Book Review: Running Well

More than half of my book collections were soaked and submerged in the flood during Ondoy.  My collections of Pugad Baboy, Philip Yancey, Howard Gardner, Readers Digests and Good Housekeeping magazines were gone.  Good thing, I have another shelf upstairs for my running books.

Here is one running book I frequently refer to.  Running Well by Sam Murphy and Sarah Conors.  I got them from Powerbooks last August for 1,029 Php.

I havent seen them in Powerbooks lately.  Must have sold out already.  The authors are both women and avid runners.  Sam Murphy is a fitness and health expert while Sarah Conors is a chartered physiotherapist.

The book is for targeted for beginners.  It is divided into 3 parts: (1) How to Run; (2) Smarter Training; and (3) Damage Limitation.  Part one:  How to Run provides the basics on running from running forms and running gears.  Part Two:  Smarter Training talks about trainings, strecthings, food and nutrition.  Part Three:  Damage Limitation is all about injuries.

Here are the pros and cons of the book:

Pros

• Updated with recent studies and papers related to running.  My other books were printed in the 80s and some tips are out of date.  This book compiles the recent developments and scientific studies related to running.
• Full of pictures.  I love books with pictures and this book has at least one on each page.  It makes it easy to read and understand.
• Written for beginners.  It is written in such a way that it is easy to understand.  Each chapter is thoughfully design with the beginner in mind.
• A lot about injuries.  This is my favorite part of the book.  It has three chapters dedicaded to injuries complete with pictures, illustration of major muscles, joints and bones.  This is the part that I refer too often whenever I feel pain on my foot, knees or legs.  It makes injuries easy to understand and lets you assess quickly if you need a simple rest or a trip to a doctor.

Cons

• Covers only the basics.  Nothing about speed workouts.  I even think that only the injury part is well covered.  Other topics like food and nutrition was too simple.

Summary

For beginners, this is a good book to start reading.  I give two thumbs up on the section on injuries.  But for those looking for more advanced tips like how to run faster, this is not the book for you.

Check other running books at Amazon.com