Customer Reviews

The Barefoot Running Book First Edition: A Practical Guide to the Art and Science of Barefoot and Minimalist Shoe Running

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

While I think that there are some good tips in the book on how exactly to get started barefoot running, at 61 pages, it's more of a pamphlet than a book. The price is a bit high for what you're getting.

I am a new runner. I've never run in a race, or run a continuous mile even. However, when I wanted to start running, I learned about barefoot running. I researched it some more and discovered it was really the route I wanted to take. I was disappointed though, that there were no books on HOW to actually learn (or maybe there are, and I just didn't find them). Yes, there are websites and forums, but the information I found was scattered all over the internet. Then this book came out. I had already been reading on Jason's website and blog, but this had everything contained in one easy-to-understand book, even for a beginner like me. It's an easy read and I appreciated the humor scattered throughout it. Although I had been attempting barefoot running prior to reading the book, I did not achieve "proper form" until I read it and implemented some of the techniques. Now I am just working on building endurance!

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in barefoot running...either exclusively or part-time.

Now that I am running more regularly, and my feet are stronger...I LOVE running! And believe me, I NEVER thought I'd ever say that!

What I like most about this book is that it guides you into barefoot running, very gently, and from a base of strengthening your feet and legs and developing good technique. Perhaps I won't ever go completely barefoot for my trail or road runs (perhaps only on grass track for speed work and more strengthening), but I do want to move to minimalist running shoes and leave injuries behind me for good. I've got a lot of faith that this book will be one of my favourite guides.

After reading Born to Run: I went out and ran for 11 minutes barefoot on grass. I came to a crashing halt at 11 minutes. The reason, I didn't know really how to start. I figured I'm fit from swimming so I should be able to do it. It was so effortless too. I was loving it.

After researching around for some videos and info I found this ebook. I downloaded the sample which was a decent chunk I liked what I read so I bought it. Using a Dell Streak 5 inch Tablet. Its great as a little ebook.

Well it seems the advice is go very, very easy in the beginning. Its muscles we don't use so be careful.

Tonight I tried the barefoot walking exercises as suggested. Well it was a lot of fun out the back and most helpful really. I understood better about this lift that's spoken about instead of pushing off the foot.

So its day one for now. I need to recover my calf muscle for the rest of the week due to the earlier run I did without reading up about it.

Seems funny to learn how to run again barefoot. But its important to take it very slow, even for seasoned runners.

The bottom line for me is a hope to return to running after a 8 year layoff due to a really bad trauma on the knee when I run more than 3 times.

Jason Robillard was one of the early advocates for barefoot and minimalist running.

I can recommend this book to any injured and frustrated runners who can't make progress with their running, both for its motivational and practical content. This book is for you if you are unsure about making the transition to barefoot running and need convincing and it is for you if you have made the decision but still need the practical advice on how to do so.

The book begins with Jason's personal experience of attempting a 50 mile untra race, with the all too familiar result of injury from overloading the body.

Then follows a brief history of running shoe development and a look at how well cushioned shoes actually contribute to running injuries rather than protect against them.

This argument for moving to barefoot running is well presented but not rammed down your throat, and the necessity of a gradual transition after a lifetime in shoes is heavily emphasised.

The core of the book guides you into becoming a barefoot runner, with a series of concepts and practical activities. This starts with pre-running, before moving onto beginning barefoot running then intermediate and finally advanced barefoot running. This section is the most useful as far as barefoot and minimalist running is concerned.

You are guided to overcome a natural impatient tendency to do too much before your body is ready Work first on form and technique, ignoring speed and distance until your body is ready.

The concepts are sound and there is certainly some overlap with Danny Dreyer's excellent ChiRunning.

There is a a chapter on non-barefoot specific guidance for ultramarathons. I'm not sure it really fits into this book and, for most runners by the time they start running ultras they will already have gained sufficient experience to know most of the advice here. Then follows a mish mash of other topics: nutrition, bad runs, running with others. All useful to runners but not specific to barefoot running.

After this, a long chapter on training plans. Again, no complaints but not specific to barefoot running.

There is a better than average chapter on cross training for running, complete with details of specific exercies. All good stuff, and with a real focus on working your entire body, not individual muscles in isolation.

Finally, Jason gives a personal and emotional account of his first 100 mile ultramarathon. A good read and motivation for anyone wanting to join the ultra club.

The book dispels a few common myths too, for example that going barefoot will give you hard, callused soles - quite the contrary as tougher feet are actually quite soft as I discovered.

Ultimately this is an excellent practical introduction to barefoot running, backed up by theory. My only gripes are that a lot of the content is not specific to barefoot running and in places it feels a little like it has been stitched together from several blog entries.

Nevertheless, very useful and recommended. If you enjoy it, Jason's blog at Barefoot Running University is well worth a read too.

Don't understand why someone would complain about the length of the book. Its about running, we all do it. Jason's not trying to split the atom. The book is a concise guide to introduce you to the concept and practice of barefoot running. Its what guided me when I first started and I'd recommend it highly to newbies. His advice is frank, refreshingly realistic and takes you from where he started so you can compare yourself.

Essential for the new barefooter

I am new to the concept of barefoot running and became interested in it when reading a blog post of someone I follow which led me to read the book, Born to Run. I loved the idea of simplicity and minimalism with barefoot running. Through web research I stumbled upon Jason's website and took a chance on buying his book and am very glad that I did. It is very well written and organized taking the reader from the very basics of barefoot and minimalist shoe running to more advanced techniques. I also like Jason's philosophy in that there is no specific way to run barefoot and it's about finding your own way once you know the basics. He also includes several drills which I found very useful when I was getting started. I refer to Jason's book often for a refresher and highly recommend it to anyone interested in becoming a barefoot or minimalist shoe runner.

I bought this after having gone barefoot on my runs for a few months. It's a short and sweet guide that really distills a lot of wisdom into such a slim volume.

Jason's done a great job at getting across the most important points about barefooting, and even after spending tens of hours trawling various barefoot and minimal running forums I still learned some important lessons from this book. Importantly, it's not a prescriptive "do it this way" guide. It provides just enough guidance for anybody to find their own running form while avoiding injuries from the common pitfalls.

A great book that I would recommend to anybody thinking about taking off your clunky running shoes and learning to run in a way your body will thank you for.

Takes you through step by step how to transition to barefoot style running walking so that you don't injure yourself. Not exactly a fun read like "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougal but is a great manual on how we were made to run.

I recommend this book to everyone!

I've run for quite some time and held barefoot running at arms length. I thought it sounded more like a trend than any thing else. I feel most of the elite running community approaches barefoot running in a similar fashion.

Jason's book, the barefoot running book, opened my eyes to a whole new world of improved efficiency and higher performance. The book was a fantastic read and I feel with the new knowledge I will actually have a competative edge over runners who haven't opened their eyes to the possibilities of barefoot training.

Thanks for the excellent read! I recommend this to anyone interested in improving their health... Runner or not, it's a great book.