3.65 miles - ChiRunning or CheeseRunning?

I used Google Earth to map out a new route today. I was happily suprised with how flat this route turned out to be. The only drawback was the amount of time running along main roads. I'm sure that I will run this path again soon.

I started reading "ChiRunning" last night and to be honest, I think it should have been titled "Cheese Running" as in, this book is really cheesey. I have nothing against what the author is saying, but I feel like the message is very simple and I don't understand why it takes such a long book to get it across. It is somewhat ironic that the author talks so much about self discovery as a result of the T'ai Chi influence on his running, but then writes so much that there seems like there is very little room for self discovery left for the reader. I'll keep reading it because I like the running style tips. I really don't mean to sound overly negative about the book, it just brought out the skeptic in me more than I felt like it had to. It was definantly worth the $14, and I would recommend it to anyone that feels like they could use some advice in the running form department.

To be fair, it helped me a lot with my run today. I thought about 3 things during my run today from ChiRunning:

1. Keep my back straight from hips through shouldlers and lean forward a bit.
2. Push back with my arms, instead of pumping them forwards.
3. Relax all hip, shoulder, and leg muscles and just let the lean take over.

Thinking about these things really helped me with my landing on every stride. I didn't feel like I was pounding the pavement as much with every stride. I admit that this was probably one of the easiest runs I've ever had, and it was also a very good pace for me, 3.65 miles in 31:50.