Feet that Burn

The endurance warrior envisions peace, flowers in the spring time, and the sight of a waterfall while yet deep in the trenches of a run. Sublime harmony exists when a runner can be absent minded the run, and imagine a whole new world of possibilities. The Chinese call this kind of focus, y-chi (ee-chee).

I found this book on Chi-Running very insightful. I've studied Chinese culture and medical arts for a number of years, so this is a gem. Originally I was looking for information about a running method called the Pose method. It's a method developed by a Russian coach for the T & F Russian Olympic team. By doing Pose, injury is reduced by a large margin and efficiency is increased. Runners, it seems by nature, get injured quite frequently throughout the year. Much of what I've read points to either shoes as the problem or just running itself. Since I don't like to simply take a person's word on any subject, I use my love of research to find out the truth for myself. I'm a heel striker normally, but the Pose method seeks to change that to a mid-foot strike.

Thus far, I've been using the Chi/Pose method for almost a month, and I like it. My knees have become less of an issue and recovery for the next day's run tends to be very fast. I now have to look into getting less of a motion control (MC) running shoe, and one aimed toward stability. What's the difference? MC shoes tend to build up solid support in the arch area of the foot to prevent overpronation (the roll of the foot from the heel into the arch). Stability, on the other hand, gives some arch support, but are 3-5 oz. lighter and the heel doesn't collapse on one side to force a roll to the outside of the foot. Why is this important to Chi-Running? In MC shoes, landing on the mid-foot still makes the foot want to roll to the outside, which can feel unatural and awkward. At times I've felt a tightening of the muscles along the outside of the calves. Only when I switch to a shoe much less robust than the Brooks Beast does this go away. I'll do a post on shoe guts later, if understanding this is bit difficult. If I get a good technique down, then losing the weight and running in general will be so much more pleasureable; especially over distances of 50 miles or more.