Chi Running my way to a sub 6 hour Half IM...

[mrcrash]

In the never-ending quest to shed time off of my runs, I took a Chi-Running clinic with some friends of a couple of weeks ago. I read the book before attending, but after working with the instructor, it really began to click.

Comments

[betternewthings]

interesting.

however, i am deeply suspicious of anything that involves eastern philosophy that does not also involve easterners. it's a bit too stuffwhitepeoplelike for me.

[mrcrash]

My girlfriend has the Pose Running DVD, and says the same thing about it.

[betternewthings]

I found Pose Running kinda interesting. The physics of it only make sense on a treadmill (touch the treadmill as little as possible to avoid slowing down) but a certain amount of pushing back is necessary to fight the wind resistance of actual running. On the other hand, I think that doing what it said did make me slightly faster just because I wasn't lifting my heels high enough.

Then again, the Marlboro Man runs faster than me.

[betternewthings]

To a certain point, it makes sense. Any vertical momentum your leg has when it hits the ground is wasted. Thus, you shouldn't invest energy creating it. Also, any impact forward of your CG where your foot is not moving forward relative to the ground slows you down. Both motions are wasteful

Application of those to principles thus makes sense.

But the PR site discusses how running is about letting yourself "fall forward", and from a physics standpoint, that's BS. You do want to minimize waste, but it is also important to provide some propulsion.