Runner's World Complete Book of Running

by Amby Burfoot

The sport of running is ever-changing, be it the shoes we wear or the goals we set, the training methods we use or the role models we emulate. But there is one for decades, Runner's World has been recognized worldwide as the most reliable and authoritative source of running knowledge. And the Runner's World Complete Book of Running has been the classic book of choice for runners looking to run better, longer, and faster. Inside, all the secrets of running are laid bare. Need to know the best ways to start a running program? You'll find it. Looking for tips on buying and preserving your running shoes? It's in there. From a complete look at running injuries to the benefits of sports drinks vs. water to the best way to increase your endurance and train for a marathon, look no further than the Runner's World Complete Book of Running. Contents A sure-fire plan for beginners to get "hooked" on running 15 surprising foods to boost your running performance Tips for triathletes to maximize your training efficiency 11 rules to run a great marathon A woman's encyclopedia of running How to incorporate speedwork into your training How to think like a champion How to taper your eating, and your training, before a race Whether you are a beginner or veteran runner, here is the advice—both timeless and cutting-edge—guaranteed to maximize your performance and your running pleasure.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fitness, Sports, Health, Reference, Self Help, Bodies

312 pages, Hardcover

Reviews

[Patrice Sartor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Like other reviewers have noted, this is a compilation of specific articles from Runner's World magazine. I poked around briefly on their web site to see if I could find the exact articles, and I was mostly unsuccessful. It seems if I am willing to pay $20+, that I could get one training plan to help my particular running goals.

Back to the book. There is indeed a wealth of information for runners here, with sections on nutrition, cross-training, and both the half-marathon and the marathon. I appreciated the section on women as well as the brief beginner's part, though I wish both of those were longer. I did not know about another book until after I finished this one, but perhaps I would have been happier with: [Runner's World Complete Book of Beginning Running].

I've only been running for a few months. I'm slow, which means that most of the advice here is not targeted for me. There were suggestions on what to do to run a, say, 7 minute mile...but what about a TEN minute mile? That's my goal! I will never be super fast, or maybe even just plain fast. I'm also small, so none of the calorie and food parts resonated with me. Basically, though I recognize the wealth of information that's collected here, by the end I felt like a big slow running loser compared to the people I was reading about, and their goals and such.

I'll come back to this one when I am more...intermediate. :)

[Marc Lamot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rather strongly focused on avid runners, especially for marathon preparation. Missing: warming up and stretching exercises.

[raccoon reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the pictures in the edition I read (I'm assuming there are/were newer editions) were laughably dated, but the info is still good. I'd recommend this for anyone who's new to running and still learning the hows and whats.

[SLADE · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this I tried a couple of tips and went from not being able to run over 2 minutes straight to jogging 50 minutes on a treadmill and nearly an entire street mile without stopping. I'm a novice runner, but I found the advice in this book to be most useful already.

[John Maurer · Rating 4 out of 5]

All things running! This really was a tremendous book and includes many tips and advice being a runner as well as a triathlete. I’m positive I’ll be checking back and looking at certain sections again when I get closer to my races in the year. That being said, I’m giving it 4 stars due to two reasons:

1) Stretching Exercises. The book does mention stretching quite a bit but gives no examples of exercises to do pre-run OR post-run. There are stretches for injuries but that’s it.

2) Say Good-bye to Meat. Seriously? A whole chapter dedicated to convincing the reader to become a vegetarian?! Everyone is different. Every runner is different. While I can see the benefits of a vegetarian diet for a runner, there are also benefits of eating meat or a well-balanced diet for a runner. This chapter REALLY turned me off.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un livre vraiment complet ! De la motivation à courir jusqu’au triathlon, tout y est. Par contre, ce livre est construit à partir des différentes chroniques publiées dans le magazine Runner’s World et comme j’y étais abonnée pendant plusieurs années, il y avait beaucoup de « déjà vu ». Un excellent ouvrage. Une bible pour l’amateur de course à pied.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of subjective and very specific info from pros that may confuse a beginner into thinking they need to follow the suggestions exactly.

But also lots of basic info that would bore a more advanced runner.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overall running book, lots of good info.

[Mtanos Awwad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is literally The Complete Book Of Running.

[Hannah]

I should have looked more carefully at the copyright date, because "revised and updated" is relative and also just a lie, because nobody looked carefully at the editing of this (lots of "see page xx" instead of actual page numbers or links [I read the ebook], repeated passages since it's just a compendium of magazine articles, and stuff that was still dated in 2009, like "cellular phone" and "put a video in the VCR"). Some useful stuff here for sure, just also a lot of fatphobic shit and also it's 2009 so nobody cares about people of color or class. I thought it would be a better option than getting paywalled on the magazine's website, but I think I should have gone that route and just read newer articles with real science and more diversity instead.

[Rio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skimmed this book because it’s more of the “take what you need when you need it” kind.

Includes a whole chapter on the dangers of running for women as it relates to assault. Talks about clothing choices and the good/bad attention it brings. “There’s no need to pass up a run or a race just because you’re having your period. Trying wearing two tampons”. Refers to doctors as he/him in the sections about injuries. Includes incredibly subjective information. I could go on for hours. There are many other running articles/books I’d recommend before ever suggesting this one.

[Khắc Tuấn · Rating 5 out of 5]

great knowledge

[John Chancey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of essays about running for beginners and experts. This book gave me a lot to think about as I develop my passion for running. I feel more inspired that I can be a serious runner.

[William Schram · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title suggests, this book is your go-to guide for running information from 2004 or so. Not that many things have changed in running since then, or at least I assume so. There are a few things I didn't like about it, yet it wasn't all bad.

First off, there are plenty of photographs of people running and looking fit and happy. That's the sort of thing you want from your fitness magazines or books. There was advice that was rather spurious and some of it was rather preachy. Take vegetarianism for instance; I will never become a vegetarian. I know it works for people, but I like meat too much. I already have a dietary restriction due to having celiac, so don't tell me that meat is out of my diet now too. I don't care about your ethical ideals. Animals exist, many exist just for our consumption, thus we should eat them. That is my ethics on eating meat. What other point does a cow even have? Perhaps I am being close-minded.

Since the book is on running in general, it realizes that women run too. Therefore, there is an entire section on women in running that I skipped since I don't need to know how to choose a sports bra.

It does tell you how to prepare for marathons and how to carbo load and the other nutritional information. If you are thinking of taking up running for any reason, this book is pretty good for that.

[TalviLinna]

A very useful book (which possibly saved my Achilles tendons!) BUT some of the info may be out of date. When one of the articles said to carry change in case you need to use a pay phone (!) I checked the publication year of the book: 2009! (Although even in 2009 pay phones would have been an endangered species. I remember having trouble finding one when my cell phone died in 2008.) Of course, a lot of basic running advice never changes, but some of the specifics may be outdated. I will credit this book with a few things though: It may have saved my Achilles tendons because I just happened to read the section on injuries at just the right time. It also kept me motivated about running when I was sitting around waiting for my Achilles to heal. Aaaand now I'm thinking I might want to run a marathon, which is something I never thought possible before, but the training plans in this book make it sound actually doable. Actually, there was enough good advice and info for the marathon in particular that I might want to buy the book- just, hopefully there's a more recent edition.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good like Runner's World is good. It's a loose collection about articles that garnered the most interest after being published in Runner's World over the years. That said, there is advice in here that contradicts itself one way or another and some of the information is a bit disjointed since it wasn't written as a single volume, but written by a collective of writers for the magazine and then one editor that pulled it all together and slapped a summary on the end of each section/article. If you've ever read Runner's World, you've probably read most of this advice already. If you haven't, but read about running, you've also probably read most of this already. But it's worth a review if only for some different perspective. I read this while training for a marathon. I already knew what I was doing and what advice I was following, but it was nice to hear my plan was reasonable once again. Especially while I was doing my training runs :)

[Vinay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to run. It has valuable information for beginners and intermediate runners. Advanced runners might find it very basic, but it can be a refresher course on the fundamentals of running.

New things I learnt: Yasso 800s, 4 components of endurance training, Pick-up game, 3-1 plan, Aikido, Breakthrough, Ideal Pace Table

Some of the good chapters are: Ideal Paces, The Big Five (injury knowledge and prevention), Need for Speed, Mysterious Breakthrough, Masters of Efficiency,

Special mention: There is an entire section dedicated for women runners. It definitely spoke to some of the challenges the opposite sex might face during training and recreational running.

ProTip: Consider this book as a part of your reading material (theory) complementing your marathon/half-marathon training (practical)

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has articals helpful to runners with useful advice. Interesting information. I imagine that many things the book talked about may be need to be updated by newer reasearch that has since come out. If I was going to read only one of the three books. I would choose one of the other two. But I can't decide from the other two because I like the charts in the book for beginning marathoners for the stories advice and training charts, the 1/2 and full marathon books I like for the two types of training charts and some of the additonal advice the other book did not have. I would have still read both at the same time personally I think and used whatever I liked best of the charts and advice.

[Marnae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to run! But after being side lined for most of this past year with one injury or another I have decided that it is time to get it figured out and fix it. My husband bought me this book for my birthday (because I wouldn't spend $40.00 on a book/shipping myself). It has full color pictures on every page and is beautiful, but the reason I wanted it is to figure out what I am doing wrong and fix it so I can run forever. After reading the first chapter I have decided to start completely over and "listen" to my body. I am going to do a lot of experimenting as I make my way through this book....so, my friends, if you see me "crawling up" hills and "walking down" hills, riding my bike or just simply not out there, you will know I'm listening.

[Rachel Smalter Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kind of disjointed and poorly edited (several images and page numbers are straight-up missing!), and it felt like a half-hearted attempt to throw together unused copy from the cutting floor of Runner's World. I think its structure of bite-sized chunks, which was probably meant to make it more accessible to people on-the-go, actually works against it. The book did open up my eyes to some of the more elite training methods, though, like intervals, tempo runs, Fartlek, etc., and I found a couple new core-strengthening exercises to try. You won't learn anything in-depth from this book, but it does offer an OK introduction to concepts that intermediate runners might choose to explore further.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a collection of articles from Runner's World and less of a real book. Organized in the right order to take you from baby steps, to complete marathon training programs.

Still, it covers all the basics. From mind set, to training dos and don'ts. Nutrition, cross training, stretching...

Very recommended to the novice runner, although it can be a bit repetitive sometimes.

You can read the book from beginning to end, and gain a better understanding of running lore and jargon. Or if you already know what you want, it's possible to skip to specifics chapters, without missing anything relevant.

For me, it will be a frequently used book and a good reference to running.

[Nikki Soulsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, the amazon reviews were bad! But I really liked this book. It's not 5 star material, but for sure earns a solid 4 star rating. This is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a book that would just tell me EVERYTHING about running. Yes, I have read a ton of other articles and books on the subject but I love getting immersed in the nitty gritty. I learned so many new things and feel like I can confidently train for any distance. Now, I will say that the nutrition advice in this book is SUPER dated... Don't listen to most of it. Carb loading is passe. Just say "no" y'all. But, the running advice is good. If you are up for just reading and reading about running this is your book.

[Lokman · Rating 4 out of 5]

bought this at BBW2012 for just rm12,an extremely marginal small price for such a helpful & driving read especially for a beginner like i am. covers the most important basics, and many inspiring anecdotes & time-tested technical tips in training effectively and running wisely. just the kind of book that gets you attached into the subject and then digs other infos about it from other resources out of pure passion.
running is beautiful & i'm so gonna get myself into this pleasure.
2013 - is the year where i started running smartly.

[Alicia Impink · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's OK. Main complaints about it are its section on "women's running" or as I call it "running" ....don't advise women to use two tampons simultaneously!! That's such terrible advice, I literally yelled at the book. Also I will run alone despite being a woman because no one is telling men not to run alone because they might get attacked. Not once does this book advise men to be cautious about anything more then tripping on the sidewalk while running but there are multiple lists of things I, as a female, should and shouldn't do while doing the same activity. Sorry, no.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This well presented book is not much more than a collection of articles from the Runner's World magazines.

The chapters seem randomly ordered - covering what will be less interesting to most readers early on, for example, I think nutrition was chapter 2. The book also ended very abruptly without any kind of wrap up or closing message.

Overall, an OK book with some good content but it's clearly "just" a rehashed set of magazine articles.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this this past summer as I was getting ready to run. It had some helpful things in it. It is made up of articles from Running World magazine (which is a great mag). It has many helpful training tips from beginner(me) to more advanced (not me). However, I found it annoying that it didn't seem to list the individual authors of sections (other than Amby Burfoot's opining at the end of the chapter). So while I found it helpful, I think it could have been edited and published

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is just beginning to seriously train, this book is such a valuable resource! Some parts were mildly repetitive, although I found it useful to see what the most common themes of running were from experienced runners. I really appreciate the information given to develop a running program, marathon training, and circuit training information. I found this book to be incredibly helpful for me, and I'll be keeping it for quite a while.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice compilation of good basic information on running. Some articles were more interesting than others. If I had bought it I would have been more likely to cherry pick the ones that currently interest me rather than readings straight through. The articles specifically about Hal Higdon's marathon training truths and the 3x a week running workout (FIRST) will definitely inform my half marathon training plan...I will be rereading those articles before returning to the library.

[Andreas Michaelides · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favourites because its a practical guide on how to make a training program, has numerous and helpful training schedules and it's one of the few books I always come back and read it again and again and especially when I am designing a new running training program.
A must have book for anyone that says he/she is a runner.
Runner'sworld publication are always on my top list of books, they combine quality and practicality two virtues I love in books as running is concern.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really solid book that takes a lot of the best from Runner's World magazine and puts it all into one book. I've been running for years but I found it was a good way to remind myself of little things that I've had a tendency to forget over time. It's organized in such a way that you can find things when you need quick. It's a good reference book but it's also a quick read.