Running Book Reviews with Alan and Liz
All types of running related books are reviewed by two non-elite track, road and trail runners. Observation and description of running books intended to inform, help and inspire anyone involved or related to running at any level. Whenever possible we chat with the author about the book, but if not then we try to do it justice. If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. You can also go to our Buy Me A Coffee website where we have a few more posts: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlanandLiz
Episodes
In this episode, we talk with author, former professional runner for the Nike Oregon Project and current Irish national runner, and Stanford medical student Mary Cain about her memoir: This is Not About Running. We ask her about her youth, growing up in an abusive athletics system, training for Alberto Salazar as a high schooler. We also talk about her work with Atalanta NYC and The Athlete's Survivors' As...
In this episode, we dive into the transformative 31-day journey laid out by legendary ultrarunner and coach Allie Bailey. This isn't just a "how-to" for running; it’s a manual for the mental game of life. Whether you are training for your first 5K, an ultra, or just trying to navigate a career shift, Allie’s 1-2-3 structure (Focus, Example, and The Work) provides a realistic, down-to-earth roadmap to ...
In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a dozen critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and—even more important—on his writing.
Equal parts training ...
Here are a few of the discussion points in this episode:
Focus on your protein --- Lauren Antonnuchi , High Performance Nutrition for Masters athletes
Carbs are good! Fuel your training --- Renee McGregor, Fuel for Thought
Enclothed Cognition is a real thing! --- Kara Goucher, Strong
You can have running success as a warrior or a worrier --- Believe Journal, Lauren Fleshmann and Roisin McGettigan-Dumas
Animals and c...
Still Running After All These Tears is the newest book by Lisa Jackson, and it perfectly aligns with the realization I shared at the beginning of the episode. After years of sub-3 hour marathon attempts ending in disappointment, Liz took Alan's advice to "hold (her) goal lightly." Instead of focusing on the clock, her mantra became "run for those who can't." She explains in the intro st...
Advanced Marathoning (4th ed.) is the newest version of the training book Alan and I have been using for our sub-3 hour marathon attempts. This version, like the last one, is divided into 2 parts:
- Training components
- Elements of training
- Nutrition and hydration
- Balancing training and recovery
- Supplementary training
Advanced marathoning for masters runners (The older (and wiser) marathoner – in the 3rd ed.)
- Ta...
Move, Rest, Recover guides readers on the practice of rest and recovery. It tries to answer questions like:
- Why should I rest and recover?
- How do I know when to stop and rest?
- When I stop, what should I do?
The book is split into 4 sections:
- Understand recovery
- Activate recovery
- Strengthen recovery
- Keep recovering
Erin Taylor is an international recovery expert, writer, and yoga teacher. For 20 years she ...
In this episode we speak with Author Robyn Godfrey about her book Running the World. Robyn didn’t plan to become a marathoner. She stumbled through adolescence as a clumsy teen and later partied through midlife while searching for purpose. Everything shifted the day she laced up her running shoes. What began as thirty seconds on a treadmill grew into a running journey that redefined her life. Running the World follo...
Practical Fueling for Endurance Athletes delivers the practical, science-based information and strategies you need for long-term health and superior performance in your sport.
Kylee Van Horn—registered dietitian, endurance athlete, and coach—will help you navigate the challenges of endurance sports with the following:
- Essential nutrition concepts that aren’t directed at weight loss
- The smart use of supp...
For today's episode we got to read another fictional running story. These are rare but we've enjoyed every single one we read so far and this one was no exception.
Toeing the start line of the 1983 Boston Marathon, Cooper McKenzie (the main character) finds himself in a race to make meaning of his troubled, unimpressive life. Cooper McKenzie is contending with the stark realities of middle age—he is fully d...
Here we are again with another recap episode. Alan and Liz chat about their last ten reads and we've also linked the full episode for each book in case you want to hear more!
If you're behind in your listening then this episode is for you. You can get a feel for each of the last 10 books, before going back to the episodes in order of which books you're most interested in.
Unbound, by Bill Donahue
Recently, a trend has captured public attention: female athletes have been beating the strongest male contenders, in the toughest races in the world, races designed for men. In Ultra Women, the authors (who are themselves endurance athletes) delve into the surprising science of sporting performance to explore the physiological and psychological differences between the sexes. They ask: could fat stores and muscle typ...
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Chasing The Grid is the story of the authors physical and spiritual journey running in the Catskill Mountains. Originally wanting to beat the record for climbing all 35 peaks in one outing, Kenneth Posner got injured on his second attempt and needed to find a new goal for his running. His new goal came from a chance encounter while in the mountains he loved, and it’s the main subject of this book!
Kenneth Posner...
Stroke of Luck: My Life in Amateur Athletics is a chronicle of passion and rediscovery—the emotional story of a dedicated competitive runner, Steven Kelly, whose participation in the sport spans fifty years. As a teenager, Steve searches for his niche while dealing with challenges that will be familiar to many families. After he discovers running, it soon becomes part of his identity. Steve’s adventures take him acr...
Marathon Mindset is Erica’s story of becoming a runner while on a 100 pound weight loss journey. She also talks about her past struggles with an eating disorder, anxiety and depression which started in high school. Through her running journey, Erica learned 5 lessons which she brings to the rest of her life: Grit, Grind, Grace, Growth and Gratitude.
Erica is a mom who unexpectedly became a marathon runner. She ...
Giving an overview of this book is complicated. It’s like giving an overview of what running is… where do you start? What kind of running are we talking about? Trail? Road? Ultrarunning? This book is also misnamed because it won’t teach you how to run. You likely need to already be a runner and have opinions about running for it to speak to you. The short answer is that this book is a collection of poems and short e...
Feet in the Clouds is a deep dive into the world of fell running. It talks about the history of the sport, some of its GOATs like Bill Teasdale and Kenny Stuart, and professional vs amateur races. At the same time, the author tells the story of his own journey in fell running and his quest to complete the Bob Graham Round in under 24 hours.
Richard Askwith is a UK Northamptonshire-based journalist and author who...
Mud, Sweat and Bears is mostly about the author, Harriet Gaywood’s, ultra racing experience in 2024. Before you think the book is going to be about conquering a hundred-miler or any other single race distance, I’ll let you know that Harriet’s 2024 race season had 1850k of official race kilometers with many races of 100k or more. Harriet races all over Asia, and shares her experience as well as the things she learned...
If this author's name sounds familiar it's because we've had him on 7 times before... and we haven't even covered half of the books he's written about endurance sport. As always, Matt is a great speaker and talks to us about the concept of mastery and mastering what it means to master your sport, which is the subject of his latest book, Chasing Mastery.
Chasing Mastery is a guide developed to...
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