Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

Good for the amateur runner

Customer Rating:

If you aren't a member of a club with trainers and physio's to hand then "Running Well" is probably the next best thing. Accessible and easy to read the book provides advice on everything from choosing shoes, to nutrition, with a particularly comprehensive section on injury. I found the advice on running posture on core strengthening particularly useful. There are a couple of problems with the book: the injury section is detailed but I found it confusing and not that helpful. If you are injured, get yourself referred to your good old NHS physiotherapist - they're great !. The other problem is that a great many stretches, warm-ups and core strengthening exercises are presented - far too many for you to be able to do all of them - but no guidance or advice is given on which ones are most suitable for different types of runner. Unlike other running books I've seen, no training programme is given for your first 10K, or half-marathon etc. However, a good return to running from injury programme is given. Overall though this book is very well written by professionals who present their knowledge well. It is well worth the money for amateur runners everywhere.

Not bad, but probably not great for a beginner.

Customer Rating:

This was the first running book I found and I bought it due to the good reviews. I have to say, it is a good book, but not as great as I'd hoped. I'd been running a month and felt like I was missing something and me being me, when I embark on something, I like to feel well armed with as much information as possible. This book had lots of information but I think it is probably better suited to a slightly more experienced runner. Three months on, it is probably ok for me now, but at the time, it wasn't really helpful enough for my thirst for knowledge. If you want a great first time running book for the complete beginner then try 'Zest: Running Made Easy'.

I thought I knew about running...	Customer Rating:
I thought I knew everything about running until I read this book. Clearly written with excellent diagrams, packed with sound advice and no-nonsense guidelines for joggers and serious runners. I found the sections on injury prevention and recovery particularly encouraging,having just had to come back after six weeks layoff and getting my recovery programme all wrong.

Running well

Customer Rating:

As an amateur runner who runs outside the realms of a running club, I have always had alot of questions and niggles that prevented me from pushing myself too hard. This book provides alot of the answers and helped me to understand why my body feels and reacts the way it does and it has given me the confidence to now go the extra mile, without worrying that I am damaging myself. This book is as good a support as any running club to get you going!

The most suitable running book I've read so far

Customer Rating:

After suffering a few annoying, and occasionally painful, injuries over the last 18 months, I've spent quite a while reading books and trying to correct a couple of faults in my running action. I have tried John Noakes Lore of Running (although there's not much mention to technique and is more a compilation of various training programmes and scientific studies), Romanov's POSE method, and Chi-Running. While they've all got their own merits, and I would recommend them all in their own right, I've found it difficult to throw myself into either of the techniques. You really need to buy into the philosophies of the POSE and Chi-Running techniques, and I never really found their arguments to be convincing enough for me to commit to them. This is why I'm so pleased with 'Running Well'. The book really emphasizes that there might not be a one-size-fits-all approach and instead provides a central source of general good practises to running technique and injury prevention. I think anyone looking to purchase such a book should start with 'Running Well' and then maybe look to some of the more prescriptive alternatives if they then feel its appropriate, rather than the other way round. I could see that serious club and elite runners might want a more heavyweight training manual, but I really think that this book would meet the needs of the remaining 95% of us. The presentation of the book is excellent and I'd wholeheartedly agree with the book's synopsis that states the content to be accessible. I consider this to be the most relevant book of its type.