Running Book Reviews with Alan and Liz

The Boston Marathon Handbook is part of the Falcon Guides series, which cover the entire spectrum of outdoor activities. This book covers everything about Boston from what makes Boston so special, to getting in and training, and even what to do after the race and more!There are 12 chapters that make up the book: Chapter 1 - Why Is The Boston Marathon Special?Chapter 2 - There's Only One BostonChapter 3 - Getting InChapter 4 - TrainingChapter 5 - The Course: A Step-by-Step Guide to Towns and Cities Along The WayChapter 6 - Pre-RaceChapter 7 - The RaceChapter 8 - Post-RaceChapter 9 - Now What?Chapter 10 - Beyond BostonChapter 11 - Hall of FameChapter 12 - The Boston LexiconMarc W. Pollina is a writer, runner, and entrepreneur. He has completed 26 marathons, including 18 Boston Marathons as a bandit, a charity runner, and a sub-3 qualifier. Pollina earned a BA in English Literature from Hampden-Sydney College and studied digital transformation at MIT. Marc survived a near-death childhood accident, recovered his soul from the cold grip of the financial services industry, and founded an innovative cyber-media startup prior to penning his non-fiction debut. If you would like to follow Marc, his website is https://marcwpollina.com/. You can also find links to his social media and the book. Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

In The Spell Of The Barkley tells the story of the Barkley race in Tennessee with its history and traditions, how the author discovered it and became determined to finish the “fun run”, and explores the reasons why participants keep coming back despite being almost guaranteed to fail. The book is a mix of the authors experience and stories of the people he met in the ultrarunning world. A few people he talks about in the book are:Frozen Ed; the author of the book Michiel read, and the person who invited him to come watch his first Barkley.Jared Campbell; 3-time Barkley finisher.Gary Robbins; Canadian ultrarunner who missed the cutoff by 6 seconds when completing the Barkley and so doesn’t count as a finisher.Gideon; an ultrarunner and friend who crews Michiel through several races which he ended up finishing in part due to the Gideon’s help.Michiel Panhuysen is a Journalist and ultrarunner. He is a multiple-time Barkley entrant, having fallen under the spell of this event in the early 2010s when he read Frozen Ed's book Tales From Out There. On each occasion that he entered, the Barkley won, but not because Michiel came unprepared. He ran many grueling races and events including:Tor des Geants; a 330 km race with 24000 m of D+.Petite Trotte a Leon (on 3 seperate occations); a team event that is far from being a little jaunt through the mountains and requires navigation skills.The Legends Trail; a 250 km race through the Ardennes.If you're interested in getting a copy of the book for yourself, you can find it on Amazon:https://a.co/d/hQbSVNB  Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

There Is No Wall is ultrarunner Allie Bailey’s brutally honest and sometimes shocking account of alcoholism, depression and severe mental breakdowns which almost cost her her life. Told with disarming vulnerability, heartbreaking depth of feeling and dark humour, this isn’t a story about how running saved her – she was already running and at the height of her struggles sometimes even winning 100-mile-plus races. But somewhere between the darkest excesses of the music industry and the simple beauty of the ultrarunning scene, Allie found space to listen, learn and put into practice techniques that would go on to save her life and change it for the better. There Is No Wall is a story about how doing something you love can lead you to achieve things you never thought possible. Running won’t save you, but it might buy you the time to save yourself.Allie Bailey is an ultrarunner, coach, speaker and podcaster who has run in some of the most extreme places in the world. She was the first woman to run 100 miles across frozen Lake Khövsgöl in Mongolia and to run the full length of the Panama Canal. She has crossed the inhospitable Namib Desert three times, run the length of the Outer Hebrides and completed a 1,000-mile off-road version of the classic Land’s End to John o’Groats route in just thirty days. Allie has finished over 200 marathons and ultramarathons all over the world, but the most remarkable thing about all of these achievements is that she accomplished most of them while battling depression and alcoholism. Although running ultimately became the vehicle that helped buy Allie the time to recover from a number of severe mental health breakdowns, it did not save her. In fact, there were times when it made her battle all the more difficult. After a seismic mental health crisis in 2021, Allie finally admitted to herself and those around her that she was an alcoholic and started her recovery. She left behind a dream career with major record labels and adventure companies and now works as a coach with a broad range of runners and endurance athletes, helping them unlock their full potential. In 2022, she was named as one of the most inspiring female adventurers in the UK by the Guardian, and she has appeared on numerous mainstream TV programmes including The One Show and Lorraine. She lives in Yorkshire with her rescue dog, Pickle.If you'd like to read Allie's blog or get a copy of her book, both are available on her website (as well as links to her social media if you'd like to follow her): http://www.alliebailey.co.uk/aboutSupport the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

Becoming a Sustainable Runner is a guide written by two environmental advocates, Tina Muir and Zoe Rom, who love running. This book teaches us about the impact running has on the environment, but also how to be a lifelong runner and how to contribute to the running community in a way that is positive and inclusive.The book has 3 parts:Sustain Your Runners Mind and BodySustain Your Running CommunitySustain Your Planet Tina Muir is the founder and CEO of Running for Real, a support network and community for runners; a mother of two; and a former elite runner for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She hosts the Running For Real podcast, a collection of conversations about running, the climate emergency, and social justice, which has amassed over 6 million downloads; and Running Realized, a podcast that provides a space to explore difficult subjects and offers insights to create meaningful change in the running world and beyond. Her articles have been published in The Guardian, Runner’s World, SELF, and Women’s Running. Tina is known for her environmental activism, having worked with the United Nations on campaigns related to climate change and humanitarian affairs, and has written for the UN Chronicle. The New York City Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and AJC Peachtree Road Race have all brought her onto their sustainability teams. Voted as one of the 17 women changing the world of running by Women’s Running, she has inspired many others to speak out about their own passions.Zoë Rom is the editor-in-chief at Trail Runner magazine; managing editor at Women’s Running; and an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured in Outside, Backpacker, Trail Runner, Women’s Running and Discover magazines; NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered; and Threshold, a Peabody-Award winning, long-form environmental podcast. She is also the writer, host, and producer of the DNF podcast, which has been called the “This American Life of running podcasts,” by the Los Angeles Review of Books. Zoë is an elite trail runner, with a master’s degree in environmental journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has covered everything from sled dog racing in the Alaskan bush and arctic sea ice exploration in Norway to morel hunting in northern Arkansas and competitive alpaca racing in the Colorado Rockies. Her running accomplishments include first place at the Crested Butte 100k and Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon, and two consecutive wins at the War Eagle 50k.If you would like to get a copy of the book, you can find links to all the places where it's available online here: https://becomingasustainablerunner.com/Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

In this episode we get to chat with author, Ryan Whited, about his book (co-authored with Matt Fitzgerald) Pain + Performance. Pain + Performance  is a book that aims to explain how pain is a normal human experience and not something that we need to try and get rid of… at least not completely. Pain also doesn’t always mean tissue damage as we are mostly taught to believe. Author Ryan Whited has been helping athletes at his gym, Paragon Athletics, for many years using the biopsychosocial model of pain. In this book, he shares his own experience with pain, what the research says about pain, what the biopsychosocial model of pain is and Paragon’s Training as Treatment model that anyone can use to work their way through non-traumatic injuries.Ryan Whited is a personal trainer, elite climber, and the founder of Paragon Athletics, a gym that empowers athletes with sport-specific strength and conditioning to complement their performance goals. His passion for working with athletes and investigating the nature of biomechanics and human performance is the basis for Paragon's innovative Training as Treatment program. Paragon has become a destination for both novice and elite athletes who find themselves sidelined by chronic pain or injury. As a specialist in pain science and physiology, Ryan uses his experience as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist to help his clients avoid surgery, reduce or eliminate pain, and return to their sports with more resilience.  Matt Fitzgerald is an acclaimed endurance sports coach, nutritionist, author, and co-founder of 80/20 Endurance. His many books include The Endurance Diet, 80/20 Running, and How Bad Do You Want It? Matt’s writing also appears regularly in magazines and on websites such as Women’s Running and outsideonline.com. His online training plans have helped thousands of athletes of all experience and ability levels achieve their goals. Certified by the International Society of Sports Nutrition, Matt has consulted for numerous sports nutrition companies and he is the creator of the Diet Quality Score (DQS) smartphone app. A lifelong athlete, he speaks frequently at events throughout the United States and internationally. If you would like to get the book for yourself, the best way is from your local book store. If you don't have a book store close by then you can find it on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/9BuwzZYDuring our chat, Ryan mentioned Greg Lehman's blog, which you can find here: https://www.greglehman.ca/blogThe Paragon Athletics (Ryan's gym) website is here: https://paragonathletics.com/ Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

The Psychology of Running is part of The Psychology of Everything series which also includes:The Psychology of ArtThe Psychology of WellnessThe Psychology of ComedyThe Psychology of DemocracyThe Psychology of CounsellingThe Psychology of TravelThe Psychology of AttachmentThis book dives into the science of running to answer six questions that make up the 6 chapters of the book:Why do we run?Why do we slow down or stop?What will help me run faster?What should I focus my attention on?Can running help me feel better?Are running-based programs beneficial for children and adults?Noel Brick is a lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at Ulster University in Ireland. He is a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a registered sport and exercise psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).  He has applied his experience as a sports and exercise psychologist in a range of performance settings including running, cycling, powerlifting, and Gaelic games. Noel’s research interests include the psychology of endurance performance, with an emphasis on the psychology of long-distance running. His research also focuses on mental health in sport. As a runner, Noel has completed over 30 marathons and ultramarathons, including Marathon des Sables in 2012 and the Boston Marathon in 2022. Noel is also co-author of The Genius of Athletes.Stuart Holliday is a chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a registered sport and exercise psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) based in London. He has worked for over 10 years in the field with Olympic, Paralympic, and premiership squads and teams. His main interest is in endurance sports, and running in particular. He works in private practice with athletes at all competitive levels and is a keen club runner, competing across all distances up to the marathon. Stuart was a contributing author to Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual.If you would like to get a copy of The Psychology of Running then you can find it on Amazon or follow this link to get it directly from the publisher: https://www.routledge.com/The-Psychology-of-Running/Brick-Holliday/p/book/9781032068619If you're interested in learning more about the authors then you can find Noel Brick's website here: https://noelbrick.com/Stuart Holliday can be found here: https://www.focusedmindcoaching.co.uk/articles/wind-down-over-christmas/Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

In this bonus episode, Liz interviews Alan about his recent attempt at a Quebec age group record on the indoor track. Alan has never worn spikes or raced on an indoor track. This should be interesting!Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

Running Away from Cancer is the story of the author, Greg Schnoor's, journey to becoming an ultramarathoner after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. The thing is, he wasn’t even a runner before his diagnosis and started running while receiving maintenance chemotherapy once a month. Greg first started running because two of his kids had joined a cross country running team at school and he wanted to spend time with them as much as possible. Running ended up making his life better. Greg had more energy and spent less days curled up on the couch unable to move after his chemo treatments. Eventually he joined a running group and started to run more and more. His journey took him all the way to the 100 mile distance but it wasn’t all smooth sailing all the way to earning his first belt buckle.  Greg Schnoor, the author, is a living testament to the incredible power of resilience and determination. He was born and raised in the vibrant community of Pensacola, Florida. Greg's life took an unexpected turn at the end of 2010 when he received a diagnosis of malignant brain cancer but he has since run 96 marathons and 9 challenging 100-mile ultramarathons. He has not just been defying the odds of his diagnosis but thriving with the help of running and the running community.We hope that you enjoy our chat with Greg and feel inspired to try that thing that you have been wanting to do but just never seem to find the time. If you're interested in getting a copy of the book for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHNYL2CQYou can also follow the author on Facebook or on his personal website: https://runningawayfromcancer.com/Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

This bonus was recorded after we just finished chatting with Matt Fitzgerald and Layla Porteous about 80/20 Endurance High Performance Coaching Course and companion book. It took us months to complete the course so obviously there were a lot of questions that we couldn't get to with our guests. We chatted about coaching principles and the nuance of calculating training intensity, but we didn't get to other things like:Carbohydrate supplementation in longer eventsThe endurance coaching businessTrusting your training and your coachThe best ways to measure paceOutcome goals vs process goalsOf course there was a lot of other chat in between... because  why that's just what happens when we get carried away.  Alan gets some on the spot coaching from Liz for an upcoming indoor track race.Let us know if you're enjoying the bonus episodes. If so, which ones do you like the most; Our race reports? What kind of training we're doing? Supplemental book chats? Or is there something completely different that you want to know? Let us know by sending us a comment on social media.Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews

This episode is a little different because Matt Fitzgerald's book, 80/20 Eandurance, is a companion to a new coaching course created by Leyla Porteous, Director of Training and Operations at 80/20 Endurance. We refer to the course a lot, but all the information is also in the book. The book is divided into 12 chapters which cover the 12 topics in the coaching course:1 - Principles of Endurance Training2 - Training Intensities and Workout Type 3 - Guidelines for Balancing Training Intensities4 - Guidelines for Measuring and Manipulating Training Loads5 - Periodization and Peaking6 - Keeping Athletes On Track7 - Sport-Specific Considerations8 - Strength and Mobility Training9 - Coaching for Race Day Success10 - Coaching the Mind11 - The Ethics of Coaching12 – The Business of CoachingLeyla Porteous is the Director of Training and Operations at 80/20 Endurance and oversees existing and new training products and services. She is a lifelong swimmer, a rite of passage for the native Australian. She has a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion, an MBA, and is an Ironman University and USAT Certified Triathlon Coach.  Leyla has completed numerous endurance events around the globe, including the Ironman World Championships in Kona, the 70.3 World Championships in Australia, and representing Australia at the Triathlon Age Group Championships in Chicago. When not working on training plans or with athletes you'll find Leyla trying to convince Matt and David that all our athletic kits should be fluorescent. Matt Fitzgerald is an acclaimed endurance sports coach, nutritionist, author, and co-founder of 80/20 Endurance. His many books include The Endurance Diet, 80/20 Running, and How Bad Do You Want It? Matt’s writing also appears regularly in magazines and on websites such as Women’s Running and outsideonline.com. His online training plans have helped thousands of athletes of all experience and ability levels achieve their goals. Certified by the International Society of Sports Nutrition, Matt has consulted for numerous sports nutrition companies and he is the creator of the Diet Quality Score (DQS) smartphone app. A lifelong athlete, he speaks frequently at events throughout the United States and internationally. If you're interested in taking the 80/20 High Performance Coaching Course then you'll find that here: https://learning.8020endurance.com/courses/80-20-endurance-coaching-certification-courseIf you just want the book and aren't sure you want to take a whole course then you can get it here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/80-20-Endurance/Matt-Fitzgerald/9798985398021Support the showAny feedback or suggestions on this review or any of our other podcast episodes would be greatly welcomed. Leave us a review using your favorite podcast player or contact us on social media.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningbookreviews/Twitter: https://twitter.com/reviews_runningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningbookreviews/ Podcast webpage: https://runningbookreviews.buzzsprout.com If you have been enjoying the podcast and want more, you can find some extras on our By Me a Coffee site! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/runningbookreviews