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No matter who you are, if you're a runner, you have good days and bad days. On
those "bad" days, for whatever reason, it's a struggle to pull it all together
and have a decent run. This can even happen to those of us who love to run,
including yours truly. It's understandable given the crazy lives that most of
us lead. There are so many factors that affect our running.
With ChiRunning, there are lots of things you can do to help your run go better,
should you find yourself in less than desirable straights.
To begin with, put this thought into your head: "There is no such thing as a bad
run." If things aren't going exactly how you'd like them to go, when
you're out on your run, it usually means that you have an opportunity to learn
something new. Struggle is the food from which change is made, and the best
time to make the most of a struggle is when it's right in front of your face.
Now, I know that might sound a bit simplistic. But, too often we're led to
believe that struggling is a bad thing, or that we struggle because we're doing
something wrong.
I disagree. I look at struggle as an opportunity to grow. True struggle happens
when you can sense what is not working for you and you're willing to take the
appropriate action to correct the situation. Those who accomplish change are
willing to engage the struggle.
In my own ChiRunning practice, I'm constantly trying out new ways to move my
body. At this point, I really don't have bad runs. But, I do have days when I
struggle more than others, and those are the days when I seem to learn the
most. So, here are a few tips that will hopefully help you through your next
"learning opportunity."
Locate the problem
There are generally two things that can get in your way of having an enjoyable
run. It's either your head or your body. Sometimes it can be a combination of
both, but I would venture to say that most problems begin in one place or the
other.
The first thing to do is to figure out whether your problem is in your head
or in your body? This is done by asking yourself if what is going on
in your run is a thought or a sensation. It's not very difficult to separate
the two. A thought is not something you can put your finger on…a sensation is.
1. If the problem is in your head
If your mind is the culprit,you'll tend to hear some sort of internal dialog in
your mind like…
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I can't do this.
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Where did my energy go?
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It's too far to run today.
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I don't want to be here.
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This is really no fun.
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I didn't feel this way yesterday.
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This sucks, I just want to go back to bed.
Sound familiar? These thoughts will tend to be encrypted with some sort of
judgement. Then, you have to deal with a judgement that starts a negative spin,
and pretty soon you're energy is down the tubes.
How to help your head
If your problem is in your head, here are a couple of things you can do to
counteract those devilish little voices that can hijack your run.
Don't pick up the phone
That's right. If you know that it's just a voice, and your body doesn't really
feel that bad, you can treat your negative voices as you would the perennial
dinnertime telemarketer…don't pick up the phone. If you give energy to
a negative thought, it will sap your energy. And, that won't help your
situation. Just give those disparaging thoughts the cold shoulder and move onto
something productive, like taking in your environment, or doing your ChiRunning
focuses, or watching your breath. Before long those thoughts will be lying in
the dust somewhere way behind you. Thoughts are like plants. If you water them
they'll grow. So, your "struggle" is to starve the thoughts you'd like to get
rid of and "water" the thoughts you'd like to grow.
Change the channel
I'm sure you've had the experience of having a thought stuck in your mind. It
consumes your consciousness and seems to eat up all the other thoughts around
it. It might not even be a negative thought. It could be a project at work or a
paper that is due. These thoughts are fine, but if they take up so much energy
that they're beginning to effect your running, it's time to change the channel
and give your mind a break. It's not that hard to do, especially if you're
doing ChiRunning. All you need to do is think of one of your favorite
ChiRunning focuses and you'll have a new "channel" to direct your mind to.
Then, your focus will return to your body, which is the best place to have it
when you're running.
2. If the problem is in your body
If the problem is physical, it will most often express itself somewhere in your
body as:
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An ache or pain (ranging from dull to sharp)
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Muscular fatigue or weakness
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Muscular tension
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Some type of internal discomfort
As I mentioned previously, if the pain is in your body, you should be able to
put your finger on it… or, at the least, sense where the discomfort is coming
from.
How to help your body
Here are some suggestions to try, if you sense that your problem is in your
body.
First of all, do your best to precisely locate the problem, then work on the
problem by addressing the cause. Here is our original list of problem areas
along with some tips for what to do in each situation.
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An ache or pain (ranging from dull to sharp)
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This is your body telling you that something is not right with how you're
moving. Take the time to pinpoint the epicenter of the ache or pain and check
to see if you're moving that particular body part in the correct range of
motion.
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Go through as many of the chirunning focuses as you can remember, and see if
instating any of them helps to reduce your discomfort. If your discomfort is
not getting worse, continue to work the focuses that seem to help the most.
(pgs. 92-93 in the ChiRunning book)
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If the pain is getting worse, stop your run.
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Muscular fatigue or weakness
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If your feeling muscular fatigue, your body is telling you that you're either
out of shape or using too much muscle and not enough technique. In either case,
slow down, shorten your stride and do your best to work on your postural
alignment (pgs. 63-70 in the ChiRunning book).
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Muscular tension
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If you're holding tension in your muscles, you'll either feel tired or
you'll experience a limited range of motion in the area that is tense. If you
need to, stop your run and stretch or loosen the tight muscles, breathing
deeply while focusing on the tense areas. (pgs. 114-115 in the ChiRunning book)
When you resume running, soften those muscles with every stride. Imagine
your muscles hanging limply on your skeleton.
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Every 5-10 minutes during your run, let your arms and legs go limp and run
along like a rag doll for 100 yards. Then, keep that sense of looseness as you
continue on with your run
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Some type of internal discomfort
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Internal sensations of discomfort should be dealt with individually and with
common sense. Messages from your organs are not something to take lightly.
Proceed with caution, and if the discomfort increases even a tinch…head home
and deal with your problem when you're not running.
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If you have a headache or stomach ache from some sort of over-indulgence, it's
not a great reason to stop your run. Running is one of the world's best cures
for over-doing food or drink. Just think of how good and cleaned out you'll
feel after a good workout.
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If you're short of breath, you're either running faster than your body is
conditioned to run, or you're breathing is too shallow. In either case you can
slow down, shorten your stride, or try belly breathing. (pgs. 52-53 in the
ChiRunning book)
Here’s a story from a ChiRunner:
“ I was always getting tired and feeling slow and heavy at a certain point in my
regular run. It’s on the return part of my short out-and-back run, and whenever
I turned this one corner, I could feel my energy dipping, even though it’s a
flat part of the run. I realized that I knew I was getting close to the end, so
I just felt myself sort of give up or something. So, even though it’s flat,
I tried shortening my stride when I turned that corner, and pulling in my
lower abs and tucking my chin, just as you suggest. It worked wonders. Now,
it’s one of the fastest and best parts of my run. It’s been a great boost in my
energy and given me the confidence to believe I can change my “energy” pretty
easily. Wonderful!” - Elaine
What it all comes down to is that you always have choices. When you're out on
your run, and it's a struggle to enjoy yourself as much as you'd like, there's
always something you can do about it. You can let yourself get swept into a
downward spiral … or you can productively approach your predicament by choosing
to struggle with your adversity, with the possibility of turning a potentially
"bad" run, into a transformative experience.
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