101 Simple Ways to be a Better Runner

by Jason Fitzgerald

Have you ever wanted to race faster, feel better, recover quickly, and prevent injuries?Of course - and more. This isn't just another running book.101 Simple Ways to be a Better Runner boils down the best training advice from the worlds of coaching and science to give you actionable strategies to become stronger, faster, and more resilient.It's divided into five main Workouts, Races, and Performance (like why you need randomness and heavy weights)- Running Gear (what's essential - and what's crap)- The Runner's Diet (small tweaks you can make today to get more from your food)- Recovery and Injury Prevention (how fast could you be if you rarely or never got hurt?)- Motivation and Random Training Tips (how most runners run longer in their races - and more)And that's just a glimpse of all 100+ lessons you'll learn (in less than 2 minutes each).Written by Jason Fitzgreald, a 2:39 marathoner and the creator of StrengthRunning.com, 101 Simple Ways to be a Better Runner is a practical, actionable guide to helping you reach your running goals. If you want to run a fast 5k, finish your first marathon, or just lose weight and stay in shape - this book is for you.You don't need the most expensive running gear or better genetics. You need simple training tweaks that give you "small wins" to keep you motivated.That's exactly what this book delivers.

Genres: Nonfiction

45 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2012

About the author

Jason Fitzgerald is a 2:39 marathoner, USATF-certified coach, and author of 101 Simple Ways to be a Better Runner.

His coaching website, Strength Running, helps over 200,000 runners a month train smarter and race faster.

Reviews

[Kate Prunty · Rating 5 out of 5]

great tips! I think they're (the advice/facts) all accurate and valid.🙄😅

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much exactly what it says on the cover. This is a quick tour through 101 (no, actually 102) training tips, pointers and things to try to improve your running. Whether it's different types of runs – hills, sprints, etc. – or ways to improve your running form. Some of them are painfully obvious to anybody who's ever read a running magazine, others are – while not exactly repetitious as other reviewers have suggested – certainly variations on a theme. But, you're getting a bonus 102 suggestions, so it seems churlish to complain too much.

In fact, for only 77p (it was on sale) it seems churlish to complain about anything in this. Some of the tips are genuinely useful. The only real complaint is that the format itself means that there's limited space to explore many of the suggestions further. For example, one suggestion is to keep a training log – but there's no real indication of what to log and how to use it; another is to manage a variety of a paces – but with no explanation as to what paces to aim for and how to ensure you're running them.

It is what it is: a good summary of much of the tips and pointers than Jason expounds on his blog and in his other (longer) books and coaching advice. If you want a handy ebook reminder of those, this is that.

[Amit Saurav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some neat tips to improve your running performance. However, I found the book to be extremely repetitive. It seems like the author badly wanted to get to the number "101" and so he split the same tips into multiple ones just to get his count to be 101. For example, tip #97 says that have a buddy system during training, which means that its great to run with a buddy for various reasons, and thereafter tip #102 says that get a running partner, which I felt was the same thing really.

There are multiple such examples all over the book where the same idea has been broken down into several tips, like minimal running, core training in the gym, etc. Overall, I learnt quite a bit from this book but I felt that the ideas were painfully stretched and if you read it, you would feel that approximately half of the book is just repetitions.

[Corvid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some decent advice in a very quick format. The book serves mostly as marketing for the author's other material. It's cheap and if there are multiple runners in the family it might be worth it for a small kernel of wisdom that you might have missed in your other readings on the subject.

[Rodd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Make sure you have hours and hours of time to read the endless gibberish in Jason's e-books. This program is a complete waste of time. It takes hours just to figure out what you're supposed to read in his program. There's no search options, there's no way to take notes or any efficient way to follow his so-called program. All of it, btw, is just copied from other free sources. Save your money and just search for what you need on Youtube and you'll get much better advice for free. WARNING - if you're foolish enough to pay him, there's no return policy and he'll fight you and your credit card company to make it very difficult for you to get your money back. This guy is just a con-man that tricks runners to pay him because they got injured.

[Ryan Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet, these tips range from highly specific variations on runs and technique to peripherals like dietary considerations and scheduling. The short format provides a rapid fire coverage that ensures any deficiencies in the text don't get the chance to overstay their welcome (e.g. uneven coverage and inconsistent depth).

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic tips!

Such great information. I started following the warm up routine instead of stretching and have found I run easier. I've also incorporated hills as was recommended, getting over my fear of them.

[Ajay Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for a new bee

Must read if you are planning your very first marathon. Race is important for you, small steps will add more into it. Mine starts just 5 days from now, glad I read it.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just ok

It was pretty dry. Short sweet and to the point. Tended to give ideas that were incomplete such as ‘eat healthy and track macros’ but it didn’t give you an idea as to how your macros would break down. Probably because they wanted the book to be EXTREMELY generalized.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. This book perpetuates some common myths that science has refuted. It has some good reminders in it, but honestly, it’s pretty gimmicky. I’ll have to consult my fave running coach to provide an alternative to this book, but in the meantime, save your pennies/time and give this book a pass.

[Jason Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in Kindle. Good tips for new runners.

[cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. Good tips. I enjoyed it.

[John Floro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick and Efficient!

All good advice here. Worth the short download and read. Thanks for putting this gem together for all of us Jason!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Nice tips to improve your running, easy and quick to read and easy tips to implement in your life. I enjoyed it

[Diana Isaura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good this, a bit repetitive and sometimes contradicts information.

[Jofrin Pezzati · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cool little underrated Kindle book. It was a quick and easy read. It is free to read with KindleUnlimited https://amzn.to/3ropd9D and it enjoyed it more than most offerings.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing earth shattering but it’s a nice compilation of good tips.

[Derek Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Short And To The Point!

This was a highly informative read with no filler. I truly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to any serious runner looking for ways to improve.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This is a great read for any beginner or anyone looking to get back to running. Provides some great information.

[Sarah Earnheart · Rating 5 out of 5]

short and sweet

This book gets right to the point with tons of great information! I will be using it throughout my training from now on.

[eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generic but useful advice. Straightforward and to the point

[Steven Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, quick read with reminders of things to focus upon. I like that the author likes treadmills.

[Rachele Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read on some basic good running principles

Nothing too deep, but a lot of good stuff. Great read for a newbie, and good summary for an experienced runner.

[Remo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Más que libro es un opúsculo que trae un montón de consejos (algunos repetidos, o el autor es muy despistado o ha hecho trampijillas para llegar a los 101) relacionados con todos los aspectos de lo que ahora llaman running y que antes se llamaba footing o jogging. Yo, que a mis 40 años me considero una víctima inocente de este deporte, voy a correr una maratón en noviembre (después de 25 años fumando y gordo, dejé de fumar hace exactamente un año y mi peso va camino de ser normal aunque aún me sobra lorza). Por ello, toda información es poca acerca de la que se me viene encima. Llámenlo la crisis de los 40, pero correr 10 km a 5 el minuto es una sensación liberadora después de tanto tiempo criando panza.

Hablando del libro en sí, psché. Tiene cosas interesantes pero otras son entre magufas e increíbles (subir cuestas en carrera mejora la eficiencia neuromuscular. ¿Lo qué?). Otras están muy bien, como que un día solo de cuestas es muy aburrido, que es mejor e incluso recomendable hacer un recorrido ondulado antes que liarse a subir y bajar la misma rampa. ¡Y los sprints! División de opiniones, vaya, sobre un librito que en conjunto es aceptable, creo yo.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some helpful tips, but the 102 tips were more like 75. I'm not saying that the should have been shorter (it's very short as-is), but that some tips are broken out too granularly and are redundant.

A great deal of this book deals with non-technique-related tips, such as diet, sleep, and such. These sections were not as interesting to me, but I did still get a bit from them.

Overall, this was a helpful, if not perfect, little read for a beginner runner such as myself.

[Corryn W · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5) Many helpful tips on running and fitness. Some tips were a bit repetitive, but it was a quick read. I wanted to learn more about improving running mechanics which this book was sort of helpful on. A good starting place for sure.

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read list style pointers to better yourself as a runner.

[Radina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I really enjoyed reading it!