Archive for February, 2008

It has been one month to this day since I last ran.

This kind of long-lasting injury can easily lead an obssesed runner like me to jump off the skyway, rob a bank, or watch Wowawee all day. But, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could easily keep my composure—or better yet, my sanity despite the absence of a run. The farthest I had gone to relieve myself of this pent up anger and frustration was to gorge on Lay’s potato chips all day.

Lucky for me, I was too busy the past month to get too depressed about this hellish situation. How could I even find the time to mope? I got into so many new activities—swimming, weights, yogilates, therapy—just to strengthen and stretch these leg muscles so that I could run again. Work also poured in enough to keep me busy with nary a time to shed a tear about my lost marathon goal.

For now, my objective is to run for 15 mins. straight without feeling any tightness or soreness thereafter. Just last week, I walked for 10 mins. on the treadmill and felt soreness in my knee again. The pain was not intense but it bothered me nonetheless. It got me wondering when this knee would ever heal. What was taking so long? Was I doing enough? How could I speed up recovery?

I continued with my drills, swimming, and weights and fortunately my work paid off. This morning I attempted the treadmill again for a 10 minute walk. The results were more encouraging. I felt no pain, nada, nothing. It may be too early to tell that things will progress from here on but I’m certainly more hopeful about it now. Please let this be the start of better days ahead.  I don’t know how much longer I can wait.

Chi Running, as its name clearly denotes, is a fusion of the ancient principles of Tai Chi together with the power and energy of running. Created by Danny Deyer, an accomplished ultramarathoner, this unique running form focuses on relaxing the muscles and keeping the body aligned to run efficiently thereby preventing or completely avoiding injury. Dreyer teaches his runners to fall slightly forward while keeping the back straight so that the weight is supported by the frame. The legs remain loose and are just lifted; they don’t push down.

[youtube=http://http://www.youtube.com/v/zdMOrgQgH2A&rel=1]

I learned about Chi Running only recently when a friend of mine—perhaps after reading through the pitiful posts I’ve written over my condition—emailed me about Chi Running and shared how her knee pain vanished after practicing this for over a year. She ran the half-marathon at Subic and was pleasantly surprised to feel minimal pain or soreness the day after. She says, and I quote, “it has become my running bible.”

In back issues of Runner’s World, I do remember reading about the benefits of the Pose Method, which like Chi Running, prevents many of the common injuries runners experience. A quick google pointed me towards an article where Danny Dreyer discussed the differences.

Now I don’t have the book nor DVD yet, so I wouldn’t be too quick to call Chi Running my own bible. However, I would go as far as saying that this has certainly piqued my curiosity and given me some sense of hope that my love for running won’t have to hurt me again this way. I will probably get my hands on the book soon. And, should it prove to be as good as it sounds, I just might become a Chi Runner without this Runner’s Knee someday.

More articles on Chi Running:

ChiRunning on Runner’s World

Chi Runners Poised for Softer Landings on NPR

Runner’s Chi on MedicineNet.com

Today, on the 22nd day of my forced leave from running, I finally took the plunge. I signed up for my very first swimming lesson with my batchmate from college, Nonoy Basa, who has been teaching Terry Laughlin’s Total Immersion swimming style to kids and adults in Makati and Alabang.

– Nonoy Basa, my swimming coach and friend – 

Truth to tell, I walked by the pool area like a fish out of water—all wiggly and nervous and almost out of breath—because this was definitely not my territory. I never took formal swimming lessons; I only learned how to swim from my eldest brother a hundred summers ago. The last time I swam freestyle was in gradeschool when my classmates and I would play “shark” at a friend’s house. And, since I am not Heidi Klum, I haven’t really been comfortable wearing a swimsuit after giving birth to my two kids.

Thankfully, Nonoy made it easy for me and Dondi, another student who is a beginner triathlete, to feel at home in the pool.

The first thing Nonoy did was to show us how he swims. It was simply amazing. I could hardly notice when he would take a breath as he seemed to be completely submerged, gliding through the water, truly swimming like a fish (cliche as it may sound.) Then, it was our turn as he took videos of us doing our own strokes—gulp. Nonoy then showed us our videos and discussed our mistakes and told us the techniques he would be teaching us.

Step by step, Nonoy slowly and patiently taught us 4 or 5 drills to practice so that we could gradually get used to the method of TI. He would teach us one at a time making sure each of us got the position correctly. Seemingly innocuous drill names like Sweet Spot were quite challenging for a newbie swimmer like me to do without having water creep up my nose. But, after a couple of practices and tips from Nonoy, I could do them comfortably.

I liked the fact that TI focuses on engaging the core to propel forward. I thought that it truly will complement my running wherein core workouts are very important for support during those long distance runs. Swimming will also help exercise my upper body, an area that desperately needs toning to keep me in good form when I run. And, it will also help my feet become more flexible, a common problem for runners who have stiff ankles.

What was supposed to be a 1-hour session turned out to be more than 2 hours of fun for me. It was great to be diving (literally) into something new, engaging muscles that were rarely ever used during my runs, and getting a bit of a cardio workout at the same time. It’s also nice to know that I just took a tiny step closer towards my goal of becoming a future triathlete.

I know I am going to enjoy swimming. Having said that, will I exchange my running shoes for goggles anytime soon? Certainly not. It is still running for me. Besides, “The Bull Swimmer” doesn’t sound too catchy.

* For child/adult swimming lessons, call Aqualogic Swim Co. at (0917) 858 AQUA or visit their website.

So, I heard it was a PR race for most of you. To those who finished…PR or not…congratulations

Click here for results:

Mens 10km

Womens 10km

Mens 5km

Womens 5km

* Thanks to Mark for sharing this!