My favourite books on running
I like reading about about running. There seems to be a lot of anectodal and misleading stuff on the internet. Articles with catchy titles like “Absolutely everything you need to know about getting faster and leaner in only five minutes explained by the coolest guys ever” are fun to read. There is nothing wrong with that. However, I am coming from an age when we used to read actual books from cover to cover to learn things. Call me old-fashioned.
So, without further ado, here is my favourite books on running in no particular order.
Lore of Running by Tim Noakes. You want to know all about running. You don’t mind reading brick-thick books. Everything from energy mechanisms to origins of interval training to running heroes. The science in the book is perhaps somewhat outdated but it does’t make it any less interesting. Language is very accessible and despite its volume, everything is very readable. Absolute must have. You will also need a lectern.
Daniel’s Running Formula by Jack Daniels. You need to understand the science, if there is such a thing, behind training concepts, programs, tempos, running volumes etc. You are training and results oriented and could not care less about rest. This is your book. Based on his proprietary research, Mr. Daniels explains tempos, training principles, outlines training plans for all kinds of road racing in a very lean book. If you are self-coached like me, I think this book is indispensable. There is also the Run Smart Project, also by Jack Daniels, if you are inclined to pay for advice. I first heard about this book in www.fellrnr.com. There used to be a VDOT calculator on Fellrnr site which was very useful, until it was removed on Jack Daniels’s request. This pissed me off quite a lot back then. Anyhow, lets render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. The book is very informative and useful.
What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami: Extraordinary writer, ordinary runner, Murakami is responsible for my best running memoir book. Unpretentious, honest, humble. These days it is rare thing to find a writer with a normal ego. This guy does not need any more fame, perhaps this is why he affords to be that honest and direct. Not too philosophical, not too simplistic. Perhaps the most recommended/read book on running.
Running and Being by Dr. George Sheean This is indeed a “timeless classic”- honest and unpretentious to the core. To the younger runner, the book might smell a bit cheesy, slow and repetitious. But those of us on the wrong side of forty will feel that the late Dr. Sheenan is a only brutally honest. Now and then I bump into a book that I wish I’ve read 30 years earlier. I can’t believe how it took so long to discover Dr. Sheenan. Don’t be like me.
Running and Being is that it is not only about running. It is a popular philosophy book using the sport as a facade. The second issue here is Dr. Sheenan loves running so religiously he sounds like a prophet. I don’t think running is the solution to all lives problems. I don’t believe there is a deeper meaning to our sport. I don’t find myself full of tears after a marathon. To me, running is fun. It is a forgivable addiction for those who can afford the time. That is enough. That should be enough- there is more to life than just running. But Dr. Sheenan is different. Running is simply everything to him. I have never read anything that obsessively devoted yet still beautiful book about running.
He runs because he has to. Because in being a runner, in moving through pain and fatigue and suffering, in imposing stress upon stress, in eliminating all but the necessities of life, he is fulfilling himself and becoming the person he is”
From “Running and Being”
