The Complete Book of Running

Rating:
Summary: It Keeps Going, and Going, and Going
Review: Decades after it's initial release, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF RUNNING has become a classic and remains what it was Fixx intended it to be: a great guide for beginners and a textural gathering place for multitudes of runners.

Some of the training tips have been overwhelmed by further study, and Fixx's recommendation to buy good running shoes has been slammed as the starting point for Nike's attempt to take over the universe, but the book is still inspirational to anyone looking for some kind of cultural backbone for what is, at it's core, the most individualist fitness activity.

Rating:
Summary: It's still the Bible of running
Review: How well I remember when this book was published in 1977. I was a teenager and hardly anyone I knew jogged or ran for pleasure. In those days it was rare to see anyone on the street actually doing exercise. With this book, Jim Fixx revolutionized the world of exercise, and especially the sport of running. This book precipitated the running boom of the late 70's when every granny laced up her New Balance's or Saucony's and hit the streets. Jim Fixx was an overweight business executive who began running simply because he wanted to improve his tennis game. He loved running so much that he gave up tennis to concentrate on increasing his weekly running mileage.

Fixx writes extremely well and it's still hard to put this down. It's held up remarkably well in the intervening 25 years and the information is still current and just as riveting as it was back then. Fixx has special chapters on kids running, women, senior citizens, injuries and the Boston marathon. He spends considerable detail on expounding upon the magical "runner's high" which occurs on runs lasting more than 45 minutes. Based on considerable personal experience, I will say that the runner's high is freequently elusive, but you'll know when you get it.

Jim Fixx died of a heart attack in the late 1980's while running on a quiet Vermont road. Unfortunately, this became the butt of some late night jokes made by overweight comics thinking it was ironic that a running guru would die of a heart attack. But Jim Fixx has the last laugh: he helped usher in the running boom and cement this avocation in the lives of millions of people. This is an outstanding book, as interesting and readable as it was when it was first published all those years ago.

Rating:
Summary: I got alot out of this book
Review: I felt this was a very good book. He covered all the topics I would hope to see in a running book including injury prevention, training, nutrition, racing... The book was an quick easy read.

Since I am new to running I learned alot. What I found particularly interesting was just how current this 25 year old book was. It doesn't seem that that much has changed even in equipment. The shoes are different, but his advice on shoes is relevant. As is his advice on most topics covered.

I am personally glad I own this book.

Rating:
Summary: I got alot out of this book
Review: I felt this was a very good book. He covered all the topics I would hope to see in a running book including injury prevention, training, nutrition, racing... The book was an quick easy read.

Since I am new to running I learned alot. What I found particularly interesting was just how current this 25 year old book was. It doesn't seem that that much has changed even in equipment. The shoes are different, but his advice on shoes is relevant. As is his advice on most topics covered.

I am personally glad I own this book.

Rating:
Summary: The Complete Book of Running
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I am relatively new to "jogging" (4 years, and as James refers to it, as running) and this book, even though dated, still give lots of wonderful information. This is a witty, fast read, and I felt it was very well organized. I am currently training for my 2nd 10K race this season, so I guess I'm hooked!

Rating:
Summary: The Complete Book of Running
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I am relatively new to "jogging" (4 years, and as James refers to it, as running) and this book, even though dated, still give lots of wonderful information. This is a witty, fast read, and I felt it was very well organized. I am currently training for my 2nd 10K race this season, so I guess I'm hooked!

Rating:
Summary: Throw the book away; run barefoot
Review: James Fixx wrote in his 1979 bestseller The Complete Book of Running, "Think of what you are asking your feet to do when you run. Each shoe lands on the ground 1,000 or so times during one mile. If you're not wearing the right shoes, your chances of having trouble with your feet or somewhere else are greatly increased."

"The only thing that advice was good for, was to set off the billion-dollar sports shoe industry, which is still thriving and misleading the public today." -Coach Antonio Santori