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Yoga for Runners
Edward on 12 April, 2010 |

My entry into running was exhilarating at first, not because I'd all of a sudden become active and enjoyed the feeling of vitality that running offered, but because it pushed my cardiovascular and muscular system in a way that my past gym sessions never did.

I'd been going to a gym religiously for years and when I was a kid I was a competitive swimmer so I was used to pushing my body fairly close to its limits. But there was something different about running and I can't honestly say that today, hundreds of miles (if not over a thousand) of running later, I can put my finger on it.

I'm a relative newcomer to the sport of distance running having taken part in it for just over a year. I started off running every other day for about a mile, little by little pushing my distance. Within a year my furthest distance was 20 miles and I my regular runs consisted of just under eight miles. To those hardcore runners out there my distances aren’t a big deal, but I'm proud to say that for a guy who started running a mere mile, a year ago, I'm not doing too badly--especially given the challenges I encountered along the way.

Building endurance never seemed to be much of a problem for me. Maybe it was my competitive swimming background--I used to put in four hours of swimming per day during the school week and Saturdays consisted of a single three hour workout. My swimmer team mates and I really pushed our bodies and our minds. We were mentally trained to not only endure the pain of training but to embrace it! In the world of sports, there really is no gain without pain, or like my swimming coach used to say: "practice doesn't make perfect; perfectly hard practice makes perfect."

But those are bygone days and I can't imagine that a whole lot of that previous endurance work is still sticking around my now middle aged body--who knows. The fact is that my running endurance came fairly easy, what didn't come easily was the ligament and tendon strength, it lagged behind severely. The increase in running distance was accompanied with increases in injuries and pain, primarily my right knee, right calf and both shins.

One injury that was particularly difficult in shaking was that in my right knee. I now know that it was brought on by the tightening of my ITB but before consulting a physical therapist I had no clue why it was hurting, I bought new shoes, purchased every knee brace I could find and iced the hell out of my knee. I was told that healing would come from a lot of stretching and was taught about some that were just for the ITB. Indeed things did get better but my knee was far from completely healed, the moment I tried to challenge myself with a longer run the pain would come right back.

True and lasting relief came one day when a friend suggested that I try yoga. Being as he is a chiropractor, I felt his advice had plenty of knowledge to back it and I began a regular routine with a private yoga teacher. It didn't take long, maybe three or four yoga sessions until I became not only amazed at the results but a devout yoga student and believer in the benefits of yoga on the body. My yoga teacher concentrated my sessions on leg exercises and stretches and the outcome was that I've experienced almost no knee pain despite longer runs (up to 20 miles)!

I'm training for an ultra marathon (skipping right over the 26.2 miler!) and I have yoga sessions every Thursday evening religiously. Yoga not only keeps me flexible and injury free, it helps me deal with the all-to-familiar mental agony of distance running by providing me with focus/meditation techniques.