Tag Archives: Danny Dreyer

50 Mile Training: Week 10 and 11

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Well, I just got too busy last weekend to blog so I’m doing a quick recap for the last 2 weeks.  I am doing these blogs strictly for my own personal journaling of my 50 Mile training. I wish I would’ve journaled my first marathon and 50K so here I am now 😉

This was the plan for the last few weeks:

Week Of Week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Miles
9-Nov 10 0 4 10 8 0 22 10 54
16-Nov 11 0 4 10 8 0 24 10 56

Week 10 was tough as I left for Asheville NC on Wednesday 11/11.  It’s my favorite weekend every 2 years that I get to go and have uptraining with ChiRunning founder Danny Dreyer and get to be with my fellow instructors from around the world.  I learned so much and it always baffles me how much there could be to learn about the art of running. But more about that at a later time….

Week 10 Recap: Because I knew I would not get a long run in while I was traveling, I did the Pemberton Loop as my first run of the week on Tuesday 11/10. This is a 15 mile loop and it’s the first time I do the whole thing during the day. I’ve done it at night time a few times for the Javelina Jangover race with Aravaipa Running. I went with my friend Vicki and we took our time so I could get more time on my feet (4 hours).  I traveled on Wednesday. On Thursday, I spent most of the day at a track and a hill doing some advanced work with Danny and fellow ChiRunning instructors. We were working on improving performance without increasing perceived rate of exertion.  During our lunch break, I ran 2 miles effortlessly on the track and got at least 5 in that day (I was supposed to run in the morning with the group but was too exhausted so I chose to listen to my body and sleep in).  On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I did a few miles each day on the grounds of the Crowne Plaza in NC with fellow instructors.  On Monday, several of us had the chance to do a 3 mile trail run with Danny.  My goal for the week was 54 miles but I only got in 24. I decided to not let that worry me at all.

Week 11 recap:  I needed some serious rest after my trip.  I was exhausted physically and mentally!  On Wednesday I was excited to get out.  I used to be solely a social runner but I’ve learned to really appreciate solo running.  When I am alone, I really focus on my form and become as mindful as possible to what my body is doing.  I was going to do 6 miles around the hood but decided to do 7 because I was feeling so good.…and I used my ChiRunning app the entire time to focus on cadence, breathing (I focused on nose breathing almost the entire time) and my other form focuses. On Thursday I got 3 miles in with my track group.  I had workshop scheduled this weekend so I had couldn’t run on Saturday. I decided to do 18 miles on Friday at South Mountain.  I broke up the run as follows:  1st 5 miles focusing on form, 2nd 5 miles I put music on speaker phone and the last 8 miles were with my friend Vicki.  It was almost 5 hours total with stops in between which is good time on my feet.  On Saturday, I wanted to get 10 miles in the afternoon after my workshop. Vicki, Denise and Lori joined me for 4 on trail and then Lori and I finished the rest on the canal.  On Sunday, I had a private lesson so I was able to get 3 more miles in.  My goal for the week was 56 miles and I did 45.  Good back to backs this weekend and feeling pretty good!  Did leg drains daily and foam rolled, hit the hot tub a few times this week and got a free massage at the Girls On The Run event.

I’m excited about a taper week coming up! In a few weeks, I’ll be doing my 2nd 50K (McDowell Mountain Frenzy) which will be a training run. I like to use races as training runs when the mileage fits.  I didn’t have to pay because I had volunteer credits but at least I get a pint glass and aid (food/drink) on a long run which is easier than going back to my car to refuel.  Plus I get to see my friends and have more company along the way!

So here is how the weeks finished:

Week Of Week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Miles
9-Nov 10 0 4 10 8 0 22 10 54
0 15.3 0 5 2.3 2.1 2 26.7
16-Nov 11 0 4 10 8 0 24 10 56
3.1 0 7 3.1 18.5 10 3 44.7

Fundraising update:

Haven’t really done much with it this week.  Every little bit helps though!

Previous blogs posts in this series:

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Completely Exposing Myself….

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I’ve decided to just go ahead and let it all out!  I debated whether I should do this or not….I’m a true believer in being authentic and I’ve learned that showing vulnerability is not a bad thing at all.

vulnerability-is-our-most-accurate-measurement-of-courage

So here it goes…..

I’m going to share my personal video analysis and Danny Dreyer’s (founder of ChiRunning) critique of my ChiRunning form.  Keep in mind that I started using this form back in 2009, became Certified in 2010 and have been practicing ever since. (Click here and scroll to bottom of the page to see the evolution of my immersion into ChiRunning).

One of the things I love most about ChiRunning is that it’s truly a holistic practice.  We like to say Practice Makes Progress (not perfect) because we are always looking for ways to keep getting better and better at it.  I always tell my students that you get what you put into it.  Even Danny Dreyer has aha moments as he works on “perfecting” his form.

Anyways, here is the video.  Danny gave me specific directions to

“Be pretty nitpicky. This way I can see how good your critical eye is, and also how good your form is.”

The video is 7:37 minutes but note how many “nitpicky” things I found in my own form.

Here is Danny’s email back to me after his review:

“You did a fabulous job of nitpicking your form! Below are some of my comments to add to what you saw.
Foot splay in the flight phase on both feet. Only very slight in the right foot… not enough to worry about. When you were running in a counter-clockwise arc you were pointing your right foot as it swung forward and you were dorsiflexing your left foot as it swung forward. This was accentuated because of the curve and less obvious when running straight.
Landing on the outside of the feet is fine. It creates a natural pronation and makes a midfoot landing softer.
Much of your leg work would improve if your stride were a bit shorter. This would prevent any overuse of your lower legs, reduce over-pronation and help keep your cadence up around 177 where it should be. It’s a more efficient gear for you.
Good alignment and lean
Right calf is pre-firing and plantar flexing for stability but I don’t see it used for propulsion.
Left ankle is dorsiflexing but not heel striking. On both feet you’re landing below your knees, which is great.
Slight upper body rotation: right elbow comes back behind you. Left elbow not as much. I’d say that the main thing you need to work on is your armswing… everything else is very close to right on. With your arms, let your elbows swing in the direction your arms are aligned. When you’re holding an imaginary volleyball your hands are closer to your centerline and your elbows are wider because they’re angled out a bit. The reason why your shoulders rotate is because your elbows are not following the line set up by the volleyball, but instead they’re swinging directly rearward and not rearward at a slight angle to each side… in a “V” shape. Swinging your elbow straight back pulls your shoulder with it. Swinging your elbow in a “V” shape doesn’t.
A small amount of vertical motion is a good thing. If you had no vertical motion, you’d be walking. It’s necessary. But, we teach pelvic rotation just to insure that people aren’t bouncing more than they need to.
I’m happy to go over any of this with you on Skype, so I can demonstrate what’s happening….. You’re doing a fabulous job in many ways.
Keep up the good work.
Danny”

Yesterday I had the privilege of talking to Danny via Google Hangout to discuss my video even further.  We worked on my right arm swing a bit and now I’m excited because I have some more things to focus on when I’m running.

Moral of the story: 

learn

Just because I’ve been teaching and practicing for awhile, doesn’t mean I can’t learn and become a stronger runner.  It wasn’t easy being vulnerable and having the founder of ChiRunning critique my form but boy am I am re-energized and motivated to keep working on it. The better I get, the more I can help my students get better too!

I do video analysis in my 4-hour ChiRunning workshops.  Students tell me this is the most valuable part of the class. There is nothing like making that mind/body connection by seeing what your body is doing so you can correct it.

Although I was pretty nervous about this whole process, I’m so grateful because ChiRunning has changed my life both professionally and personally.  I continue to look forward to helping injured runners change their form so they won’t be injured anymore AND show brand new runners that running doesn’t have to be painful or hard.

“It’s not running that causes pain, but HOW you do it.” Danny Dreyer

P.S  Not sure if you are Ted Talk fan but here is a great one on The Power of Vulnerability from Brene Brown.

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

The Youngest ChiRunners I’ve ever met!

Posted on by by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Happy Runner Girls!

Happy Runner Girls!

Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to assist Danny Dreyer, the creator of ChiRunning, at his workshop in Houston. As much as I want to rave about that experience, I need to talk about the fastest,  youngest and cutest endurance runners in the county:  Kaytlynn and Heather Welsch.

I was registering participants as they were arriving at the workshop and these 2 little girls appear before me with their Dad.  A guy behind them immediately said, “Oh, I know these girls, they are famous.”  I asked if they were twins and they said no.  But quickly told me that they shared the same birthday, just not the same year.  They immediately took their seats and I was amazed that a 11 and 13 year old could not only follow the material (some of the ChiRunning concepts are hard for adults to follow!), but you can tell they were totally into it.

At one point, Danny said: “let’s go outside and start practicing”.  I happened to be looking over at them and they had huge smiles on their faces, like someone just told them they would get free chocolate for the rest of their life.  It was OBVIOUS to me that these girls love to run.  Watching them run was an enlightening experience.  We always say that children have natural running form because they haven’t had the posture issues that we get as adults, and although they have a few things to work on from a ChiRunning technique perspective, they had a beautiful gait and form.  It was OBVIOUS again by the smiles on their faces that they were eager to learn but enjoyed running.  They were just gliding around the tennis court lapping the adults, happy as can be.

Of course, when I arrived home, I had to google their names to see what I could find on them.  And lo and behold, there is quite a bit of controversy around them.

These girls are amazing athletes.  They’ve both completed over 100 endurance races, mainly half- and full- marathon distance trail runs at an average pace of 6:23/mile!  Last year, Kaytlynn won the XTerra won the women’s field to become the youngest ever champion of an XTERRA trail half-marathon, placing 11th overall with a time of 1:39:31 (only 10 men were ahead of her!).

I do not have children, only nieces and a nephew so I was interested in reading the various controversial blog posts that were out there:

Of course the controversy is about their age and whether it’s appropriate they are racing this hard at their age. I also found this great video clip from Rock Center with Brian Williams: http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/07/16883813-too-fast-tween-sisters-log-miles-in-endurance-runs that I really enjoyed.

So what’s my opinion? Well, for starters, since they are clearly using the ChiRunning technique which promotes injury-free running, they are on the right path!

After watching the video and reading the blogs,  it seems to me that their parents are doing the right things for them and taking all the right precautions by getting them regular check ups with doctors.  I imagine that parents know their own children more than anyone.

Bottom line for me?

They love to run, they are enjoying it, they are using an injury-free technique and are supervised by their doctors….so who am I to judge them?  Run free and happy and I’m sure we’ll see these girls in the Olympics some day!  I’m just honored to have met them and be inspired by their passion for running.

What are your thoughts?

From My Running Story to Yours…. (if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)