Burfoot - Runners World complete book of running: everything you need to know to run for fun, fitness and competition

H ello. And welcome to what I hope youll find to be the most informative and friendly running book ever published. From the very beginning of this project, I have had just two simple goals: to gather, in one place, the best and most helpful running advice available, and to present it in the clearest, most user-friendly manner.

The first part was easy. The chapters in this book have been selected from the thousands of articles published in Runners World Magazine, the worlds biggest and most successful running magazine for more than four decades. These chapters arent just the best, theyre also the ones readers have responded to most enthusiastically. I should know, Ive been a Runners World editor for more than 30 years. During this time, Ive read every word that has gone into Runners World, and most of the letters from readers.

To keep the book friendly and personal, Ive concluded each chapter with a short summary section called Amby Burfoots Running Round-up. In this modest essay, I comment on the chapter youve just finished reading. I might say something like, This is the most important nutrition advice Ive ever read. Be sure to come back and review it often. Or I might expand the chapter, adding my own thoughts and experience to the primary authors. Either way, Im trying to lead you through the book and its major conclusions the same way a historical tour guide might lead you through a civil war battlefield. I hope Ive succeeded, and that you enjoy these cool down sections.

Some things in running dont change much decade-by-decadesports drinks continue to use roughly the same formulations, running shoes still contain the same basic parts and materials, and long runs are still essential to marathon success. But the sport does and has changed, and this new edition of The Runners World Complete Book ofRunning reflects those changes. In particular, this revised edition includes three entirely new sections that would have been difficult to anticipate 10 to 15 years ago.

The first, Weight Loss for Runners, strikes some people as an out-of-place topic. Arent runners already the leanest, fittest slice of our society? To some extent this is true, and I strongly believe that the calorie-burning potential of a good running workout can help anyone lose fat or maintain their healthy body weight. But we live in a society where rampant obesity is almost the norm. Many runners gain unhealthy pounds in their midlife years. And many beginning runners are drawn to the sport for its promise of health, fitness, and pounds-lost. This section is for all these runners.

The second new part retains an old title, Cross-Training, but is full of new material due to the rapid rise of core training. When I was a young runner, we did a lot of situps, but no other core exercises. We had never seen or heard of the exercises that have been perfected in recent years. I have a strong skeptics streak, but core training makes complete sense to me. After all, when we run, we move our our legs and our shoulders and arms vigorously. To maintain a smooth, strong coordination between the lower-body movements and the upper-body movements, it makes total sense that we should develop our bodys core. The chapters in this newly-imagined section will help you do that.

The third new part is the Half Marathon section, devoted to the wildly popular distance that so many runners are using as a stepping stone to their first marathon (or as a major focus of their training and racing.) It wasnt long ago, I remember, that we used to sit around in the Runners World offices bemoaning the half-marathons lack of popularity. We thought the sport needed an in-between distance, but the half simply wasnt attracting much attention. We used to debate whether or not we could make the distance more enticing by calling it the 21-K or the double 10-K or some other equally laughable name. Happily, the half marathon caught on all by itself, and this section will show you how to be successful at it.

The other sections of this book have been organized according to the topics that always have been most important to successful running, and always will. We dont need new names for these sections like Beginning, Nutrition, Injury Prevention and Women; we simply need new material as it becomes available. And this revised book contains dozens of new chapters full of the newest and most relevant information on running.

I want to close this introduction on a personal note. Above, I talked about the Round-Up essays that Ive written for the end of each chapter. I said I wanted to be your guide. But throughout this book, I also want to be your cheerleader. I want you to understand that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I want you to know that running is the best, most time-efficient health and fitness activity in the world; that the payoffs from a running lifestyle are greater than you can possibly imagine; and that you can do everything thats described in this book. Even a marathon.

I wont lie and say its easy. I wont over-promise and say you might win an Olympic medal. I wont deny that youll have occasional aches and pains, or days when you just dont feel like doing your workout. Those are inevitable. Were all tired or lazy at one time or another.

But I will guarantee you that any healthy person can run. After all, any number of physically and mentally challenged individuals have proven their courage through running. And running is simple, and it will produce positive changes in your life. Every day, more and more medical and scientific studies are proving the benefits of high-level fitness.

You might not run fast. You might not run far. You might have to mix walking with your running. But you can do it; and in the process youll lose weight, lower your blood pressure, and reduce your heart disease and diabetes risks. And those are only the physiological changes. At the same time, youll feel more energetic, less depressed, and more enthusiastic about your prospects in life.

Many runners take up the sport to lose a few pounds. But they continue running for the way it clears their mind, reduces stress, and helps them feel better every day.

Running is the ultimate individual sport. You shouldnt worry about anyone elses pace. You should focus entirely on finding the pace thats most comfortable and productive for you. You cant lose this race because youre not competing with anyone else. Youre only running against yourself, and as long as you are running, youre also winning.

Ultimately, I hope thats the message youll get from this book. The advice is all here. Your cheerleader is at your side. You can hardly go wrong. So lace up those running shoes and get on with it.

Run long and healthy.

Amby Burfoot

Editor at Large

Runners World magazine