Author: Jonathan Beverly
Reviewed by: Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

I first heard from Jonathan Beverly in early 2017, listening to a podcast where he promoted this book. His concepts were remarkably interesting, and I kept his name within my radar. A few months later I met him at the NYC Marathon expo and had the chance to talk to him and purchase the book. I read it right away, and then, again, a couple of years later. A couple of years after that, I read it one more time and decided to finally draft a book review.

Overall, this book is of terrific value, both in terms of time and money.

According to the bio on his website, Jonathan Beverly is a senior running gear editor at Outside magazine. He’s also a writer, photographer, coach and lifetime runner. His passion is to help others experience the joy of training, competing and being fit and fully alive. He is also the author of “Run Strong, Stay Hungry.” He served as editor of Running Times for 15 years. He has coached adults, junior high and high school.

This book touches on multiple aspects of running, all of them slices that when combined, will produce our best stride. The premise is that there is no one correct way to move when you run. There are wrong ways to do so, and some may lead to injury.

“The way we run is unique to our bodies and our experience—says Beverly—I can no more run like Kenenisa Bekele than he could run like me (not that he would want to). Bottom line: there is no perfect form, no one-size-fits-all recommendation.”

Beverly states that most of what he says is neither his nor new. It is a compilation of his conversations with multiple experts in physical therapy, anthropology, podiatry, natural running, etc. This alone makes the content even more valuable as you have the wisdom and knowledge of all these professionals in a 242-page book.

As a heel striking runner for over 40 years, I am reassured by the author’s assessment on how we have become so focused on where the foot lands and what shoe is needed to fix it, that we have forgotten that it all starts above, at the hip. From there, the kinetic chain goes down through the various parts of the leg until finally ends on the soles of the feet. When we focus all our attention on the landing, we are discarding the process that gets us there.

“Your running style is as your voice -he says- Every person has a distinct sound based on his or her physical characteristics, habits and upbringing.”

I had the chance to meet the author and purchase the book from him, at the 2017 NYC Marathon Expo

Other subjects discussed include running shoes (there is no magic in them); core exercises, strength training, balance, stability, posture, cues to assess your running form and, of course, how to put it all together.

I like how he spends time talking about the mythology of cadence. Just as with foot strike, there is a lot of misunderstanding here, especially when it comes to the supposedly perfect number of 180, which is anecdotal and has no scientific base. Sure, cadence can help us cure certain issues like overstriding, but it is more the result of our running instead of a driver of efficiency. Trying to improve cadence without addressing the issues that may cause its deficiencies can get runners in trouble. \”Mind your hips, and your cadence (as well as your foot strike) will take care of itself\”, guarantees the author.

Another important topic is the mixing of the training, including shoes, surfaces, speeds, routes and directions to avoid overuse injuries. Biomechanist Simon Bartold is quoted saying: “Your average runner in Manhattan will run in the same track, in the same direction, the same way, every single time they run and wonder why they get injured. You have to mix up the signal.\”

A tip for reading this book is to do so in a place where you can take the time and have the space to do the exercises he asks you to do. You may need to lay on the floor to feel your glutes, or stand up and place your hands in certain areas to feel your pelvis rotating, or kneel to feel your hip extensors doing their thing. So, you may not want to read this one on the bus or at a public place where you’ll feel awkward performing certain moves, unless you bookmark them and come back home to them.

Overall, this book is of terrific value, both in terms of time and money.