"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 analyse 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.

About the Author

Danny Abshire is the cofounder of Newton Running, a Boulder, Colorado, company that makes shoes that promote an efficient midfoot/forefoot running gait. He has been making advanced footwear for runners and triathletes for more than 20 years. Brian Metzler is a senior editor at Running Times magazine, a running coach, and a former collegiate track runner. He is an award-winning journalist who has written about various topics in running and conducted running shoe wear testing for magazines since the late 1990s. He was also the founding editor of Trail Runner magazine in 1999.

Reviews

"Danny is one of the lead voices in the current natural running revolution." -- Danny Dreyer, author of ChiRunning

"Abshire has long been a go-to-guy for elite runners and triathletes struggling with injury, and in "Natural Running" he dives deep into the surrounding subjects ignited by "Born to Run."" -- Competitor magazine

""Natural Running" by Newton Running founder Danny Abshire takes the reader back to the basics. The tools, tips, and 8-week transition plan are designed to get runners to run as efficiently and healthily as possible--the way nature intended." -- "Triathlete "magazine

"Danny Abshire's approach gives hope to those who have struggled with injuries and uncomfortable running. He brings a simple, sensible, and usable approach to transforming your running so you can reach your potential. Danny's knowledge of running form and biomechanics can help all runners become more efficient." -- Mark Allen, six-time Ironman(R) World Champion, co-founder of MarkAllenOnline.com coaching, and co-author of "Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You"

"Danny Abshire has devoted his professional life to studying and teaching proper and efficient running technique. He has worked with some of the best runners and triathletes in the history of endurance sports and just speaking to him will make you a better runner." -- Craig Alexander, three-time Ironman(R) World Champion

"One of the virtues of "Natural Running" is the education on running biomechanics that it provides. A comprehensive, understandable overview of this topic has been badly needed since the barefoot running trend began with "Born to Run." Abshire covers everything from the structure of the foot to individual gait assessment." -- Running.Competitor.com

"Running efficiently is a precursor to running any distance fast and exuberantly. No one knows this better than Danny Abshire, whose lifelong study of the body in motion has helped many champions reach their goals, me included. "Natu