Lore of Running, 4th Edition
by Timothy Noakes
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Book Reviews of Lore of Running, 4th Edition
Book Review: God gaves Moses 10 Commandments, Noakes gives runners "The 15 Laws of Training" in The Runner's Bible
Summary: 5 Stars
John V. Karavitis Tim Noakes is a South African physician, professor of exercise and sports science, researcher and ultramarathoner. This book (4th edition (c) 2003) represents a veritable bible of information for every runner, from the beginner to the elite champion. Noakes covers a lot of ground, and he does so thoroughly. In fact, in a word, this 921-page book is a STUNNING opus.
Noakes shows how the hodgepodge of "theories" that are still taught in school today are without foundation, and, in their place, offers a "Central Governor" model of fatigue (aka the Integrated Neuromuscular Recruitment Model). This model posits that the brain monitors one's physical exertion and internal core temperature and signals one to slow down or stop by invoking a sense of fatigue. It does this in order to protect the brain and the body from damage. Noakes also provides the reader with great detail about how muscles work, how the body utilizes oxygen and energy stores (carbs and fat), and, perhaps most importantly, training schedules from both elite runners like Jeff Galloway and researchers like Jack Daniels. That is, you are given actual training schedules that will get you to run anything from a 10K to a marathon or even an ultramarathon in just 26 weeks.
My favorite sections are (1) Chapter 5 "Developing a Training Foundation", where Noakes looks back at the greatest runners and distills their wisdom into the "15 Laws of Training" (which gives some of the best advice I've ever read for runners), and (2) Chapter 6 "Learning from the Experts", which gives us a look at the lives and training regimens of some of the greatest runners of all time. Other interesting tidbits include: the apparent fact that marathoners only have a 20-year window of excellent performance, regardless of when they start racing (in fact, only one really elite marathon performance in their career); that one should include walking with any running (to forestall stretch-shortening cycle fatigue in the quadriceps); that speed work/interval training is essential to run faster.
Bottom line, this book is THE BIBLE for anyone who wants to run any distance. If you love to run and want to either learn more about it, pick up useful training tips, or read about the "lore of running", then this is the book that you must have. FIVE STARS! John V. Karavitis, John Karavitis, Karavitis.
Book Review: Phenomenal book on running, best I've come across.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been reading about running for the past couple of years--probably more than I ought to. I came upon this book recently in the library (most of my reading is online!) and upon poring through its pages have realized that a lot of what I've read either came from this book, or this book has a lot of what I've read in it. Noakes has written this tome relying upon the best science we have for running with all of its available studies. He bases his conclusions and statements on journal articles where possible and where not does not go overboard in conjecture.
He is an accomplished marathoner and ultra marathoner and in his practice has treated a lot of runners.
Go ahead and buy any book on running. It will have a section on nutrition with the basics that we all know. Contrast with the nutrition section in this and it's actually worth reading; he spends many pages on such details as the proper sodium levels in a beverage, the amount of liquid we need to drink while exercising (not the vague catch-all of "drink as much as you sweat"). His guides on injury and footware are the best researched I've found anywhere.
This is not just the best book on running I've seen, it's the best book _by far_.
I slight this book in two areas:
1) Injury treatment seems to be really slanted substantially toward footwear and orthotics. Now, there may be a reason for that I'm not aware of, and he does give time to exercises and "holistic" approches for injury prevention, including training the hips for, say, a knee problem and not just the feet, but I would have just preferred a bit more.
2) Running technique. He describes in detail the typical heel-strike of most runners but doesn't spend much time that I have found on particulars of technique, such as possibly forefooting or midfooting. Bits and pieces are throughout the book in this, but a subsection on what is now in vogue (pose technique, chirunning, etc.) would have been nice. I don't know that it's reasonable to dismiss these simply because he feels they're useless; I feel like he missed out.
That said, I really can't stress enough how much solid, quality stuff is in this book. He's not simply taking what "everyone knows" about running and making a thousand pages out of it; he does go into meaningful detail.
Book Review: A Cautious Iconoclast
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is one of the best resources for a runner of a coach that I've come across. Noakes details a diverse sampling of current theories in exercise science, and explains them in a readable and comprehensible fashion. Alongside Daniels' Running Formula, this book is at the head of the pack with regard to allowing the non-scientist to understand research-based explanations concerning running performance.
Noakes is so rigorous in his standards of proof that he dismisses as unproven much of what is commonly accepted in the running community: the idea of improving VO2Max as a prime training goal, hydration recommendations, carbo loading, etc., unless there have been multiple clinical studies demonstrating their effectiveness, not only in improving a certain beneficial element of the runner's physiology, but in improving actual performance. This is refreshing, in that whatever he describes as beneficial will certainly improve your performance, but it also leads to a lot of question marks concerning what types of training are effective; a lot of practices are dubbed "potentially beneficial, but not potentially useless".
This is probably unsatisfying to the majority of runners, who want an authority to determine which of these potentially-beneficial practices are probable enough candidates to warrant incorporation into a training program, but that isn't Noakes' M.O. However, the book should provide solid shoulders from which current and future athletes--amateur researchers all--can experiment to determine just what works for them. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you purchase this book.
Book Review: A must for any serious runner.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is excellent and an absolute necessity for anyone seriously interested in competitive running. Noakes covers all of the basics concerning the physiological and psychological aspects of running and presents them in a clear manner. The discussions about stretching, overtraining, and injury are equally useful as a reference.
The best part of the book for me was the analysis, in chronological order, of the careers of the great runners of the past and their varied methods of attaining world class stature.
It is hugely beneficial to study the likes of Newton, DeMar, Nurmi, the incomparable Zatopek, etc. The information on the great Bruce Fordyce, a figure not sufficiently known in the US, was of extreme interest; who would ever believe that an ultramarathoner could run a 5k that fast and do those speed workouts? It is particularly useful to study those among the greats who suffered from chronic overtraining and draw the obvious conclusions that are so elusive to many of us.
Any person who reads this book and thoughtfully applies its ideas about training (memorize the "Laws of Training")is bound to improve dramatically. The text will provide the reader with the theoretical concepts necessary to construct a scientific training program that works for you. The extensive bibliography and documentation will point the serious reader to points of particular interest. I have not studied the literature extensively, but this is the best book on running that I ever read and I return to it constantly as a resource.
Book Review: This is the final word on all things running
Summary: 5 Stars
It would be hard to overstate the reach of this landmark tome on running. Noakes has put together, quite simply, THE authoritative resource on all things running. With a stunning level of historical and scientific research, Noakes reviews the entire global history of running, drawing well-reasoned conclusions about sports medicine, psychology, all aspects of training, injury prevention and acheiving the highest level of performance possible. Then he backs these theories up with irrefutable testimonials from the world's best runners of all time.
Noakes does all of this with a measured and humble attitude that presents his views with confidence, while acknowledging that there are always exceptions to any theory. Most importantly, he recognizes the importance of self-discovery and the illusory nature of "training secrets."
I can't recommend this book more highly, but offer one word of caution: don't try to digest this all in one sitting. It's a read best taken in small doses.