Run 87, 2009 …relax, it’s only a run…

The topic of stretching is important and I hope others can post their experiences with it. Meanwhile, I have a few tips on running that I’d like to share. We know that muscles have to be fairly tense, or at least be able to respond quickly enough so that they become as tense as possible to help deal with the shock absorption that comes with a high impact activity like running. So we stretch, yet we want to be tense too. And tense is the opposite of relaxed, or is it?

The key is to have tense muscles to help with the job of absorbing and dissipating the impact forces, however every other muscle not involved should be relaxed, right? Otherwise you are wasting energy. Why not save that energy so you can have that extra speed or distance at the end of your run?

I’ll bet you look really goofy when you run. If you don’t know the answer to that maybe you are less aware of what the rest of your body is doing as you run. Everyone pumps their arms to some degree, but I’ve seen many runners whose arms cross over in front of their torsos beyond the center line of their bodies with every stride. While you can’t avoid a small amount of arc as your arms swing with your stride, you should try to pump your arms as straight as possible parallel to the direction you are running. Think about the huge amount of wasted energy it takes to stop the roundhouse kind of arc your arm makes then reverse it in a mirror image of that arc? If you would just pump your arms straight, gravity does all the work. Some people look like they punch themselves in the nose with each pump of their arms, because the arc made by their arms is not in the same direction as where they are running. If you don’t think that takes a lot of energy, consider that’s probably at least pumping your arms 5,000 times for every 5 km. So for each of those 5,000 times you have to stop your arm from pumping too high in a direction sideways to the one you are running in, you are slowing down that much more.

I have not described this as well as I could in the short amount of time I am taking to write this, so I’ll leave that for you to consider. My main point is how can you relax, if you don’t even know you are tense? The only way for you to know if you are tense is to know what it feels like when you are not. Many people, especially beginners who have not exercised for a long time, don’t know their own bodies, or how to listen to their own bodies. But I have a few tips that might help you find out how to relax and how to begin to listen, to tune into, your own body.

So get out there and start jogging (yes I said that horrible “jogging” word), a very easy pace. Now make sure you minimize the arc your arms form as you take every stride. That is, try not to pump your arms in any other direction other than straight down the road. Don’t cross your arms in front of your torso. I’ll bet your shoulders are really tense and hunched up. Now try to keep your hands below your navel as you run and pump those arms. You should notice that your shoulders are more relaxed. Now bring your hands up high above your navel and you will see your shoulders being pulled up and become more tense. The trick is to pump your arms enough and as high as makes a good contribution to your run without tensing up those shoulder muscles. You can pump those arms mighty hard without having excessive muscle tension in those shoulders is my point. Another way is to drop your hands and arms straight down to your sides while you are still running. Pretend that gravity wants to suck your arms straight down, don’t swing them in any way. Concentrate on lowering your shoulders, and wiggle you arms, hands, and fingers a little to shake off the tension. Do that for 30 seconds or so every kilometer.

Here’s an exercise that can illustrate what I mean, plus as a bonus, it also illustrates how you can focus internally and train yourself to check out every part of your body while you run. As you run and while you are pumping your arms normally, take the middle finger of each hand and hold it out as straight and as tense as possible. Notice how immediately your forearms, biceps, and shoulders become extremely tense while you are trying to maintain that straight middle finger. Keep doing the same thing, don’t let up. It’s just a way for you to become aware of what your body is doing. You have to learn how to listen to it and this is a training session to show you just that. So there you are, running in the way you always normally have run, except that now the middle finger of each hand has been deliberately extended and locked out straight. You notice what that does to the whole line of muscles from your hands to your shoulders. Keep doing this, but now focus and deliberately begin to relax all the muscles that you notice you have tensed up with that middle finger lock. Don’t cheat and relax that middle finger! You have to train yourself to keep that middle finger locked, yet relax those other muscles that you will find you don’t really need to have tensed up after all.

I’m not suggesting you always run with your middle finger extended and locked. It’s just a way to show you how to feel and know your own body during your activity. You have to multitask your way into body awareness. By the way, I recommend doing this exercise in a completely safe area free of danger such as traffic because you can become so focused on the internal dynamics of your body that you are vulnerable and you are much less aware of your external surroundings.

Use your imagination to become more skilled at monitoring your body in this way. If you want another suggestion, how about focusing on relaxing your middle toe as you run? How do you do that? Well, first of all you have to ask yourself, is it relaxed or is it doing something? One way to begin to listen to your middle toe, buried under all those socks and shoes is to deliberately tense it up. Try to move it in a little arc, then relax it. All the while still running.

In a future post, I might talk about other ways to become aware of your body. The more aware you are, the more you will know when you’ve had enough, when you are on the brink of injury, or when you can exceed your previous performance limits.

So in my run today, I went 11 km but I was so stiff and sore from my cross training on Saturday that I went really slowly and took it as an easy rest day. Until next time, remember to meditate on these things on your next run because becoming aware of your body requires meditation. Have fun!