Friday 27 May 2011

Got a Question?

For those of you who are not familiar with the Chi Running and Chi Walking technique and have questions you would like answered, please email me your queries and I'll answer them as best I can. I'll also post them  on the blog for others to read. Remember, there's no such thing as a silly question, so ask away. Email: effortlessrunning@gmail.com

You can also Follow this blog and respond to blog posts. This way you can get clarification on your queries as posts go up.

Thursday 26 May 2011

50:50 upper body, lower body.....that's the Chi way!

You would be forgiven for thinking that your legs and basically your lower body does all the work when you are out running. When applying the Chi technique you use 50% upper body and 50% lower body and this is one of the reasons this technique is so energy efficient.


Your arm swing is so important. For those of you who have recently learnt the technique with me, just remember 'elbow wrist' and 'back' and this will help you remember to use your arm swing correctly on flat ground. The arm swing is also a life saver on upward hills where you shorten your stride and let your arms bring you up the hill while you focus on your yi chi.


Using your arm swing the chi way helps propel you forward by the pendulum motion making you go forward using less energy. Simple really!  

Monday 16 May 2011

Say Goodbye to post run Recuperation

If you're like I was in my early years running, (before I learnt the chi running technique) no doubt you've experienced some aches and pains in your legs after a run and the reason for this is you are power running and what I mean by that is, your constantly pushing with your leg muscles.  Since I've been chi running, those days are long gone!

Once I started chi running I noticed the post run aches and pains disappeared and the days following a long run my legs felt great.  When I take a break from running to focus on my Chi Walking I notice that I don't need any recuperation time when I go back running, its fantastic!

With the chi technique you do body looseners before a run, start jogging in first gear i.e. slow warm up pace and then move up the gears accordingly. At the end of a run I move back down to first gear to cool down, work down to a chi walk and then do your cool down stretches. The next day you'll feel great and won't even feel like you've been out on a long run the day before.

Certified Chi Running & Chi Walking Instructor

For those of you who would like to find out more about Danny Dreyer and the Chiliving centre click on the following link to view my listing as a Certified Chi Running & Chi Walking Instructor.

Saturday 14 May 2011

Chi Walking to keep fit, active and healthy no matter what age you are.

Walking is a great way to keep fit, do your 20-30 minutes exercise per day and help you keep trim. You might have seen the new Safefood measuring tape promotion hightlighting the concern that 2 in 3 adults in Ireland are overweight. Well walking is a great way to get fit and reduce weight. As we grow older we also need to be thinking of how we can keep fit and active so that we enjoy a healthy lifestyle into old age.


Chi walking is a good way to help you walk without injury and more energy efficient and by that I mean you will walk the same distance in less time and feeling invigorated as opposed to tired or you will find that you can walk farther and feel good.


Many people walk with splaying feet, land on their heels causing heel strike, push off the balls of the feet, swing their arms in side way motion putting pressure on the small of the back, lean at the waist, lean backwards and do many other things, making their walking difficult and so inefficient.


Your posture is so important and in Chi walking I teach people how to set themselves up, get into the best posture, walk with their body mass ahead of their feet and swing their arms in an efficient manner. The results have been great. One of my recent clients couldn't believe how effortless it was and said 'I could walk like this all day'. The idea is that you do walk the chi way all day and it's easy!


I'll be organising half day Chi Walking workshops for all ages soon, so become a Blog Follower and receive notification details.

Friday 13 May 2011

Wheatgrass juiced is the optimal energiser!

Wheatgrass juice has become increasingly popular and for many good reasons...


  • Its one of the richest sources of chlorophyll.
  • Contains over a hundred vitamins and minerals and is considered a complete food.
  • Drinking wheatgrass juice helps your body to build red blood cells which carry oxygen to every cell.
  • It is a powerful cleanser and booster of the immune system.
  • It is one of the most direct and highly concentrated forms of the sun's energy and when made into juice is the optimal energiser.
  • Its also very beneficial for those wishing to lose weight as it is recognized as real food by your cells.


I started juicing wheatgrass back in January this year as I felt I needed a boost to my system after the long winter and I have to say I immediately felt the benefit of taking it. You juice enough to fill 20-30 floz measure which is similar to a shot glass and take that once a day.  For added benefit its best to take it first thing in the morning before you eat anything and if possible don't take anything for about 15 minutes to let it work into your system. 


The taste of wheatgrass is quite sweet, but I don't mind that. If you find it too sweet you can put a little fresh lemon juice in to it to reduce the sweetness.


If you're wondering where to get some I get it from http://www.livinggreen.ie/ where you pay for a months supply and they post you a fresh bag weekly. As far as I know they supply some stores in Dublin as well. In Cork I have found some of the Farmers Markets have stalls supplying it also, but you need to get there early!






Tuesday 10 May 2011

Chi technique reminders for effortless running

The following reminders are for those of you who I recently met to teach the Chi Running technique:


  • Set yourself up, align the body.
  • Balance your feet and remember for those of you who are prone to splaying correct the problem as shown to you.
  • Stretch the spine and gently stretch the back of the neck and your chin will tilt down ensuring you're looking ahead.
  • Engage your core......check for your shoelaces.
  • Focus on the feet and lean from your ankles.
  • Arms at 90 degree angle and remember to swing to the rear.
  • Look ahead and practice your yi chi.


Remember to take your time setting yourself up and at any stage if you feel you've come out of your posture, just stop, set yourself up again, lean from the ankles and fall forward.


Enjoy your effortless running and remember its energy efficient and injury free the chi way!

Monday 9 May 2011

Diet and preparing to run an upcoming event

As mentioned in the previous post, your diet is crucial for ensuring you have enough fuel to complete a racing event. But also your clothing and footwear is important to avoid chafing and blisters.

Here's what I do...

Food:

During the rest period 3 - 4 days before the event, any time you get hungry eat something, this will help you fuel up and get you through the event.  Basically what I do is graze.

Avoid heavy red meats like a steak the night before a race as your body takes a long time to digest red meat.  You'll enjoy your juicy steak all the more after the race.

The morning I ran the marathon I ate a lot of food as we were up at 5am to travel to Staten Island and the race wasn't until 9am so it was quite a while.  If there's going to be a long time lapse between breakfast and the start of the race you need to be well fed.  On the otherhand, if the race is local and the time lapse will be short you may have to get up early to make sure you have enough time to digest your food. Some people get up early, eat their breakfast and go back to bed for a while.

Personally I like to eat a small bowl of porridge, orange juice followed by a 1 egg scrambled on brown bread or piece of toast.

If you're doing a 1/2 or full marathon you might want to consider investing in a bum bag to store some food supplies during the race. No harm to have a few jelly shots, a light nutrigrain fruit bar you're used to eating to keep you going. Gels are a great source of easily digestible carbs but the key here is to trial them out during training and not the day of the race.

Ever lick your lips on a long run and taste salt? During the race your body loses salt through your sweat and that's your body salt coming out in your sweat on your upper lip. What many runners do is take a tiny and I mean a tiny lick of salt on the saddle of their hand before the race or take salt on their breakfast. Alternatively put an electrolyte into your water.

Invest in a water belt, this saves you carrying a bottle in your hand. Even if there are water stations its no harm to have your own water/isotonic drink mixture with you as the station may be some distance away just when you need to  quench your thirst.

I recommend you do NOT eat anything new the day of a race as it could upset your tummy or worse, the need for the toilet!

Lots of events have fruit, bars and drinks at the end of a race, but don't bank on it if its a smaller event as they may not have the budget. So make sure and have a post run food pack at the drop point.

Book recommendation: Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners, Meyer & Meyer Sport.

Clothing & Runners:

Wear your training runners, don't wear new ones. They should be like slippers, not tight. If you're doing a 1/2 or full marathon its advisable to put vaseline on to the heel and top front of the toes and make sure your toe-nails are clipped short or you just might lose one.

Wear running clothes that you have worn lots of times and not new clothes as they may itch or scratch the body. If you're wearing a sleeveless top put some chaffing gel on your inner arm to avoid chafing.

Put plenty of sun cream on to avoid burning even on overcast days and I find a baseball cap (white or light in colour) is a great way of protecting your head from the heat of the sun. It's also handy on overcast glary days even if you're wearing shades and is great at keeping the rain off your face.

Saturday 7 May 2011

How important is your diet?

Your diet is crucial. It's so important to be aware of what you eat when you start jogging otherwise you just won't have enough fuel to go for a run. Even if you do finish your run, you may find yourself exhausted all the time and you don't want that. So get to know your diet and start looking at foods that help improve your diet and give you energy.


I'll tell you a quick story of my diet ignorance and what not to do regarding your diet....
Many years ago (in my first year of running) I got up one morning and decided on a whim to run a 1/2 marathon (13.1miles). I hadn't planned my eating schedule the day before or even that morning, I ate two weetabix and off I went. Well what a silly thing to do as I found out around mile 6 or 7 when I hit the famous Wall and I can tell you it's not pleasant and should be avoided at all cost!


Here's a few of the things that have helped me since the wall....


Test foods all the time, during the week and at weekends to see what foods work for you.


Get to like bananas (unripe are better) and they are handy for long runs.


Eggs are great as they're full of protein and keep you going longer.


Carbs are good for bulking up but don't overdo it and if you eat carbs like pasta I think it's better solo or with veg, avoid it with meat.


Bagels are a favourite for many due to the carbs and they go nice with eggs especially in the morning.


Porridge is great if it's the real stuff and add in some banana and strawberries for added flavour and energy.


If you have a sweet tooth avoid the chocolate sweets. I find jelly babies handy and fruit cake with lots of raisins, sultanas, cherries and nuts is also a favourites of mine as the dried fruit lasts longer than a chocolate surge.


I find the lucozade Isotonic drink good but it can be a bit too sweet so what I do is I pour half the isotonic drink into another container and I fill up that half with water to dilute it down and it works for me. Get a runners belt with 4 water holders and have 2 isotonic and 2 water and alternate usage.


Remember to give your body time to digest food before you go out running or you may feel sick.


Never introduce anything new to your diet the day of an event.


Please remember, what works for me may not work for you, so trial and error is the best way.

Make sure your runners are like slippers

Well if you're a jogger who tightens your laces so tight that there's no hope of moving your feet a centimeter or wriggling your toes, you've got to consider changing that habit.


Your runners should be like slippers, comfortable and loose enough to allow the feet to breathe. So loosen up those runners!

How can this chi running technique help you?


I used to walk for exercise but found no great benefit, I didn't lose weight and my calves were in agony. So I decided to start jogging. I lost weight and participated in half marathons. Finally I ran the New York marathon and what an amazing experience it was!


Unfortunately with all my training in the run up to the marathon I started to experience injury issues which meant the marathon was harder to do and afterwards I had to stop and recover.


In 2008 I was introduced to Danny Dreyers chi running technique and couldn't believe the difference it made. I could run further with little or no effort and injuries became a thing of the past. It transformed my running and now that I'm a Certified Chi Instructor, I've perfected the the walking technique and absolutely love walking, pain free and I'm losing weight.


This technique will transform your running or walking from difficult to effortless. It's holistic approach means once you use this technique, your walking and running days will become more pleasurable.


And remember there is no age limit, you can be young or old, beginner or advanced. I've been teaching 60, 70 and 80 year olds the walking technique and getting a great response. I'm teaching children and adults the running form and the transformation is immediate!


So this form of running and walking is for everyone and by the way its fun and effortless!


For more information or for upcoming workshops contact Certified Chi Running & Walking Instructor, Ruth at effortlessrunning@gmail.com



How can you run effortlessly? The Chi Running Way!

Use the Chi form, a revolutionary running and walking technique developed by founder Danny Dreyer.


This technique incorporates the movement principles from Tai Chi with running, creating a new approach to effortless and injury-free running. The key to this form of running is postural alignment and relaxation combined to create the best way to run faster, farther and injury free.


By using this technique you land midfoot strike, use a forward lean to engage gravity and use your core strength for propulsion as opposed to power running with your legs. This technique is holistic making your running easier and safer.


Begin runners find running easier and more enjoyable, not a chore anymore. Experienced runners find increased speed and less recovery time, free from injuries. While injured runners start back running with information that will prevent injury recurrence.


See Danny Dreyers website for more information or for upcoming workshops contact                          

Certified Chi Running & Walking Instructor, Ruth at effortlessrunning@gmail.com