Running Books

This book, "Running For The Soul" was an absolute delight for my soul! Accolades to the author! It reminds me of another fine book with much the same expression and inspiration, "Running Forward, Looking Back" and is written by another gifted author-runner.

This gives credence to the theory that the best writers for we runners must be somene that partakes of the sport.

ok..i've read all the running books....none reach my heart or soul like this one.....iwould love to see more stories ....too short

This was an excellent read. Runners, who tend to be more intellectual and into reading than most athletes anyway, however, will have this devoured in about 2 hours, and then begging for more. The price is high for such a short book.

I enjoyed reading this book so much that I've given copies to all my friends but made sure to keep one just for me! The inspirational and humorous stories apply to every aspect of living. Truly a great gift and a must-have for your library.

Running means different things to different people. This book will help you take some inspiration from others' experiences for when times get tough, breath gets short or goals seem unattainable.

It's amazing how a story of someone else's courage and against-the-odds determination, when recalled while striving to meet your own goals can carry you through to the finish line. Perhaps one of these stories can motivate you to greater achievements too.

Your book and the concept of moving meditations totally transformed my daily life for the greater good. You have found a powerfull way to integrate the creation of internal peace, clarity, and action all into one.
Thank you,
~Justin Rohner

Toby has written a beautiful book. This book made me want to dust off my old running shoes and hit the trail again. This book has a meditative demeanor and speaks to the Soul of running; and to anything that you would want to bring more mindfulness too. I could tell as I read the book that Toby practices what he writes about. He writes with a transformative quality and I highly recommend you buy this book and practice his teachings.

Thank you for your honesty and insight on both the physical and spiritual levels addressed in this book. I am an aspiring triathlete and find your training insights helpful. Even more, I am aspiring to be better and live a life of purpose. Your parallels about running and living a fully honest life true to our spiritual potential are spectacular. Thank you again for this gift. It is a must read for ALL.

I truly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and loaded with spiritual insights. I am not a runner, but this book clearly was about how to run my life better. It could of read "35 Moving Meditations for running my life better".
I loved all the quotes and affirmations. Especially the heartfelt stories Toby Estler shared about his challenging past. He included so many spiritual exercises that can help you fulfill your life's purpose and dreams.
This book is a gift from spirit. Read it!!!

"Running Home" is a book about focus. The book is more than a how to manual on sports and fitness; it is inspirational, persuasive, and motivating. The book is includes 35 meditations based on affirmations and character qualities.

These captivating stories grab the reader's attention, and are designed to encourage runners to carry the satisfying experience of running into an enriching and deepening personal and professional growth, regardless of their chosen sport.

Estler writes from his heart with a rare combination of sportscaster, poet, and chaplain. He speaks about the joy of running as a way to access the inner essence of man's spirit.

Toby made himself vulnerable as he shared his flaws, his struggles, and successes to demonstrate how enhancing his running efficiency helped him find creative solutions in different areas of his life. I found this admirable as it revealed genuineness about Estler as a man.

Next he adapts the lessons he learned through running to cultivate the reader's understanding of the relationship of running to the life's daily events. He showed how this can create peace, calmness, a spiritual awareness, and personal wholeness.

Toby Estler, a remarkable communicator, eloquently articulates how running has transformed his life, empowering him to overcome his past. It is his hope that sharing these experiences will help others to turn their lives around to move toward their goals to experience a more rewarding behavior.

As an author of technical books I am especially critical of the delivery of technical information - especially when covering topics that can be heavily theoretical. Iljitsch van Beljnum's book on IPv6 provides an excellent balance between theory and practice. It introduces the IPv6 protocol and how to run it. It provides real-life examples of the protocol in action and how it can be used with a variety of applications. It particularly addresses the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, myths about IPv6, routing and DNS. It also importantly covers changes in IP protocol security as a result of the introduction of IPv6.

If you're looking at moving to IPv6 or if you are simply interested in how it is run, routes, and interacts with operating systems and applications then I strongly recommend this book.

When I read and reviewed O'Reilly's IPv6 Network Administration by Niall Richard Murphy and David Malone, I called their book "a must-have book for all network administrators." Upon seeing Apress' Running IPv6 by Iljitsch van Beijnum, I wondered if I would waste my time reading and reviewing another book on IPv6. Now I'm glad I digested Running IPv6 -- it's my first must-read book of 2006. The books are complementary, so I recommend them both.

Three years ago I read and reviewed van Beijnum's book on BGP, which I liked while thinking it was somewhat terse. In Running IPv6, van Beijnum strikes the proper balance between explanatory language and technical details. Every chapter in the new book taught me something useful. In Ch 1 I liked comparisons involving IPv4, IPv6, IPX, DECnet, AppleTalk, and OSI CLNP. In Ch 2 I enjoyed sections on using 48 bit MAC addresses in IPv6 addresses. Ch 3 featured tips on the "on-link" assumption. As would be expected in a book by a BGP expert, Ch 4 provided lots of guidance on routing IPv6. Ch 5 included history on the evolution of DNS for IPv6, with RFCs 1886 and 2874 competing for primacy.

Ch 6 covered issues that applications might encounter when handling IPv6. Ch 7 introduced the "HD ratio," which estimates the point at which the effort required to manage increasingly "used-up" address space suggests that expanding it would be more efficient. Ch 8 mentioned the headaches caused by automatically generated, multiple MAC addresses for IPv6 multicast. Ch 9 scared me with use of the multicast ping for host discovery. Ch 10 was the first time I saw an effort to show how to use Tcpdump with IPv6.

I had no real issues with Running IPv6. I found a few production errors and typos that can be fixed in later printings. All are obvious, except the use of the word "maximum" in the first sentence of the last paragraph on p. 153. (I think that should be "minimum.")

Like IPv6 Network Administration, I liked van Beijnum's attention to command syntax for multiple OS' -- especially FreeBSD. He even covered Cisco and Juniper in the same book. Since I suggest reading the O'Reilly and Apress titles, I recommend reading the former first and the latter second. Van Beijnum's book is best read by those with a little more exposure to IPv6, but it can certainly stand alone if need be.

If you plan to ever have anything to do with IPv6, you must buy van Beijnum's latest book. Bravo.

'Running IPv6' by Iljitsch van Beijnum is an essential reference for any IT people who are looking to:

1. Upgrade from IPv4
2. Learn more about the IPv6 standard
3. Want to configure and set up IPv6

This book covers Windows, Mac, Free BSD, Linux, Cisco routers, DNS and bind... the whole shebang

Not written for a novice, this book assumes that you have knowledge of IP-related material and are not reading this book simply for "vacation reading". In a niche market this book scales its way to the top of the moutain.

Great resource!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I've have been working on an IPv6 lab and Running IPv6 is a great reference for setting up OS and router configurations. Excellent material in a short compact format with no bull or filler. I have to say this is the best IPv6 book I have read so far. It is also the most up to date of the books considering all the RFC changes that happen for IPv6.
If you are looking for something that is clear and to the point about how to USE IPv6 then this is it. There are plenty of other books out there that go into the theory and design which might be better suited for studying (Joseph Davies - Understanding IPv6 or Regis Desmeules - Implementing Cisco IPv6 Networks) but if you want to get an IPv6 network running NOW then Iljitsch van Beijnum book is for you. Kudos for writing a great practical IPv6 book.
- Ed Horley

IPv6 has been brooded over for a decade by various Internet groups. This book shows its present incarnation. It has grown very sophisticated; well beyond a simple vast expansion of the address space from 32 bits to 128 bits. So the text talks about the various tunnelling and routing options that become possible under it, that are unavailable under IPv4.

Yet to me the most interesting section of the book is the chapter on transitioning from IPv4 [the current Internet] to IPv6. Every other technical issue about IPv6 pales in comparison to this quandry. The author gives the best value in the book in this chapter. He shows firstly that IPv4 will inevitably exhaust its space. Though he prudently refrains from speculating when that might be. The transition must also be incremental. No one expects a swift global change to be realistic.

Then he explains that the modes of transition come down to analysing only 4 communication models for most common web usage. Namely email, Web browsing and two types of peer-to-peer usage. Examples of the latter are VoIP and BitTorrent.

From the models, we see the necessity for using a proxy or address translation to handle the transition. An especially clear analysis.

My family and I read this book together out loud and we had a hard time putting it down!! It is full of drama and suspense. Our 10 year-old daughter begged us not to stop reading! The Running Prophet is a great book for ALL ages. You definitely will not go to sleep reading it! The characters are extremely interesting and multi-faceted. This book is categorized as "fiction" but very much based on the reality of Spiritual Warfare. Read and enjoy! It is destined to be a best seller!!

This book made me laugh, cry, fear and rejoice! With a complex plot with surprises around every corner, this book lends insight to the ways and workings of good and evil. While evil tries and tries to lead people away from God, God and his army of angels and christians, with the power of spiritual warfare and prayer, can ALWAYS overcome! You can't ignore it when God talks to you, and you will be blessed when you obey Him. This book is exciting and I can't wait for the sequel!

This book was written in a Frank Peretti style and has such a wonderful example of the ongoing fight between good and evil! It keeps you intranced with the people in the book. When reading this book, you will keep wanting to meet the people involved, to help them and to be praying for them. Great reading!

I enjoyed this book tremendously. Mostly I enjoyed the clash between good and evil working through the different characters. I also enjoyed watching the main character confront and overcome his desire to run away from the battle.

The Running Prophet is an incredible story. It deals with those who are going through rough times, and reminds us of the one we can always turn to, God. For anyone who is looking for something new in your life, read the Running Prophet, your life will change for the better!

This is a great book for opening your mind to some of the problems with our school system. Everything is written and quoted to support the writer's core beliefs. It doesn't expose the totality of the school system issues.

The "Running Start" is essential reading for every parent of a young child. Many parents are feeling the stress of lives that are filled with too many commitments----that are suppose to be benifical for their child. They are concerned about the negative behaviors they are seeing in their pressured child: irritability, acting out, and refusing to participate.

Pica, a national expert on early childhood development, provides pratical suggestions that will help parents create a more balanced life for their young child. Her techniques and activities are based on sound developmental theory and current research. Following these ideas will help a parent design a wonderful environment that will nuture their young child's development in all domains: physical, cognitively, and socially/emotionally.
I highly recommend this book----I believe it will provide support to parents and others who are invovled in the lives of young children. It will help them make good decisions for the child and their family.

Rae Pica has a full grasp of what is, and what isn't important in the raising of healthy kids. Stressing that the 'right' pre-school, the 'right' kindergarten, etc. may not necessarily be right, and may not be necessary. Not hurrying childrens' skills, not enrolling them in every activity under the sun, not aspiring FOR them - these are excellent points made in the book. In one of her Reality Checks, Rae quotes Booker T. Washington when he said "The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what a man or woman is able to do that counts". This could be the title of this book; and it's an excellent read if you're wondering whether or not your children are getting lost in an "electronic world". And if you are wondering, they probably are, and you should read this very good book!

Physical activity specialist, Rae Pica values childhood. In her wonderful new book, "A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity and Free Time Create a Successful Child" Pica gives guidelines that will help parents raise children with the right balance of structured activity and free play.
Today's children seem to go non-stop from one structured afternoon activity to another with little time to themselves to be creative and solve problems. Before children can become successful adults, they need to be children and children learn through play. The best way we can give them a "running start" is to help them to succeed naturally, exploring the outdoors, enjoying and inventing their own games. Parents will hopefully use the phrase "Go Outside and Play" more often after reading this excellent book, written by an internationally recognized educational consultant, who really knows kids! Kudos, Rae, from Marianne Berkes, author of nature-awareness picture books for children.

In "A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity and Free Time Create a Successful Child," Rae Pica, an internationally recognized educational consultant in early childhood and movement education, shares her techniques for raising children "with the right balance of free play and structured activity." According to Pica, "Today, we have considerable research proving that . . . movement, play, and physical activity contribute to brain and intellectual development." Too often, she contends, we're so focused on "achievement" and "competition" that we're not allowing our children just to have their childhoods. We buy them the most high-tech gadgets and hurry them from one class to another, but "old-fashioned play and physical experiences offer the best opportunities for brain development"--NOT "the latest gadgets and gear." This book is also sprinkled with Play & Learn Activities that provide great ideas for parents to bring fun and play back into their homes and yards.

Runner and author (and Episcopal seminarian) Roger Joslin offers a creative, non-dogmatic approach to integrating one's spiritual life with running, blending the physical with the metaphysical in a convincing way. His commentary is interspersed with diary journal entries that lays bare some of his own personal demons.

"Running the Spiritual Path" is a thoughtful book that offers a different take on "multi-tasking." Joslin's aim here though is not to be "productive" or to save time, but to use physical activity as a phase of mindfulness that can put us in touch with God and help us connect with our Creator.

I literally had this book on my "To Be Read" shelf for years before finally getting around to reading it. It is an unpretentious gem.

A book that exhibits a humble approach and delivers unintentional profundities.

The personal view into Roger Joslin's life added new life to my running. In this world of ego goals this book has the power to inject a positive new dimension to running and training. I thoroughly enjoyed savoring this book.

Extremely interesting. Completely different than any other running book. For those who are interested into the spiritual side of running a must have.

As a mountain biker interested in the spiritual connections associated with my favorite activity, I was intrigued from the outset upon learning that there was a new book out that explored the meditative and spiritual aspects of running. "Running The Spiritual Path" by Roger D. Joslin is highly recommended to anyone who has ever happened along on his or her own path and felt any kind of spiritual pull and might wish to develop it further. This book can help you to go beyond traditional ways of communication with your creator. By using your breath and other methods explored by the author you may very well develop and heighten your own spiritual senses, a most rewarding goal. Personally, I believe that this breakthrough book is tangible evidence of the ongoing process of a kind of spiritual evolution finally being recognized in the world today. Pick up this book and run with it! You'll end up much farther along than the trailhead from where you usually start your own run.

Austin-based Roger Joslin has written an excellent book for runners who want to bring a new and deeply spiritual dimension not only to their running but to their lives as a whole. My copy is dog-eared, highlighted and annotated to a fare-thee-well. It's a great book.

Although Joslin is an Episcopalian, he brings a number of different spiritual disciplines to the task of "connecting" with (as he calls it) "the Transcendent," the "One" - i.e., God by any other name. Drawing on various practices and techniques of Buddhist meditation, Eastern Orthodox and Islamic chant and prayer, (Western) Christian contemplative practice, Joslin weaves together a practical approach to meditation "on the run" that any spiritually-minded person (even if you're not spiritual in a formal, religious way) can adapt to his or her running program. He breaks runs (especially "out and back" runs) into "stages" that help you prepare for a meditative run, get you into a calm and aware meditative state during the run, and help you extend and enhance the physical and spiritual blessings of a meditative run during cool down when the "running" portion is finished. He draws chiefly on his own experiences, observations and learning, and includes a number of extended passages from his journal that I thought were both interesting and motivating, especially his accounts of runs in New Mexico and rural Texas. Meditative running doesn't shut you off from your surroundings; as Joslin explains (and he's right, in my experience), you connect more to the place and the moment and to a deeper appreciation of your body as you propel yourself through space and time.

If you're looking for a book that will add a new dimension to your running, and that may, perhaps help you realize a deeper and closer relationship with God (assuming you believe in a Supreme Being), "Running the Spiritual Path" will inspire and challenge you.

On the other hand, if you're looking for yet another training manual that will help you run more competitively (faster, farther, longer), don't waste your money. If you're an atheist, an agnostic, a non-deist, or Christopher Hitchens, don't waste your money. If reflections on spirituality, and particularly, Christian spirituality make you uncomfortable, don't waste your money. Likewise, if you're a Christian fundamentalist, you will probably be put off by Joslin's inclusion of prayer and meditation practices from non-Christian paths and any characterization of God as other than the Trinity.

Finally, you might want to read the following books, either as an entrée to Joslin's book or in conjunction with it because they will help you appreciate the "spiritual building blocks" Joslin brings to the subject: Thich Nhat Han's "The Miracle of Mindfulness"; Jon Kabat-Zinn's "Wherever you Go, There You Are"; (Father) Thomas Merton's "New Seeds of Contemplation"; "The Essential Rumi," edited and translated by Coleman Barks; and the Russian classic, "The Way of a Pilgrim" (any recent translation will do). Oh, and don't forget the Bible.

The adventure of being able to read Running With The Moon was not nearly as exciting as the book itself. I initially purchased this book over two years ago, but after having it snatched up by my brother, taken to the Mediterranean to be read, him leaving it on a boat there, finding it myself on the same boat on another trip, and then leaving the book on the boat again myself, I finally decided it was time to buy another copy.

This may be my favorite travel adventure book that I have read. It is right up there with "Into Thin Air". Running may not have the adrenaline rush that "Into Thin Air" maintains throughout the entire book, but the location and diverse experiences entertained me much more.

To explain briefly, the author ends up riding his motorcycle from London to the southern tip of Africa and back. Bealby covers the exciting part of the journey, from his entry into northern Africa and all the way down and back out again in this book. He endured almost the entire journey by himself yet met many interesting people along the way.

Covering an entire continent and so many countries is not easy to fit into such a short, easy read, but Bealby does it with a very fluid writing style and enough detail to give you a slight sense a flavor for each country and city. Bealby entices you to want to join his trip or take the trip yourself. Unfortunately, one of the enticing things about his story and Africa are the opportunities and situations arising from such a continuously changing continent. Governments can change in these countries daily and while one country may seem incredible one moment, it may be horrifyingly dangerous the next. Considering the book was written in 1996, I imagine much has changed in the 12 years since his journey.

That said, it also makes you realize that the changes occuring in Africa will always offer a new adventure for every traveller. While the countries and governments he speaks of dangerously back then might offer a new hope today, the interesting people he meets might not have lived through the times and could be gone now.

I am not a motorcycle enthusiast. Nor am I a mechanic. Somehow, even with all the trouble Bealby runs into with his bike, he manages to make the ride seem like the most enjoyable way to travel anywhere. He complains much more about the heat than anything else, which is entirely understandable, given the circumstances he describes.

Lastly, the most enjoyable aspect of this book in my opinion is the complete honesty and humility of his attitude towards Africa. He admits certain bias going in and does not spend any time bragging or "chest thumping" with his accomplishment. Most importantly, he points out multiple times what I think is his underlying theme: the people of Africa are extremely generous and caring, no matter what they own and can give in terms of material possession.

I've read a lot of motorcycle travel stories, and done sone travelling myself in africa on a motorcycle. But this story is a great novel and a great journey. Better than e.g. Jupiters Travels.

What a shockingly delightful and profoundly moving book! Not only is Bealby a highly accomplished adventure motorcyclist, he proves to be a most estimable writer -- call him Mathiessen on a motorcycle. I've read plenty of ham-handed motorcycle adventure accounts; this one is of the highest caliber, on par with Robert Fulton Jr.'s "One Man Caravan."

Bealby chronicles his heroic odyssey on a Yamaha Tenere through unforgiving regions of Africa with humility and gratitude. You'll find no chest-beating or tedious complaints here. The work is gorgeously written, richly textured, and acutely observant of both man and nature. Seductive, sensory, lyrical, and rhapsodic, this book immerses you in exotic -- even surreal -- territory with superb grace. Motorcyclist or not, you will revel in this awesome adventure.

Proving his literary virtuosity, Bealby expertly weaves the tragic tale of the death of his beloved Mel throughout his ultimately cathartic and redemptive account. A truly magical work. Buy it. Three cheers to Jonny Bealby!

There are many books in the motorcycle adventure travel genre, but few have been written by someone who is a good writer. Jonny Bealby does a great job of relating his journey across Africa from the northern deserts to the tropical jungles on a Yamaha Tenere with an appropriate mix of story telling, philosophy, and motorcycling. This book is the same league as "Obsessions Die Hard" by Ed Culberson in terms of adventure, entertainment and readability. Highly recommended for the armchair adventurer!

I have two main hobbies, off road motorcycling and reading, so when i bought RUNNING WITH THE MOON, i knew i was onto a winner and would enjoy it even before i had turned a page. From the tragic prologue to the epilogue after his incredible journey is over this book is a real rollercoaster of emotions (sorry about the cliche , but its true). You almost feel like you were there, and i wished i could have been to assist him when the bike got bogged down in thigh high water filled jungle tracks ,i know from experience what its like to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a broken down bike. But then again there is a BIG difference between the middle of nowhere in the Yorkshire Dales, and the middle of nowhere in the Congo!(no gorillas in Yorkshire!). I also wanted to buy him a drink to cheer him up when he was stood up in Cairo, although that did eventually have a happy outcome. Initially i bought this book because of my interest in motorcycles, but non bikers dont be put off, i can heartily recommend it to anyone with a sense of adventure. Excellent!

Many people start to run because they want to get in a better shape. This book teaches your mind to get in a better shape too. You learn to focus in a new way and you are able to concentrate much better. Your mind learns not to wander so much and stay within the race. I have used the exercises in the book for my preparation of the Boston Marathon which I finished, despite running with an injury, with a new personal best by more than two minutes. I recalled the learned exercises during my preparation in the race and was even able to float up heartbreak hill without considerably more effort. I wonder how I would have raced hadn't I been hindered by a nagging hamstring injury.

New to running, and inspired by a commitment to my first triathlon (Danskin), I borrowed this book from the library. Needless to say, I quickly had to own my own copy. The inspiring words danced in my head and filled my soul with belief of dreams not yet realized. A recommendation to anyone who so much as "cares" about their health and the quality of their life. A part-time instructor of "spinning" classes I found these words of wisdom crossing over into my classes, filling me wtih motivation, which in turn motivates my students. This book raises the ceiling on your limits and reconfirms your potential is ...endless.

I started reading this book 2wks before the Chicago Marathon. The relaxation techniques and the different exercises for distraction during the race really worked. I have read dozens of books on training the body. This was the first I have read on training the mind. I plan to use these techniques with the children I coach. It really explains in basic and interesting format how important mental preparation is for competition. I highly recomend this book for anyone competing on any level.

There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of books on the market about how to train smarter, better, harder, or what have you. Some of them are quite good, and some of them quite bad. However, these books often neglect one of the key aspects of running and that is its mental component. And that's where Running Within: A Guide to Mastering the Body-Mind-Spirit Connection to the Ultimate Training and Racing comes in.

This book is designed for all runners from the novice runner to the elite athlete, and I think everyone who reads it will benefit tremendously. The book is designed to enable the reader to take his or her running to the next level, not only by giving concrete tips to mentally help one race faster, but also by helping one enjoy his or her running more, by exploring running's spiritual side and understanding the reasons we do run. As the authors state in the introduction, "Running Within uniquely presents the reciprocal relationship among the physiological, mental, and spiritual aspects of running performance, and how you can use specific mental exercises and attitudinal shifts in your daily training and racing to great advantage".

Spiritual Running Although many of us run for physical reasons (i.e. to say fit, to lose wait, to get faster, to win races), those of us who truly enjoy running recognize what it does for us mentally. Not only the ability to clear our minds at the end of a tough day, but the ability to explore and learn about ourselves, as we transform preconceived notions about ourselves.

One intent of the book is to connect runners with the spiritual side of running. It wants to help them explore fully the reasons they run. The book explains that often the concrete goals we have in running (i.e. I want to run a certain time in a certain race, be All-State, finish a marathon) are not what give us joy from running. Rather, it's the steps we take along the way to reach these goals that make running so enjoyable. By better understanding our motivations for running, we can not only get more enjoyment out of running, but can learn how to run faster.

Running faster. And the book definitely can helps us run faster. Those who like to say that running is 99% physical are missing the point. Sure we can not run beyond our bodies' limits, or use mental tricks to make up for not training. But often the limits we set upon ourselves are self-imposed limits. One of the greatest things about running is the self discovery and self-confidence that comes from getting our body to do what once seemed impossible.

Running Within has excellent advice on goal setting and the type of goals we should set. It helps us set goals that push beyond our self-imposed barriers, but at the same time makes sure these goals do not end up discouraging us because they are too unreasonable.

But as all runners know, goal setting is not enough because the toughest part of running is the battle of mind versus body during a race or tough workout. No matter what kind of shape we are in physically, there comes a point in a race when our bodies start to feel that they've had enough. As the race or workout progresses, the urges to back off a bit, slow down, or quit altogether grow. If one is able to recognize these urges and overcome them one can come closer to reaching his or her physical potential.

To overcome these urges to quit, Running Within helps its readers come up with the self-confidence necessary to achieve their goals and not give in to the urges to quit. It provides a mental framework on how to approach races and workouts and has many practical strategies for dealing with fatigue, racing, race strategies, and the like.

But all of these things combined would still leave a lot of our potential untapped. For one of the keys to racing fast is a bit paradoxical, and that is to learn to relax. It seems impossible to do, to relax while the body is using all of its resources to struggle. But Running Within teaches us ways to relax while straining, and shows us the tremendous physiological benefits that come from relaxing.

Summary I recommend this book whole heartedly. Most sports psychology books are full of many tips and tricks to help us perform better, but there is often little foundation to tie the things together. Ultimately, these books fail because they are not much more than a list of things to try. This book is different for while it does list many tips that are useful, it only does so after providing a larger framework to tie them together. The overall theme is the "body-mind-spirit" connection of running. With this framework, the book helps us explore the reasons why we run and what we get from our running. Once we have a better understanding of these things or are at least are aware of them, the books builds upon them and very effectively makes us get more from our running (and become better racers if that's our goal).

On a personal note, I credit this book with as being instrumental to my improvement as a runner (my 10k time went from 29:49 to 28:27 in one year). I am intrigued by the mental side of running and knew there was a lot more I could learn. However, at the same time, I've always been very skeptical of a lot of the "pop-psychology" and sports psychology books on the market. This book pleasantly surprised me and should be on the book shelves of all runners.

I just completed my first marathon and don't think I would have finished had I not purchased and read this book. During training, we had "long runs". The night before each long run (in excess of 17 miles) I would read the sections of this book that addressed issues I was likely to face during the following days long run. That helped me tremendously. The book gave me a sense of calm.

There are virtually thousands of books on the market concerning running. Most of those books however don't spend nearly enough time on the most critical aspect which is mental preparedness and toughness. However, this book gives what most trainig books and groups do not..a way to deal with the mental aspects of running.

This book is wonderful because it gives the reader techniques on how to deal with stress, anxiety, pain, disappointments, setbacks injuries, fatigue etc., all from the MENTAL side. I like how the authors make the connection between mind and body. They focus on the mind first and how the mind can often control the body.

I found MANY useful mental exercises from "breathwatching", visualization, dealing with fatigue and disappointments, learning from mistakes etc., Most importantly, the book focuses on the process of running and self discovery and NOT the result. This book helps novice runners like myself enjoy the process, find our own tools that work for us and realize that it is often mind over matter. This book is a must have for those just starting out "marathoning" or for anyone who just wants to enjoy the mental benefits of running and the pleaseure it gives.

I just got this book and I am so glad! It has made my virtualization task so much easier. It brought me up to speed on virtualization and I really like the hands-on nature of the book. I have Xen up and running with my guest disk image and all seems well so far!

Running Xen Review

Running Xen takes a unique approach to introducing Xen to both the novice and expert virtualization user. The authors start off introducing just enough of the core concepts to give the reader an adequate basis on which the book later builds on to provide the required skills to effectively run a virtual environment. A brief explanation of Xen architecture follows with an overview of the management tools with real world examples showing actual output. I found this attention to often overlooked detail refreshing such as the use of ssh with keys and X Forwarding to securely communicate with guests impressive, instead of simply using an easier less secure method for example. The reader could choose to skip ahead if the topic was already understood but providing that level of detail is integral to the learning process in my opinion. Simply getting a Xen server up and running accomplishes nothing for the user needing to actually run and administer it after, which is where most technical books fail.

The walk through with guest disk images and creating them correctly was well appreciated instead of leaving that to the reader to hopefully figure out. All popular methods for populating guests were covered which allowed distro specific tools to be utilized instead of requiring non native methods or leaving the reader unprepared. Device virtualization was covered, but I assume as Xen is constantly evolving the information at print time regarding hiding a PCI device from Dom0 was still accurate but is now slightly different. Fortunately, all the pointers to additional reading would lead the user to finding the current procedure. Networking was covered in detail which is an often misunderstood part of Xen and a working example of a purely virtual segment using a dummy interface was shown which I found fairly useful. Guest resource management provided an understanding for topics such as the IO Scheduler and gave examples on how to tune it.

This was my second book on Xen and completely replaces the first as a much more competent reference. I highly recommend this book for anyone using Xen for its concrete basis and good reference it provides.

I'm new to virtualization, but very technical. "Running Xen" was just right for me. Great background information and rationalization mixed with solid detail. Solid in-depth intro for anyone seeking to understand virtualization in general, and Xen in particular.

The review copy I had was only 583 pages, not the 624 that the specs say this has. I bring that up because I wonder if last minute updates were added, and I mention that because that was my first thought when reading this: it's out of date.

I don't mean horribly, and I certainly don't mean so much as to make this useless. But this is a common problem in the fast moving field of open source: things can change radically in the time it takes to get a book out the door.

For example, the first thing I learned here was about a Xen LiveCD. Chapter 2 is devoted to playing with that, and it's a great idea: a non-threatening, very quick intro to Xen. Unfortunately, that's way
out of date: the LiveCD can still be found, but it's not where the book says it is because it is several versions old now.

However, I'm sure that much of this book will remain useful for some time. This isn't just technical details (though there is a lot of that); it's also advice on configuration and deployment.

As is common nowadays, the book includes a coupon to get 45 days free access to the on-line Safari version (interestingly, that doesn't have 624 pages either).

If you ever worked with Xen - Open Source Virtualization Software for Linux you probably realized that despite being powerful and performing well Xen is a complex solution that requires "reading the manual".

I think that "Running Xen" book ("A Hands-On Guide to the Art of Virtualization") will be a great help. It is written by the team of people who not only know Zen inside out, but who are also major contributors to the source.

The book is a hands-on guide for most popular distributions, but what I specially like is that it gives a very good theoretical background on virtualization (architecture, benefits, over of xen hypervisor etc). The hands-on section covers hardware requirements and software requirements, including specifics for the popular distributions (OpenSUSE, Centos (RHEL) and Ubuntu as well as notes on other Domain0 distributions.

Significant attention is given to managing of the custom installed or pre-built Guest images, management of unprivileged (guest) domains, storage, device virtualization, security, network configuration, management of guest resources, saving/restoration and live migrations.

What gives confidence while reading on these hands-on tasks is the authors' familiarity with the subject. They are people who know Xen inside out and many tips and notes you encounter will save you hours of browsing of mailing lists or trials and errors.

Self Coached Runner by Allan Lawrence, Mark Scheid. Excellent book. Purchased orginally in the 80's and loaned it out. Glad I could find again on Amazon.com

After trying several books on training, I always come back to this one. Not at all dated but I just wish Al could bring it back into print. This book took me to a 3:18 first marathon and a 29 minute PR a year later. The author is now one of the top prep coaches in Houston.

This is a book with a series of planned distance runner workouts
to get you in shape for the time you want to run. If you want to run a 40 minute 10K or a 34 minute 10K, the author has got the workouts for 7 days a week that run for months until you are ready to peak. Lots of track workouts, tempo and distance runs. I got in great shape following the workouts for my goal; however, the workouts are tough. I used to do the workouts for a goal a minute slower than my true goal because the workouts were a little too tough. I think the workouts set for specific times were really keyed to make you faster than the time you were training for. If you want to have a planed training program and run your optimum, this is it.

I have used this book to enhance my training for 5k to the Marathon. It is easy to use and makes a lot of sense. I have also had the pleasure of getting additional help from Al in person. He is my idea of what a coach should be.

No matter how much experience you have as a runner, this guide can help you achieve any goal. It is too bad it is out of print; my copy has swelled with rain water from sitting at trackside, been stepped on coming back from workouts, and generally seen more mileage than any of my shoes. Now, if only it would come back into print, I could replace it. The book outlines workout schedules, means to recover from injury, and nearly any other information you might need.