by Maggie Casey

Running, for most athletes, is seldom thought of as relaxing or easy. It is punishment for team sports and hell week for ball-oriented games. Running means monotonous laps on the track or calories on the treadmill. But local runner Ed Cotgageorge wants to change all that.

Cotgageorge is an instructor of the latest running trend to hit the streets and trails, Chi Running, an off shoot of the barefoot running craze that first gained mass exposure through the best-selling book Born to Run. According to Cotgageorge, Chi Running aims to put the joy back in what is often seen as an arduous task. Runners who attend his workshops are looking for more pleasure and less pain in their running regimen, he says. And they are not alone. A recent survey by Runner’s World magazine found that 65 percent of runners reported to be injured, recovering from an injury or running through the pain of an injury.

Cotgageorge himself knows firsthand the struggles of running with injuries. A climber, skier and “regular Colorado guy,” he suffered intense knee pain every time he laced up the running shoes. “About once a year I’d go out ... and I’d run a quarter of a mile, and I’d come back hurting and think: running’s not for me,” he recalled. “I actually liked the running as much as I liked the climbing, but I had a horrible knee problem.”

Fortunately, his running journey didn’t end there. “I heard about Chi Running through a fellow in town who introduced me to the book Born to Run,” he recalled.

With interest piqued, Cotgageorge took a workshop in Albuquerque, N.M., with Mary Lindal, a senior Chi Running instructor. He was instantly inspired by the 62-year-old woman who had come back from chronic iliotibial band (aka IT band) injuries to run a marathon in 3:40, in a little town called Boston. Through the clinic, Cotgageorge realized he, too, suffered from IT band troubles. “The problem was in my hips, it was just showing up in my knees,” he said.

For Cotgageorge, a man with injury-prone legs and a doctorate degree, Chi Running made sense, as did the words of his instructor to “run with your head instead of your legs.”

The original tome on the subject, 2009’s Chi Running, by ultramarathoner Danny Dryer, has since grown into an international phenomenon with a website, DVDs, workout diaries, an updated version of the book, and instructional programs for various goals and abilities.

For Cotgageorge, Chi Running, which combines running with the mind-body principles of T’ai Chi, allowed him to eventually overcome his IT woes.

 

Its all about efficiency and injury prevention, he said. “At a biomechanical level … we teach people how to align themselves in their central core and then be really, really soft. By doing that, you allow yourself to use gravity and to use the force of the road to propel your legs,” Cotgageorge explained. “If you create the right condition in this relaxation and alignment process, running is more efficient and pain free.”

In general, when people show up at his workshop, it means they’re ready to try something different, he said. Nevertheless, getting them to accept change is not without its challenges. “It doesn’t mean there’s not plenty of healthy skepticism … getting people to relax is very, very hard.”

To those skeptics, Cotgageorge reiterates the mantra of Chi Running: “You are where you are, not where you want to be.” He leads many workshops, in Durango and beyond, in which he focuses on this idea. While fancy new shoes and high-tech shorts seldom hurt a beginner’s enthusiasm, Cotgageorge doesn’t focus on the need for “stuff.” Alignment, relaxation and other fundamentals are more beneficial than the latest trends.

The simple idea of starting at the beginning is counterproductive to how running is thought of by the media, merchandizers and general population. Running is ambitious. Many people run to get into better shape, to lose weight, to escape pressures to feel good about themselves. But, too often, they end up stressing over squeezing in a workout or berate themselves as a failure if they cannot find time to run.  

“Physiologically speaking, this stress could actually make a person gain weight, even if they run their 5 miles after work,” explained Cotgageorge.

Instead, runners start with the basics. “First you learn the form, then, because we’re coming from an ultra marathoner tradition, it’s good to implement distance,” he said. “Speed is always there, but it’s 4   a function of relaxation and proper form.”

Visualization also is a key component to Chi Running, he said. Runners should visualize the finish line or the mountain top but also accept that there is a path, a journey upon which to embark. The workshops are open to anyone, with emphasis put on taking their journey toward that goal, be it mileage or a race.

“It’s usually people who are either very active anyway, or who are just getting into it,” said Cotgageorge of his varied clientele. “A lot of people think it’s for old people who run slow, but we have devotees like Ryan Miller, who runs a 15-minute-and-some-change 5k.” Many people who are averse to running or who are more passionate about hiking choose instruction in Chi Walking, which applies the same principles of alignment and relaxation.

And while Chi Running can help a person run more efficiently, it can also help in dealing with everyday challenges of life, something Cotgageorge lightheartedly refers to as “Chi Living.”

“It is a mindfulness practice. I have some reservations about overusing that word – but you do need to be mindful in your run, and mindful in your life,” he said.

Indeed, on the Chi Running website, www.chirunning.com, advice is offered on everything from clinics to recipes and medical advice.

 And while the Chi Running phenomenon is relatively new, it is not unlike the running approach that the Kenyans have been excelling at all along. Idolized and studied, Kenyans continue to break barriers and set records using a philosophy and body mechanics similar to Chi Running. “Kenyans embody the idea that one must go slow to go fast; whereas we have a no-pain, no-gain culture,” said Cotgageorge.

He also pointed out that Kenyans never run alone but in groups. And a community built around running is bound to be a strong one.  

Nevertheless, he said it has been slow building up awareness of Chi Running in the local community, despite its active and athletic populace.

 

However, Cotgageorge applies the same approach in sharing his newfound passion as he applies to his running: mindful and steady. Fortunately, in a place like Durango, spreading that passion for running should not be much of an uphill battle. “How can you run a single trail or road here, and not feel that joy?”

For more on Chi Running, go to www.chirunning.com