The bible of running. Read it, run better. ( )

This book delivers exactly what it promises. It is the running encyclopedia. Galloway’s approach can be a little slow initially, especially when you see that if you haven’t run at all, he starts you with running for 10 minutes at a time. It seems a little slow. However, based on my experiences trying to run with the Marathon Team in college, I can appreciate a little slow. You see, I tried to go from someone who never ran, to someone who ran 10 miles in a matter of about eight weeks. It doesn’t work. We did a ten mile run one Saturday morning, and I spent all of Sunday in bed with an ice pack on my knee, trying to strategize bathroom and kitchen trips.

Generally, this book is amazing. Galloway takes a very zen approach to running, and his main mantra is that you will perform better if you don’t over-stress your body. Everyone who runs points at this book when they hear about friends who are starting to run, and there is a reason for that. If you want to be intense, it can help push you (in fact, I’m tempted to send it to the Second Lieutenant to see what he thinks, since he ran a marathon with no training whatsoever and described it as the worst 4 ½ hours of his life). If you’re a beginner like me, the basic advice is just to get out there for a half an hour or less a few times a week. The rest of the book will be there once you’ve established your identity as a jogger. Galloway does recommend that you get a heart monitor of some kind (like those sports watches) because heart rate is a good indicator of stress and how hard you should push yourself. I think that’s a good idea, but I’m also a little afraid of what the heart monitor would tell me: I know that I’m an over-caffeinated, stressed out law student. But thanks watch!
Rating: 4 stars (Seems solid and amazing, especially for the “start small” approach. But some of the fitness advice does read like a 1970’s workout video. I refuse to believe stretching is bad for me). ( )

This book is now in it's second edition and one of the most widely distributed books on the subject of running. This is a comprehensive book covering, history, physiology, training, motivation, racing, nutrition, injuries, equipment and more. Jeff's approach to running could be characterized as being on the conservative side. What I mean by that, is his main focus is to get people out exercising for health. This isn't a book for someone focused on pushing their body to the edge of physical endurance. In order to exercise for health you don't need to kill yourself training. For example his book strongly advocates taking planned walk breaks, during training and while racing. Jeff calls this, "Galloway's Run Walk Run" method. This doesn't mean one has to give up on achieving speed goals. In fact he provides in the book anecdotal evidence that many people have increased there race times by switching to his running method. I think this is a great book to help those who want to start running for the first time, or those who are starting back up after an extended layoff. Jeff's method will also help you keep, Running Until You're 100, the title to one of his other books. One nagging feeling I did have while reading the book, is the lack of research based citations. When someone says, "research has shown," I like to see what research. I'm not 100% sold on everything that is said in this book, but I'm rarely 100% sold on anything. At any rate, I enjoyed this book and felt I gained a more comprehensive view of the issues with which a runner is faced. ( )