Many books about running tell you to just go out and run like you did as a kid. But there’s one problem with that suggestion. From ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running by Danny Dreyer
Not long ago, I was running past a grade school. It was a warm late spring day, and the kids were out on recess. They were busy playing tag, chasing balls, and just doing what kids do best, running around. I stopped to take a swig of water from my bottle, and as I watched the flurry of little legs, I was reminded once again why I love to watch kids run. Every one of them had perfect running form: a nice lean, a great stride opening up behind them, heels high in the air, relaxed arm swing and shoulders. They had it all!
One of my biggest desires as a coach is to help adults learn to run the ways they did as kids. It’s such a natural movement when kids do it. It looks so effortless and joyful. Many books about running tell you to just go out and run like you did as a kid. There’s only one problem with that suggestion: you don’t have the same body today that you did back then. If you do, I’d like you to be my teacher.
So why don’t adults run like kids, with that same ease and joyfulness? After running for thirty years and working with thousands of runners, I’d have to say that the two biggest factors are stress and tension. I can speak for myself, and maybe you can relate. Since I left the sixth grade, I have put my body through a wide range of physical and emotional stresses, such as tightening my shoulders when I’m worried, slouching all day at my desk, holding tension in my neck while driving — the list is endless. Individually, these might not sound like a big deal, but when you add them up over a lifetime, they have a major cumulative effect on how you move. I’ve also done a few radical things that have taken a bit more of a toll on my body, like skiing off cliffs and doing face plants while snowboarding. As Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit would say, “Your biography becomes your biology.” With all this abuse stored in my body, I’d be hard pressed to run the way I did as a kid. The good news is that for anyone with a little patience and perseverance, it is possible to get back to that state.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Danny Dreyer, author of ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running (Copyright © 2004 by Danny Dreyer), is an esteemed running and walking coach and accomplished ultra marathon runner, finishing in the top three in his division in thirty-nine ultra marathons. He is an international speaker, and has been seen on CNN, NBC News, and the Discovery Channel, and has been covered in Runner’s World and Running Times.
MORE ARTICLES BY THE AUTHOR
- Read the Introduction to ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running
- See the book’s Table of Contents
- Browse more books by Danny Dreyer
- “How to Make the Most of Your Time on a Treadmill” by Danny Dreyer
