I personally believe Gordon Pirie's book, "Running Fast and Injury Free," is the bible of running. I didn't realize there was a long version of the book as I've read the short version. For those interested, here's the link to the long version: http://speedendurance.com/2009/09/22/running-fast-and-injury-free-by-gordon-pirie/.
Scroll down and you'll see links to 3 different versions of his book and the last link is the long version (153 pages). I just downloaded the long version which includes a lot of pictures and immediately I noticed all the minimalist shoes he and other wore (he talks about this in depth in Chapter 3).
In any event, while Born to Run and other books are great, I personally haven't found anything that comes close to Gordon's book from a technical perspective and in terms of substance. He was so far ahead of his time. I feel like he is writing to me personally when I think about my issues. For example, I've been struggling with deciding to run with or without the insole in the Evo but the few times I ran with the insole it caused a minor PF flare up. Then, last night I read his book again and in thinking about the issue with the insole, the following passage in the book convinced me to never run with the insole again:
" . . . Any soft, mushy material between your foot and the ground will decrease the amount of stability the shoe provides, and will also absorb much of the power you should be using to run with (try running on a trampoline or a high jump pad; it is simply not possible). Buy shoes that are not too soft, therefore, and do not under any circumstances put anything soft inside your shoes. You will defeat the purpose of buying a firm, lightweight shoe in the first place. Instead of looking for padding, learn to run properly, so that you stop punching holes in the ground with your feet."
No doubt he was speaking to me (and maybe, he is speaking to you also).
HHH
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