Running Books

The reason I love this book is for its simplicity. Day-by-day, there's nowhere to hide your progress -- or lack of it. Completing the daily page is my little reward for making it through a workout, because I'm not one of those fitness types who does it for fun.

This is one of the best (if not the best) calendars I have ever owned (way better than that ridiculous cat loooover calendar I bought in an effort to placate my irascible wife). John Jerome's calendar is particularly valuable for all the logs provided where you can tally all the miles you run, your times, your splits, and other comments (as an example, my entry for January 1, 2003: Finished the annual Hangover Classic 10K. 6.2 miles, 62 minutes, threw up twice. Wish I hadn't had those last two bottles of cheap champagne. Next year will be different). Jerome also offers words of encouragement, tips, and many pithy quotes (some well known, some more obscure). This log book/calendar comes in spiral format (up/down) and is slightly larger than typical desktop flip calendars. A great way for marking time!

"The Complete Runner's Day-By-Day Log and 2003 Calendar" has as its greatest strength the ability to encourage the committed runner. This doesn't mean the fast runner, or the experienced runner, but it does mean the runner who intends to stay on the path of running fitness with consistency.

How will you, the committed runner, be encouraged? First and foremost, by the recording and tracking of your workouts. It isn't complicated. There are spots to write down the important aspects of your run. While you could do this in a spreadsheet like Excel (which I also do), what you'll find here is an attractive layout. Instead of looking at he clinical cells of a computer program, you get to see things in a comfortable format.

The log will help you consider the value of each run, and realize the hard work you are doing is paying off. Should you feel burned out, you can look back and see what might have caused it. Over-training? Bad weather? Too many miles? The log will show you.

The charts of times, paces, and all of that you probably have in another running book. That's great, but this is handy to have together with your own times. Comparisons are more easily made.

Likewise handy are the tips, but, again, if you've ever read books like "Road Racing for Serious Runners" or "The Competitive Runner's Handbook."

The graphics are the quality you expect from Runner's World magazine. Good stuff.

If you like the pithy quotes sprinkled throughout, you'll love "The Quotable Runner: Great Moments of Wisdom, Inspiration, Wrongheadedness, and Humor."

I fully recommend "Complete Runner's Day-By-Day Log."

Anthony Trendl

I have been an avid walker for 18 years and have used this log for the last five - the same motivation works for walkers as it does runners - I log the weather, my mood, how my body felt - it is a great tool to keep you motivated - thank you

Week after week, this is the tool that keeps me motivated--and provides tons of advice. It's also a great way to look back over the years at the progress I've made.

This is a very quick and easy-to-use training log....in fact I adapted the weekly schedule for triathlon training as well. Plenty of room to write daily notes and with each week on two pages (when the sprial bound book is opened) is easy to track where you are for the week in terms of your goals.

I am looking for more of a tri-centric log book for my 2004 purchase, but if the one I find does not meet my needs, I will be more than happy to spend the $10 for the 2004 version of this book.

Between about 1954 and 1984 I read huge amounts of material on training for middle distance running - books, magazines and journal articles on sports physiology. Nothing I read, and nothing I was told by several High School and College coaches of the time came close to explaining what interval training really was, how it worked or why. This book contains most of this explanatory information in the introductions to each chapter. Once the recovery aspect of this training method was made clear, I could use the tables to design workouts for running 10K and 15K road races. (By that time the "running boom" was growing fast and I had "aged up" into the master's group.) Nonetheless, with no real coaching available in the mid-1980's, I added one good, long, "middle distance" interval session per week. Sometimes I did it every two weeks. I used a combination of a college track and a nearby measured cross country course. I designed several different workouts to avoid boredom. I ended up running faster, longer and with better form than at any younger age. I had to quit competition because of family and job commitments. Otherwise, I think I was headed towards "top ten" rankings (regionally) within the coming year. The only other ingredient a runner needs is a good reference on sensible, active recovery workouts after the interval training and how to be careful in building up your volume of work over the long term to avoid injury. Books on foot care, shoes and orthotics might be good as well. There used to be a booklet by Tom Osler called "The Conditioning of Distance Runners." I suspect it is out of print, but by now there must be updated resources (see books on "periodization"). If you don't have access to a good coach, or even if you do but want to learn more, this may be the best studying you can do. I believe these workouts can be modified for use by swimmers and cyclists without too much difficulty.

This book helps you see where your running potential lies. You can find out, based on your PR in a given event, how fast your intervals should be run.

Payton Jordan suggested to me to try this book of charts indicating the current progress of a runner and the step-up procedures necessary to improve. It was, and still is, "the" book to understand effort levels and training procedures within the reach of the user!!

I used this book since its first publication years ago and also gave it to figure skating students to read (I am now a retired coach). It works for running, racquetball, stadium jumping. Presently using it for tennis. The hardest thing is to get an elite athlete to take time off to rest. Anxiety drives people to practice, practice, practice. This book explains how and why to avoid disabling injuries for those who want to pursue *rigorous* training for years / decades! Training schedules for various sports are included. Great concepts.

Anyone who competes at anything athletic, whether at a high level or just the local Fun Run once a year, needs to read this book. It explains why cyclic training, the classic "two steps forward, one step back" is a must for long-term health and athletic progress.

If simply running a little further or adding a little weight to the bar every day worked, we'd all be world-class marathoners or weight lifters by now. If you want to understand how to exercise for the long haul, this should be the first book you read.

I found this technique of timed resting and training to set up a peak performance works for everything I do regularly - bicycling, jogging, swimming, even studying for an exam! It's hard for me to take rest days when they come up on my calendar but I've learned through doing it and reflecting on past successes to trust this system. I was convinced to first try it by the examples of people forced to rest who then had big wins, the planned peak successes by other users of the technique and the university studies that showed peak performances using the same timing as Consistent Winning. The idea of peaks and valleys made sense to me. I'm extremely pleased to have read this book and learn the technique.

STILL A GREAT WALKING TAPE. Was surprised that the music (except in the Pump Up the Pace WalkFit tape there were a few different "pop" songs) was the same. I think maybe Kathy Smith should have different music for all her tapes? This is for people who like to walk and like country western music. Perfect time of year to start using these walking tapes.

This tape is just one of a series of excellent audio cassettes by Kathy Smith which motivate you to keep moving for a great walking workout. The music is upbeat and is interspersed with reminders about technique, posture and positive attitude. You are also reminded halfway through the tape so you can turn around. I have been able to stay with my walking program on a regular basis since I began using the Kathy Smith Walk-Fit tapes and I credit the tapes with keeping me interested and motivated.

Kathy showed me how to turn a walk into a workout--wow! I've burned more fat and toned my body like no other exercise. Walking is fun and easy! I've bought all her walking audios. They're great.

I bought this for my husband who is very much into comics. He loved it!

I like this even more than the Marvel Vault, which came out last year. The DC Vault has better content as far as the history of DC is concerned, starting with More Fun comics and leading up to recent history. Martin Pasko, who many longtime DC fans will remember as a key writer during the 1970s, wrote the text that accompanies the multitude of pictures and collectibles. He includes numerous typed and handwritten memos from DC Comics writers and editors that give us a fascinating inside look at how certain decisions were made.

The collectibles that are reproduced here are really, really sweet.

For starters, the cover of the DC Vault is a reproduction of Dick Sprang's "Secrets of the Batcave" lithograph that he produced in 1994. Some of the 1940s items are the Junior Justice Society Decoder Wheel, a Wonder Woman Sensation Comics button, and a Batman 1943 mask that announces the newspaper comic strip. There are some never-before seen items, like Neal Adams concept drawings for a "Superman-land" amusement park, where we could have explored the World of Krypton. A sticker reproduces the "Shazam Is Coming" button that announced Captain Marvel's 1970 comeback into the DC Universe. My favorite reproduction is the History of the DC Universe Jam Poster (shown above), where a few dozen DC artists collaborated to draw their famous characters: Carmine Infantino on the Flash, Neal Adams on Deadman, Joe Kubert on Hawkman, Walt Simonson on Manhunter, Curt Swan on Superman, etc. I had this poster when it originally came out and somehow lost it, glad to have it back now. It even has Dave Gibbons doing Rorschach, which must make Alan Moore's head spin around.

If this wasn't enough, the DC Vault contains tons of preliminary cover and character sketches. There's a really cool Hawkman concept cover sketch by Kubert, as well as a Ragman character description. Brian Bolland's pencils to one of his famous Wonder Woman covers is included. There are a number of covers which had to be altered from their original state, and Pasko speculates on the editors reasons for doing so. There's so much in here that I can't possibly describe...if you're any kind of DC fan, you need to buy this book, now. Nuff said.

The DC Vault

All I can say is WOW!

The team of Martin Pasko and DC Comics (Paul Levitz provides the foreword) has produced a truly remarkable book with few faults. From a historical viewpoint, Mr Pasko has managed to shed new light on the murky origins of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholsons' company. The 'new' information not only includes what little we know of the various publisher mergings, but what fascinated me was the licensing impetus/juggernaut that grew out of DC Comcs/National Publications. With Dr No, the licensing arm behind the scenes kicked into high gear and with the merger of Kinney into a Time-Warner Corporation, DC was not only a publishing company, but a licensing monster!

As comic fans and readers, all we saw was the amazing array of products that came out of the mythcal offices we saw four color images of the heroes who saved the fictional universe again and again. DC swallowed Fawcett in the 1950's, and along with that, the amazing Captain Marvel franchise. Charlton Comics, oncde a major competitor, was also absorbed in the 1980's. The forays of DC Comics into network TV with the Adventures of Superman, Batman (West et al) and Superman films is referenced, but the Flash and Wonder Woman have been glossed over. Major talent movements from Marvel to DC (late 1960's), and the DC Implosion (1977/78) that purged the publishers low selling ranks, are covered by Pasko in a thoughtful, matter of factual manner.

Probably the greatest feature of this book is the wealth of 'vault' material included. Art pulled from files that never published, and actual copies of rare promotional items turn this into a true page turner. Items like the Ashcan Double Action #2, the Batman mask from 1943, the JSA Decoder, Superman's Buddy comic, and the History of the DC Universe poster are stunning. Even my 15 year old daughter was thrilled with the jewels in this publishing crown.

If there is a weakness to the book, it's the last couple of chapters that covers DC Comics from 1980 to present in 20 plus pages. The history of DC is complex, and the last nearly 3 decades is full of developments could fill a book on its' own. Dealing with issues of creators rights, the major Crisis, and DC Universe re-organization, and recently, the creation of specialty imprints such as Wildstorm, and the rise of exclusive creator contracts is either not discussed, or glossed over.

I do love the extensive use of high quality graphics 1935 to 1996 in the book and archive pieces. This is a true hands on book that could easily have been 200 more pages. Alex Ross fans will love the cover, and the note from Alex to Neal Adams.

The big question is, how can you expect to cover the history of such a company in so few pages? And secondarily, why do we nitpick so much. This is a labor of passion, and as such, should be read that way. Enjoy the glimpses into the files that only Paul Levitz can provide. Just enjoy.

Www.runningpress.com

Tim Lasiuta

I just receieved this book the other day and I must say I am very impressed by it. The introduction by Marijo Moore says it all--what this book is about. " To eat the fire of truth is to taste the blood of our existence." Such a beautiful line. Also in this book are great stories and testimonies by Charles Eastman, Steve Russell, Vine Deloria Jr, Joseph Dandurand, also a fabulous poem by Marijo Moore herself "Atop Polacca on First Mesa."
Also some great pieces by Susan Shown Harjo, Linda Hogan, and a slew of other amazing writers.
With a great title and great chapter titles this book is a great follow up to GENOCIDE OF THE MIND. This book should be read in classrooms all across the U.S. It is a burning reminder that the Indian voice is still not heard, but we will continue to start the fires, and make your blood boil.

JW

This book is important in many ways, as the other reviewers have described. I just wanted to mention that the article by David Seals titled "Nicaragua: What's Ward Churchill Got Against You?" was pretty pathetic. It included juvenile insults like calling Churchill "Lurch," which is the same crude name that right-wingers directed toward John Kerry.
No one knows all the details of Churchill's experiences in Nicaragua. But we can all learn many things from his books on FBI counter intelligence programs, the Native American holocaust, the horrible boarding schools Native kids were subjected to, current day ecocidal assaults from mining, timber and massive hydroelectric projects, and many other important topics.
Ward doesn't get it all right, Ward has "issues," - as we all do.
But Churchill has made many important contributions, including having the courage to speak some uncomfortable truths regarding the blowback of September 11.

Regarding the "scandal" over Ward's heritage, I'd just say even Europeans have tribal roots. Unlike Ward, most Europeans do not have a grandfather who is buried in a traditional Indian buriel ground (so, one could understand the roots of Ward's own assumptions about his ancestry). And unlike Ward, most of us have not spent countless hours writing, speaking and teaching about indigenous holocausts - past and present.
Seals' effort to degrade Churchill ultimately speaks more poorly of Seals himself.

In addition to this book, I'd recommend anything by Winona LaDuke and the DVD "Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action" produced by the Katahdin Foundation.

To tell the story, the real story, who better then the current generation of Native American writers. With Marijo Moore as a contributor and editor of Eating Fire, Tasting Blood she has gathered the essays and poems of her peers to tell us what we were never told in school.

With specific references to tribal nations like the Conoy, that are gone but not forgotten and accounts of massacres like Sand Creek and Wounded Knee, these writers bring us up to date and put forth the message that there was a holocaust here too, it just gets no recognition in books or on film.

This anthology hopes to change all of that. With the details brought front and center there is no turning away from what was covered up, taken and not returned, and is still being perpetrated on the survivors. To balance these accounts Moore has included tales of children going back home to learn where they came from, and poems that tantalize the mind and make the spirit soar.

The accomplishment of bringing the likes of Paula Gunn Allen, Vine Deloria, Jr., and Eduardo Galeano in one volume is to say the least, incredible. Read it and learn about the trail, still being walked today.

One of the true originals. One of the great poets who seem to invent a language, a world of metaphor of her own. A delight in her difficulty and a deep pleasure in her sombre tunes.

"Exultation is the going of an inland soul to sea/ Past the headlands , past the houses / into deep Eternity. "

I love poetry but had not read many if any of emily dickinson so I picked this up to read in my spare time. At first glance the book and poems seemed so simple and easy to read. I thought it would be a small little delight to read her short poems while waiting in the car, or at the bank, in line at the grocier, but as I embarked on a stolen moment with the poems of emily dickinson you discover her poems are hardly simple.

Every poem seems has more than one meaning. You can truely see how complicated this simple woman must have been even in her observations.

I have been delighted by her insight and each poem makes me wonder of the woman who wrote them. A lovely read.

Just as a prism breaks up light into a band of colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet - and their infinite gradations, so do Emily Dickinson's poems become, as it were, a prism which captures the white light of reality, a reality which as it flows through the prism of her poem explodes into a multiplicity of meanings.

It is the rich suggestiveness of her poems, a suggestiveness which generates an incredible range of meanings, that prevents us from ever being able to say (to continue the metaphor) that a given poem is 'about red' or 'about blue,' because her poems, as US critic Robert Weisbuch has observed, are in fact about _everything_. This is what makes her so unique, and this is why she appeals to every kind of reader (or certainly to open-minded ones) and even to children.

Emily Dickinson's poetry is one of the wonders of the world.

If you are new to running and your goal is finishing a marathon, this book is your choice. Like the name says, it gives you the essential information you need to know to train for a marathon and to finish one. It doesn't cover anything more than you need to know, so if you are not interested in reading that many books and just want to finish the marathon, this is the book for you.

I used this book in preparation for the 2001 Detroit Marathon. The book guides you through the steps required in order to finish your first marathon. I felt confident throughout my training that I was preparing safely based on the material covered. I kept referring to the book at various points throughout the training period. The recommended training program works. I finished in 3:57 (chip) and am now looking for a program to improve my time.

Gives all the secrets needed to run your first marathon. Includes anecdotal evidence to support the information given.

All kinds of great tips in this book for the many kinds of meetings we all go to.

I found this book to have practical advice around many of the stumbling blocks people have in conducting effective meetings. Well organized, humourous, and very practical suggestions have made a difference to several YMCA's in the US.

This book has very practical advice for facilitating 1:1 and 1:many meetings. This book has helped me polish my communication skills and become a more effective business person. I recommend this book to anyone, novice and seasoned career folks alike, who want to take their interactions to the level.