Four books that will get you up and running
Best for Finishing Your First 26.2
The Marathon Method: The 16-Week Training Program that Prepares You to Finish a Full or Half Marathon in Your Best Time by Tom Holland (Fair Winds)
Why we like: It's so upbeat, it's almost like having your own personal coach. Holland, a veteran of 50-plus marathons and 12 Ironman triathlons, offers up a plan for your first marathon (full or half) that makes crossing the finish line seem totally doable. Using a combo of anecdotes, tips, and motivational stats (40 percent of 2005 marathon finishers were female!), this book will have you looking forward to your Sunday 20-miler.
Useful tidbit: Smile when you feel like keeling over — grimacing zaps energy.
Best for Starting from Scratch
The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training by Dawn Dais (Seal Press)
Why we like: Because Dais's journey from slug to marathon finisher is the funniest thing we've read since Mel Gibson's latest apology. Part training guide, part memoir, this book will become your partner in bitch as you pound the pavement.
Useful tidbit: Splurge for BodyGlide or Vaseline to ward off chafing. "You probably don't want to be asking your fellow runners if you can borrow theirs after they're done applying it to their nether regions."
Best for Posting a Personal Record
Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster — Become a Faster, Stronger Runner with the Revolutionary FIRST Training Program by Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, and Ray Moss (Rodale)
Why we like: What's not to like about a book that promises better results in less time? Focusing on quality over quantity, you'll ditch your "junk miles" by running just 3 days a week and supplementing with twice weekly cross-training like swimming or cycling. Stick with the program and you'll be cheering the pack at your next race while you rock a foil cape at the finish.
Useful tidbit: Streakers aren't just naked half-time entertainment, they're people who don't believe in resting from running. Don't be a streaker.
Best for Instant Inspiration
Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running by Jennifer Lin and Susan Warner (Andrews McMeel)
Why we like: Makes us feel all warm inside. When you dig into this sure-to-be classic, keep your running shoes nearby — you'll want to lace up and head out asap. This collection of 21 feel-good profiles of women who run — including a nun, a 9/11 widow, and a 7-year-old girl who leaves boys in the dust — will have you racing for the starting line.
Useful tidbit: Run with friends and off-load your worries--and let your friends vent. "It's like a girls' night out every time we run," says Koreen Billman, mother of three and member of an informal neighborhood running group.
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Appeared in the April 2007 issue of Women's Health |
Labels: books reading running health run
