Learning to Run

Recently, one of my Crossfit coaches saw me running and asked “Have you been working on your running?” “Yes”, I answered beaming with pride that my recent efforts were visible. I also added that I had been reading up on running technique, which had made a big difference for me. Before Crossfit, I never ran because I hated it. As far back as elementary school, I can remember hating to run, at least in the sense of “jogging”, not necessarily running as part of a game. I hated the breathlessness, and the pounding, and the monotony of “jogging.” I labelled myself as “not a runner”, and so that was that. From then on, I avoided activities in which I would be forced to run. But, of course, I always felt that vague nagging that I should be able to run, at least for relatively short distances.

When I started Crossfit, I accepted the running component as a necessary evil amidst other activities that I genuinely enjoyed, like pull-ups and push-ups, dumbbell and kettlebell exercises, and anything involving a sandbag. Mercifully, most of the running in Crossfit WODs is pretty short (100 to 400 meters), so I could put up with that much running, no matter how laborious it felt. But after doing my first partner-Murph, I thought to myself how sad it was that the one-mile runs were the most difficult part of the workout for me. I mean a lot of people run and one-mile is not a great distance, it just seemed like running was something that needed to be in my tool-box and certainly should not be unobtainable, at least at a basic level of competency.

Just as these thoughts were forming in my brain, my Husband brought home from the library the book Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superatheletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall. Most of all, this book is a great read, just because it is so lively and well-written. Interspersed with a lot of engaging story-telling, McDougall makes a compelling case based on current science that humans are uniquely evolved to run long distances and that this was a vital spring-board to our position atop the food-chain and finally domination (for good or ill) over the planet. Although the book ultimately focuses on ultramarathons (a torment that I could never imagine training for and living through), my take-away was that, if humans are born to run, well then why not me?

Recognizing that so many running enthusiasts are banged-up and hurting, McDougall also talks at length about running technique, particularly avoiding heel-striking by keeping the feet underneath the body-center in a sort of chugging stride. He also talks about keeping the torso erect and swinging the arms in a relaxed manner. But most significant for me was just the idea that running should be comfortable, rather effortless, and certainly not injurious. I began to do short one or two mile runs incorporating the book’s suggestions on technique, and pretty immediately found running more pleasurable and less labored. I am sure I was also buoyed by the notion that I am “born to run” – whether true or not (although I firmly believe that the placebo-effect of believing that you are naturally suited to something is not to be discounted).

The next step in my running evolution came from another book titled Chi Running: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running by Danny Dreyer. Although I frankly confess that I did not read this book cover to cover, I think that I gained the important lessons, at least for me. As a Tai Chi practitioner, I understood what the author was trying to convey about minimizing muscular effort while running, maximizing the forces of gravity, and controlling your breathing from deep within the belly. So I began to experiment with these principles too. I also gained a lot from the author’s suggestion to run mindfully, paying close attention to how even slight variations in stride impact the body in motion.

From the ideas presented in these books and various other sources, I have developed several different “gears” in terms of running. By this I mean that I have several variations in my stride in terms how I land on my feet, how I swing my arms, and how I swing my legs from the hip. I use the different gears for uphill, downhill, and flat ground – and also just to vary how my muscles engage throughout a run to prevent feelings of overuse. Most of all, however, I simply try to run in a very relaxed state. I have found that when I move loosely with muscle bouncing off of bones, running can even be like giving myself a moving massage. In fact, running has become quite fascinating as I focus in on the details, and therefore not monotonous.

Anyway, I am no running expert and my understanding is continuing to evolve through my personal experiment. The bottom line, however, is that I now find myself most often running with a smile on my face which is a reward well worth the time and effort expended in learning to run.