All types of running related books are reviewed by two non-elite track, road and trail runners. Observation and description of running books intended to inform, help and inspire anyone involved or related to running at any level. Whenever possible we chat with the author about the book, but if not t
Send us Fan Mail Book overview: The Art of Ultrarunning: Tried & Tested Strategies for Long-Distance Runners compiles coaching strategies with illustrative stories from professional ultrarunners to create a convenient resource to help you improve your running. An elite-level racer and coach, author Ian Sharman provides practical guidance for runners at all levels; whether you are at the back of the pack or are going for gold, there's something to learn from his decades of experience...
Send us Fan Mail Send us Fan Mail Book overview: Once a nationally ranked long-distance runner, Canadian Peter Whitby abandons his career as an engineer and moves to a small US town in the Pacific Northwest where he can train year-round and pursue his running dreams. After a chance encounter with a local entrepreneur, Peter finds himself drawn into the race of a lifetime with a substantial winner-take-all cash prize. With the help of a new training partner, a previous love interest and a coac...
Send us Fan Mail Book overview: Showing Up by Nedd Brockmann is a memoir about his incredible 3,953-kilometre run across Australia. At age 23, the former electrician ran from Perth to Sydney in 46 days to raise millions of dollars for homelessness. Written with raw humor, the book explores his "why can't I?" mindset, early discipline in sports, and the physical and mental toll of voluntary suffering to inspire readers to embrace discomfort and chase big goals Author Bio and Interesting...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Alan and Liz welcome back frequent-flyer guest Matt Fitzgerald to talk about his rawest and most personal book yet: Dying to Run: An Athlete's Quest for One More Finish. This is Matt like you've never read him. After long COVID took away not just running but his ability to move, work, and feel like himself, he made the reckless, wonderful decision to attempt a 100-kilometer ultramarathon in record-breaking desert heat. We dig into what long COVID actually is ...
Send us Fan Mail Send us Fan Mail In the running boom of the 80s the small town of Bernardsville New Jersey emerged as a magical place for the sport, producing champions at all levels of distance running. The young, passionate experimental coach of the junior program feeding a lot of the success was Mark Wetmore; before he became of the worlds best collegiate coaches. Blood Sweat and Spikes is a story of one of the runners in that town (Lyle Smith) and the people that made it unique in the hi...
Send us Fan Mail Here we are again with a recap of 10 running books. This time is a first with Shayan added to the usual Alan and Liz mix Here's a list of all 10 books and and a link to the full podcast episodes in which they are featured. Chasing the Grid by Ken Posner https://www.buzzsprout.com/976876/episodes/17934193 Fuel for Thought by Renee McGregor https://www.buzzsprout.com/976876/episodes/17951831 Ultra Women by Lily canter and Emma Wilkinson https://www.buzzsprout.com/976876/e...
Send us Fan Mail In One Step Forward , we follow Gene from his initial unhealthy lifestyle as he transforms from sedentary starter to 11x Ironman finisher—with a 10-year Boston Marathon streak During this journey Gene extracts over 100 life lessons from his running but applicable to all kinds of situations. They fall into 5 major categories Perseverance and ResilienceMental Strength and Self Talk Community and SupportPersonal Growth and TransformationService and Giving Back G...
Send us Fan Mail Marathon Excellence for Everyone is a bible about marathon training and racing. It has 50 chapters divided into 8 sections (not counting the appendix): First stepsThe phases of marathon trainingTraining plansRace day and beyondThe science of marathon performanceThe science of fuelingOvercoming illness, injury, and other setbacksAdvanced training techniques John Davis is a scientist, writer, and coach. His work uses modern machine learning and biostatistics to understand...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we talk with author, former professional runner for the Nike Oregon Project and current Irish national runner, and Stanford medical student Mary Cain about her memoir: This is Not About Running. We ask her about her youth, growing up in an abusive athletics system, training for Alberto Salazar as a high schooler. We also talk about her work with Atalanta NYC and The Athlete's Survivors' Assist, her growth and the many hats she wears as a survivor, leader, men...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dive into the transformative 31-day journey laid out by legendary ultrarunner and coach Allie Bailey. This isn't just a "how-to" for running; it’s a manual for the mental game of life. Whether you are training for your first 5K, an ultra, or just trying to navigate a career shift, Allie’s 1-2-3 structure (Focus, Example, and The Work) provides a realistic, down-to-earth roadmap to getting your head in the right place. We break down the 6-part framework, th...
Send us Fan Mail Send us Fan Mail In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing. Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his ...
Send us Fan Mail Here are a few of the discussion points in this episode: Focus on your protein --- Lauren Antonnuchi , High Performance Nutrition for Masters athletes Carbs are good! Fuel your training --- Renee McGregor, Fuel for Thought Enclothed Cognition is a real thing! --- Kara Goucher, Strong You can have running success as a warrior or a worrier --- Believe Journal, Lauren Fleshmann and Roisin McGettigan-Dumas Animals and care for animals can teach you some w...
Send us Fan Mail Still Running After All These Tears is the newest book by Lisa Jackson, and it perfectly aligns with the realization I shared at the beginning of the episode. After years of sub-3 hour marathon attempts ending in disappointment, Liz took Alan's advice to "hold (her) goal lightly." Instead of focusing on the clock, her mantra became "run for those who can't." She explains in the intro story how she dedicated her miles to her late sister-in-law who passed away from breast cance...
Send us Fan Mail Advanced Marathoning (4th ed.) is the newest version of the training book Alan and I have been using for our sub-3 hour marathon attempts. This version, like the last one, is divided into 2 parts: Training componentsElements of trainingNutrition and hydrationBalancing training and recoverySupplementary trainingAdvanced marathoning for masters runners (The older (and wiser) marathoner – in the 3rd ed.) Tapering for peak marathon performanceRace day strategyTraining progr...
Send us Fan Mail Move, Rest, Recover guides readers on the practice of rest and recovery. It tries to answer questions like: Why should I rest and recover?How do I know when to stop and rest?When I stop, what should I do?The book is split into 4 sections: Understand recoveryActivate recoveryStrengthen recoveryKeep recovering Erin Taylor is an international recovery expert, writer, and yoga teacher. For 20 years she has coached professional athletes, everyday runners, pre- and post...
Send us Fan Mail In this episode we speak with Author Robyn Godfrey about her book Running the World. Robyn didn’t plan to become a marathoner. She stumbled through adolescence as a clumsy teen and later partied through midlife while searching for purpose. Everything shifted the day she laced up her running shoes. What began as thirty seconds on a treadmill grew into a running journey that redefined her life. Running the World follows Robyn’s quest to conquer all six World Marathon Majors—Tok...
Send us Fan Mail Practical Fueling for Endurance Athletes delivers the practical, science-based information and strategies you need for long-term health and superior performance in your sport. Kylee Van Horn—registered dietitian, endurance athlete, and coach—will help you navigate the challenges of endurance sports with the following: Essential nutrition concepts that aren’t directed at weight loss The smart use of supplements Strategies for developing your ideal personal nut...
Send us Fan Mail For today's episode we got to read another fictional running story. These are rare but we've enjoyed every single one we read so far and this one was no exception. Toeing the start line of the 1983 Boston Marathon, Cooper McKenzie (the main character) finds himself in a race to make meaning of his troubled, unimpressive life. Cooper McKenzie is contending with the stark realities of middle age—he is fully disenchanted with his career, he is struggling to meet the financial ne...
Send us Fan Mail Here we are again with another recap episode. Alan and Liz chat about their last ten reads and we've also linked the full episode for each book in case you want to hear more! If you're behind in your listening then this episode is for you. You can get a feel for each of the last 10 books, before going back to the episodes in order of which books you're most interested in. Unbound, by Bill Donahue Full episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/976876/episodes/16892720 Run Less...
Send us Fan Mail Recently, a trend has captured public attention: female athletes have been beating the strongest male contenders, in the toughest races in the world, races designed for men. In Ultra Women, the authors (who are themselves endurance athletes) delve into the surprising science of sporting performance to explore the physiological and psychological differences between the sexes. They ask: could fat stores and muscle type (and capacity for not sleeping) really give women an edge o...
Send us Fan Mail Link for 20% discount on Caffeine Bullet https://caffeinebullet.com/RUNNINGBOOK Discount automatically applied and visible on checkout Support the show Any feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_running Instagram: https://www.i...
Send us Fan Mail Chasing The Grid is the story of the authors physical and spiritual journey running in the Catskill Mountains. Originally wanting to beat the record for climbing all 35 peaks in one outing, Kenneth Posner got injured on his second attempt and needed to find a new goal for his running. His new goal came from a chance encounter while in the mountains he loved, and it’s the main subject of this book! Kenneth Posner’s running credentials include completing 110 races of marathon...
Send us Fan Mail Stroke of Luck: My Life in Amateur Athletics is a chronicle of passion and rediscovery—the emotional story of a dedicated competitive runner, Steven Kelly, whose participation in the sport spans fifty years. As a teenager, Steve searches for his niche while dealing with challenges that will be familiar to many families. After he discovers running, it soon becomes part of his identity. Steve’s adventures take him across North America and Europe, and he fulfills a lifelong drea...
Send us Fan Mail Marathon Mindset is Erica’s story of becoming a runner while on a 100 pound weight loss journey. She also talks about her past struggles with an eating disorder, anxiety and depression which started in high school. Through her running journey, Erica learned 5 lessons which she brings to the rest of her life: Grit, Grind, Grace, Growth and Gratitude. Erica is a mom who unexpectedly became a marathon runner. She also took on the challenge to run a race in all 50 states ...
Send us Fan Mail Giving an overview of this book is complicated. It’s like giving an overview of what running is… where do you start? What kind of running are we talking about? Trail? Road? Ultrarunning? This book is also misnamed because it won’t teach you how to run. You likely need to already be a runner and have opinions about running for it to speak to you. The short answer is that this book is a collection of poems and short essays about running. Most of them express Scott’s love for ru...
Send us Fan Mail Feet in the Clouds is a deep dive into the world of fell running. It talks about the history of the sport, some of its GOATs like Bill Teasdale and Kenny Stuart, and professional vs amateur races. At the same time, the author tells the story of his own journey in fell running and his quest to complete the Bob Graham Round in under 24 hours. Richard Askwith is a UK Northamptonshire-based journalist and author whose passions include running, outdoor adventure and the traditio...
Send us Fan Mail Mud, Sweat and Bears is mostly about the author, Harriet Gaywood’s, ultra racing experience in 2024. Before you think the book is going to be about conquering a hundred-miler or any other single race distance, I’ll let you know that Harriet’s 2024 race season had 1850k of official race kilometers with many races of 100k or more. Harriet races all over Asia, and shares her experience as well as the things she learned along the way about: · Kit essentials ·&...
Send us Fan Mail If this author's name sounds familiar it's because we've had him on 7 times before... and we haven't even covered half of the books he's written about endurance sport. As always, Matt is a great speaker and talks to us about the concept of mastery and mastering what it means to master your sport, which is the subject of his latest book, Chasing Mastery. Chasing Mastery is a guide developed to help athletes master their running through 25 lessons grouped under five pillars: Mo...
Send us Fan Mail Believe is primarily a tool to help runners log details of their training so they can find patterns that will help them identify what is and isn’t working in their training, but it is more than that. The Believe Training Journal also has examples of how pro runners Lauren and Ro fill in their journal, information that can help you bring your performance to the next level and quizzes to help you identify your personality traits so that you can work with them instead of against...
Send us Fan Mail What If? Is the story of author Ash Varley’s running journey between 2016 and 2023. At 43, with years of running experience behind him, he wondered if dedication, patience, and a willingness to break free from the comfort zone could lead to the realisation of long-held running dreams. In this book he explores how he ended up running multiple sub-3 hours marathons and 100-mile trail races. Along the way he talks about surprising himself with his ability when he’s able to get o...
About Running Book Reviews with Alan and Liz
All types of running related books are reviewed by two non-elite track, road and trail runners. Observation and description of running books intended to inform, help and inspire anyone involved or related to running at any level. Whenever possible we chat with the author about the book, but if not t
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