Star Struck

Have y'all ever hear of this book?

It's called Chi Running, a program that applies the principle of t'ai chi to running in an effort to improve form and relieve some of the force and tension that running often puts on the body.  Danny Dreyer developed this program, wrote the book and now travels all around the country giving running workshops.

He also developed Chi Walking, a program that applies some of the same principles, only focusing on how this improves walking form and function.

Before Bruce left for Africa and I was looking towards my final summer living at home with my parents, we were browsing through a Barnes and Noble looking at running books.  I saw Chi Running, flipped through it and told Bruce I thought it might help me with some of the knee problems I had been having.  Dreyer writes in Chi Running about some of the rehabilitative affects changing the form of a person's running can have on their joints, knees, bones, etc.

Right before Bruce left for Africa, he handed me a present.  It was Chi Running!!  He told me to read up and tell him all that I learned when he got back.  I loved it.  You don't have to be a hardcore runner to pick this book up and benefit from it.  There are tons of simple exercises that can help you improve your form and strengthen your core.

When Bruce got back from Africa and we moved to Atlanta, he started to read Chi Running and I bought Chi Walking.  It was just as good.

***

Okay, so fast forward to almost three years later.  That would be today.  Bruce and I headed downtown to pick up his race packet for tomorrow's ING.  The marathon was hosting the ING Georgia Marathon Health & Fitness Expo at the Georgia Dome, so after he picked everything up, we wandered around and checked out all of the booths, looked at running clothes, energy snacks and more.

And when I say "and more" I mean ... THERE WAS A CHI RUNNING BOOTH AT THE EXPO.

And not just a booth.  DANNY DREYER WAS THERE.

My initial thought when I turned the corner and saw him was, "Oh my God, that's Danny Dreyer.  I'm a little star struck."

So, of course, the next words out of my mouth were, "Oh my God, that's Danny Dreyer.  I'm a little star struck."

Bruce and I walked up to the booth and struck up a conversation with one of the guys who is on the ChiLiving Team (okay, okay, I'm a total dork and later googled him and found out that his name is Jeff). We were talking running form, injuries and the race (while I was thinking to myself "BE COOL") when my sweet husband decided to TELL JEFF that I was star struck over Danny Dreyer.

Not exactly what I would call a "smooth move".  

I tried to talk my way out of it, but Jeff said that Danny was really nice and that he would definitely be able to talk to me.  He then motioned to Danny, waved him over and told him that I wanted my picture taken with him!!

So much for being cool. 

He came over, said hi and I believe my exact words were, "ma-flup-en-haggen" (smooth, right?).

In the end - did I care?  Absolutely not.  This guy is like my running idol.

Good luck to all of the runners tomorrow!!

Click here for more information on Chi Running.