This morning I had a session with a ChiRunning instructor. In my post from the Stu's 30k, I mentioned that I had made some minor mechanical adjustments to my form to alleviate the feeling of the IT band rubbing - but one thing I didn't know was how sustainable those adjustments would be long term. It's one thing to find a quick fix - it's another to determine whether that quick fix can come at the expense of future injury later on.
Later that week, I had some some googling and came across a ChiRunning article about the IT band, and it almost perfectly described those mechanical adjustments I made to reduce strain on the IT band. It was so spot on that I decided at that point that I should pursue ChiRunning as a form basis for my running. Having stuff like Jack Daniels running formula is great and all for coming up with a training approach, but aside from high level things like 'keep cadence at 180' and 'land mid-foot instead of heel strike' - there's every little about actual running form that is ever mentioned.
Furthermore, I discovered a pattern from the Half of the Hamptons and the Stu's 30k - in races where I push myself, I tend to require a good couple weeks for the muscles to settle down and stop pulling on the IT band. In that couple weeks, I tend to be able to feel it rubbing during my runs. So, absent any other significant data, I figured there was something with my form or how I'm running that is causing that, and that it was about time I concentrate on it. One reason is that I don't want to continue training for the next several months leading up to Lake Placid always on the edge of what my IT band can sustain (too much at stake to risk that), and another reason is that I found that with swimming, form concentration equates to many hours of hard effort training - so there stands a good chance that the same would hold true for running.
A couple weeks ago I contacted a local ChiRunning instructor and set up a session for a one hour analysis with video. I also picked up the ChiRunning book to get a start on some of the concepts, and to start practicing them during my short runstreak days - running sessions where I'm not at all concerned about fitness, per se, and instead concentrate on specific form related items. This morning I met up with the person, and we started off with him grabbing some video of some of my running while warming up. He wanted to get a fresh 'before' picture to see what I looked like before any of the ChiRunning concepts we would talk about could alter my stride. I did my best to run in the same fashion I've been running in for the past couple years - although I've been practicing some ChiRunning form focuses, they haven't been imprinted in muscle memory enough yet to have pushed out the old stuff. Those 'before' pictures were taken both with the Nike Free Run's that I've used most, as well as the NB Minimus shoes I've had for several weeks (lower heel-toe drop). Then we talked about a bunch of high level stuff that ChiRunning concentrates on - using lower abdominal muscles to stabilize the pelvis and rotate it forward slightly as well as minimize side to side shuffling (think runway model shifting her hips back and forth to get an idea of the shuffling I'm talking about), lengthening the spine all the way through the top of the head to prevent upper body slouch (which not only decreases lung capacity, but also sets up the body to 'feel' heavy), and relaxation of muscles so that running itself uses a minimal amount of effort. During this time there were also various little drills or examples/demonstration of concepts (one was actually tossing a lightweight medicine ball at a trampoline while balancing on one leg - when you catch it, the momentum wants to cause your body to go back with it, but when you engage your core muscles properly, you can minimize that kickback). We finished off with some video of my stride after all the discussion, and with applying the various principles.
Overall, it was a $75 well spent, I think. Most of the adjustments are very subtle and would be inherently difficult to get on video - but even still the before and after video showed a pretty big difference in terms of heel strike. I haven't felt like a heelstriker for a few years, but the video clearly shows my heel hitting first, even if the brunt of my body weight doesn't fully bear down on the foot until my center of mass is closer to over my feet. However the after video definitely showed improvement in that regard - it was much closer to a full-foot plant more directly under my center of mass. While many of the things were subtle, I came out of it knowing I have a good deal of work to do in refining form, but also bouyed a bit by the fact that pretty much everything I had been practicing form-wise is on the right track.
For the runstreak session, it was my typical 1.5 mile loop - but instead of just starting out and doing the whole loop all at once, I stopped and started a bunch of times. I kept my feet going at the 180 cadence, but I'd lean forward to start moving forward, and then return to a more upright position and just let my body gradually slow down to a stop (or slow move forward if on a slight downhill). So it became a session of practice using lean for propulsion and trying to minimize getting propulsion from leg muscles.
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