April 24, 2005

Run Like Wind... and Swim Like Fish. Summer is just around the corner, so here are a couple of sites designed to make you run and swim better. A LOT better.

I know this sounds like some sort of cheesy infomercial, but honest-to-gawd-and-hand-over-heart I've used both to great effect. I have horrible knees and yet I'm now running upwards of an hour with no problem. And faster than I used to too. As for the swimming, the coaching and drills in Total Immersion have completely changed my front crawl. No more random thrashing. I can swim for much longer, faster and smoother than before. But while the ideas in Chirunning were pretty intuitive and were usable right away, the changes to my stoke in TI took a few months to make sense. Definitely worth it, though. The websites are merely ok; the books are much better. I worked from the books in both cases: Total Immersion Chirunning (I've dropped two pant sizes as well! ) Enjoy.

posted by Torluath 19 years ago
  • I had a look at Total Immersion (TI) video when I first looked at learning to swim. Although I took conventional swimming lessons instead of trying the TI technique, the interesting thing I noted was that TI really broke down learning to swim into very discrete steps - first learn this breathing, then learn your position in the water, then learn arm movements etc etc. The conventional swimming lessons sort of had an "all or nothing" feel to them - "kick your legs and move your arms and breathe and keep doing it". While this may be quite daunting to the absolute beginner, such lessons helped my do-25metres-then-die technique as the teacher gave constant feedback on what I was doing wrong. For these reasons, I have often seen/heard T.I. recommended for absolute beginners . As for running, I started on the couch to 5k running plan. Slow and steady progression is the key - don't go from 0km to a marathon in 6months. And if you don't spend at least 5minutes doing warm-up stuff and stretches then you only have yourself to blame for the pains. Oh, and buy yourself a decent pair of running shoes from a dedicated sports store. I'm now running about 6km 3 times a week and loving the endorphins.
  • There are a ton of resources out there for distance event training, actually. I looked at Total Immersion as well last year but decided against it because it seemed pretty expensive. That being said, I've heard good things about the program - I had no idea they had a book, so I might check that out. I'll also have to check out the chirunning site since I'm just starting the intensity phase of training and want to work on my speed. Thanks for the timely post, Torluath.
  • I know an adult who's never learned to swim. Maybe with this, I can encourage them to give it a try. Said person also stopped running after "wrecking" their knees, so maybe this, again, will give them incentive to start again. Cheers.
  • Just walked down to the bookstore and speed read the TI book (I didn't know there was a book. I've seen the video, and the uni pool has TI lessons.) While the video made the stroke look a bit funny, and it was pretty low on the theory, the book does a nice job of explaining why the particular approach was taken. Definitely next time I'm in the pool, I'll really try the exaggerated side swimming it advocates, and try to find my balance in the water. They didn't have the chirunning book. Torluath, or anyone, want to explain some of the principles it talks about? How does the chirunning approach differ from 'normal' running?
  • Chirunning No I aint.
  • I'm taking beginning swimming this summer. Maybe this will help me pass/survive. (I can swim well enough to not drown for a little while, but I eventually wind up needing rescue.)
  • Chirunning: What kills your knees is a big forward-reaching stride with a heavy heal-strike. So, run with your foot striking under your body on the mid-foot. Imagine there's a line running from your head thru shoulders, hips down to your ankles. Use your abs to keep that line straight. Lean from your ankles (not your waist). Leaning from your ankles is described as your "gas peddle". The more you lean -- and you don't need to lean much -- the more gravity pulls you foward. That way you don't have to force yourself forward with your leg muscles. One of the differences I've noticed is that my quads aren't sore after a run now. Let your feet naturally kick back toward your butt as a counterbalance to the forward lean. The faster you go, the more your ankles kick back. Don't force this, though, or you'll get wicked shin splints. There should be no sensation of pushing off with your toes. There's more to it than that, but that'll give you an idea. There's another running technique with many similar ideas called the Pose method. It has you running on your forefoot, though, and some folks don't like that, just like others don't like the mid-foot strike in Chi.
  • Geez, that thread was goofy. "Hi! Someone who doesn't run gave me running advice. Should I listen to them?" Apparently, the person dispensing the advice is also a smoker who doesn't like to breathe in deeply. Good golly.
  • The only thing that made me like running was doing it all the time and getting better at it. Now I can't stop ;)