Lore of Running, 4th Edition

I have been reading about running for the past couple of years--probably more than I ought to. I came upon this book recently in the library (most of my reading is online!) and upon poring through its pages have realized that a lot of what I've read either came from this book, or this book has a lot of what I've read in it. Noakes has written this tome relying upon the best science we have for running with all of its available studies. He bases his conclusions and statements on journal articles where possible and where not does not go overboard in conjecture.

He is an accomplished marathoner and ultra marathoner and in his practice has treated a lot of runners.

Go ahead and buy any book on running. It will have a section on nutrition with the basics that we all know. Contrast with the nutrition section in this and it's actually worth reading; he spends many pages on such details as the proper sodium levels in a beverage, the amount of liquid we need to drink while exercising (not the vague catch-all of "drink as much as you sweat"). His guides on injury and footware are the best researched I've found anywhere.

This is not just the best book on running I've seen, it's the best book _by far_.

I slight this book in two areas:

1) Injury treatment seems to be really slanted substantially toward footwear and orthotics. Now, there may be a reason for that I'm not aware of, and he does give time to exercises and "holistic" approches for injury prevention, including training the hips for, say, a knee problem and not just the feet, but I would have just preferred a bit more.

2) Running technique. He describes in detail the typical heel-strike of most runners but doesn't spend much time that I have found on particulars of technique, such as possibly forefooting or midfooting. Bits and pieces are throughout the book in this, but a subsection on what is now in vogue (pose technique, chirunning, etc.) would have been nice. I don't know that it's reasonable to dismiss these simply because he feels they're useless; I feel like he missed out.

That said, I really can't stress enough how much solid, quality stuff is in this book. He's not simply taking what "everyone knows" about running and making a thousand pages out of it; he does go into meaningful detail.

It would be hard to overstate the reach of this landmark tome on running. Noakes has put together, quite simply, THE authoritative resource on all things running. With a stunning level of historical and scientific research, Noakes reviews the entire global history of running, drawing well-reasoned conclusions about sports medicine, psychology, all aspects of training, injury prevention and acheiving the highest level of performance possible. Then he backs these theories up with irrefutable testimonials from the world's best runners of all time.

Noakes does all of this with a measured and humble attitude that presents his views with confidence, while acknowledging that there are always exceptions to any theory. Most importantly, he recognizes the importance of self-discovery and the illusory nature of "training secrets."

I can't recommend this book more highly, but offer one word of caution: don't try to digest this all in one sitting. It's a read best taken in small doses.

A very scientific read, which I appreciate; however, the information is outdated, and is not current with what Dr. Noakes supports and argues.

I bought this book because I'm told it has everything about running. It does, but, as a beginner, it's not what I was looking for. It doesn't advise so much as educate. I can now tell you all about pronation and the history of waffle treads, but I'm still not sure what my next pair of shoes should be.

Excellent and thorough book though. I've read much of it.

I've read scores of running books and nothing compares to this one. It addresses every conceivable topic -- from training to injuries to equipment to nutrition -- with insights synthesized from the best scientific studies, leavened with the author's own intelligent extrapolations. The biographical analyses of history's greatest runners also happen to be immensely absorbing and entertaining.

This book is one of the best resources for a runner of a coach that I've come across. Noakes details a diverse sampling of current theories in exercise science, and explains them in a readable and comprehensible fashion. Alongside Daniels' Running Formula, this book is at the head of the pack with regard to allowing the non-scientist to understand research-based explanations concerning running performance.

Noakes is so rigorous in his standards of proof that he dismisses as unproven much of what is commonly accepted in the running community: the idea of improving VO2Max as a prime training goal, hydration recommendations, carbo loading, etc., unless there have been multiple clinical studies demonstrating their effectiveness, not only in improving a certain beneficial element of the runner's physiology, but in improving actual performance. This is refreshing, in that whatever he describes as beneficial will certainly improve your performance, but it also leads to a lot of question marks concerning what types of training are effective; a lot of practices are dubbed "potentially beneficial, but not potentially useless".

This is probably unsatisfying to the majority of runners, who want an authority to determine which of these potentially-beneficial practices are probable enough candidates to warrant incorporation into a training program, but that isn't Noakes' M.O. However, the book should provide solid shoulders from which current and future athletes--amateur researchers all--can experiment to determine just what works for them. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you purchase this book.

The only downside to this book is that the amount of information is overwhelming! If you have any questions about what makes and keeps a person running, it is in here.

That said, everything is explained beautifully. The biggest benefit of this book is how simple Dr. Noakes makes these very complicated topics seem.

Talk about a read and a half. This book has everything you ever wanted to know about running from how to go slow to how to go fast and how to eat while going slow or fast. It also covers going short, long and how to make a workout plan. Ever wondered why muscles cramp? Or how muscles stretch or contract or the effect going down hill has on your quads? Read this book. Be prepared though because this is ALLOT of book, don't expect to knock this thing out in a weekend. It's the source of sources and has all of the information that websites and other books have been parroting for years now.

VERY detailed and explains WHY certain training recommendations are made. I'm a physician and was surprised how technical this book was. If you are not scientifically minded, this is still a great reference, but do not plan to read this cover to cover unless you took a lot of biology in college. I have used this book for help with an injury and the recommendations and explanations seem very sound. If you are merely looking for training schedules, there are other places to find them, but this book has a wide variety of "formulas" for race preparation. For serious runners, this book is a bargain. Probably cheaper and more useful than any running shoes or other equipment you are putting on your wish list.

Superbly written. An excellent book for the technically oriented individual who wants to know the what and why of everything that happens in running. Still simple enough for any good coach to get important ideas as to how to train future and long time runners.