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Racing the Rain: A Novel
Racing The Rain is the prequel to John L. Parker's Once a Runner. The novel follows Quentin Cassidy from his early races and sets up Parker's classic text quite nicely. His easy to read style and the fact that many of us wanted to train like Quentin when we were in college and beyond makes this book a great read.
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Once a Runner: A Novel
Once a Runner is the finest piece of running fiction ever written. A cult classic for years that could only be found in used book stores or borrowed from a friend, John L. Parker's novel has kept runners motivated and entertained for decades. Parker used to sell this book out of his trunk at road races and prior to its most recent printing, was one of the most sought after out-of-print books on Amazon.
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Again to Carthage: A Novel
This is the third in a series of novels by John L. Parker. We initially read it a few years after college when it first came out. The novel has a great historical background in that it is set in the Vietnam War. We were also training for our first marathon at the time and Quentin, the book's main character, is training for his first as well; albeit the Olympic Trials! For lovers of Once A Runner, you will not be disappointed, but it is definitely a different story than Parker's first book.
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Running with the Buffaloes: A Season Inside With Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, And The University Of Colorado Men's Cross Country Team
This amazing text follows the 1998 University of Colorado cross-country team as they train to win an NCAA championship. If you have ever run cross-country or been involved with the sport in any way, you must read this book. Lear is a master at painting a vivid picture of what it is like to train at the highest collegiate level and conveys the ups and downs of a long season. |
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Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder
As coaches, we love reading about how other coaches have helped their runners in the past. For historians of the sport, there are few coaches who were more influential than University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman. He was not only instrumental in starting the jogging craze of the 1970s, but he coached legendary distances runners like Steve Prefontaine as well. And to top it off, he was a co-founder of Nike. Written by sports journalist extraordinaire Kenny Moore, this is a must-read for any runner who loves the history of the sport.
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John McDonnell: The Most Successful Coach in NCAA History
Like the Bowerman book above, this new piece on legendary former University of Arkansas coach John McDonnell is an exhaustive piece on the winningest coach in Division I history; regardless of sport. The book takes the reader from McDonnell's early years as a runner and continues with an incredibly detailed history of his coaching success.
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Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Christopher McDougall's New York Times best seller has been transformative for many runners who were plagued by injuries. The book set off a minimalist running boom that helped change the way shoe companies design their shoes and coaches advise their athletes. While the minimalist trend has died down, coaches have learned key lessons about the role barefoot running plays in training. The story is also coming to movie theaters soon! |
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The Complete Book of Running
This is the book that started it all. Jim Fixx wrote this guide in 1977 and it helped launch the jogging boom. It quickly rose to the top of the best sellers lists and while some of the information is outdated, we still refer to it every once in a while because of the old school advice contained within. |
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Daniels' Running Formula-3rd Edition
Jack Daniels is one of the best running coaches of all time. We have read all three editions of his text Daniels Running Formula and even have a signed copy of his third edition! We saw him speak at a conference a few years ago and despite his age, he continues to be engaged with the sport at a high level. Daniels breaks down training concepts into layman's terms while providing content that has decades of scientific research to back it up. If you buy one book about training concepts, this is it. |
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Lore of Running, 4th Edition
South African Tim Noakes is another legend like Jack Daniels. He is a true exercise physiologist and breaks down the sport of distance running like the scientist he is. This book is massive, both in heft and content, but if you want a breakdown of how different muscle fibers react under stress in runners of varying race, this book is for you. We routinely refer to Tim's work when diagnosing injuries with our runners, thinking about different training methods and when we want to be supery nerdy about running. |