The Freedom to Run Your Best

Chapter 7
The only true law is that
which leads to freedom.
Richard Bach

THE FREEDOM TO RUN YOUR BEST

Freedom? Seems like an odd concept to mix in with injuries and

technique when were talking about running, doesnt it? Yes, we

are all free to run within the constraints of our daily lives, but how
many of us actually permit ourselves the psychological freedom
to run the way we would like to run? The answer, painfully, is very
few.
The psychological freedom to perform at a higher level rests within
all of us, but as human beings we habitually place limits on that
freedom (Fig. 7.1). You may say to yourself, I could never run a
10K under 40 minutes, or I dont need to do interval training.
In order to place a comfort level on your expectations, you have
voluntary placed limits on your ultimate performance. You have
chosen not to be free.
Within the limits you have set on yourself, you now have the ability
for self-satisfaction. Having determined that you cant run the 10K

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Pose Method of Running

Fig. 7.1. Restrictions of Life

under 40 minutes, you can be enormously satisfied if you run
a 40:30, thinking youve run just about as well as you can run.
And by avoiding interval work, you can be happy that you always
feel good and never hurt when you run. Still, without your selfimposed limitations you know, on a subconscious level, that you
could do better.
Of course, it is impossible to be absolutely free when it comes to
running. Life does impose limitations social considerations like
family, work, and community act along with physical concerns such
as weather, the topography, and gravity to define the parameters
of your possible peak performance.
Given the reality of life, your psychological freedom is your ability
to minimize the effect of the natural limitations and rise to your
highest level. To do so, you must consciously work on developing
your mind-set and psyche for running.
First, you have to consider the source of these natural limitations.
You may feel guilty taking the time out to run when you could be

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The Freedom to Run Your Best

spending time with your children or doing chores around the house.
You may been raised in a family that didnt value exercise and felt
that running was a waste of your time compared to learning to play
an instrument or work on your studies. You may even feel that you
are not quite ready to take on a task as challenging as running or
entering a competitive race. Your personal limitations may be very
current or they may have been inculcated over the years.
Similarly, in the physical realm, you may feel that you are too
heavy to run or that your knees wont take the pounding. It may be
too hot for you in the summer, too cold in the winter or you may
think that there is no good place to run where you live.
And if you already run, but avoid intervals, that may be a selfimposed limitation, but it may also be valid. If your running
technique is flawed, intervals will not only hurt in the sense that
they can bring you momentary suffering, but they can lead to
injury.
In all these cases, the key to overcoming your limitations is
knowledge. Knowledge of your circumstances gives you the
wisdom to successfully integrate your running into your family
and home life. Knowledge of proper running gear, hydration and
rest permits you to run in any conditions. Knowledge of your
neighborhood and your hometown allows you to find suitable
training routes.
Most importantly, knowing how to run gives you the possibility to
run freely. When you know your body and you know how to run,
you will have no fear of overtraining, no fear of injuries. You can be
truly free to run long distances, to run hard intervals. You can be
free to run faster than you ever have before.
To reach your peak performance, you must have the psychological
freedom to overcome your limitations. This starts with the
foundation of a proper running technique. Belief in your technique
then gives you the confidence to move past your limitations and
explore your true potential.

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Pose Method of Running

As you move forward with your development of strength, speed,

flexibility, coordination, and endurance, your mind-set will become
much stronger. With a strong mind, you will no longer fear running
too much mileage, running too hard during workouts or doing the
training exercises that will give your body the ability to perform at
a higher level. Rather than fear or shy away from the pain of an
extremely hard effort, your new mind-set will enjoy the experience
as you see just how hard you can go.
Where once subconsciously you might have feared going out to
achieve a new 10K PR, your new knowledge and freedom will allow
you to look forward to and relish the experience as you set new
personal standards. Yes, it will still hurt, but the momentary pain
of an honest effort will be masked by the enormous satisfaction of
your personal achievement.
How is all this going to happen for you? How are you going to
overcome a lifetime of limitations to suddenly become a wiser,
stronger, more confident and ultimately faster runner? Well, its not
going to be sudden. Its going to be an evolutionary process that
involves patience, learning, focus and determination. At the outset
you may feel like youre backing up as you go from a regimen of
30 or 40 miles a week to one that is short on distance and long
on drills. But as you work through the steps involved in learning
the Pose Method of Running you will find a total package coming
together for you.
Nagging injuries will fade away and be forgotten. What were once
maximum speeds will soon become sustainable paces. Your fear
of running intervals will be replaced by an excited anticipation
as your next interval workout approaches. Impending races will
no longer be a source of dread, but opportunities to rewrite your
personal record book. You will have the freedom to succeed.

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