!44: Long Distance Running Tips For Beginners

!±8± Long Distance Running Tips For Beginners

"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." -Danny Dreyer

I'm not really a huge fan of long distance running.

However that's possibly because I'm not really great at it. I'm currently training for the Gate River Run, a 15K event which my family and I attend annually. This is often the only occasion I actually relish running. Because it's the actual 15K nation's championship run, it's really an exciting competition and attracts an awesome crowd. As I mentioned, long distance running has not been one of my strong points, nevertheless I'm going to attempt to improve that this year. At the moment, during my long-distance runs my pace is a bit more than ten minutes a mile. I feel like someone who is as physically active and in shape as I am should certainly sustain an 8 minute per mile pace or better. So even though I've been running for quite some time, I began looking for the very best long distance running tips for beginners.

Enter ChiRunning.

ChiRunning is a program developed by Danny Dreyer, one of the world's top-notch Ultra Marathon runners. It's termed an "effortless" as well as "injury-free" approach to running. My dad has been practicing ChiRunning for some time now and just recently successfully completed his very first half-marathon (easily with no recovery time needed). I figure I must give this thing an attempt because although it's not my primary choice for a cardiovascular workout (high intensity interval training takes that honor), long distance running gives me an undeniable sense of pride and achievement that I simply don't feel after carrying out wind sprints in the park.

I've only recently begun exploring this program, but from what I've collected to date, it's all about form.

Maintain an aligned posture.

Ensure that when you are standing up, your entire body creates a "column" with your shoulder, hip, and ankle forming a straight vertical line. Maintaining this kind of form when you are running helps prevent your quads and lower back muscles from needing to do unnecessary work. Your chest needs to be open to facilitate breathing. You should also align your lower body. This can be achieved by making sure your toes are always pointed directly forward rather than out to the sides. Maintaining lower body alignment will help keep the knees from being strained while you are running. Finally, engage your core by aligning your pelvis forward using your lower abs. The core is vital to keeping your posture in-line throughout your run.

Use gravity to your advantage by leaning.

Among the key points behind ChiRunning is to utilize gravity to work with you while you run so the muscles are doing as little work as possible. This is achieved by leaning forward with your column intact. Your feet should naturally lift off the ground to catch your fall throughout each stride rather than getting jerked upwards with the "push off" motion which is typical for non-Chi runners. Again, the concept is to utilize less energy. Your entire lower body should remain relaxed keeping unnecessary stress away from the balls of your feet. The lean is considered the "gas pedal" of ChiRunning. If you want to run faster, lean more. This helps ensure your lower limbs don't actually do more work to raise your speed.

Perfect the "midfoot strike".

When running, your heel should lift up over your other ankle. In comparison, in typical running, there will be continuous strain on the balls of your feet because instead of this "midfoot strike" that occurs when you are raising the feet, your heel strikes the surface first and then the ball of the foot pushes up to push you forward. This uses all kinds of excessive energy. With the back heel lift approach, your lower body needs to be free of strain. When you're running and advancing with the appropriate back heel lift, the feet should move in a circular motion like pedaling on a bike, not swinging back and forth like a pendulum. When you practice this, pretend you are trying to be stealth and sneak up on somebody. Think graceful like a gazelle instead of say, a T-Rex.

Make use of your arms effectively.

When you're running, your arms should be bent with your elbows forming a 90 degree angle, but don't pump the arms. Instead, swing your elbows back to your rear. Relax your hands and wrists as well. Avoid shrugging your shoulders and don't cross the middle of your body with your hands while swinging your arms backwards.

So those are the basics.

It's a great deal to ingest when you consider something as basic as running. Nonetheless, as the book describes, when you're mastering a sport like golf or tennis, correct technique and form make a huge difference with regards to effectiveness. Novice golfers and tennis players usually get instruction and even the world's top professionals have coaches that constantly help them with the mechanics. Yet in regards to running, the majority of us just go out and do it without even thinking about our technique and form. Again, I'm no pro at this, but it seems like an extremely effective way to run and if you've read anything I've explained to this point, you'll know I'm all about efficiency.

If you'd like more details on ChiRunning, visit the ChiRunning web page which is also Danny Dreyer's blog. On here, you can buy a copy of Dreyer's book. If you have an extra to invest, I'd actually recommend the DVD. I found it to be more valuable. If you don't have any funds to splash, don't worry about it either. There are an abundance of articles and instructional long distance running tips for beginners (or anyone really) that will help you get started. If you've had exposure to ChiRunning, please post a comment. I'd be interested to find out your opinion.