Two of my favourite running books not previously mentioned here.
"The Road to Endorphia (John o Groats to Lands End)" by Joe Doanachie Obviously describes his long distance run from John o Groats to Lands End, what I enjoyed about his writing was his slightly grumpy very cycnical approach. Think Karl Pilkington means endurance running! Describes long distance running as the socially acceptable face of self harm. He hates cyclists with a passion but loves breakfast in a can.
"Unbroken-the Louis Zamporenni Story" by Laura Hillenbrand Hillenbrand also wrote Seabiscuit. Louis was dirt poor 2nd generation immigrant in pre war USA who discovered he had running ability and competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. War broke out and Louis ends up in a Jap POW camp where the heart of the story is set. Wont give any more away but very inspirational
Like others here, also enjoyed Born to Run, Feet in the Clouds and Why we run.
I'm too lazy to check if it has already been mentioned, but I highly recommend "The Competitive Runner's Handbook" by Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover. It's full of great advice on just about everything to do with training and racing, and it's a bit more lively than a lot of books about running.
I clicked "Take me to the end of this discussion (...so I can ask questions already answered, repeat what others have just said already, make annoying comments about punctuation and spelling, or otherwise butt in irrelevantly without bothering to read.)"
What I Talk About... Murakami Advanced Marathoning... P&D Once A Runner The one about the 4 min mile Dirtiest Race Art of Running Faster... Goater
Zen and the Art of Running by Larry Shapiro is well worth reading. I expected it to be drivel, given the title, but it's actually excellent.
Feet in the Clouds and Born to Run both weave the PMA stuff elegantly into the narrative.
Matt Fitzgerald does a reasonable job of addressing the psychological stuff in both Brain Training for Runners and RUN - the Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel. And there's a decent section on the subject in The Lore of Running.
I'll bet some of the millions of books about Running for Pretty Ladies who Glow Lightly are full of inspirational quotes about what to do when you think you can't do something
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The Official Unofficial Book Group Book Discussion thread
Dec 2024