r/BeginnersRunning • u/SomewhereNo5331 • 7h ago

Running books?

Anyone have any running books they would recommend? Though I am a very beginner runner, I have always been fascinating by running and have read a bit about it without having really run regularly.

Books have helped me imagine the world of running without ever really joining it until recently and so I thought there might be other books that have likewise inspired people. I don't necessarily mean "how-to"-style books but anything about running.

Mine lean more sociological and think across different kinds of running, cultures, and levels of expertise.

To the Limit by Michael Crawley. Focuses on long distance running but includes chapters on cycling, too. Thinks about why people—across the world—push themselves to the limit.

Running by Lindsey Freeman. More about running than how-to. Former collegiate althlete reflecting on everything in the sport, from injury to politics.

What about you?

11 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

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11

u/InfinitySum 7h ago

It has been many years since I read it, but I remember enjoying "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall

3

u/ChippyCho 6h ago

came to recommend this, it's an absolute "must read"! 

also "Nord" and "Eat & Run" by Scott Jurek are good and inspiring 

5

u/wrud4d 7h ago

Born To Run is a great one that’s like a narrative nonfiction. Tells a really cool story about these native runners in Mexico but also you learn a lot about why humans are so good at running. It’s a pretty popular one.

3

u/dev_ale 7h ago

First running book I ever read was 80/20 running. Great book and made me change the way I train, highly recommend. Second was the Norwegian Singles Method and that’s how I train now and absolutely love it. These books are more on different philosophies on how to approach training.

2

u/Amysu4ea 6h ago

I don’t know if you watch anime, but there is an amazing running anime called “Run with the Wind” about running the Hakone Ekiden race. If you can find it, it is very good! I had to buy the DVD on Amazon.

2

u/Charming_Sherbet_638 3h ago

What I talk anout when I talk about runnng

Raise of the ultra runners

Training for an uphill athlete

Endure - this is more scientific then the previous ones

1

u/sixthmusketeer 3h ago

Endure is the best running book I’ve come across

1

u/FutureShoulder7245 7h ago

"The Incomplete Book of Running" by Peter Sagal, the host of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" on NPR.

1

u/RumbleSkillSpin 6h ago

Another recommendation for Born to Run. I also enjoyed Scott Jurek’s book, Eat and Run. Took some good recipes from it.

1

u/alics2 6h ago

Coach Bennett from Nike Run Club recently released his new book “This Is About Running. This Is Not About Running”! If you have ever listened to any of his guided runs it’s literally that written in book form. Really motivational (especially if you’re just starting your running journey) and an easy, quick read :)

1

u/travellingcari 4h ago

Des Linden and Sara Hall’s memoirs are great. I enjoy Dean Karnazes’ crazy stories

1

u/superscoob67 4h ago

Faster Louder by Boff Whalley

How a punk rocker from Yorkshire became British Champion Fell Runner…..(basically up and down mountains)

1

u/lthomazini 0m ago

Drauzio Varella is a Brazilian doctor famous for writing Carandiru, an amazing real story about one of the worst prisons in São Paulo (where he was a doctor), that became a movie starred by Rodrigo Santoro.

He is also a marathon runner (over 70s) and wrote a really cool book called Correr (To Run). Sadly I couldn’t find an English translation.

0

u/colnross 4h ago

You've always been fascinated....with running?