Lore of Running

I got three books out of the library on running two written by men and one written by a women. The books that the men wrote are about something called V02 and how to achieve it. There are lots of graphs and charts for comparison. They brag about various famous runners, all men, how fast they run their races and what their training schedules are like. They talk about the importance of getting the right pair of shoes.

The book written by the women talks about target heat rate and how to achieve it, buying and wearing the right kind of clothes, what kind of food to eat and how much weight you could lose as well as the importance of getting the right pair of shoes.

I think the stereotypical gender differences in these books are hilarious.

The other book I got from the library is Tim Noakes book, The Lore of Running. Noakes is a Medical doctor, his prose may be a bit academic but his advice and ideas are sensible and backed up with scientific evidence. Compared too the other books this one is much more interesting. My only problem is the size of the book. Despite being twice the thickness of ordinary books it is also at least a third bigger than even a regular sized hardback novel. All this bigness makes the book hard to hold. I find myself resting it on my knees so I can comfortably turn the pages.

I‘ve barely read a tenth of it. When I read it it makes me want to get out there on the road and running.