Danny Dreyer - Chi Marathon: The Breakthrough Natural Running Program for a Pain-Free Half Marathon and Marathon

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Praise for CHI MARATHON

Running is meant to be enjoyed, not endured. Thanks to Danny Dreyer you can release yourfear of injury so that you can enjoy what is importantthe ability to get out into the open air anddo what is so natural, pacifying, and nourishing to the mind and body. CatherineMcKiernan, former Olympian, world cross-country champion, and winner of the London,Amsterdam, and Berlin marathons

Learning the easiest way to run a marathonlike finding the easiest way to swim oneisntundemanding. Its exacting, in place of exhausting. It requires critical, not reflexive, thinking.But that sort of difficulty is the sort that leads to Mastery, Happiness, and even a high-functioningbrain. Chi Running is on the cutting edge of how people will pursue physical, mentaland spiritual fitness in the 21st Century. Terry Laughlin, author of Total Immersion: TheRevolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster and Easier

The Dreyers dont believe in no pain, no gain for runners. Instead, their holistic approach is asmarter and healthier way for runners to fully develop balanced body mechanics for an injury-freelife. The old school, conventional running trends have created too much ill-health and painfor all athletes, but Chi Marathon changes all that. Regardless of your age and experience, youlllearn how to run efficiently from head to toe. The result is more enjoyable, and you will nowfinish marathons and other endurance races feeling refreshed rather than wasted. Dr. Philip Maffetone, author of The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing

Chi Marathon is the perfect plan for sustainable running for all ages, abilities and for all distances, whether you enter an event or not. Mark Cucuzzella, MD, Professor, WestVirginia University School of Medicine

Also by Danny Dreyer and Katherine Dreyer
C HI W ALKING
C HI R UNNING

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Copyright 2012 by Danny Dreyer

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering exercise or health services in the book. The reader should consult his or her own medical and health providers as appropriate before adopting any of the exercise programs and suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from them.

The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

First Touchstone trade paperback edition March 2012

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dreyer, Danny.
Chi marathon : the breakthrough natural running program for a pain-free
half marathon and marathon / Danny Dreyer and Katherine Dreyer.
p. cm.
1. Marathon runningTraining. 2. Tai chi. I. Dreyer, Katherine. II. Title.
GV1065.17.T3D74 2012
796.4252dc23 2011038844

ISBN 978-1-4516-1795-5
ISBN 978-1-4516-1799-3 (ebook)

This book is dedicated to the ever-growing Chi Team,
and all of you who support our journey.

BY CATHERINA M C KIERNAN

Catherina McKiernan winning London Marathon, 1998.

I had won three major marathons, Berlin (1997), London, and Amsterdam (both 1998). I had had very fruitful years with four world cross-country silver medals, one European cross-country gold medal, countless national titles, two Olympic games, the Irish records in the 10K, half marathon and marathon, and a smattering of European and world championships achieved.

But I began losing my battle with niggling injury. Irish newspaper headlines regularly led with stories of me pulling out of big events due to injury. Running is meant to be enjoyed, not endured , I thought.

I decided to retire in 2004. But as my professional running career was ending, a new and equally satisfying career was about to begin. I got my hands on a copy of Danny and Katherine Dreyers book ChiRunning, and I couldnt put it down. After enduring years of pain and injury and wondering what was the cause of it all, I found that Dannys book was providing me with all the answers. All I could do was laugh as I read what I should have known ten or twelve years previously. I would not swap my successes as a professional athlete for anything, and whatever I was doing during those years, it worked, but I will never stop wondering what might have been had I known about ChiRunning from the start.

After reading Dannys book, I decided that I needed to meet this man. Within months, I was certified as a ChiRunning instructor. And there I was with the perfect transitional job: teaching other people how to run effortlessly and injury-free.

Personally speaking, ChiRunning has given me a lifeline. Despite retiring from competitive athletics, I run every day, naturally, as I did as a child. There is a running boom in Ireland right now, an antidote to our economic crisis, and more and more people want to be able to run and enjoy their running. Luckily, they can come to me to learn about ChiRunning. Of all the thousands of people I have taught, none have come back to say that it has not worked for them. That is job satisfaction.

I was born to run. I loved the outdoors when I was young, and my running successes happened gradually. I had a natural running style and loved the freedom of it. But as training became more intense and training methods kicked in, my free running style changed to suit the demands of professional competition. I lost the natural feel until I came across ChiRunning. It unraveled all of the tenseness and poor style that I had adopted for 24/7 training and competing.

Thanks to ChiRunning, countless numbers of people all over the world have the opportunity to release their fear of injury so that they can enjoy what is so important to themthe ability to get out into the open air and do what is so natural, pacifying, and nourishing to the mind and body. What more could we ask for?