Allison's Big Toe

ChiRunning Fatigue Fixers

This morning I woke up and my body felt a little weird. I was slightly shaky, and feeling “underpowered”. But, I planned on going for a run today, so I ate a pre-run snack of homemade yogurt cream, chia seeds, 1/2 banana, raw honey, and raw cacao bits. I headed down to the Ventura boardwalk, where I like to run on the weekends. When I started running, my rational brain assured me I’d just run until I was too tired to keep my form in check and then walk the rest, but my competitive brain (what, I can’t have two brains?) told me that I should try to increase my mileage today and run up and over the bridge that I stopped at last week. Although now I’m quite exhausted, I’m proud to report that on the run I was able to both increase my distance to about 6 miles, yet not have to stop and walk, with the help of the ChiRunning Fatigue Fixers.

Today, at about mile 4.5, I thought I was ready to stop and walk, as my quad and calf muscles were getting fatigued. Having spent 2 years now working on my ChiRunning form, I can tell when my muscles get tired and cause my form to break down, because I get mild pains in certain joints and tendons. If I can rally the strength to bring the form back in check, the pains disappear. On page 254-255 of the ChiRunning book, Danny Dreyer lists some great tips for reducing fatigue on a run. I had read these a long time ago, but this morning I found myself cycling through the ones I remembered to keep me going. Happily, they worked! I’ve ordered them below—1 being the most helpful for me, 2 the next most helpful, and so on:

Tips for Reducing Fatigue

1. Slow down your pace until you recover some strength.
2. Imagine your upper body as suspended, with legs relaxed and simply swinging from spinal pivot point in the middle of the back. Engage arm swing in upper body to maintain efficient pelvic rotation. (I added this, because for me it’s the magic focus that brings everything else into line. If I’m too tired to do it, then it’s time to walk.)
3. Breathe more from your abdomen.
4. Relax your shoulders. Let your arms dangle at your sides for 30 seconds every 2 minutes.
5. Don’t focus on your fatigue, or you’ll get more tired. Look up and take in the world around you. (I tried to smile at everyone I passed.)
6. Engage your lean again, but don’t bend at the waist.
7. Correct your posture. Make sure your feet are hitting behind your upper body, not in front of it.
8. Stay away from a shuffle. Pick up your heels and get your feet moving in a circular motion.
9.  Shorten your stride. 

Hope this helps you run further, pain-free and without injury!