Fast Running Blog

I'm always looking for some more good reading, so would like to know what running books have helped/educated/inspired you the most.  Scientific books, training books, or even novels about running are all fair game. 

My personal favorite is Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas.  Lots of scientifically-backed data, advice, and great training schedules.

Harriers is a fun short little novel written by two kids (brothers or cousins) about their high school cross-country experience.  It has errors and reads somewhat like the stuff my high school kids write, but their experiences brought back a lot of memories - good and bad, but mostly good.  As a coach, it kind of reminded me what the kids think about as well.  Anyway, a fun short read.
Another novel that was  pretty good read has escaped my mind, so maybe someone has read it and can help.  It is about a very good young runner from New Mexico who goes on to become a teacher at and Elementary and then gets cancer (I think).  A true story and very inspirational about what one person can do and what running can mean to people.
Those are a couple good reads.

Galloway's running books
Running with Angel's
There's another one I thought was really funny I'll find the name and posted

My favorites are:
Advanced Marathoning
Running with the Buffaloes

I have tried reading Once a Runner a few times but just can't get into it.

I want to read Once a Runner but have never been able to find a copy.

I love reading and here are some of my favourites:
Running your best - Ron Daws.
The competitive runner's handbook - Bob and Shelly Glover
Distance training for masters - Lydiard/Gilmour
Running with the legends - Michael Sandrock.

A Cold Clear day - The athletic biography of Buddy Edelen
Zatopek! - The life and times.....Bob Phillips

Fiction.
The Runner's Literary Companion - Penguin books
Once a Runner - John L. Parker
Flanagan's Run - Tom McNab.
 

"The Competetive Runner's Handbook" is a great all-around reference covering all your traditional training methods and conventional running wisdom. Also has some great sections on racing stategy and developing mental toughness.

"Brain Training for Runners" is a fairly new book with a few ideas that run counter to your everyday conventional running wisdom, but which comes closest I've seen yet to advocating concepts that fall right in line with the training approaches/ideas preached by Sasha and many others on the FRB. I've found the book quite interesting and have been incorporating many of the training ideas over the last 6 mos and plan on continuing to do so at least through SGM.

BTW does anyone know yet if that Tinman book is available yet?

If I can find my copy you can have it.  I'll let you know if I can dig it up.

Daniels Running Formula
Brain Training for Runners
Running with Lydiard
Train Hard Win Easy - The Kenyan Way

That would be great, Andy.  I can only find it used online and they want crazy prices for it (~$80+).

Advanced Marathoning - Pfitzinger
Daniels's Running Formula
Run Strong - Beck

Tom--Funny you should ask.  I emailed the Tinman website last October and they said it was still being worked on.  I emailed them again on Friday because I am impatient and I haven't heard back from them yet.  They may have put me on the stocker list. . .

Re: Once  A Runner, The cheapest I can find it is for 300+ dollars and I called 20 libraries and all of their copies have "vanished" aka someone kept it. What a shame. I'm not sure why they wouldn't just republish it even at a 100,000 copy minimum. There is such a high demand for it it would sell out in no time! How can they expect new runners that never read Once a Runner to possibly want to drop the 20+ bucks for the sequel? haha.

Right now I am still reading Marathoning by BIll Rodgers and am also rereading Pam Reed's The Extra Mile and Dean Karnaze's Ultramarathon Man

Running and Being, by George Sheehan.  This book, more than any other book, helped me to think more philosophically about running.  Books about the science behind running are abundant, but books that are able to explore the deeper significance of the activity are much more rare.  This book, which draws from many disciplines (music, art, science, philosophy, religion), does that. 

Better Training for Distance Runners: David Martin and Peter Coe (Seb Coe's father)

The Bible: (filled with running and racing references if you look for them)

My favorite running book is "I run, therefore I am- nuts" by Bob Schwartz. It is really funny and a quick easy read. There is a good motivational poem at the end, and throughout the book it talks about things every runner can relate to and puts a humorous twist on it.

Jon, I'm still trying to track this down.  I have this fear that my kid's mom found out how much it is worth and sold it on ebay.

I really liked "Why we run: A Natural History" by Bernd Heinrich. A very easy read about the history of men and why running is in our nature.

My friend found a copy of "Once a Runner" in pdf format on the Internet...free!  I haven't read it yet though.  I'll try to find it in my inbox.  Post your email address to my blog (Shauna, Boston 2009), and I'll send you a copy.

Hmmm...maybe I could make some money...just kidding!

Nothing beats curling up in the office chair to stare at the computer for a few hours!  I guess you could always print it out!

Wow! They found a copy of it on the internet. Do you know by chance what site they got it from?

The link doesn't work.  Can't find it on the internet anymore.

Dang that's too bad. I didn't hear about this book until it was already way rare and impossible to find.

I just finished Bart Yasso's "My Life on the Run"  it was entertaining and filled with stories about some of the wild running adventures he has experienced, as well as his battle with Lyme's Disease and how it has affected his running. The back contains structured workout plans, as well as includes descriptions of his favorite races and where they are located around the globe.

I also have read Katherine Switzer's "Marathon Woman" It is OK, and motivational at a few parts, but for the most part it is kind of cheesy and is basically a recap of her life and isn't entirely focused on running (gets a lot into her career and women's rights in sports, etc.)

So those are my two book reviews. Recommend Bart Yasso's for sure. He is an amazing guy.

I recently finished Once A Runner. I liked it. It wasn't my favorite running book, but it was very good. I also liked Running With The Buffaloes. My dad found a copy online of Once A Runner for a reasonable price. It was expensive, but not over $100 I think.

I actually got it for something like $35.  At the time I found 4 or 5 copies for sale online, and they were all around $100 except for the one.  My favorite books are "Lactate Lift-off" and "Underground Secrets to Faster Running."  Right now I'm reading "C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race."  It's great fun!  It is the true story of the 1927 transcontinental race across America.  (Sorry I snagged it first, Thatch.  You can have it when I'm done.)  These guys ran 30 - 70 miles a day for months, some of them in street shoes or workboots!