Running without Pain — ChiRunning

I am still searching for how to get rid of my nagging hip and foot pains. The more I increase my running, the worse it gets. I went to a physical therapist who thinks my hip pain is tightness in my hip rotator muscles, and she gave me some exercises to strenghten them, and also to strengthen my core body muscles. The exercises are alot like pilates….interesting!

I read an article in Runner’s World magazine about two brothers who trained for a marathon. One brother used the Galloway walk/run method. I bought a book by Jeff Galloway, and tried the run/walk method. I didn’t like it. Taking walk breaks every five minutes makes me lose my groove, and it’s always hard to start running again.

The other brother hired a personal trainer and incorporated the Pose Method of running in his training. The Pose method is a way to develop your running posture and technique to minimize injury. It is based on using gravity to your advantage, leaning forward, and lifting your legs up from behind rather than pushing off from your toes. This technique is supposed to reduce the risk of injuries. The book costs $30 at amazon….I’m not willing to pay that without first browsing through it first. I went to Borders last night to look for the Pose method, but they didn’t have it in stock.

So, I was browsing through the running books, and found a book called ChiRunning. It’s a method of running developed by an ultra marathoner who incorprated the principles of Tai Chi into a running method. The techniques look alot like Pose running, so I bought the book and so far it sounds like good stuff. You have to do a lot of reading before getting to the actual techniques, so I haven’t been able to try out the methods yet. I am hopeful it will solve my pain problems. I do not want to stop running, but don’t want to keep living with pain either!

Update July 29, 2006: I have recently changed my mind about ChiRunning, and now follow the Pose Method of running. Click here to read why.

Links:

• The Pose Method of Running
• ChiRunning
• Galloway Run / Walk Method