Discussion Board

I am in the middle of Rich Roll's Finding Ultra and have to say what an inspirational story! I have begun to up my physical exercise and while I doubt Ironmans and Ultra marathons are in my future, I want to push myself to a level of fitness I have never achieved.

That being said, I want to read about running and the best way to go about reshaping one's self. Everyone has an opinion and most of them have written books about it. In an attempt to go straight to the top and weed out the BS, can you folks point me toward the best and brightest running has to offer? Thanks!


By the way, I went to the bookstore today to get Scott Jurek's Eat and Run. It was sold out. The overweight cashier exclaimed that 4 people had already been in asking for the book before i got there at 11:30, what was so special about that book? I shrugged and said he is a plant-based runner. Maybe the word is finally seeping in!!!

Hi! I'm new to this Program - 1 week this weekend. I'm on the MWL plan.

I'm 54 - and have been doing cardio walking on & off for years. I've been Vegan for 5 years now. I just started beginning to jog about 4 weeks ago. I'm not familiar with "Finding Ultra" - but I'm just into reading "No Need for Speed." It's a great read so far. I also just got "Scott Jurek's Eat and Run" - but haven't started reading it yet. It's next!

I'm super psyched being on this Program and beginning to run. I want to be the best I can be!

It's so inspirational to find other like-minded people - like yourself here! Awesome!

Scott Jurek's Eat and Run book is incredibly inspiring. Wonderful to see that it's selling so well. I enjoyed Finding Ultra as well, but Jurek's book was really well-written (he did have a co-author). So bummed that I missed Jurek when he was signing books on tour in SF the other day

I am about halfway through Scott Jurek's Eat & Run. It is great- and I'm not a runner! So interesting to read about a plant-based runner who also is into cooking.

I agree with you, Funcrunch, that this book is so well-written; it is very engaging. I read some of Finding Ultra on amazon's preview and I did not find the excerpts all that engaging.

Just read that Eat and Run is now on the NY Times best seller list at #7! Great way to spread the healthy vegan message. Though many of Scott's recipes do contain a little oil, they are otherwise McDougall compliant. He really believes in whole plant foods, even grinding his own flour to make multigrain pancakes.

I found Rich Roll's nutritional advice a bit less to my taste; he starts out each day drinking apple cider vinegar to "alkalize his system" and advocates lots of green smoothies, etc., and cautions against "starchy foods" unfortunately, as I mentioned in a separate thread. I haven't read his actual cookbook though, which is separate from the Finding Ultra book.

Not sure about the vinegar (yuk), but you have to admit that he is one fine looking specimen

Does anyone know of any good books on running besides the two mentioned here???

I also greatly enjoyed Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, and Ultramarathon Man and 50/50 by Dean Karnazes.

I have to agree that Born to Run is a great book, and I'm not a runner.

Finding Ultra was great! I had no idea that alcohol was such a big part of the story. I found Roll a couple years ago looking for any vegan athletes for inspiration. I'm so glad that both Rich Roll and Scott Jurek's books dropped within a couple of weeks. I loved the story, but found his nutrition program a little odd. But he does write and reiterates in interviews, that it is what works for him with very high training load, but definitely not for everyone.

Running books:
Born to Run: for inspiration and adventure
The Greatest: inspiration from elite track racing
Ultramarathon Man: a regular guy went really far, really often

For Getting Started:
Dr. Phillip Maffetone: Either The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing or The Big Book of Health and Fitness. Ignore Maffetone's dietary advice of healthy fats and protein. Buy a simple heart rate monitor and follow his heart rate training. I wished I had discovered it earlier, it would have saved me YEARS of time and effort. I highly recommend the Maffetone Method.
Jeff Galloway: He has coached beginning runners with great success for decades.

A little of Both:
Fit Soul, Fit Body: Mark Allen won the Hawaii Ironman more than anyone else, and still holds the course record for the marathon there. He did all this after working with Maffetone, and still uses the method with all of his coached athletes. He also blends a lot of spirituality into his training and lifestyle.

Agreed on Jeff Galloway. I used Galloway's Book on Running to successfully complete my first half-marathon. The run-walk system is great!

Thank you! That is the info i was looking for. I want to work up to jogging continously multiple miles, but i want to train properly to achieve that goal. Looks like one of the first steps is a good heart rate monitor. Just need to research to find the right one.

It wouldn't hurt to find a running coach to evaluate your form. Maybe hire someone for 1-2 hours just to get you started. Then, depending on your age, go with Galloway. I'd tell you not to get caught up on running continuously for multiple miles but I know I wouldn't have listened (didn't listen) before my most recent injury.

I've been injured more times than I can count in the past 6 years and now I'm in physical therapy for the next 4 weeks. My issues were (not necessarily in this order but probably): 1) trying to run too far too soon, 2) trying to run too fast too soon, 3) over-striding, 4) muscle strength imbalance (muscle on one side weaker than the other so adjusted in a way that led to injury), 5) poor posture (often from getting too tired by the end of the run), 6) wrong shoes.

As soon as my PT gives me the go-ahead I will be using Jeff Galloway's method to get back into running. I have a half-marathon planned in October. I may or may not be able to do it. We'll see. No matter what I'm going to follow the advice of my PT this time. No more running with injury.

Final word of advice, try to just enjoy running for now. If something hurts stop. If it still hurts the next time you want to run don't run. Don't worry about your time. Don't worry about how far you can go without stopping. The more planned walk breaks you take the farther you can go and the recovery is faster and you have significantly less risk of injury.

If you're the kind of person who won't run unless you have a race to get ready for then sign up for a 5K. However, if you're the kind of person who puts a lot of pressure on yourself to run faster or farther than you should just because you signed up for a race then forget races for awhile and just enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery and how good your body feels.

You're welcome. Heart rate monitors, like all things techy, get more and more powerful and therefore complicated. Keep it simple. All you need is current heart rate displayed, and total time when you're done. I use the cheapest Timex I could find on Amazon for most of my training. For racing, I use my fancy shmancy Garmin so I can upload and graph my data on my computer and geek out for awhile. Thoroughly unnecessary, but fun. Both Galloway and Maffetone agree, and my experience also shows that it's OK to Walk. Combine walking and running in any way that suits you.

*off to amazon kindle store* lol