Skip to main content

Running with a f*#@ing backpack: a discovery in chi running.

As I've posted before Danny Dreyer's hallmark chi running technique has vastly improved my running performance and comfort. Fresh off a PT appointment (where I'm basically learning to use my ass muscles more when I run, walk, or climb) I was running home with my typical pack full of Kristi Helgeson's home cooked "sack" lunch (packed in heavy-ass-glass estrogenic-free Tupperware). I was practicing my "ass-form" and also trying to run in such a way that my "day-pack" wouldn't wobble and violently jiggle me right off the sidewalk and into an oncoming buss. In essence, I have been noticing on several of my runs to and from work (with packs full of business casual non-sweatified clothing and yes my heavy ass lunch) that running with a pack efficiently forces me into a very nice and proper chi-form of running.
I've also noticed that ideally if I can cinch my pack up high enough to align the bottom of my pack as close as possible to the T12-L1 spot in my back then I'm also more able to practice good hip/lower back rotation. See figure 1 and figure 2 below.

Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Essentially on my runs lately I've combined the chi "C" shape form with my new ass work in PT and have achieved a faster longer stride...the ass-cinching in particular helps achieve what chi runners strive for in figures 1 & 2. Figure 2 BTW would be a perfect example of a left-ass-cheek-cinch.

On as side note I should note that my wife really hates it when I chi-walk glamour-walk with her on nice sunny-day stroll to the park or picnicking location...but hey but you gotta get in your training wherever and whenever you can.

Lastly I should note that I really don't think any of this posture work or PT would be nearly as effective if I wasn't running in zero drop Luna Sandals.

If you are working on your running form you really need a pair of these.
If you really can't part with the comforting security of a shoe, try out some Altra's...and while you're at it do it all at 7 Hills Running Shop in Seattle, Washington. Soon you'll be running like a pro and achieving glam shots of your own like this from Glenn Tachiyama at Sun Mountain Ultra 50k.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Luna Sandals - An Evolution in Running

In short my story of running has been essentially a story about me getting out of the way of myself. But before I could learn about getting out of my own way I had to get rid of the technology that was getting in the way of me discovering myself. And if that sounds like nonsense I won't be surprised, for in some ways sense had nothing to do with it. This story like all the best stories started with a girl. It started with a girl I once liked and the shoes she wore. Enter the five figured Vibram. Vibrams When I first donned Vibrams, my first pair of minimalist running shoes I had no idea they were even made for running. Nor did I have any inkling that this weird guy named 'Barefoot Ted' (who lived only a few miles to my south) had a hand in persuading Vibram into making a running 'shoe'. At the time I hadn't even heard of ultra-marathons or running Tarahumara Indians or crazy Eat and Run vegans named Scott Jurek. No, I just liked a girl who ran b...
9 comments
Read more

Running the Chi

After my failed attempt to complete the Leadville Trail 100, I've gone back at the drawing board. I had an amazing time at the race and I learned a lot. Primarily I learned that besides the ass-kicking difficulty of breathing at +10,000 feet I was just too slow to complete a 100 miler. Contrary to what you may be thinking I'm not just talking about my splits. In the months following Leadville I've determined that my splits weren't my primary problem. My primary problem was efficiency. It's not just that I need to run faster, I need to run faster while also learning to run with less effort. I need to learn how to run further and faster all the while using less and less oxygen. I need to get my average heart rate down. I need to learn how to make running fast easy. To this point my running training programs have largely consisted of...well I hate running programs so I haven't actually done one. I tend to dislike structure in general and all the more so ...
5 comments
Read more