leaf_on_the_wind's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
This is such a terrific book, not just for beginning runners, but for anyone who wants to make a healthy change in their life. John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield make a great writing team; they’re friendly, inspiring, and approachable.
The scope of the book is pretty comprehensive; hopefully you read more than one running book in your life, but if not, this makes a solid pick. There’s lots of good technical info about how to start, how to keep going, stretching, recovery, nutrition, cross training, racing, and more, plus generous portions of inspiration and running wisdom from two wonderful humans. It’s not a super advanced book, though, so if you already know how to run you might consider something more advanced like Run Fast by Hal Higdon.
If you’re just looking for a training plan, the book has those too, for levels ranging from total novice to experienced, for both 5K and 10K distances.
As John Bingham likes to say: “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” See you out on the road or trail, friends.
The scope of the book is pretty comprehensive; hopefully you read more than one running book in your life, but if not, this makes a solid pick. There’s lots of good technical info about how to start, how to keep going, stretching, recovery, nutrition, cross training, racing, and more, plus generous portions of inspiration and running wisdom from two wonderful humans. It’s not a super advanced book, though, so if you already know how to run you might consider something more advanced like Run Fast by Hal Higdon.
If you’re just looking for a training plan, the book has those too, for levels ranging from total novice to experienced, for both 5K and 10K distances.
As John Bingham likes to say: “The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” See you out on the road or trail, friends.
bethgiven's review against another edition
3.0
I wish I would have read this book a year ago, when I first started running! This was very readable and high on motivation that I found myself really identifying with. I could especially see myself in the chapter called Living Without Limits: "Our perceptions of our abilities, our looks, and our intellects are really nothing more than tiny bits we've collected and stored over the course of our lives. For most of us, those bits of data are a hodgepodge of other people's opinions and beliefs. We collected them and stored them because we thought they were about us. They weren't. . . . If you've spent your life believing that becoming an athlete was beyond you, then it's time you took a deep look at that belief, where it came from, and whether the validity of that belief makes any sense to you now."
I do feel like the book was just a little bit dated (it's eight years old now, but in those eight years technology has changed a lot), and the chapter on what to wear was intimidating to me even though I've managed to clothe myself prior to running for a year now.
Still, I feel like this book is very accessible to us "mortal" runners and would be a great read for anyone thinking about running -- or walking (there are training plans specifically for walking in the back!).
I do feel like the book was just a little bit dated (it's eight years old now, but in those eight years technology has changed a lot), and the chapter on what to wear was intimidating to me even though I've managed to clothe myself prior to running for a year now.
Still, I feel like this book is very accessible to us "mortal" runners and would be a great read for anyone thinking about running -- or walking (there are training plans specifically for walking in the back!).
aritrow's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I should have read this book BEFORE I started running, because it had a lot of "you can do it! yes YOU can be a runner!". And for a good chunk of the book I was like, ok I get it. It did have some interesting facts about running, some tips and stretches and even workouts to follow. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who are already running but for people who are thinking about running or just started and need encouragement, this book is for you.
taueret's review
3.0
Nice for motivation and validation. Author was old and fat when he started running (as well as carrying a few bad habits even I don't cultivate). He runs terribly, by his own admission, but successfully (over 40 marathons under his belt) to this day for the joy of it. A nice read, but I like Danny Dreyer's ChiRunning better for actual "this is how you run, fatty" instruction.
There are training plans in the back of the book for 5k and 10 k goals, at all current levels of fitness and aspiration (including run-walk intervals). I am currently doing the c25k so haven't looked too closely at these but I am sure they're great, and if I ever manage 5 km I will surely use them for 10km. Really for the price of the kindle editions, I reckon they are both worth having at hand.
There are training plans in the back of the book for 5k and 10 k goals, at all current levels of fitness and aspiration (including run-walk intervals). I am currently doing the c25k so haven't looked too closely at these but I am sure they're great, and if I ever manage 5 km I will surely use them for 10km. Really for the price of the kindle editions, I reckon they are both worth having at hand.
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