Book Review: ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer

OK, you've heard me yammer on and on about this book, so I figured I'd take the time to get into more detail as to why I can't say enough about it. First off, I am a terrible runner. Scratch that, used to be a terrible runner. I'm now a slow, mediocre runner that is making constant improvement. I'm a big guy and as I approached the '2 mile limit' in my running, I would end my runs with discomfort in my knees, shins and calves. Plus, I would bounce a lot and I felt like I was wasting so much energy. I just had no idea what to fix or how to do it. In the back of my Total Immersion "Triathlon Swimming Made Easy" book, Terry mentioned the book "ChiRunning" as a book that used the same basic priciples of TI swimming, but applied to running. I've done well with the TI concepts, so I figured I'd give it a try.

It is a very good read and even if you don't apply any of the running techniques to your running, you can still learn a lot. The author is an Ultra-Distance runner, so I figured if anyone would know anything about injury free endurance running, he would be a good person to start with. The book starts with drawing a distinction between conventional Power Running and ChiRunning. The biggest difference is that with ChiRunning, your power should come from your core and your extremeties should be relaxed. In chinese medicine, Chi is the energy source that animates all things. Maintaining a relaxed state allows your chi to flow from your core to your extremeties. Any tenseness at a joint or in a limb, will inhibit the flow of chi.

The concept of "Big muscles for big work" is mentioned early on (he calls main idea 'Cotton and Steel'). In essence, using your large core torso and upper leg muscles to lift your lower legs makes a lot of sense. The smallest muscles in your legs (the ones on your shins) are usually used for propulsion, hence shin splints. A powerful concept as far as I was concerned. He also discusses body position (the lean) with regard to foot strike. Typically, a runner will land their foot in front of their center of gravity. This does 2 bad things, it uses your leg as a brake which slows you down and it turns you knee into a shock absorber. By leaning forward from your ankles, your feet land behind your center of gravity and are no longer braking you. Plus, it lets you knee be a swing joint, not a shock absorber.

Danny goes on to discuss cadence (cyclist should have a good grasp on that concept) and how you should run at the same cadence, but change your stride length to change your speed. Stride length is changed by leaning your body. He mentions that when your cadence is kept by your arms, your feet will follow. Surprisingly enough, his optimum cadence is 90...

Those are the biggest mindset changes that helped me immensely. There are a lot of details that I've left out, but for $14.00, it's well worth adding it to your library. Other chapters cover form focuses, body sensing, gravity assisted running (yep, you read that correctly), the process of growth, racing topics, stretching and getting the most chi from your food.

Danny got me to think about my cycling in this way too. Appropriate muscles and body position combined for the desired result - relaxed legs and arms, power from the core, etc. In fact, in order to learn more about using my chi, I start Tai Chi lessons next week If anyone has any other questions about the book, please let me know. I'd be glad to answer them as best as I can. www.chirunning.com is also a nice reference with it's own forum.

-Frank

ChiRunning - A revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running
Danny Dreyer
Published by Simon and Schuster, New York
ISBN# 0-7432-5144-X