Book Review: Your Best Stride

Book Review: Your Best Stride

by | May 16, 2023 | Article, Book Review, Coaching

Author: Jonathan Beverly
Reviewed by: Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

I first heard from Jonathan Beverly in early 2017, listening to a podcast where he promoted this book. His concepts were remarkably interesting, and I kept his name within my radar. A few months later I met him at the NYC Marathon expo and had the chance to talk to him and purchase the book. I read it right away, and then, again, a couple of years later. A couple of years after that, I read it one more time and decided to finally draft a book review.

Your Best Stride

Overall, this book is of terrific value, both in terms of time and money.

According to the bio on his website, Jonathan Beverly is a senior running gear editor at Outside magazine. He’s also a writer, photographer, coach and lifetime runner. His passion is to help others experience the joy of training, competing and being fit and fully alive. He is also the author of “Run Strong, Stay Hungry.” He served as editor of Running Times for 15 years. He has coached adults, junior high and high school.

This book touches on multiple aspects of running, all of them slices that when combined, will produce our best stride. The premise is that there is no one correct way to move when you run. There are wrong ways to do so, and some may lead to injury.

“The way we run is unique to our bodies and our experience—says Beverly—I can no more run like Kenenisa Bekele than he could run like me (not that he would want to). Bottom line: there is no perfect form, no one-size-fits-all recommendation.”

Beverly states that most of what he says is neither his nor new. It is a compilation of his conversations with multiple experts in physical therapy, anthropology, podiatry, natural running, etc. This alone makes the content even more valuable as you have the wisdom and knowledge of all these professionals in a 242-page book.

As a heel striking runner for over 40 years, I am reassured by the author’s assessment on how we have become so focused on where the foot lands and what shoe is needed to fix it, that we have forgotten that it all starts above, at the hip. From there, the kinetic chain goes down through the various parts of the leg until finally ends on the soles of the feet. When we focus all our attention on the landing, we are discarding the process that gets us there.

“Your running style is as your voice -he says- Every person has a distinct sound based on his or her physical characteristics, habits and upbringing.”

Your Best Stride

I had the chance to meet the author and purchase the book from him, at the 2017 NYC Marathon Expo

Other subjects discussed include running shoes (there is no magic in them); core exercises, strength training, balance, stability, posture, cues to assess your running form and, of course, how to put it all together.

I like how he spends time talking about the mythology of cadence. Just as with foot strike, there is a lot of misunderstanding here, especially when it comes to the supposedly perfect number of 180, which is anecdotal and has no scientific base. Sure, cadence can help us cure certain issues like overstriding, but it is more the result of our running instead of a driver of efficiency. Trying to improve cadence without addressing the issues that may cause its deficiencies can get runners in trouble. \”Mind your hips, and your cadence (as well as your foot strike) will take care of itself\”, guarantees the author.

Another important topic is the mixing of the training, including shoes, surfaces, speeds, routes and directions to avoid overuse injuries. Biomechanist Simon Bartold is quoted saying: “Your average runner in Manhattan will run in the same track, in the same direction, the same way, every single time they run and wonder why they get injured. You have to mix up the signal.\”

A tip for reading this book is to do so in a place where you can take the time and have the space to do the exercises he asks you to do. You may need to lay on the floor to feel your glutes, or stand up and place your hands in certain areas to feel your pelvis rotating, or kneel to feel your hip extensors doing their thing. So, you may not want to read this one on the bus or at a public place where you’ll feel awkward performing certain moves, unless you bookmark them and come back home to them.

Overall, this book is of terrific value, both in terms of time and money.

 

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Book Review – Good to Go

Book Review – Good to Go

by | May 10, 2022 | Article, Book Review, Science

Written by Christie Aschwanden
Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

I heard of Christie Aschwanden a few months ago when she was as a guest on a running podcast that I follow. She was talking about recovery and she seemed very well versed in the subject. Not only that, but her experience in high-performance athletics as well as her background as an award-winning science journalist at The Washington Post and The New York Times, made me feel she was legit. The host also mentioned she had written a book on recovery, so I immediately ordered it.

Good to Go

A good book worth the money and time investment for anyone wanting to know more about athletic recovery.

As weekend warriors we tend to forget that our hard workouts, our weightlifting sessions, or our long runs will do nothing for us unless we allow our bodies to recover and adapt to what we just put them through. There will be no adaptation if we don’t rest and fuel ourselves properly. “Good to Go. What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery” will help you gauge the different elements of recovery and put them in the right perspective.

The book is a tour through the many aspects of athletic recovery. It covers the things “everybody knows” through the ones that seem kind of way out there in the “snake oil” category. You can discern her journalistic and scientific background in her writing as she explored the many angles of each aspect of the science of recovery. I am not going to say that I read the papers she quotes to make up my mind on any aspect of what she presents, but if you start from the premise she is a solid researcher, as she seems to be, and an honest journalist, you will be impressed with what she presents in her book.

“Good to Go” is divided into 11 chapters. Each one goes in depth about an aspect of recovery. Nutrition, hydration, rest, compression, ice therapy, sleep, etc. They are individually treated and from several angles. With pros and cons, science research to back everything up, and the author’s personal experience trying many of the techniques and fads. Because the book was published in 2019, the author had access to the latest science and updates available, so you can learn a lot of new things.

The hydration chapter is fascinating. It goes through the history of the development of hydration as a science and how the sports drinks industry has taken over to popularize many myths that have become gospel in the endurance sports world. It is not that Gatorade doesn’t work, but it is not what it is marketed out to be either. You need to adapt your body to use its fluid resources wisely and then assist it with hydration while it works. A certain level of dehydration is perfectly normal. You don’t need to replenish every drop you sweat.

Good to Go

The author is an award-winning science journalist at The Washington Post and The New York Times.

As for fueling, I found was very interested in her debunking of the myth that there is a window of opportunity to feed your body after you wrap up your training. We’ve all heard that the magic window is the first hour, or even 30 minutes. She explains the science behind this and concludes that there is no “window of opportunity” but a “barn door of opportunity”. Your body is not going to reject the nutrient it needs just because they were offered too late for them to be absorbed. She concludes that unless you are to work out or compete again in a short period of time, there is no necessity to start refueling right away.

When it comes to sleep, there is one paragraph that blew my mind: “The benefits of sleep cannot be overstated. It is hands-down the most powerful recovery tool known to science. Nothing else comes close to sleep’s enhancing-recovery powers. You could add together every other recovery aid ever discovered, and they wouldn’t stack up. Going to sleep is like taking your body to the repair shop. While you doze, your body’s recovery processes ramp up to fix the damage you did during the day and get you ready to perform again”. Do you need to know anything else?

Of course I am synopsizing in one paragraph what I liked the most about entire chapters of about 20+ pages, with scientific quotations, personal experiences and field studies. What I am stating here is by no means the entire book, just a few comments to whet your appetite if you would like to learn more about these subjects.

The author also goes into detail on issues such as nutritional supplements, overtraining syndrome, and the placebo effect, providing you with scientific based information from several angles. These subjects, in conjunction with the other ones, will make you question some pre-conceived concepts you may have, and make you wonder if you’ve been approaching your recovery all wrong.

By the way, the book’s conclusion is that good sleep trumps every other aspect of recovery, so focus on that first. The rest is just icing on the cake.

“Good to Go. What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery” is not only a good book, worth the money and time invested in it. It is also well written, very entertaining, and will leave you with valuable lessons that will make you a better athlete.

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Book Review: 26.2 Miles to Boston

Book Review: 26.2 Miles to Boston

by | Mar 1, 2022 | Book Review

By Michael P Connelly
Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

 “The beauty of the Boston Marathon is the way each mile takes a life of its own and has its own personality”. This is the first line of the Mile 13 chapter of the book 26.2 Miles to Boston, and it reflects the spirit of the book. The allure and the charisma of the Boston Marathon doesn’t need much explanation in a running blog. It is more than just one of the Majors. It is more than the oldest of marathons. It is royalty among foot races. It is the Mount Olympus of running achievements.

26.2 Miles to Boston

You don’t have to be a Boston veteran to enjoy this wonderful book about the race.

Ran yearly since 1897, it is the most iconic and prestigious marathon. Qualifying for Boston is either the goal or the dream of most runners, even if they know they will never accomplish it. The course is hallowed ground both for those who aspire to run it one day and to those who have ran it 50+ times.

Michael P. Connelly (not to be confused with Michael Connelly, author of detective and crime fiction novels) is a lifelong Bostonian, who has focused his writings on the local sports scene. He finished the race in 1996, so he speaks from first-hand experience. The premise of the book is to move the reader along the route in a fluid and linear fashion, mimicking the race.

Originally published in 2014, Connelly goes mile by mile through each nook, cranny, obstacle and topographical feature of the road that will take a runner from Hopkinton to Boston, as he/she goes through eight cities. The rich history of the race, its traditions, lore, highlights and iconic participants are expertly interwoven throughout the story. The rich history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and each one of the eight municipalities is well researched and told in an enjoyable manner.

From the foreword by four-time champion Bill Rodgers to the post-race celebration, the author guides you through every bit of history that has built the Boston Marathon legend through the 117 years until the writing of the book. This upcoming April 16h will be the 126th edition of the race.

Because the book was published in 2014, it touches briefly on the 2013 bombing. A few references are sprinkled here and there and, after the 26th mile, the story is divided into “385 Yards of Treachery”, where the author expands on the episode, and “385 Yards of Triumph”, where he exalts images of success that have highlighted the finish line area throughout the decades. Not sure if this happened because the book was written prior to the 2013 and he had to adjust, or because the author refused to let this tragedy become the protagonist of the race’s rich history. Regardless of the reason, I believe this was the right call.

Beyond the geography, the history and the landmarks, the author choses to expand one topic per mile. These include unknowns surging on early leads, the contribution of international runners, human stories, cheaters, great performances and performers, unethical tactics, etc.

Mile 5 goes in detail through the story of female inclusion in the race, which goes beyond the 1968 Kathrine Swtizer/Jock Semple tackle. Mile 8 delves into the rich history of cheating in this race, which starts in 1909 with Howard Pearce and climaxes in 1980 with Rosie Ruiz. Mile 9 goes into the addition of handicapped athletes and details the birth of Team Hoyt. Mile 11 expands on the war years and here you learn amazing tidbits, such as the fact that the 1918 race was a relay for military teams.

26.2 Miles to Boston

Seven-Time Boston Marathon Champion, Clarence DeMar.

The book peaks at Miles 19 with the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill at Mile 20. “The fibs the runners told themselves on the flats of Framingham are meeting the truth on the hills of Newton”, the author explains. His description is so vivid that even if you haven’t been there, you can feel the pain and the agony of the 700-yard uphill stretch as if you were struggling through it yourself.

I haven’t run the Boston Marathon, yet I was able to enjoy this book immensely. I am sure that for someone preparing for the race it will be a powerful addition to their training plan. This way they can understand what they’ll go though and enhance their Boston experience. At the same time, I assume that for someone who has ran the race, it could mean a lot more given their firsthand experience on the course.

26.2 Miles to Boston is a beautifully written book, worth the investment in time and money. It can be enjoyed by anyone who understands the meaning of the Boston Marathon to the running community.

 

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Book Review – Arthur Lydiard: Master Coach

Book Review – Arthur Lydiard: Master Coach

by | Oct 26, 2021 | Book Review, Coaching

By Garth Gilmour

Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

While names like Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Eliud Kipchoge, Grete Waitz, Haile Gebrselassie or Fred Lebow are known by many as some of the most influential people in the history of contemporary running, Arthur Lydiard’s is less known by the masses. Yet, most of our training plans, including some for the aforementioned runners, are based on Lydiard’s periodization principles. Born in New Zealand in 1917 (passed away in 2004), he is well known among coaching circles and by those curious enough to figure out where the basics of their training plans are coming from.

Master Coach

A well written book worth the time and money for those who care about the history of running.

Arthur was a local running elite who started keeping track of his training and figuring out what worked better for him. He focused on what made him better and discarded that what did not. He was no physiologist, medical doctor, or scientist. He was a shoemaker with a side gig as a milk deliveryman who just loved to run and get better at it.

His main discovery is that gains needed to be obtained slowly over time for the body to adapt and them to stick. That when the body adapts to the stimuli this gains remain and from there you can build on them. He realized that not everybody needs to run 50×400 like Emil Zatopek to become a better runner. The key for any distance from 800 to the marathon is endurance and you could obtain such endurance by developing your cardiovascular system. You do so by taking your time and running a lot of miles while recovering so you can do it, again.

As his New Zealand track and field teams had successful Olympic Games in 1960 and 1964, and Peter Snell, Murray Halberg and Barry Magee became household names in the world stage, coaches from around the world started approaching Arthur. Suddenly, Lydiard was “discovered” and became a coaching guru traveling the world.

Lydiard epitomized the Luke 4:24 biblical verse: “no prophet is accepted in his hometown”. Despite his multiple successes taking many compatriots into the top of the world stage, he kept fighting with the local sporting authorities who refused to accept his methods and ended up spreading his knowledge around the globe while New Zealanders were left behind.

Olympic Committees from Mexico, Finland, and Venezuela trusted him with the training of his athletes, some with better results than others. Japanese coaches and runners visited New Zealand to train with him. During the boom of Japanese world-class marathoners of the early to mid-eighties, Toshihiko Seko and the So twins, Shigeru, and Takeshi, were in part, his success.

Master Coach

Thet op runners of the Japanese world-class runners boom from the eighties were product of Lydiard’s principles: Toshihiko Seko, Takeshi and Shigeru Soh.

Lydiard’s periodization principles were so effective and revolutionary, that swimmers and horse trainers adopted them with the necessary adjustments and saw results. It has been used for decades by some of the most successful performers in those disciplines.

The March/April 1992 issue of Peak Running Performance magazine said: Lydiard\’s program epitomizes one general, but very critical concept related to exercise and sports physiology. This broad principle is gradual adaptation. While most athletes would call this \”plain old common sense\”, experience tells us that common sense is not so common–especially among runners who have a strong desire to improve their running.

Author Garth Gilmour condensed Arthur’s work in the following paragraph:

“First tested and found successful in the 1950s, the Lydiard system has undergone some subtle refinements through the years. But it remains the same elemental theory that first placed a small handful of ordinary runners, from Lydiard\’s immediate neighborhood in an Auckland, New Zealand, suburb, at the forefront of world middle and distance running for more than a decade and then, as Lydiard advanced from being a coach of runners to an international coach of coaches, spread around the running tracks and training centers of the entire world.”

This is a biography on the subject, not a scientific treaty of his findings or the application of his training theories. Sure, Lydiard may not be the sexiest of subjects for everyday runners, but he was an innovator with a legacy worth knowing about. Arthur Lydiard: Master Coach is well written book, pleasant to read. Well worth your time and money if you care for the creator of the core in which most of our training plans are based on.

 
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Book Review: A Runner’s High

Book Review: A Runner’s High

by | Jul 13, 2021 | Book Review

By Dean Karnazes
Reviewed by: Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

 Since the unexpected success of his first book, Ultramarathon Man, back in March 2005, Dean Karnnzes has become a running celebrity. His superhuman feats of endurance and adventure have inspired thousands of ex-runners to lace up their shoes once again, and new ones to start pounding the asphalt for the very first time.

A Runner's High

This book is a good investment in time and money

In “A Runners High”, Karnazes tells a variety of running stories interlaced with his preparation and participation in the 2019 edition of the Western States Endurance Run. This is a 100-Mile race that has become the Boston Marathon equivalent of the ultrarunning world. It takes place in the California Sierra Nevada during the last weekend of June. It ran for the first time in 1977.

The narrative starts with Karnazes preparing to run the Bishop High Sierra Ultramarathon, a 100K race in preparation for his eventual participation in the Western States, where the narration culminates. In the meantime, there are many first-person accounts and running stories that, even if many runners can’t relate, they are told in such a quotidian, non-technical, well described and no aggrandizing way, that if you have run for a few years, you will be able to visualize, identify and even feel the glory and the suffering of the storyteller.

The author also delves into the dynamics of his family and their intersection with his demanding running career and life. His son Nicholas and his parents, as well as their interactions, become important figures in the narration. As a runner, son, and father, I can definitely identify with many of those situations. His wife and daughter also made important appearances, but to a lesser degree.

As the weeks pass by and events take course during the span of a few months, some of Karnazes latest running adventures, the ones that haven’t made it to his previous books, make an appearance. His running of the Silk Road through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is the story I liked the best. It shows how running can become part of US diplomacy. It also takes you through some of the roads least traveled by every-day US citizens. His interaction with the locals and their customs is well told though very illustrative anecdotes.

A Runner's High

“We discover who we are through the movement of our bodies” – Dean Karnazes

Then, of course, it comes Western States, where the whole gamut of human emotions show up at one point or another.  From euphoria to misery, and everything in between, take their turn as part of the racing experience. Through these emotions, he masterfully takes the reader through the understanding of the peaks and valleys of ultrarunning, even if he/she has never ventured beyond the thin line that separated “regular” running from ultrarunning.

Not sure if it was the vivid description of the misery he went through or that I don’t feel like the Western States are in my future, but the one thing I can say about this Karnazes book when comparted to his previous ones (which I’ve read them all), is that after finishing this one I didn’t feel the rush to lace up my shoes and go for a long run. Somehow, this experience was not relatable to me, while his other ones, while are not in my future either, were. But that is not a judgment on the book’s value, just a personal assessment.

As usual, Karnazes comes up sometimes with marvelous nuggets of running wisdom that become some of the most quoted in running. This one is the one that blew my mind; thus, I share:

“Running is a conversation, and education, a revolution, an awakening. We discover who we are through the movement of our bodies, and there are lessons to be learned in running alone much as there are in running large races”.

This is a good running book that most runners will enjoy and somehow relate. Entertaining, well-written, funny at times and deep at others without leaving you gloomy or mentally exhausted. A good investment of time and money.

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