Running [Paperback]

John Stanton, a prominent Canadian running expert and successful sports entrepreneur, has written a very helpful guide for the world of recreational running. As a sequel to his earlier book, "Walking", Stanton lays out a number of key essentials and objectives for those of us seriously looking at taking up the sport. What I like about this manual for starters is that it presents all the main components of running in a language that is easy to understand by those new to the activity. Running, in order to be fully appreciated and enjoyed, must be undertaken with respect to proper physical conditioning, nutritional consumption, work-out scheduling, equipment requirements, injury rehabilitation and endurance training. As someone who has successfully completed several marathons, I can attest to the importance of Stanton's detailed program for getting in shape. While running can be enjoyable and fulfilling, it makes certain demands on the human frame that require us to be physically able to handle them. Under each of these headings, Stanton provides a wealth of information in the form of tips on food intake, length of training sessions, injury types and ideal treatments, and successful running styles. Whatever kind of race or distance one wants to run, Stanton has the goods on what it will take for that person to reach their goal. Only by properly taking care of one's body through the adoption of proven training techniques and strategies can a runner begin to feel that he or she is making headway. Remember, this is an athletic pursuit that calls on people to build up various degrees of strength in the lower body, the abdominal area and shoulders. Because Stanton is an accomplished and dedicated runner himself, he is able to identify key moments when one should pour it on or cut back. If one seriously takes up this important lifestyle, be prepared for many hours of investment of one's time. However, the dividends more than make up for it. Everything in this book is practical based on how it tries to get runners to manage their own aspirations.

Excellent guide for beginners to seasoned runners alike.

I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to start running to get fit but needs a little direction.

This is a high quality book in many ways, and helped me to gain an initial understanding of the sport. There are very inspiring messages, and clear illustrations of stretches and exercises that may be helpful to some. Also included are time charts to help you figure out where you should be aiming for mileage and speed, et cetera if you care about that. My take on this book after following it for my first marathon, buying the shoes it (and John's employees) recommended, and then reading many other books and finishing other 21km and 42km distances, is this: The advice presented is in some ways "old school" and does not represent the current inertia of the sport to return to a more natural running form. I had to eventually completely abandon the whole shoe classification system presented and move to minimalist shoes, which this book does not recommend (or even really mention), and which John's store is very reluctant to sell. Now I am finally running injury free. So this book is still a very worthwhile read, especially for the weekend warrior 5k or 10k crowd. But I wouldn't take everything in it as the gospel of running, especially the parts that tell you to strap on big cushiony high heeled traditional jogging shoes and heel strike, oh and by the way replace your shoes every few hundred miles...I guess they sell more shoes that way. So i guess my biggest problem with the book is that a considerable portion of it amounts to a proprietary shoe buyer's guide, for shoes that in my opinion aren't worth buying.