Run Strong [Paperback]

Kevin Beck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

Run faster and longer with less effort than ever before! Putting in the miles is only one part of the training equation. You can become a much stronger overall runner by improving leg turnover, efficiency, body alignment, muscle balance, and running-specific muscle strength, and by finding your most effective range of motion.

Expert coaches and runners show you how to assess what you need and implement these training methods into your current program. And if you're returning from injury, you can bounce back stronger and faster than ever before.

Make your base miles pay off by improving your efficiency and economy. With Run Strong you'll maximize your current fitness level and see results at the very next race!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"""""Run Strong "is unlike anything else on the running shelf for improving performance. This book shows runners how to train to become faster, stronger, and more efficient."""
Keith Dowling
2003 USA World Championship Marathon team member
Top American finisher of 2002 Boston Marathon
"""The varied topics in" Run Strong," ranging from training principles to nutritional advice to prerace strategies, are thoroughly explored but easily digested. Beck has done an exemplary job of assembling the ideas and wisdom of experienced and esteemed authors."""
Ellen O'Neil
Head cross country coach, Smith College
"""Comprehensive and entertaining, this book unlocks the secrets to running your personal best!"""
Daniel Browne
2004 US Olympic team member, 2002 USA Marathon champion
"

Review

"

""Run Strong is unlike anything else on the running shelf for improving performance. This book shows runners how to train to become faster, stronger, and more efficient.""
Keith Dowling
2003 USA World Championship Marathon team member
Top American finisher of 2002 Boston Marathon

""The varied topics in Run Strong, ranging from training principles to nutritional advice to prerace strategies, are thoroughly explored but easily digested. Beck has done an exemplary job of assembling the ideas and wisdom of experienced and esteemed authors.""
Ellen O'Neil
Head cross country coach, Smith College

""Comprehensive and entertaining, this book unlocks the secrets to running your personal best!""
Daniel Browne
2004 US Olympic team member, 2002 USA Marathon champion

"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics; 1 edition (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073605362X
• ISBN-13: 978-0736053624
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #567,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's All Here, May 23, 2005

By 

F. Diane Palmason (Blaine, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Run Strong (Paperback)

In Run Strong 13 writers, with expertise and experience as coaches, trainers, exercise physiologists, physical therapists and runners (four Olympians among them) contribute 12 chapters covering all the topics essential to achieving success in middle-and long-distance running.

As a runner who has been competing for over 30 years, and as a certified running coach for 17 of those years, I believe that in order to be the best runner you can be, you should incorporate a number of other factors in your training besides running farther and faster. Once you understand the importance of efficient running mechanics, both for injury prevention and enhanced performance (well presented by several of the authors), you are prepared to include the activities that lead to the neuromuscular coordination that good form requires: core-strength; running-specific strength; balance; and dynamic flexibility through the full running range of motion. You are willing to learn as much as you can about fueling your body, allowing it ro recover from training and racing, and maintaining it should injury or illness strike.

Run Strong covers all of these essentials, and does so in manner easily accessible to the non-scientist. It includes a generous supply of photos illustrating key strength and stretch moves, tables summarizing recommendations, and sidebars adding interesting highlights. The editor has done a good job of cross-referencing chapters when the authors mention areas covered in another chapter. And yet the chapters can stand alone, so that the busy runner/reader can pick one topic here, another there, and come away with useful suggestions to be tried in the next workout or program design.

As a long-time coach, I have many how-to running books on my shelves, not to mention all the running fiction, biographies, autobiographies and combinations thereof. Run Strong will definitely find a place on the shelf nearest my workplace.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read the chapters - pick and choose what you think is important, February 1, 2006

By 

M. Eichenlaub - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Run Strong (Paperback)

This is not a traditional training book like Daniels or Coe and Martin, nor is it one of the scores of "Explain Everything About Running to the Beginner" books out there. Instead, it focuses on the aspects of training with which even experienced runners may be unfamiliar. For example, it discusses lifting weights, stretching, dietary concerns, etc. in addition to topics directly related to running such as peaking for a race, improving leg speed, addressing long-term aerobic development, multi-pace training, etc.

This is a valuable book because even if you know a lot about running, you will probably find something new in here. Keep in mind what many of the authors say must be taken with a grain of salt. The jury is still out on whether lower-body exercises and form drills will make you a better distance runner, for example. If you tried to do all the supplementary training discussed in this book, you would probably be working out three hours a day at least. You'll have to try different things and decide for yourself if they are helping your running or just wasting your time and energy. But hey, if you're like most serious runners, you're willing to try almost anything if it will keep you healthy and make you faster. So check the book out for yourself.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handy Manual for Runners of All Levels, May 19, 2006

By 

Nelson Aspen "Author/Journalist" (Los Angeles & NYC, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Run Strong (Paperback)

Regardless of your running level, this concise collection of essays addresses many issues and will surely provide useful information and inspiration from which the runner can pick and choose. Interesting and informative, it will reinforce or realign your current regimen with clarity and effective advice.