Runner's World Complete Book of Running: Everything You Need to Know to Run for Fun, Fitness, and Competition [Hardcover]

Amby Burfoot (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997 | Series: Runners World

A guide to running starts with the basics, nutrition, training, and avoiding injury and then broadens its scope to encompass such topics as women's running, cross training, and the mental side of running. 25,000 first printing."

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With all the books on running available, deciding which one to buy is not easy. Look no further; the subtitle says it all. Runner's World magazine's executive editor Burfoot had two objectives when producing this book: to gather the best advice possible and to present the information in a user-friendly manner. Burfoot definitely succeeds in producing an up-to-date, useful guide for running enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. Every aspect of the sport is covered, from nutrition, injuries, and women's running to speed/endurance, cross-training, mental preparation, and the marathon. Complete with photos, index, and detailed table of contents, this study is a worthy purchase for all public libraries.?Larry Robert Little, Penticton P.L., B.C.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

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 constant: For 30 years, Runner's World magazine has been recognized worldwide as the leading authority on running. Now, the collective wisdom of some of the most savvy running writers and editors can be found in one book. Whether you are a beginner or veteran runner, here is advice-- both timeless and cutting edge-- guaranteed to maximize your performance and pleasure.

In-depth coverage of training and racing, including:
* A surefire plan for beginners to get "hooked" on running
* 15 surprising foods to boost your running performance
* A program to double your endurance
* Nearly 20 running ailments and how to self-treat them
* A proven method to achieve a breakthrough
* Top 25 training advances over the past 30 years
* Tips from triathletes to maximize your training efficiency
* 11 rules to run a great marathon
* A woman's encyclopedia of running
* The big-five running injuries and how to prevent them
* How to incorporate speedwork into your training
* How to think like a champion
* How to taper your eating, and your training, before a race

Valuable advice from world-class runners, coaches, and doctors:
* Joan Samuelson, 1984 Olympic Marathon gold medalist
* Mark Allen, six-time Hawaii Ironman triathlon champion
* Jeff Galloway, U.S. Olympian and best-selling author
* Joe Ellis, D.P.M., author of Running Injury-Free
* Bob Kempainen, 1992 U.S. Olympic Marathoner
* Doug Kurtis, who has run 60 marathons under 2:20

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Press (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875963544
• ISBN-13: 978-0875963549
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Amby Burfoot is the 1968 Boston Marathon winner, and a long-time editor (since 1978) at Runner's World magazine. Burfoot has run approximately 103,000 miles in his life, and has finished the Manchester (CT) Thanksgiving Day road race every year since 1963 (48 straight years through 2010). He also continues to run Boston on every fifth-year anniversary of his win, with his next scheduled Boston race in 2013, and has twice completed the 54-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa. These days, at age 64 and counting, Burfoot continues running about 25 miles a week for health and fitness, and races just a handful of times each year. He's married to Cristina, a fellow writer/editor, and has two grown children, Daniel, a Ph.D. in robotics, and Laura, a community organizer in New London, CT. He feels extremely lucky to be one of those fortunate few who have been able to combine their passion with their profession.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This book is basically a hodgepodge of collected articles., September 14, 2004

By 

PaulB "pbanik" (Saskatoon, SK Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Runner's World(r) Complete Book of Running (Hardcover)

Despite what the title and subtitle suggests, this doesn't

provide everything you need to run for fun, fitness and

competition. While it probably a 3 1/2 *** to 4**** book,

in terms of content, there are more comprehensive books

on the subject of running. This is a good book for getting

a base understanding of running, and it only offers

training programs for one type of road race, namely the

marathon. If you want something that covers training for

shorter races, forget it. That doesn't mean the book is a

total loss for those who purchase it. If you are looking

for a tome on the sport, look no further than Dr. Timothy

Noakes' Lore of Running, which is nearly 1000 pages of

information from a physician who is also a runner. It

doesn't discuss specific training exercises with regards

to weights like other running books, or it doesn't even

mention which exercises to do in terms of stretching/flexibility, nor is there any mention of

pylometrics, which is used by some competitive runners.

The book is fairly narrow in scope, geared more for

road racers of the marathon persuasion mostly. If you

want to run some track race or cross country race, this

book is probably of somewhat limited value to you. Another

problem is the book is fairly expensive consider the amount

of information is provided in the pages, considering this

is basically a rehash of topics already discussed in

Runners' World, along with other running magazines and

books.

The book is organized as follows:

CONTENTS

Introduction.................................................xi

Part 1. Beginning Running

_______________________________________________________________

1. The First of Many Miles ..............................3

2. On The Road With Oprah ..............................12

3. Step into Good Shoes ................................16

4. Unexpected Pleasures ................................23

Part 2. Nutrition

________________________________________________________________

5. Fueling Up For a Peak Performance.....................31

6. The Lowdown On Fats...................................36

7. For Men Only: 10 Truths...............................42

8. Tomorrow's Beverages Today............................47

9. Say Good-Bye To Meat..................................51

10. Buried Treasures......................................56

Part 3. Injury Prevention

________________________________________________________________

11. The Big Five..........................................63

12. The No-Injuries Running Program.......................75

13. 10 Laws of Healthy Running............................82

14. Self-Treat Your Ailments..............................88

Part 4. Women's Running

________________________________________________________________

15. Advice That Could Save Your Life.....................103

16. A Woman's Encyclopaedia of Running...................111

17. Ask Runner's World...................................120

18. To Care, to Create, to Dream.........................129

Part 5. Building Strength, Endurance and Speed

________________________________________________________________

19. Time-Tested Advice...................................135

20. Ideal Paces..........................................142

21. Stretch Your Limits..................................150

22. The Experts' Training Secrets........................156

23. The Need For Speed...................................163

Part 6. The Mental Side of Running

________________________________________________________________

24. Seven Strategies To Be Your Best.....................173

25. Digging Deep.........................................182

26. Smooth Sailing.......................................191

27. The Mysterious Breakthrough..........................198

Part 7. Cross-Training

________________________________________________________________

28. The Many Doors to Fitness............................209

29. The Great Indoors....................................216

30. Running in Place.....................................222

31. Masters of Efficiency................................229

32. Training the Whole Body..............................234

Part 8. The Marathon

________________________________________________________________

33. Guideposts for a Marathoner..........................245

34. Guaranteed Results...................................261

35. Ease on Down the Road................................264

36. Countdown to the Big Race............................271

37. A Tip for Every Mile.................................280

Credits..................................................289

Index....................................................291

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good info for beginners, but design a bit whimsical & content could use improvement, April 17, 2008

By 

J. McLaughlin (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Runner's World Complete Book of Running: Everything You Need to Run for Fun, Fitness and Competition (Runner's World Complete Books) (Paperback)

As other reviewers have stated, this is a good book for beginning runners. The tone is positive--in the introduction, the author states that she wants to be your cheerleader--and presents a "you can do it!" attitude throughout. One of the book's strengths is its emphasis on starting out gradually if you're a beginning runner. The author is well aware of the pitfalls of beginning runners, one of which is getting discouraged and ultimately abandoning running because of unrealistic expectations. She presents a clear running program that just about anyone should be able to start with. Inspirational stories--including a now-dated piece about Oprah's first marathon--support the idea that pretty much anyone can train to run competitively (or just for fun). Well, at least if they're millionaires who can train for a total of four hours a day.

Also included are the obligatory diet recommendations, including a curious plug for vegetarianism. This is where I think the book starts to lose its focus. I realize that many people reading about running are likely looking to lose weight and incorporate vigorous exercise into a healthier lifestyle, but how many times--and in how many publications--must we read about carbs and fats? We get a brief intro to healthy eating, and then the book jumps into diet choices of runners. The organization of the book suggests that you'll go from novice runner to carbo-loading marathoner in a matter of pages.

I think that the injury section, perhaps incorporated into a larger chapter about running and its effects on various body systems and health generally, could be expanded. How to best deal with shin splints, which affect nearly all beginning runners at some point and to some degree, is barely touched on. Compartment syndrome (which is uncommon, grated) isn't mentioned at all. I think that more could be said about strength training as a complement to running, as well as detailed information about effective stretching and cool-down techniques.

Major content gripe: An entire section in the Women's Running chapter (which constitutes about a quarter of the book, so male readers may want to keep this in mind!) is devoted to avoiding the various ways that you can become a crime victim if you're not careful. It's a tired rehashing of all the "safety and security" stuff that women are exposed to on a regular basis, usually in women's magazines or on freak-out local news reports. A cop's contribution to this section details how to avoid getting pulled into a car and ultimately murdered (his solution: don't get near the car). I'm not advocating a head-in-the-sand approach; any solo runner should be alert, particularly when running in an isolated area. But jeez, do we really need a whole section to remind us to run in well-lit, populated areas? The number of pages given to this subject suggests that you're more likely than not to be the victim of a bad-intentioned male at some point during your runs.

My main problem with the book is its format. It is heavy (literally), with a glossy format consisting of giant margins, big text, and dozens of pointless photos. I understand that the book is attempting to be true to its roots: it is published by Runner's World, after all, and its page design is similar to a magazine. But it's a book and should look like a book. Even though it's paperback, it's printed on heavy stock paper and isn't the type of book you'd toss into a beach or vacation bag. And the vast majority of pictures are completely unnecessary. Page after page of very fit people in 1990s running garb (it appears that the images weren't updated for the 2004 edition) are meant to be inspiring but get really old after the first chapter: three young chicks running on a track, a fit middle-aged guy energetically moving along in front of a sunset backdrop, a forty-something gal lacing up in a park. Most of us know what fit runners look like. Do we need to see full-color photos of them on every other page? In the nutrition section, literally half a page is taken up with the image of a banana and something that looks like oats. In the footwear section, we see generic pictures of white leather running shoes with the laces undone. Zzzz....

I realize that this review is a big negative, so you may be wondering why I've given the book three stars. There is a lot of good information for people new to running, and indeed fitness and nutrition. But I'm glad that I got this book out of the library--I'd be annoyed if I paid good money for this. The Complete Book of Running for Women by Claire Kowalchik, and the old standy, Jim Fixx's The Complete Book of Running, are better choices in my estimation.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Decent, September 9, 2004

By 

Randy Given (Manchester, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Runner's World Complete Book of Running: Everything You Need to Know to Run for Fun, Fitness and Competition (Paperback)

This is a decent book. I nearly gave it four stars (see following), but it does many things well. Some may knock the book because it has few bells and whistles (i.e., gear and gizmos). However, anyone that has run for a long time will tell you most of the same things that this book does.

I was slightly disappointed that all the photos were "eye pleasing". Looks more like a magazine of female models for TV spots than the typical healthy runner. In some ways, I prefer the old style of James Fixx in the original "Complete Book of Running" (not Runner's World).

There are almost no shoes shown, which is the most important of equipment. This is good. What is shown is the proper way to size your shoes and reinforcing that a runner should stick with what works for that runner and not chase after fads.

The nutritional and healthy lifestyle information is excellent. There are things that a more advanced runner may want to see, but this is an excellent start.