20B20W - 8th book

The Lore of Running by Timothy Noakes is well deservedly recognized as the most comprehensive tome on running. To even begin to describe its use to the amateur (and perhaps even the pro) runner will take more time than I have on hand currently.

However I must mention here that it is as much a reference work as it is a book to read. It expounds on everything ranging from injuries to training plans (for 10K-ultra marathons) to training plans for elite runners across eras. It has loads of sage advice on overtraining, mental training, etc

If there is one book on running one must buy, this is perhaps the easy choice.

It is a doorstopper that can be consumed over a few months like I did and it is interesting enough for me to have carried it all the way from India on my trip to the US. I have read a few pages a week over the past few months and have finally managed to close it out, although I didn't really spend too much time on the chapter on ultras.

If I had to pick one chapter that I recommend strongly, it has to be the chapter on overtraining, which has several heartbreaking examples, somewhat reminiscent of the futile expeditions of the French explorers in the Amazon and elsewhere in the last century.

Must read for runners