Joan Samuelson's Running for Women

by Joan Benoit Samuelson, Gloria Averbuch

America's most successful woman runner explains the training techniques that have made her a champion. In addition to race tips and specific nutritional guidance, Joan also offers women runners advice on balancing running with job and family.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping this book wouldn't be too out-of-date even though it was published in 1995, I think, since there weren't many options at the library. Well, it IS. She is a great runner, I'm sure, but she has had more injuries than average due to overtraining, and though she uses that as a warning, you can tell she doesn't really do what she's supposed to. And she talks about how she had to wear mens shoes because they didn't have good running shoes for women. She spent a lot of time telling her own personal running preferences (10-20 miles in the morning then her hours in the afternoon training) and her own average times, etc. It would be fine if it was meant to inspire, it wasn't exactly bragging, but it seemed more appropriate for a Joan Samuelson memoir than a Running for Women handbook. She didn't run with a bra and she doesn't talk much about any mechanics of running as a woman that might be different than a man, the main womanly info was how she ran a marathon on the first day of her period and just pinned an extra tampon inside her running clothes. This book had a few helpful bits of advice, but I'm sure that's only because it's the first running book I've ever read. I've just started on another (Running for Mortals) and it's MUCH more helpful as an instruction book, even for women! I'm still waiting to get my Chi Running book from Amazon.

[Amalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admire Joan Benoit Samuelson a lot and have enjoyed several other memoirs from women marathoners in that era. the JBS memoir content in this book is great, but at this point the sports science is completely out of date. It would be a better choice to read a modern running book for the training content and her memoir proper for everything else.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book while preparing for a race against the clock in a 5K. I think this book is written more for women who run more seriously than I do, though I'm not a TOTAL pansy. I probably run about 8-10 miles a week and enjoy doing so. Her suggestions were mostly helpful, and I was most interested in the parts about mental motivation and fortitude, as that seems to be where I struggle a lot. Some of it was just laughable though; Joan is so much an expert at running that she isn't really in touch with the average person and their abilities (or inabilities). My favorite part of the book, one which had me laughing heartily, was, "After all, no one worries about whether or not they will finish a mile." Ha ha! I bet half the people I know would be daunted by the proposition of running a mile. Occasionally on an off-day even I think, "Okay, I'm not going to make it a mile!" But, take all of that with a grain of salt and glean what you can from this very easy-to-read book. It was worth my time!

[Manda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book thinking that it would give me greater insights into how to train for races, but as it turns out it is a very basic primer on running. Much of the material was information that I already knew.

One helpful part of this book was that it discussed eating habits, exercises for form, and also running while pregnant (not that this pertains to me). If any of these concerns relate to you, Ms. Samuelson's book may be more relevant to you.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

"It was okay," is the rating I chose for this book. Maybe if I was a runner myself, instead of only peeking into the world of running, I would have enjoyed it more. It had some good insights for what worked for Joan Benoit Samuelson, but not a lot that really applied to an average person like me. I ended up just skimming through it.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was some good information in here and some good thoughts on training routines that I will use. Obviously, it's a little outdated, but was still helpful in some areas. Grazed over other areas that should have just been ignored.