Here are 4 quick things that I absolutely loved about the book. Warning, these may be spoilers.

1. The history of the running shoe. As long as I have been alive, Nike has been making and selling running shoes.  But why?  For what purpose was the shoe designed?  And why do they change models so often?  Each of these questions is answered eloquently and openly.
2. The breakdown of the foot. Arch support, motion control, and lengthing your stride.  These are all things I thought I needed, because someone told me I needed them.  When the human foot is broken down, each of these “needs” can actually be explained as a detriment to your foot health and running ability.  Each of these is a crutch that can cause problems at any time.
3. Quality food products: pinole, and chia seeds. I was introduced to these wonderful foods through the book.  Pinole being a parched form of corn known for its nutritive value and long lasting effects on hunger, even during periods of intense physical activities.  Chia Seeds are the richest plant source of Omega-3 and provide significant fiber and protein.  Not to mention that both of these foods actually taste good, and are cheap to make/acquire.
4. Evolution and persistence hunting, which is tied to why we’re truly born to run. Chris McDougall does a wonderful job of compacting the path that scientists have progressed to come to the conclusion that humans were born to run. I found this entire explanation spellbinding and flawless.

One of my favorite quotes:

The beauty of any arch is the way it gets stronger under stress; the harder you push down, the tighter its parts mesh. No stonemason worth his trowel would ever stick a support under an arch; push up from underneath and you weaken the whole structure.

ChiRunning focuses exactly where barefooting does, “Body Sensing”, which in essence is simply telling you to observe your body, feel what’s happening, and adjust accordingly — barefeet are perfect for that!  The book also stresses being absolutely relaxed. All of the mantra’s line up perfectly for how I’d like to be able to run barefoot.

Here are the key points which match well with shodless running:

1. Pick up your feet instead of pushing off. You are propelled forward by a slight lean (1″ – 4″) depending on your desired speed.  When running barefoot you obviously don’t want to be apply extra friction on the bottoms of your feet by pushing off.

2. Keep your cadence at 180 steps per minute regardless of your desired speed.

3. To increase speed, increase your lean forward and your stride length.

4. Stay absolutely relaxed and observe your body.

5. Gradual progress — you don’t just start trying to be a Chi Running master, you ease your way there through a series of exercises, over months.

Does anyone else have any experience with this? Thoughts? I’d love to hear them. Interested in picking up the book, it’s $10 on Amazon: ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running