Running The Books

Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from yeshiva to attend Harvard, he has nothing but a senior thesis on Bugs Bunny to show for himself. While his friends and classmates advance in the world, Steinberg remains stuck at a crossroads, his “romantic” existence as a freelance obituary writer no longer cutting it. Seeking direction (and dental insurance) Steinberg takes a job running the library counter at a Boston prison. He is quickly drawn into the community of outcasts that forms among his bookshelves—an assortment of quirky regulars, including con men, pimps, minor prophets, even ghosts—all searching for the perfect book and a connection to the outside world. Steinberg recounts their daily dramas with heartbreak and humor in this one-of-a-kind memoir—a piercing exploration of prison culture and an entertaining tale of one young man’s earnest attempt to find his place in the world.

Peter Sagal, the host of NPR’s Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! and a popular columnist for Runner’s World, shares “commentary and reflection about running with a deeply felt personal story, this book is winning, smart, honest, and affecting. Whether you are a runner or not, it will move you” (Susan Orlean). On the verge of turning forty, Peter Sagal—brainiac Harvard grad, short bald Jew with a disposition towards heft, and a sedentary star of public radio—started running seriously. And much to his own surprise, he kept going, faster and further, running fourteen marathons and logging tens of thousands of miles on roads, sidewalks, paths, and trails all over the United States and the world, including the 2013 Boston Marathon, where he crossed the finish line moments before the bombings. In The Incomplete Book of Running, Sagal reflects on the trails, tracks, and routes he’s traveled, from the humorous absurdity of running charity races in his underwear—in St. Louis, in February—or attempting to “quiet his colon” on runs around his neighborhood—to the experience of running as a guide to visually impaired runners, and the triumphant post-bombing running of the Boston Marathon in 2014. With humor and humanity, Sagal also writes about the emotional experience of running, body image, the similarities between endurance sports and sadomasochism, the legacy of running as passed down from parent to child, and the odd but extraordinary bonds created between strangers and friends. The result is “a brilliant book about running…What Peter runs toward is strength, understanding, endurance, acceptance, faith, hope, and charity” (P.J. O’Rourke).

Scott Douglas offers the advice he’s gleaned from three decades of running, from twenty years as a running writer, and from the deep connections he’s made with top runners and coaches around the country and around the world. The 250 tips offered here are the next best thing to having a personal coach or an experienced running partner. Douglas includes tips for increasing your daily, weekly, and yearly mileage; advice on increasing your speed and racing faster; useful knowledge on how to stay injury-free and be a healthy runner; and much more. The range of tips means there’s something for any runner—someone looking to start running to get in shape, a competitive high school or college runner, an athlete looking to move into running, or an experienced runner looking to improve his or her time in an up- coming marathon. You have the questions: What running apparel is best? What kind of gear do you need to run in the rain or snow? How do you find time in a busy schedule to run? How can you set and achieve meaningful goals? Douglas has the answers. In a hardcover edition handsome enough to give as a gift, The Little Red Book of Running is more than a handbook—it’s a runner’s new best friend.

This book has been the most popular and the best selling running book of all time.

“Most of the serious thinking I have done over the past twenty years has been done while running,” says philosophy professor Mark Rowlands, who has run for most of his life. And for him, running and philosophizing, are inextricably connected.In Running with the Pack, he reveals the most significant runs of his life—from the entire day he spent running as a boy in Wales, to the runs along French beaches and up Irish mountains with his beloved wolf, Brenin, and through Florida swamps with his husky-mix, Nina. Intertwined with this honest, passionate and witty memoir are the fascinating meditations that those runs triggered, from mortality, midlife, and the meaning of life. A highly original and moving book that will make the philosophically inclined want to run, and those who love running become intoxicated by the beauty of philosophy.

Imagine training with the best distance runners and running coaches of our time, learning their favorite and most effective workouts, and discovering their hard-earned secrets to success. With Running Tough you'll find yourself running side by side with such world-class runners as Bill Rodgers, Libbie Hickman, Frank Shorter, Arthur Lydiard, Ron Clarke, Emil Zatopek, and Adam Goucher, tasting their unwavering dedication and determination, and viewing firsthand their training runs. Written by prolific running journalist Michael Sandrock, Running Tough organizes the workouts by training goals to create a user-friendly handbook. This allows you to develop a customized training plan using the most appropriate workouts for training and racing. You'll find chapters dedicated to - long runs, to help develop aerobic endurance - off-road training, to build and strengthen the legs; - fartlek training or the "speedplay," to discover variety; - interval workouts, to increase speed; - hill workouts, to build strength and stamina; - tempo runs, to push anaerobic thresholds; - recovery fun runs, to heal muscles while emphasizing the enjoyment of the sport; and - building a program, to prepare for competition. With Running Tough, you'll have the tools to create enhanced training programs, discover new plateaus in your workout regimes, and meet the challenges of world-class competition. You'll find that whether you're looking for increased strength and endurance, improved aerobic or anaerobic capacity, or just a competitive edge, Running Tough will help you train with more efficiency, more enthusiasm, and more variety.

For readers of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, The Barefoot Running Book lends practical advice on the minimalist running phenomenon Ditch those cushiony running shoes—they’re holding you back and hurting your feet! You’ve heard about barefoot running and how it can reduce injury and allow for better form. Maybe you’ve even tried it and learned how shedding those heavy, overly- manufactured shoes can make running more enjoyable. Regardless of your expertise level, Jason Robillard—a leading expert on barefoot running education and director of the Barefoot Running University—synthesizes the latest research to ease you from barefoot walking to slow running to competitive and trail running vis-à-vis simple drills, training plans, and useful hints from fellow barefoot runners. Practical, easy-to-follow, and illustrated with black-and-white photographs throughout, The Barefoot Running Book shows how everyone can transition to barefoot and minimalist shoe running—safely and optimally.

Top five Best Books About Running, Runner's World Magazine Top three Best Books About Running, readers of Runner's World Magazine (December 2009) A phenomenal portrait of courage and desire that will do for college cross-country what John Feinstein's A Season on the Brink did for college basketball.

Presents information and advice on the benefits and techniques of running, covering training routines, equipment, diet, marathons, and other subjects.

When fifteen-year-old Cuban American Mariana Ruiz's father runs for president, Mari starts to see him with new eyes. A novel about waking up and standing up, and what happens when you stop seeing your dad as your hero--while the whole country is watching. In this authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written debut novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter's vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a60 Minutes-style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father's political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was. But how do you find your voice when everyone's watching? When it means disagreeing with your father--publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it?