Wow! You are an elite runner. I highly recommend "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker if you have not yet read it. It just got reprinted in paperback.

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Runner-John-L-Parker/dp/091529701...

For more running related books you should check out "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker Jr. [1], and "Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek [2].

[1] http://www.amazon.com/dp/1441800905
[2] http://www.amazon.com/dp/0544002318

> and trained with some of the best.

If you don't mind me asking, what were your PRs? I got lapped on a mile in high school (the guy ran a sub-5!)

Have you read Once a Runner? Was that what your training life was like?

Interesting offshoot - The whole point of training 20 hours a week for the Ironman triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile marathon) is so that the body never goes anaerobic during the actual Ironman race. When the body goes anaerobic (lactic acid buildup), everything goes downhill rapidly - it goes from racing a PR (personal record) to whether you will finish the race.

And then there are the Marathon Monks of Tendai:

> The ultimate achievement is the completion of the 1,000-day challenge, which must surely be the most demanding physical and mental challenge in the world. Forget ultra-marathons and so-called iron-man events, this endurance challenge surpasses all others.

Only 46 men have completed the 1,000-day challenge since 1885. It takes seven years to complete, as the monks must undergo other Buddhist training in meditation and calligraphy, and perform general duties within the temple.

http://www.howtobefit.com/tendai-marathon-monks.htm

PRs: 5K 14:53, 10K XC: 30:29 all from college.

Nothing fancy compared to people I trained with.

I've read Once a Runner a long time ago. Training life is similar - it's all consuming really. In many ways it's like a job and a way of life.

Since I gave up running and got on with my life, I still train and compete competitively - even low key competition is enough to keep things interesting and motivating even though it's not the way of life it used to be.

I don't recommend that people do marathons actually. I've done 3 and they take such a tremendous effort to recover from that a lot of people just stay on the couch and don't start running again.

We're in agreement. I should have worded it as: there isn't anything a recreational jogger needs from running books in order to enjoy and even get decent at running. Not to say running books are completely useless, but most of the things you could get from them are better learned from experience or passed down by a coach/trainer. Exception: Running magazines (or any magazine for that matter) are only there to entertain you and sell you things. Another exception: if buying running accessories/books helps motivate you, go for it, but I don't think I really needed anything more than a running journal/log.

Another really good running book for those still following along: Once a Runner -- http://www.amazon.com/Once-Runner-John-L-Parker/dp/091529701...

I think that's one of the anecdotes that I read regarding that strategy, but I didn't know it was from Krabbe.

I agree it probably works better in blindfold play, but it works well in normal simul too (I used it successfully once, though that wasn't against a GM, and I had fairly recently stopped playing competitive chess).

Now going way off topic, but Krabbe's cycling book "The Rider"[1] is probably the best book about cycling I've ever read. Along with "Once a Runner"[2] I think it probably the best piece of sporting fiction ever:

My whole life had only one goal: making that last wheel, here, now. I was wasted. But that elusive finish line, eight, seven, six and a half meters in front of me, kept my hope and desire awake. I coughed and slobbered. I remembered the words of advice ‘Shift, when you’re really, truly at the end of your rope, to a higher gear.’ I shifted. A few hysterical kicks on the thirteen, then clenched power of a mortal struggle. I was there. I was sitting on that last wheel. I was in the lead group.

[1] http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/11/the-rider/

[2] http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2008/12/speed_...

If Bannister interests you and you haven't read Once a Runner go and do it now[1]. I go back and forth on if Once a Runner or Tim Krabbe's The Rider[2] is the best fictional sports novel ever, but today I think is the day for running.

[1] http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2008/12/speed_...

[2] https://cyclingtips.com/2010/11/the-rider/