The Running Revolution: How to Run Faster, Farther, and Injury-Free--for Life

As I am writing this review, I am finishing my third week of the program (starting lesson 8/10 before getting into longer workouts). After reading most reviews I can see why some people love it, and some people hate it. I am very technical and analytical, I always try to find the most efficient way to perform a task, including with exercise. That is why I bought this book, and I can say I am not disappointed. If anything I wish I bought this years ago....Short background (I'll get to the point fast, I promise!). I grew up swimming, played competitive water polo through college, and took up running 3 years ago. I found myself constantly injuring myself, despite some significant accomplishments for a non-runner (43:16 10K is my best PR). After getting sick of injuring myself I thought about how much time I spent growing up doing swimming drills. We did nothing but drills and stroke work for years, that made me an efficient/injury-free swimmer, and I wanted to take that approach to running. I tried a running coach, but he had the old school mentality of 'just run,' not to mention one session was three times more than this book...."The Running Revolution" explains that with the right technique and approach to running, anyone can have a long running career. Not just a few years until your knees give out. That's what I wanted, and that is what this book will help you do (assuming you have the mind-body awareness to be your own critic). First by re-build your running form from the ground up. It starts off with simple workouts, but is building your foundation. The first workout is all about your foot, and you reinforce these principles before each workout. I had already taken steps to move away from heel-striking, so this seemed obvious, but I maintained a positive attitude towards it. I had made the decision to follow the program all the way through, and wasn't going to be deterred because I thought a few drills were common sense. As you progress the workouts stack on top of each other and become more complex.What the book tries to do is get you to think and feel every aspect of your run. From your foot strike, to your leaning (falling) angle, to your recovery (pull), etc.... I find some technique drills awkward, but they serve a purpose. I can tell you the first time I did a number of swimming drills felt awkward too. But today, almost 4 weeks in, I can say that everything is starting to fit into place. When I am running correctly, it feels right, like the first time I held good form on a new lift... something just clicks now. I know I am not faster, in fact I am sure I cannot go out and maintain my old pace with the new form i am learning, but that when I get back to running track workouts and racing I will continue to improve without the high rate of injury.I have two tangible improvement's at this point I would like to share:(1) I have noticed that I really feel the effort my calves and hamstrings put into each workout. As the book describes, previously I was actively striking the ground which put a lot of stress on my shins, quads, and feet (where I had a lot of my injuries over the last few years). But now I feel like I am properly using the correct muscles when I run. It reminds me of the first time I performed weight workouts with slow-controlled reps, I felt sore, and couldn't do near the weight as I did with improper form, but knew it was a good thing. It has not been easy to make the transition, but it feels right.(2) I have a Garmin Felix 2, which tracks my cadence, ground contact time, and vertical oscillation (how much you are moving up and down during your run). Previously my vertical movement was terrible, something like 12-14 CM. After my last jog, I averaged a 8 CM vertical oscillation, which is not perfect, but the difference from 12 to 8 is significant, and shows that I am running much more efficiently that I was previously.I am sure there are dozens of books that will give you a similar insight into running. Each will have a structured path to efficient running. I can't say this is the best book on the market, but am happy with my purchase and would recommend it to anyone I know.

I'm an average 44 year old runner that's on a quest to run faster at all distances. I've read just about every book I can get my hands on. This book was highly rated so I gave it a try. I did everything the author recommended. I read the book straight through first and then went back and did the drills. I skipped nothing. I considered the "running pose" common sense. Leaning forward and feeling the point that you begin to fall... um ok. I did every drill countless times but didn't learn anything I didn't already know. If you over-stride and heal strike then you should do the drills. If you already land with your feet under your hips then you will probably roll your eyes at most of the drills. The 'Preparing to Move" routine that he recommends you do before each drill was absolutely WRONG for me! It made my runs slower and my runs took much more effort. He calls these flexibility stretches but most of them are simply static stretches. It took me several days to realize my slower times were due to the recommended stretches. I then Googled, "Should I stretch before running" and read several studies that basically said, "Hell NO!" Also, why do I need to stretch my wrists before running??? After about a week I stopped doing his stretches and it took me another 2 weeks to recover from the damage. I rarely do anything before running unless it's a short 5K or 10k race. For these shorter races, I jump up and down in place a few times and jog slowly up and down the sidewalk for about 1/2 - 3/4 mile. Half marathon and above are long enough for me to warm up by taking it easy for the first mile or two. This book is also a terrible guide for anyone who's new to minimalist running. This book says to simply go out and buy flat shoes. I'm not kidding, that what it says! It then says to stand in them and do some of his poses before buying them. Doing the poses is OK but if you've never ran in minimalist shoes, don't go straight out and buy flat shoes. Standard shoes have a 10 - 13 mm heal to toe drop. If you go from that, directly to a flat shoe, you WILL injure yourself. You should buy an 8-10 mm drop shoe first. Then slowly transition to lower drop shoes ( 6mm, 4mm, etc). Eventually you will work your way down to flat shoes. At that point you can even try transitioning (slowly) to barefoot running if you want. I did like the suggestions about being your own coach and I also learned a lot from video taping my running as the author suggested. I have since found an even better book about being your own coach. It's called "Run Faster from 5K to the marathon" by Brad Hudson (2008).

I really like this book. I have read numerous other books on running, but this book is actually a guide that teaches everyone, novice to veteran, how to run injury free based on sound research. I am an aspiring Physical Therapist and studied biomechanics as an undergrad. Biomechanics continues to be a hobby of mine and after reading this book and applying the techniques I feel the author knows what he’s talking about. This book is the culmination of his life’s work.I’m a student and sit more that I would care to and have found that just doing the stretch and strengthening exercises consistently that I am moving and feeling better, and they literally take ten minutes. (A word of caution though: build up to them slowly, as simple as they seem if done incorrectly, forced, or done too vigorously you’ll hurt yourself.) The exercises also require no equipment, I’ve been using a cardboard box and my couch to modify as needed, so no excuses, you can do them anywhere. I think the exercises would also help anyone to start moving better, they may be specific to using the Pose method, but I feel they are good for maintaining strength and flexibility.Like the author, I am also an advocate of minimalist footwear and I barefoot whenever possible. From a bioevolutionary perspective it makes sense to me. Our feet, the base of the kinetic chain, have become pampered affecting our ability to move as our ancestors did, like recent ancestors, Romans etc. Orthotics, and cushy, positive healed shoes are only going to exacerbate pain and injury. Again, I think the author knows his stuff, he makes suggestions and doesn’t talk in absolutes - personally, this is the only book on running I’ll ever need.

Great

Lots of good stuff, well worth a read no matter your level.

Awesome book, so glad i bought it. Great read, well articulated, structured, approachable and will turn anything you thought you knew about running on its heads... and bring you on a great journey. Highly recommend it.

Good book

Changing the way you run is HARD this book heps....