Article: Ken Bob's book -- long awaited, and worth it - A review by Matt.

[pbarker]

Great review Matt.

Before my first bf marathon I wanted to read Ken Bob's book, hoping to glean some wisdom from his experience. I found what I was looking for in the technique chapters. In particular the idea of the 123 landing immediately changed my form for the better.

Excellent book packed with a lifetime of self tested knowledge.

 

[Smelph]

Well done!

I just finished reading this myself and came to a similar conclusion. For my wife and I, we kind of started losing interest in the runner profile chapters towards the end, but the rest seemed like solid gold. In fact, it took reading this book for me to finally wrap my head around how much you should bend your knees, and I've seen a huge jump in performance (not that I am a performance type of runner).

 

[fredvp71]

This is the book for barefoot running. In fact, if anything, Ken Bob was overly nice to the minimalists and the part-timers. He definitely could have been more "hardcore", this is very diplomatic.

His 10 steps from head to toe are the best running tips for injury free running ever compiled by a human being. I went from 4 mile runs to a 9 mile run, with the first 2 tips alone (eyes up, and relax shoulders). I love that he doesn't have a huge "program" chapter. Honestly, in my 3rd year of barefoot running, there is no "one size fits all" running and mileage program. Everybody has to learn via running barefoot, and paying attention to the feet. There is no way around that, and I'm so glad that's what's in the book.

Ken Bob probably has a stealth program in mind when he talks about all the shod runners who train barefoot on the side. He wants to get people to give it a shot, and then figures a percentage of them will go all bare, or mostly bare, or more bare. Good idea. I've tried to run shod, shod on treadmill, vibram, water shoes, and lunas, and always, always come back to barefoot as the only way to run.

The book is very inspirational, well written and interesting. I love most when Ken Bob revealed the times he has struggled. (blisters in his 19th marathon! Marathons in 8 hours! Numb feet at 45 degrees!). I find that more motivating, then a story of someone who ran barefoot for 2 weeks and qualified for Boston. This book is great for showing that achievement ranges from an 8 hour marathon to a 2:40; from building up to a 10K after 3 years to running a marathon after 3 months.

This book is not didactic and negative about minimalist at all. Ken Bob just recommends doing barefoot first, which seems pretty fair to me. I carry the book in my bookstore, hosted Ken Bob on the tour (poorly, he was a prince), and will ship the book for free to anyone that wants to buy it direct from my bookstore. (backlistbooks.net, phone is easiest)



Thanks Ken Bob!

 

[Abide]

Hey Matt, cool review. One of the problems I have with how to books is they are unfortunately unmotivating. I really enjoyed"Born toRun" simply becuasehe did a excellent job of making you want to run bytime you finishedthe book. In fact almost everyone I know that has read it also came away with that feeling.Does Ken Bob's book motivate you to want to run?

 

[Matt]

Abide -- Ken Bob's book is definitely not like other "how to" books. It has a lot more narrative than most instructional books. It definitely has made me more motivated to run more this year.

 

[DB]

Thank you, Matt, for an excellent review. I have spent a lot of time on Ken Bob's web site, and was afraid the book was going to be a condensed rehash of what's there. However, it's not.

The book is a fun read, and Ken Bob's own experiences (far more complete and detailed than on his site) add an important personal touch. It's a literally beautiful book -- a lot of careful thought went into the pictures and layout. It's probably the running book with the most "coffee table quality" I've ever seen, even in softcover. The end result is a very engaging book -- I finished it in two sittings, and I'm a slow reader. And I'll continue to use it as a resource.

And as others have noted, Ken Bob is a little more diplomatic in the book than on his site. And even though the book's tone is not filled with zealotry and evangelism, it's such a good book, I almost want to buy it for shod runner friends who might even be hostile to barefoot running. If you don't want to run barefoot after reading this book, there might be something wrong with you! (That's over the top, I know, but ...).

 

[Matt]

DB -- I'm also curious how shod runners and minimalist runners will react to this book.

I agree about his book being a fun read. Other than BTR, I can recall another running book that was so much fun to read. Given that barefoot running itself is so much fun, I'm glad the book has this quality.