Skip to main content

My Top 12 Running Books



12. "Running with the Buffaloes" by Chris Lear
An honest account of renowned coach Mark Wetmore and his winning cross country team. 
Coaching philosophy, hard work, personal insights and tragedy all told with a delicate touch, definitely due a reread.


11. "The Art of Running Faster" by Julian Goater & Don Melvin
The book is an account of Julian's own running career and almost a case of 'what if?' 
He tries to impart wisdom to the reader, all the things he's learnt through experience and reflection with regards to training, technique etc. Things he wished he had applied during his time as a competitive runner.


10. "Can't hurt me" by David Goggins
The language in this book is not for the sensitive. This is not your typical running book! For one thing he runs ultras. There's so much more to this former navy seal than meets the eye.
I may not agree with some of what he says but his tenacity and mental toughness is to be both admired and envied. He personifies the never say die attitude of his military training.


9. "Sports Nutrition" by Anita Bean
Again, not quite a running book but nutrition plays a massive role in our lives and being able to fine tune it for our performance and enjoyment has to be a massive advantage, the detail in this book is invaluable and all the science is explained in layman's terms.


8. "26.2 miles to Happiness" by Paul Tonkinson
Took a punt on this, hadn't heard much about it and boy was I pleasantly surprised. An honest and funny account of a man striving to be better, in both running terms and his personal life. Over time I can see this moving up the rankings as I start to fully digest it.


7. "Staying the course" by Dick Beardsley
It is probably unfair that he is best known for his second place finish to Alberto Salazar in what became known as "The duel in the sun", as there is so much more to this athlete. This book documents how he met with both triumph and disaster, and they're not all running related.


6. "A life without limits" by Chrissie Wellington
Best known for her Ironman exploits in Hawaii and her infectious smile, Wellington is also a superb runner. What I look for in a good sports biography is honesty and how the writer conquers adversity and this book has it in abundance.


5. "Today we die a little" by Richard Askwith
This book had me from the title alone, Emile Zatopek was a pioneer of interval training and hard work, rightly remembered for his heroic exploits in the Helsinki Olympics 1952 winning gold in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon. He was considered one of the good guys by all his peers but somehow found himself written out of Czechoslovakian history. A deeply flawed individual, this book lays out all the facts regarding the man, the athlete and his political views.


4. "Ultra Marathon Man" by Dean Karnazes
Love him or hate him, this book is a terrific read. Karnazes ,clearly in the midst of a midlife crisis, turns to running to help him come to terms with the loss of a loved one. Running is his escape, his medication for a better quality of life, which ultimately takes him on a journey of healing. 


3. "Advanced Marathoning" by Pete Pfitzinger & Scott Douglas
One of the best training bibles around. It's a wealth of knowledge for those interested in applying principles of physiology into their training. My own training plans have been heavily influenced by it along with the next book below.


2. "Hansons Half Marathon Method" by Luke Humphrey with Keith and Kevin Hanson
Similar to the book above, it's just full of great detail. I've never actually followed any of their plans but I have incorporated some of their ideas with my own and have seen some great success with it.
There is also a "Hansons Full Marathon Method" book for those who want to take things to the next level.


1. "From last to First" by Charlie Spedding
A must read and by far my favourite running book having read it multiple times and passed it on to numerous runners as part of their marathon preparation. One went so far as to say the book was worth two minutes and he comfortably ran sub 3 for the first time.
The opening chapter is the Los Angeles Olympic marathon in 1984, his account is thrilling and sets the book up nicely to show he got there. He explains how his training was geared towards peaking,how he handled injury and rehab, and how a change in his mindset played a key part in his success

 

Comments

  1. I haven't read any running books throughout my life, but this post makes me feel intrigued. Even though I'm not much of a reading I definitely have the thought lying in my head to go check these out. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Valencia Marathon Week 8/12

October 30th - November 5th Monday - 5 miles ez (8k) back up to Bohernabreena reservoir for some more peace and quiet. Tuesday - 9 miles ez (15k) I enjoyed the run but was made aware of a slight niggle to my right calf. This was most likely caused by wearing my vaporfly shoes for last week's long run. For me it confirms these are only to be used for 5 and 10k races going forward. This run brought October to a close and although I've felt pretty meh throughout, the volume of work is there, 224 miles (360k) the total. Wednesday - 10 miles (16k) with 5*1 mile (1.6k) at half marathon effort off a 2 minute jog recovery. First session since Valencia half marathon, ten days ago. There was a little bit of dread leading up to this, my confidence needed a strong session. Wore the Mizuno rebellion pro to help with my calf niggle and they did the job just fine. They've now covered 300 miles (500k) and they still feel nice and bouncy, however they do stink and are becoming quite squeaky

Valencia Marathon Week 3/12

Plan for this week is to increase my mileage from 50 miles (80k) to 54 miles (86k). I'll do this by reducing the weekly intensity, dropping Friday's session in favour of 100 meter strides sprinkled throughout. Monday 9 miles (14.5K) easy, glorious weather to start the week. Tuesday 9 miles (14.5k) easy, listening to the Inside Running Podcast, highly recommend. Three Australian marathon runners of sub 2:20 standard, they discuss their training, running news, answer some listeners questions and plenty more. Wednesday 7 miles (11k), back to Marlay Park for my 5 miles (8k) at 160 heart rate. No such issues getting my heart rate into the correct zone. Only my third week doing this session and it felt very controlled and comfortable, covering the route in 36:17. I've mentioned previously that the goal of this workout is parallel lines between heart rate and power/pace. I use power rather than pace due to the undulating nature of the course. Looking at the picture below and you c

Valencia Marathon - 12 Weeks to go!

Last year's Valencia Marathon resulted in a small personal best. I ran 3 hours 18 minutes and 31 seconds, it was my first time to ever run a negative split (second half faster than the first half) and my eleventh attempt at the distance. I'm definitely a slow learner! It was very satisfying and not once did I experience any weak spots throughout the 42k. Needless to say, I was thrilled, however I left this wonderful city thinking, what if.... What if this wasn't my third marathon in eight weeks, what if I concentrated on a good diet (eat more), what if I did some strength/core work? So here we are, twelve weeks out and my motivation is sky high. I want to run another personal best, feel strong and have a smile crossing the finish line, it doesn't sound like much, but to an experienced runner, we know what's involved! Time, commitment, patience, effort, recovery, support, to name a few. I've made some rough sketches that are starting to form a plan. Some of which