Running
Update - since April 2006 chronic fatigue has interrupted my running schedule. After a year’s break, I’m beginning a gentle running program again.
When I was a kid, I hated it.
At school, when they forced us to go on cross country runs through Greenwich park in London, I hung at the back with my mates until the teacher disappeared. Then we ran as fast as we could to the children’s play area where we’d duck down behind a hedge and smoke cigarettes until the class came back our way and we could rejoin the tail end.
Originally uploaded by davidjennings.
Once I’d stopped being forced to run, I tried again, running with my brothers. But there was no beginners’ training plan, just straight into a 5 mile run, and after a couple of attempts and a bad attack of stitches I decided I was just no good at it.
In my thirties I had a few more abortive attempts until a friend gave me a 6 week plan and I started a combination of running and walking. It went well, and soon I was able to run a steady 3 miles, 3 times a week. Then disaster, in the form of plantar fasciitis, struck and I couldn’t run for six months.
Orthotics got me running again, but something wasn’t right. I became more and more convinced that forcing my feet into what my podiatrist claimed was their natural position was anything but natural. And though my feet didn’t hurt any more, I developed new pains in my leg.
Eventually, I discovered chi running, and running barefoot, which make a lot more sense to me than orthotics.
Now, I’m learning to trust my body. Given the right conditions, my feet will find their own natural running position in equilibrium with the rest of my body. That’s the theory, anyway.
