Accessories

good ideas, but very poor presentation
this book starts out with a great premise -- that by learning to run more efficiently you can avoid injury and run longer and faster. that's undoubtedly true, and I am sure danny dreyer is good at teaching people how to do so in his courses, judging by his success and the testimonials he gets. but it is hard work putting the ideas in this book in to practice.

the main problems with this book are its poor organization and poor presentation of ideas. its organized more like a a set of notes than a manual, and despite its short length, contains a lot of long winded passages that don't impart a lot of information. too many of the sections involve instructions to get up and do something, rather than concise explanations of what he means.

really the book should have been broken into a series of lessons and exercises in chapter format, but halfway through the book he just dumps the entire technique on you, leaving it to you to figure out how to internalize all this stuff.

but beyond that, the techniques themselves seem poorly organized and explained. the author's grasp of tai chi theory is kind of sketchy, and his "chi principles" really ought to have focused on more universal concepts than the ones he chose. he doesn't give enough practical tips on developing body awareness, and there's almost no discussion of breathing, despite the fact that it should be central to the technique.

danny dreyer also doesn't seem to have a very firm grasp of the biomechanics of running. he tells you to use your hip flexors instead of your quads to run, but doesn't go into any detail about how that is possible. he says things like "swing your legs to the back" without realizing that different people will interpret that to mean different things. and there is very little discussion of what it should feel like on the inside when you do the techniques, or how exactly your core muscles contribute to running, which is the cornerstone of the system.

the problem really is that danny dreyer seems to be a visual learner and kind of a type a person, and doesn't understand that other people don't think the way he does. so he explains what it looks like to practice his technique, and gives you long to do lists for learning the form.

he also presents a one-size-fits-all explanation that doesn't take into account the fact that different people have very different bodies. for instance, his technique presupposes that you have an anteriorly-tilted pelvis, whereas I (and two or so billion other people) have a posteriorly tilted pelvis. so by engaging my abdominal muscles like he says to, this pulls my body too far forward. what people with this spinal condition need to do is actually engage their lower back muscles.

that said, I think there is a lot that can be learned from this book. if you, like I do, experience a lot of pain when running, this book can give you some pointers of directions to go in for improving technique. read some of it, try the things out, and see how it feels. but let your own body awareness be your guide. slavishly following these instructions could be counterproductive.

finally, I think some of the most important points aren't even in the technique sections, but the parts where he talks about twisting your torso and how kenyans and cheetahs run. you might be better off skipping buying this book just studying the way kenyans, cheetahs, and little kids run.

I think danny dreyer does have a good technique, and this really could have been an amazing running book if he had hired a co-author who had a better understanding of how to write and how other people learn. as it stands, its as a running manual that resembles japanese stereo instructions from the nineteen eighties. you will puzzle over it for hours trying to figure out how all this stuff is supposed to work.

Running without pain
I've been stuck in the novice mode of running for years, and I always thought that it was because I just wasn't trying hard enough or that I had the wrong shoes. I started from scratch several times, but I consistently got pain in my shins or knees whenever I ran more than a couple miles. This book has helped me focus on my form and I've made consistent progress. Now, I must admit, I always just thought I could run and that it would be a natural, easy thing to do. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to practice running the way I practice yoga: to focus on tiny, incremental changes in your body to free yourself and become better. I had seen this book in the stores before and thought it sounded just a little too new-agey for me. The technique does borrow some of its ideas from tai chi, but the author is a serious runner who has an incredible amount of mileage under his belt and, while the approach may not be entirely scientific, it works. I think it's really more grounded in common sense, ie. if what you're doing hurts, you're doing something wrong. This book has made me excited about running. Instead of thinking exclusively about how many miles I'm going to do on a given day, I think about how I'm going to get better and make myself feel good. I feel free!

Easy-to-learn and sensible approach really helped me with shin splits
I learned about this book while chatting with a clerk at a local bookstore as I was buying another book on running. My first impression when she said the book described an approach to running grounded in Tai chi might be that it it would be some sort of philosophical approach to running rather than anything practical.

I was wrong!

The book (and the very good video) really lays out an easy-to-learn (though perhaps difficult to perfect) approach to running that basically reduces the energy and body stresses that the usual approach to running has. It is a beautifully simple concept where you basically lean into a run while coming down on one foot, letting gravity move you forward, while you with little effort then move the other foot from behind you in sequence. I read the book and practiced with someone who knew the technique and when things came together, it really clicked and running seemed a whole lot easier in terms of effort.

My interest in chi running came in part because I have been bothered by shin splints on and off, in part because I am not that regular runner. I started with this book about a month ago, have done a couple of short runs (2-3 miles) and today ran my first half marathon. The amazing thing (for me) is that my time was good (little more than my 10 mile pace) and I had NO feeling of pain in the shins during or after the race (or blisters for that matter). This is when month ago, even a short run could lead to thobbing shins.

I am definitely a huge fan of the chi approach and am going to keep working on it. It may seem complex, but just getting the basics down will go a ways to making your running easier on the body (and maybe speed it up to - my pace on some stretches of today's race included some of my best one-mile times).

So far so good
The book is very informational. At the very least it helps you "connect" more with the sport, at the best it makes it easier to do and easier on your body.

Not Your "Run" of the Mill Running Book
What an interesting running book! Buy this book if you:

-would like to be able to run well into your old age
-would like to improve your running form and have fewer injuries
-would like to have a more philosophical approach to your running
-would like to increase your overall health

Here's how the book roughly pans out:

-Chapter 1: compares power running to ChiRunning
-Chapter 2: goes into the 5 principles upon which TaiChi and ChiRunning are based
-Chapter 3: gets into the "inner" skills of ChiRunning

As you can see, the first 3 chapters lay out the philosopical foundation- that's so when you get to the specific techniques, they make sense.

Chaper 4: learn about the ChiRunning "focuses"- which are the specific physical and mental methods used to run more efficiently.

Chapters 5-9: covers program development, peak performance training and diet. Note: Chapter 7 also covers some info on common injuries such as muscle cramps, plantar fasciitis (also rec. The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution for more info on this), heel cord problems.

Chapter 10: how to incorporate the ChiRunning principles into your everyday life

As you can tell, ChiRunning, with its mind-body approach, is far from your typical book on running- and shouldn't be missed by any serious runner. Happy trails.