ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running (Chi)

Dreyer's approach is to apply the teachings of Tai Chi to running. He teaches about four skills: focusing your mind, Body sensing (high speed access), breathing (tapping into your chi), and relaxation (the path of least resistance). The idea of body sensing and thinking about posture, as well as relaxing, has already started working well for me. For several years I have needed a lot of walk breaks when I've been out running. In the past year I have lost a lot of weight and I'm sure that has helped a lot, but even after losing the weight, I found myself out of breath very quickly and still taking a lot of walk breaks. Since I've been focusing on my posture and maintaining a relaxed state I have not had to take any walk breaks at all. That is very exciting to me. I started adding miles to my long runs and I've found that I still need to work on my endurance, but I have been able to control my breathing and continue running even when my body has started getting tired. That is a huge change for me and is plenty enough reason for me to be excited about this book. The book has chapters on injuries; how to prevent them and what to do if you are injured. I think most runners at one time or another have dealt with some kind of running injury, so that chapter is well worth the read. I have been very fortunate over the years, having had only one serious running injury in over 30 years of running, but I still will apply these ideas to ensure my continued good luck. There is also a chapter on diet and nutrition, in general. He gives advice that is good, I'm sure. I believe Dreyer, but I'm not changing. I'm not giving up my coffee. I'm just not. That doesn't mean I think Dreyer is wrong; I just think his suggestion is a bit unrealistic for most of us. But if you follow his advice I'm sure you will get amazing results. You definitely will not hurt yourself. I really like this book. It has already helped my running a lot just since I started reading, and it is written so that it is easy to follow and understand. It would be great for a beginning runner or an intermediate runner hoping to improve, but I think even an elite runner would find it useful.

ChiRunning, A revolutionary approach to effortless, injury-free running is an amazing book and DVD. Growing up, I played a lot of sports from football to baseball to track, all of which required explosive running or sprints if you will. At age 17 I joined the Army and the distances I ran began to increase. As part of the semi-annual physical fitness test, the Army requires its Soldiers to run 2 miles within a certain amount of time. The morning PT program usually consists of training at much greater distances. When I was young it did not matter, or better put, I did not know any better, nor did I realize that running is an art. When I was in my early twenties I decided I wanted to run a marathon and began to train. Once again, as a youth, I simply went out and ran. After a couple months of training, I discovered the weight room, and stopped running in favor of lifting weights. I had to continue training in order to pass the Army physical fitness test, but that was the extent of my running. As I grew older I put the marathon ambition back on my bucket list. While training I began having problems in my hips and my hamstrings. It became so painful that I went to see the doctor and he referred me to physical therapy. The physical therapist tried everything from stretching to dry needling to try and relieve the pain. In 2010 my unit deployed to Iraq to support the draw down. During this tour I was introduced to a therapist, who was an avid runner. He put me on a treadmill and observed my running. He told me I spent too much time on my heels. I was a heel toe runner who over used the heels of his running shoes. He made some recommendations, and I attempted to make the adjustments, but it wasn't until another Soldier recommended ChiRunning that I really understood what the therapist was talking about. ChiRunning is a book and DVD by Danny and Katherine Dreyer. It has been hailed as an elite source in all sports to include football, baseball, yoga, and of course, the running community. ChiRunning is a step by step plan with instruction and exercises that help you transition from your current style of running to a more proper style that is less prone to injury. The Dreyer's walk you through the techniques necessary to change your current running style. Their overall goal is to relieve stress and tension so you run more like you did when you were a kid. They break down the difference between ChiRunning and Power Running, and they take you through exercises that focus on and help develop the core, which is essential to running properly. From beginning to end the book is a process that will help professionals run better, and enthusiast like myself run more efficiently. It is a process, so be patient, but from the very first lesson you will start realizing things to work on. The DVD is an excellent resource as it helps solidify what is in the book by providing the reader with a visual of the different exercises. After reading the book and perfecting my technique, In the last year I have effortlessly run the Army 10 miler, two half-marathons, 3 adventure runs (dirt/mud runs), and shaved 30 seconds off my Army two mile run time. I also, finally, marked that marathon off my bucket list.

I purchased this book on advise from a runner. I had just started running last year, and after several knee issues thought I would have to stop running all together. If you learned to run like most of us, long strides, heal to toe, no pain no gain, this book will change your perception of running. This method allows me to run faster, longer, with less effort, and less pain than before my injury. The only issue I have with the book is like most how to books, it could be written in pamphlet form. The beginning is filled with anecdotes and reasoning and stories, that I really could care less about. If you can last through all that, this book will be worth twice the price. If not, then skip the first 4 chapters, pull up you tube for visual explanations of the fine points. Either way it will help you run better.

First of all, I am a 43 year old NON-runner. I'm 5'4" with stumpy little "Barny Rubble" legs that don't go very fast on the best of days, and the shoulders and arms like a line backer due to my Midwestern rearing on a hay farm; a sleek and slender runners body is the last thing in the world that I possess. With that said, due to my job, every year I have to do a physical fitness test (push ups, sit ups and the dreaded mile and a half run) and every single year I've dreaded it every time. This year I was dreading it more because I've traveled quite a bit, was floored by the flu in March and at the end of April, was hit with paralyzing allergies so the training I would normally do for the four months leading up to my testing didn't happen. I honestly didn't know what I was going to do. Not only do I despise running, I despised the weeks of the recovery from the injuries that I would always sustain, especially from completely blowing out my ankles, knees and especially my quads. Then, as fate would have it, while surfing on my kindle one night, about a week ago, I found this book and read the reviews. At first, I had some major doubts because something as simple as changing your running posture, in order to run more comfortably for longer durations, sounded way too good to be true but I was desperate and time was running out for me. At first, the book sounded a bit like an infomercial that you'd see at 3am when nothing else was on, the claims it made were a bit outlandish but I kept reading. I have to admit, I was intrigued by the time I was done but I was still having a hard time visualizing what I needed to do. On a whim, I logged onto YouTube and watched the video's on CHI Running...this was completely doable! Before today, whenever I attempted to run, I could get about 50 feet before my legs started feeling sharp pains in one way or another, so I would begin the walk of shame waiting for it to pass; I hoped that quitting smoking last year would make a difference, it did but then my legs would give out before my lungs would. However, today, I was able to put the lessons from the book and video into practice...I ran 3/4 of a mile before I stopped to walk!! And that was only because there was a steep hill to tackle and a strong headwind. Anyway, I finished the 1 1/2 mile course feeling really well! So well, in fact, I went into my building and ran ANOTHER mile on our indoor track!! I'm completely astonished!! As I write this, I am experiencing a fraction of the discomfort that I normally feel on the evening after running any amount. My ankles and hips are a bit tender but this was my first run with the new techniques so I need to practice more. However, I am having no discomfort, what so ever, in my quads which would normally cripple me for days afterword. I'm actually looking forward to my run tomorrow! Over all, these techniques aren't hard at all and I think that a bad runner, such as myself, can pick up the fundamentals quite quickly. Read the book, watch the video, and try running without ear buds (I always do!) because I was able to pay attention to the way my body was reacting to the changes and was able to tweak as needed. So, for the first time in over 20 years, I'm able to face my fitness test this coming week without fear or anxiety. I'm really glad I found this book!

This takes Natural Running: The Simple Path to Stronger, Healthier Running one step further for running on the flats (no elevation gain or loss). It also adds Tai Chi energy posture and meditation for improving our relationship and enjoyment of our body. As noted in Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (the natural running bible), the Copper Canyon MEX Tarahumara tribe of native indians, the best long distance runners in the world, reach peak performance around 65 years of age. ChiRunning adds form improvments to the Tarahumara technique (optimized for rough terrain). Must read for anyone, any age, who wishes to improve their enjoyment and running performance. BTW, slow motion video analysis shows Usain Bolt, Cristian Ronaldo, and the Kenyans run this way. These books have allowed me to continue to easily pass my fitness tests and continue running long after others have retired to the couch.

To give you some background I'm 32 years old and last year started running for the first time since I was in high school. Progressed quickly from just doing one mile and then doing three miles. The more I ran the faster I wanted my times to be. I quickly ran into IT Band pain in one of my knees and after a couple weeks went to a sports doctor who diagnosed me with poor stretchability, specifically in the hammies. He recommended physical therapy to learn better stretching routines/techniques. Well the stretching did help as well as running at a slower pace however I noticed towards the end of fall that I still ran into IT Band pain when pushing myself past six miles. Started back up running in March and in early April joined a running club. This time I started stretching properly and with everything I learned from the physical therapy right from the get go. Was running at very conservative pace not even coming close to what I did the previous year. However once I got up to eight mile runs I again started having IT Band pain. It got to the point where half of my run I was in pain but just went through it. Then the next couple days I could barely walk around the house. Somehow I got it in my head that maybe there is a more efficient way to run and that is when I came across this book. Week after week I noticed that I would have less and less pain and was pushing myself over ten miles on my long runs. I still wasn't doing the ChiRunning perfectly though and even had a little Achilles tendon flare up. I went back to the book and reread as much as possible and watched some of the videos and then finally had a break through where it all just came into place. Running felt more smooth, more productive, and more natural. The chapter on what do do with specific pain really helped as well telling me what I'm doing wrong to have IT Band pain or the Achilles tendon pain. I highly recommend this book to anyone having pain while running because it isn't a normal part of running. Running should be pain free and enjoyable. This past Saturday I ran fourteen miles (personal best) with ZERO IT Band Pain or Achilles pain. The recovery for this run was the least I've needed. Typically for a couple days after running the knee would be so tight it would hurt to bend. Not anymore. I can actually walk around after my runs without hobbling for a couple days. The best part is throughout the entire process of learning ChiRunning I never had to stray from my training program by taking a day off or doing less mileage, which I was really worried would happen right before I found this book. It had immediate effects.

First and foremost: do not have it as e-book. This is probably true for most of manual-alike books (I had similar experience with a swimming manual), but with ChiRunning you are going to miss the at-a-glance capability only the paper can give you. Anyway, this is indipendent from the book, that is a GREAT book on running. I have read a great number of books on sport, several manuals and guides: this is something "different". The approach is different: here Danny, the author, start from Tai Chi to get to a new running concept. Well done, interesting even for a convinced Cartesian as myself, always critical towards Oriental disciplines (notwithstanding my long residential experience in Far East). Other than paper edition, I would suggest DVD: ChiRunning videos you can recover from the network are not exaustive (not at all). Probably a stage with a Certified ChiRunning Instructor would be the best completion, but unfortunately courses seem to be available in US only.

This book has a lot of good information it - probably too much. Unless you are really going to focus on something, it's very hard to remember more than two or three core ideas. I am a casual runner - maybe two or three runs per week of three to five miles - and I really hoped this book would give me a couple areas of focus that would make my running safer, more comfortable and perhaps faster. Instead, I got overload. There is a single 2-page spread in this book that lists about 50 points to focus on in your running. Come again? That doesn't sound very Zen to me (I know it's a different Eastern philosophy, but you get the idea). Dreyer ackowledges the length of the list and suggests picking out two or three of these ideas to focus on for each run, but you still need to be pretty serious to do that. I don't want to consult a checklist before each run and I want to plug into my iPod and relax a little while I'm running. In addition, Dreyer gives a pre- and post-run routine that would add about an hour to any run you wanted to do - again, more than I'm able to commit to this portion of my life. If you are a very serious runner or want to become one, this is a great book (assuming you can handle a few funky mystical references). On the other hand, if you are looking for two or three areas of focus to make you a better casual runner, they're tough to pull from this book. Recommended for serious runners who are looking to avoid or recover from injuries.