At the age of 90, Ernie Andrus decided to run across the United States. He'd been running all his life, and it was time to make the ultimate trip, coast to coast. Ernest Andrus was born in August of 1923 in Wolf River Township, Kansas and spent his early years living, growing, and running on a farm with his parents and two brothers. His first steps weren't steps at all, but the beginning of a sprint that would carry him through life, from Kansas to California, far overseas, and back to the United States. He lived through the Great Depression and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, where he lived and worked on a LST (Landing Ship Tank), the very same type of ship he would later uncover in Greece, restore, and bring home. It was only after he retired in 1984 that he starting thinking of running as a serious endeavor. That's why, when his beloved LST needed funding, he decided that running across the country was the perfect way to raise money. By the time he finished, he was 93 years old.
For readers of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, The Barefoot Running Book lends practical advice on the minimalist running phenomenon Ditch those cushiony running shoes—they’re holding you back and hurting your feet! You’ve heard about barefoot running and how it can reduce injury and allow for better form. Maybe you’ve even tried it and learned how shedding those heavy, overly- manufactured shoes can make running more enjoyable. Regardless of your expertise level, Jason Robillard—a leading expert on barefoot running education and director of the Barefoot Running University—synthesizes the latest research to ease you from barefoot walking to slow running to competitive and trail running vis-à-vis simple drills, training plans, and useful hints from fellow barefoot runners. Practical, easy-to-follow, and illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout, The Barefoot Running Book shows how everyone can transition to barefoot and minimalist shoe running—safely and optimally.
How could something we have for free—our bare feet—be better for running than $150 shoes? The truth is that running in shoes is high-impact, unstable, and inflexible. Shoes promote a heel-centric ground strike, which weakens your feet, knees, and hips, and leads to common running injuries. In contrast, barefoot running is low-impact, forefoot-centric, stable, and beneficial to your body. It encourages proper form and strengthens your feet in miraculous ways. When you run in shoes, you not only risk developing poor form, but you also hinder the natural relationship with the ground that running facilitates. Barefoot running restores the delightful sensory and spiritual connections to the earth that you were meant to experience. Barefoot Running offers the only step-by-step direction runners need at any age to overcome injuries, run faster than ever, and rediscover the pure joy of running. Once you tear off your shoes and learn to dance with nature, you’ll tread lightly and freely, hearing only the earth’s symphony and feeling only the dirt beneath your feet. Hit the ground running with revolutionary techniques for starting out slowly, choosing minimalist footwear, navigating rough weather and rugged terrain, and building your feet into living shoes.
“Barefoot Ken Bob is The Master. Long before anyone else was even talking about barefoot running, he was perfecting the art . . . Now, after twenty years of teaching, experimenting, and “merry marathoning” (as he calls it), the first and best source of barefoot-running knowledge is bringing his ideas to print. And it’s about time.” —Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and The Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen “Ken Bob Saxton, a pioneer of the modern barefoot running movement, has logged more miles in his birthday shoes than just about anyone I know, and he has helped countless people run barefoot. As one would expect, this delightful book, full of wit and wisdom, is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to run barefoot, avoid injury, and have fun.” —Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University "This is a wonderful guide from the Godfather of barefoot running!" —Irene Davis, Ph.D., director of Spaulding National Running Center, Harvard Medical School Learn Barefoot Running From the Master! Almost overnight, barefoot running has exploded onto the fitness scene. However, it involves more than simply taking off your shoes. In fact, everything you’ve learned about barefoot running is probably wrong—unless you’ve learned it from Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton. The leading instructor and proponent of unshod running, he has completed 76 marathons barefoot, survived an astounding marathon-a-month challenge in 2004, and gone on to top that with 16 marathons in 2006, including four in a 15-day period—all barefoot. Barefoot Running Step by Step separates the facts from the hype, outlines Ken Bob’s personal techniques, and details the latest research on the newest trend in mankind’s oldest sport. Whether you barefoot run occasionally, part-time, or full-time, you’ll find methods for improving your form, staying injury-free, dramatically improving your speed and performance, and having more fun. The Bent Knee: Here is the hidden secret to perfect running form. Learn how this crucial adjustment will keep you running stronger and injury-free for life. Vibrams and Minimalist Shoes: Barefoot running is not a transition from shoes to minimalist shoes to bare feet. It’s the other way around. Discover why you need to run barefoot before you use other footwear. Start From the Head: Proper barefoot form doesn’t start at the feet. Discover how to get the correct body biomechanics. Ease Into It: Here are the steps you need to take to make the transition from running in shoes to barefoot running as painless and easy as possible. Improve Speed: Barefoot running’s injury reduction benefits are well-touted; however a new landmark study proves that barefooting—even part-time—can make you faster. Barefoot Running Step by Step is filled with series photos and illustrations that show you the “do’s” and “don’ts” of barefoot running, the latest research, and Ken Bob Saxton’s personal experiences and insights for running barefoot for life.
A New York Times bestseller 'A sensation ... a rollicking tale well told' - The Times At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing a toga and sandals. A small group of the world's top ultra-runners (and the awe-inspiring author) make the treacherous journey into the canyons to try to learn the tribe's secrets and then take them on over a course 50 miles long. With incredible energy and smart observation, McDougall tells this story while asking what the secrets are to being an incredible runner. Travelling to labs at Harvard, Nike, and elsewhere, he comes across an incredible cast of characters, including the woman who recently broke the world record for 100 miles and for her encore ran a 2:50 marathon in a bikini, pausing to down a beer at the 20 mile mark.
Natural Running is the middle ground runners have been looking for. By learning to run the barefoot way, while wearing shoes, runners will become more efficient, stronger, and healthier runners. Backed by studies at MIT and Harvard, running form and injury expert Danny Abshire presents the natural running technique, form drills, and an 8-week transition plan that will put runners on the path to faster, more efficient, and healthier running.In Natural Running, Abshire explains how modern running shoes distort the efficient running technique that humans evolved over thousands of years. He reviews the history of running shoes and injuries, making the case for barefoot running but also warning about its dangers. By learning the natural running technique, runners can enjoy both worlds: comfortable feet, knees, and legs and an efficient running form that reduces impact and injuries.Natural Running teaches runners to think about injuries as symptoms of poor running form. Abshire specifies the overuse injuries that are most commonly associated with particular body alignment problems, foot types, and form flaws. Runners will learn how to analyze and identify their own characteristics so they can start down the path to natural running.Abshire explains the natural running technique, describing the posture, arm carriage, cadence, and land-lever-lift foot positioning that mimic the barefoot running style. Using Abshire’s 8-week transition plan and a tool kit of strength and form drills, runners will move from heel striking to a midfoot or forefoot strike.Natural Running is the newest way to run and also the oldest. By discovering how they were meant to run, runners will become more efficient, stronger, and healthier runners.
Older Yet Faster (English and French editions with illustrations and photos, and online lesson and exercise videos) is a manual for teaching runners how to transition to efficient running and to help them to avoid incurring almost all of the common running injuries as they do so. It is ideal for beginners to learn how to run well and for experienced runners to changeover to good technique. Coaches can also use this book as a reference on how to implement technique change for their clients, and we expect it to become the go-to manual for medical professionals, to help them deal with running related injuries caused by bad technique and footwear. After learning how injuries are caused and then gaining a good understanding of running technique in the early chapters you will be prepared to read about our technique-change system which we call "OYF Running". This consists of "Keith's Lessons" used in combination with "Heidi's Strengthening Exercises" and forms the main body of the book." Keith shows you how to run efficiently in a simple, step-by-step guide both in the book and with videos. Each Lesson provides exercises set out in a format which is both easy to understand and implement. The first three lessons teach you the basics of running correctly and the last three help you put these into practice and help you to refine your technique over the period of your transition. This program is set up so that runners can teach themselves in conjunction with the online videos and forum.Heidi's Strengthening Exercises consists of a well-ordered series of exercises which will help your body safely adjust to the redistribution of the workload and are essential to rebuild parts of the body which have been neglected due to poor technique. It should be started as soon as possible, in order to build strength and to deal with the resultant muscle and tendon soreness that you will start to experience. We identify specific injuries and how they are caused and we show how by improving running technique, and re-strengthening these injuries are quickly cured. Podiatrists will find Heidi's experiences and advice particularly interesting, especially as they will almost certainly, be in conflict with what is still taught in universities. Chapters Twelve and Thirteen, 'Managing the changes' and 'Rehabilitation', explain what should happen during the transition and what to do should you get injured, or if you are currently injured. Chapter Fourteen is very important as you must have suitable footwear to run with good technique. There is then a chapter on how your body shape will change as you adopt your new technique and a chapter on general tips and traps a list of commonly used terms, a glossary and an index.Finally, we have included three appendices: For Coaches, For Podiatrists and a detailed look at Heidi's strengthening program. In Appendix A, Keith discusses how to implement his Lessons from a coach's point of view, in Appendix B, Heidi explains how she treats her patients who are suffering with specific injuries and in Appendix C she explains her Strengthening program in greater detail for medical professionals and interested runners.
Explains why running injuries are so common, examining running form, running shoe design, and training, and includes insights on such topics as the evolution of running, stress-related injuries, and the advantages of barefoot running.
From the authors of Barefoot Running, the essential guide to the life-changing benefits of barefoot walking As the thousands of people who have fallen in love with barefoot running already know, shedding your shoes is good for the body and the soul. Barefoot Walking shows all readers, no matter their fitness level, how to take command of their physical and spiritual well-being through this simple and easy practice, even if they are daunted by sore feet, achy joints, injury, illness, or feeling out of shape. This book contains special material for children, pregnant women, and seniors, and shows anyone how this gentle, natural activity can literally transform one's life, restoring health, vitality, strength, and balance, and improving focus, mood, memory, and more. Full of tips and tools for going bare, this is the essential handbook for people who want to move their body, connect with the earth, and feel physically and psychologically more alive.
