Another love letter for @ChiRunning and my workshops…

Posted In: ChiRunning September 10th, 2014 divider No Comments »

I love getting these and it never gets old to hear your workshop helped someone get back/not give up on running! See below for a post on the local site TriRudy about a recent workshop, I also love the humour in it although not sure about the hate for golf…

I’m a long-time runner from as far back as I can remember. I just love to run. After my third knee surgery about 3.5 years ago (all on the same knee), I began to experience some new and sharper knee pain whenever I ran. Ugh. Back to the ortho surgeon – the conversation went something like this:

Me: I’m having some sharp knee pain in my knee whenever I run, which wasn’t there before my last knee surgery. I need this to go away. What can we do about this?
Doc: Stop running.
Me: Uh, ok. No, I’m serious – I have to run so I need this pain to go away. Any suggestions? What can I do?
Doc: I’ll repeat myself, stop running. You’re done. Do you golf? Great sport. Do that.
Me: Wow. Can I at least run on a treadmill? So, no running outside on pavement again? Really? No other option?
Doc: You’re done. Your running days are over. Move on. Walk fast.

Fast forward 3 years. I never did take up the sport of golf but I did listen to his running advice and I stopped running cold turkey. Ouch. Not fun. That hurt more than the knee pain ever did. After 3 years of “resting” my knee and my knee feeling much better, I decided to give running another go and hit the pavement ever so slowly and gently again. It didn’t take long before some knee pain/discomfort returned. In a last ditch effort, I thought I would enrol in Eric Collard’s Chi running class (www.ecinc.ca) before I closed the door on running forever. I was skeptical – How much training does one need to put one foot in front of the other?? It’s amazing what I learned in about 3 hours.
Since Eric’s class in June, I am now running on a regular basis, pain-free. Not only am I not experiencing any knee pain at all when I run – I’m no longer sore post-run. I have no idea how long this reprieve will last – maybe another week, month, year? Who knows? But I’ll take it. I strongly encourage any of you out there to give Chi running a shot if you are having any difficulty running with injuries or discomfort/pain. Or maybe you just want to learn a new technique that minimizes running impact. Eric’s class could make all the difference for you, as it has for me. I’m one happy runner these days, running through the streets of Alta Vista with a huge smile on my face – beats a round of golf any day in my book.
-Erin Doherty (Ottawa, ON)