people yelling various split times, and advising the runners to speed up or slow down based on their average pace. In this case the runner is not even running from their own head, they are running from their coaches head.

Could this be why a random soccer player decides to come out for track every year and ends up being faster than the majority of the cross country team? The soccer player runs like an athlete. Runners...we just run. 

What makes an athlete great? Lots of things. But one thing they ALL have is a superior mind-body connection. Runners appear to be one of the few sets of athletes that purposely try to sabotage their mind-body connection by running themselves into the ground. 

I think we've hung onto the insanity from the running boom but lost the essence. We forget that the good old boys from back in the day were having a blast as they crushed 160 mile weeks, week after week. It was FUN. Now all we care about is getting in the mileage. Actually, we prefer it NOT to be fun because we think if we hate it we will somehow get better results? No one has yet been able to explain to me how practicing suffering produces happiness. It seems to produce more suffering to me.

That's why I choose to practice happy. 

In my world, having fun is what its all about. Not only because it's more fun, it also produces better results! Having fun is how you learn and get good at something in the first place. 

Working on your running form is FUN if you have the right approach and right guidance. 

And remember, just because something "ain't broke" doesn't mean it can't be improved.

Stride to be your best. 

One of the more common questions I get asked is how Chi Running will affect speed. I’ve spoken with many competitive runners who have an interest in what Chi Running has to offer, but have some concerns they will not get any faster, or even get slower while practicing the technique. For these runners, running fast is a priority and they don’t want to do anything that might screw up their training. Fair enough.

I first read Chi Running in 2004, as a junior at Fitchburg State. Around the time I was reading the book, I was competing in outdoor track. My best time for the 10K was 33:30. The next outdoor track season my 10K pr was 31:15, taking off 2 minutes and 15 seconds from my previous best. So for me, reading Chi Running certainly did not make me any slower. There were other factors in addition to Chi Running that helped me improve, but the fact is, Chi Running was a huge part of my success in college. Of course, one person’s story tells us nothing about anyone other than that one person, so let’s take a look at two others.

In my experience, I’ve seen others implement Chi Running principles and run pretty fast. Take for example my friend Matt Germain. In 2004 Matt ran 3:59 for 1500 meters. Matt is the type of guy to put it all on the line, and after every race he would collapse down to one knee in agony. After a 3:59 (4:16 mile equivalent) this is understandable. Fast forward to 2007. I had just returned from the Chi Running instructor weekend and needed someone to practice teach in order to get officially certified. Matt, being the good friend that he is, happily obliged me, not because he was really interested in Chi Running, but because he was being a good friend and wanted to help me out. Well a couple months after that first session with me, Matt went on to break his 1500 PR running a 3:58. This time Matt did not collapse down onto one knee, he sort of just bounced off the track, smiling, eyes beaming with joy.

The other interesting thing about Matt is that he has a really fast metabolism. A couple years ago we would go to a burger joint for lunch and Matt would easily put down a 1 pound cheeseburger, side dish, and milkshake. Yes, you read that right…a 1 POUND burger…like it was nothing. Keep in mind Matt is a skinny distance runner. Because of his ravenous appetite, Matt used to really struggle on long runs. He couldn’t really get past 14 or 15 miles before bonking. Well, a couple years of Chi Running and Matt has now run 2:35 for a marathon and breezes through a long run at least once a week. Chi Running allowed Matt to run far more efficiently, reducing his need to consume tons of calories during long runs, allowing him to run longer, which got him faster.

Matt and I both got faster with Chi Running, but even more interesting than our stories is the story of our friend Caitlyn Clark. For one year, Caitlyn lived with Matt and I. Since Caitlyn was living with a Chi Running instructor, she figured she would give it a shot. She had battled some pretty nasty injuries in college and still had a competitive mindset, so anything she could do to run with less pain was a good thing. To make a long story short, Caitlyn had the best year of running in her life when practicing Chi Running. She ran 17:00 for 5K that year.

The interesting part is that Caitlyn got a new job and had to move out of the house. In her new job, she wasn’t really practicing Chi as much. Without me there as a reminder she would just head out the door and go for her run, not really thinking much about loosening up, her form, body sensing, her breath and so on. Her job and living area was stressful and she probably needed the Chi Running even more in that environment, but amidst all the chaos she let the Chi Running focuses slip away and ended up having a really tough year running wise. The reason I find Caitlyn’s story so interesting is because she implemented Chi Running and got faster, then stopped practicing Chi and got hurt and slower.

For whatever reason Chi Running has become popular amongst marathon and ultra-marathon runners. The track and cross country world has been less receptive. Even some of my close friends who are hurt don't want to give it a try. I don’t know the reasons for this and will save that for another post. The important thing for track athletes to remember is this: FOLLOW GRADUAL PROGRESS. As long as you implement things slowly into your routine, you should be able to keep your current momentum and use Chi Running principles to improve even more. If you read the book and then try to do EVERYTHING the book says, then yes, you will likely get confused, sore, and frustrated.  

Remember, Chi Running is not a wholesale change to your technique. It is implementing little cues and tricks to run more efficiently and injury free. You should not feel overwhelmed. You should not feel like there is too much “stuff” to think about it. If that is the case, you are caught in the details and missing the message.

The four Chi skills mentioned in the book are:

Focus

Breathing

Body Sensing

Relaxation

Think about your last race for a moment. Close your eyes and run through the race in your head. I’ll wait….

Now think about your next race. Picture yourself more focused and more relaxed. Feel a better overall sense of your body. Imagine your breath is more relaxed. Now you tell me, if you could be more focused, more relaxed, more in tune with your body, and breathing more efficiently – do you think you’d be faster or slower?

This morning I had the pleasure of running the assault on mt hood cross country race. This is my first year doing the race, but with a little research I felt prepared for the challenge ahead.  I quickly learned the course was a very challenging 3.5 mile cross country style footrace up and down a golf course.   Looking at previous years results I figured I should start out slightly behind the front pack and see what happens from there. 

The race started at noon so I had a little extra time to prepare. I always like a little extra time in the morning to get my head right before a race. I got to the race nice and early, got my number and started tuning my strings via body looseners and some hopping in place. My friend Tim Downing also did the race so we decided to enter a team. Tim, Tim's friend Ashley, and myself formed the Douglas Adamses.

Before the race I ran for about 25 minutes over the course with a few CMS guys and quickly realized how hilly of an experience I was in for. I'm just beginning to really get fit for racing again, so I was planning to run hard, but knew I had to be very efficient if I wanted to have a strong finish. In other words, If I got over-confident and tried to run with the leaders, at some point in the race, the wheels would come off.

I was happy that I was already happy on the starting line. One of my driving principles is to not let my happiness be dependent on a result. Whenever I start a race already happy, good things happen. That's why I call this the "practice happy" blog.

We started off on the course and immediately went up a slight hill, took a sharp right, weaved down the path and eventually made our way onto the grass. Here's the race at about 200 meters in.

When I start the race I take about 400 meters to make sure I am body sensing and making decisions based on internal feedback. Once I was feeling settled and balanced, I started to evaluate my position. As you can see from the video, there were 4 guys ahead of me and a whole bunch behind me. I settled into that spot and just tried to get through the first mile in the easiest and most relaxed possible way. I drove with my upper body as I climbed the hills and let loose with my lower legs and hips on the downhills. On one really steep downhill I busted out a few hara breaths to loosen up my pelvis.

I made it to the first mile feeling good physically but position wise I was a good ways back from places 1-4. I also had Dan Verrington right behind me. If you don't know Dan, this guy is a beast, especially on uphills. I knew it was only a matter of time before Dan started surging. I realized my best opportunity to run a good race would be to work as much as possible with Dan. I was feeling good so I prepared myself to start rolling with Dan once he really put the hammer down.

Sure enough Dan went by me during the second mile and I had to really put in a strong effort to stay with him. Going uphill this man is unstoppable. I had to really let it loose on the downhills to even remain anywhere near him. We went back and forth a few times, which is always encouraging, especially with a bunch of guys right on our heels. Going back and forth like that allowed us to put a little bit of distance on the guys right behind us. It wasn't much distance, but it gave me a little breathing room. Rather than thinking about the 5 guys behind me, I could focus on the race ahead of me.

Here's me just trying to relax and roll with Dan:

By mile 3 I was still feeling surprisingly fresh considering all the hills. The only thing questioning me was my forearms. Either they were too cold, simply not prepared for what I was asking of them, or a combination of both. My legs were underneath me and my body felt relaxed, aside from the forearms. This didn't concern me much at all. I just brought my attention to what was feeling strong and went deeper into those areas. 

I spent the last half mile trying to catch Dan, who had put a bit of distance on me. Looking at the video it seems about 5-6 seconds. The last 400 meters is a windy uphill and then about 100 meters downhill. I was giving it a pretty good go but not really catching Dan. This is the final uphill climb, right before the final 100 meter downhill sprint to the finish.

On the final downhill sprint I let it fly one last time coming in a second behind Dan. Crossing the line I felt pretty good about the overall effort. Despite the challenging course, my body felt great. I went inside, put on warm clothes and went back out to cheer on the other runners.

For some reason before the race I thought there was a coed team division, but apparently there was not. Our team, the Douglas Adamses ended up 14 out of 16, which is actually a huge accomplishment considering it was my friend Tim's first cross country race and he has really just started running. We were also listed in the men's open category, since the imaginary coed division didn't exist.

As luck would have it, despite being 6th overall, I won my age group and got a really unique trophy. This nutcracker guy: 

Before you start running it is likely you strap on a pair of running shoes that contain a number of features designed to enhance your performance and help keep you injury free. Every feature that is built into a running shoe already exists in your body in varying degrees. Practicing your Chi Running form will help maximize these features.

Lets take a look at the features of running shoes, how they exist in your body, and how Chi Running will help you develop these features.

1. Cushioning – The first feature running shoes contain is cushioning. Cushioning is designed to help lessen the impact running can cause on the body. As you start running with good form, utilizing a midfoot strike your body will be able to absorb impact through the arch of the foot, rotation of the pelvis, excellent posture, and relaxed muscles. Many Chi Runners start running with thick, heavily cushioned shoes and gradually progress to very minimal shoes. Their bodies become much better at absorbing the impact of the road. Many instructors are even able to practice barefoot running.

2. Stability – The next feature of running shoes is stability, which takes the form of medial posts. The idea behind this is preventing excessive pronation to help keep your body in alignment. With Chi Running, excellent posture, a level pelvis and a focused mind become the stability. Just by leveling the pelvis you can gradually work to strengthen your arch and gain more stability in your running practice.

3. Flexibility – Running shoes have varying degrees of flexibility.  Runners practicing power running often use a very stiff shoe.  They are using the muscles of the lower legs which become very stiff. A stiff running shoe may aid the toe off motion of power running, but it is not ideal for Chi Running.  As you practice your running form, you will gradually progress to a more flexible shoe that will work in harmony with your body.

4. Comfort – Power running can cause so much physical and emotional trauma on the body, that for many power runners their shoes are the most comfortable thing on their body. Chi Running is a holistic practice similar to Yoga. This involves becoming more comfortable in your body.  As you practice Chi Running you will become more comfortable with your body. You will begin to look inside your body for a deep sense of comfort, rather than searching externally for a product to make you feel comfortable.

5. Aesthetics – Lets face it, people want to look good. If a shoe doesn’t look good many people will not wear it. Conversely, if a shoe looks great, people will wear it, whether the features it contains are in line with their needs or not. As you practice Chi Running your stride will become more graceful and you will begin to move through life with a sense of ease and joy. In the shoe industry they talk about “design language,” similar to “body language.” Practicing Chi Running will improve your posture and relaxation, so your body language will tell people you are relaxed, comfortable and stable.

The takeaway from this post is to asses your features.  Ask yourself these questions:

How soft is my foot strike?

How stable do I feel when running?

How flexible am I?

How comfortable am I with my body?

What does my body language say to myself and to others?

If you have any questions about running shoes I would be happy to help.

My friend Dave Chen saw my last post and sent me an email basically saying, "hey, I read your relaxation post. I've been trying to meditate and am wondering if I'm on the right track."

Meditation is something I can talk a lot about it, but can't teach or explain very well. The truth is, nobody can really teach meditation. It seems to arise out of...something(where?)((one))??? 

The tricky part about meditation is that any grasping for results or to thoughts is counterproductive to the meditation itself. So how does one sit down to meditate and not think about meditation? If you are confused, GOOD! So am I, so is everybody. Meditation is one of those things that can't really be taught or explained, you sort of just end up in a meditative state. 

Many people start a meditation practice because they want a specific result such as less stress, more focus and so on. The yogis say that the grasping for the result like that is counterproductive to the meditation.

Which brings me to the next point: The Zone. My friend Tim Downing commented on my last post that "the zone exists in every sport" and I thought that was a great way to say it! I hadn't even been thinking about the term "the zone" but as soon as I saw Tim's comment I thought "how true!" And being in the zone is always a relaxed state!

The zone is that elusive state where the senses become heightened and mastery is attained. What's the difference between meditation and the zone? Nothing! It's just two different words describing the same state of being. That's why nobody ever "taught" Michael Jordan to get in the zone. Jordan just fell into the zone naturally. He even surprised himself sometimes:

My friend Matthew Germain pointed out that all the runners in my previous post expressed happiness and joy! This was also a great observation. Being in the meditative state known as the zone is a happy place! A lot of runners get caught in a negative rut, doing the same tired old grinding workouts every day. That's certainly no way to enter the zone!

There are certain traditions, practices, and techniques in the running community that I personally feel lessen my chance of entering the zone. There are also certain practices and techniques that I have learned from chi running and kripalu yoga that I personally feel increase my chances of entering the zone. Being in a relaxed, meditative state of awareness is what I consider to be the most important element of a peak performance. Any time I've found myself in a flow state it is always right after prolonged periods of yoga breathing, focus, body sensing, and a feeling of complete relaxation.

Every athlete knows this and has experienced it in varying degrees. We don't talk about it much because as runners, we sometimes get a little too caught up in the numbers, and caught up in the grind. In other sports, fans are always saying athletes are in the zone. They've developed all types of different slang for it, but the meaning is the same.

Awkwardly, when a runner does well, we say anything BUT they were in the zone. We say they have good genes, a sound mathematical training plan, high vo2 max and so on. We don't see what is right in front of our faces. The dominant runners are in the zone when they race!

 When an athlete tries to force their way into the zone, it never works. Just like entering a meditative state, it can't be forced. It must come naturally. Runners think in terms of numbers, which makes entering the zone tough. Essentially, runners try to force their way into the zone via extreme exhaustion. That's one way to go about it, I suppose...

Yet, every great athlete I've heard speak on this is very clear: they all let the game come to them. Nothing is forced. They allow the game to flow through them, just like a chi runner allows the road to flow through them. Speaking of flow, I asked Danny Dreyer who his favorite athlete is and why:

Relaxation is one of the absolute critical components to peak performance. When it comes to running, it didn't take me very long to find 4 perfect examples of complete relaxation combined with peak athletic performance. All I had to do was search youtube for the fastest runners in the world. Just like any other sport, when you look at the absolute best you will see a calm, relaxed, controlled expression of athletic mastery.

Example 1 is Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet:

Did you catch his face @1:05-1:16? Super relaxed on route to a world record!

Next up I present Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, the fastest distance runners in the world:

Amazing. 

Finally, here's Geoffrey Mutai, fastest marathon runner in the world. Hint: pay close attention @1:31-1:38 as he drops everyone and looks so relaxed while doing it!

Remember, relaxation can be a practice just like running can be a practice. You can even practice both at the same time!