Among the many books in my running library you can find Running Well by Sam Murphy and Sarah Connors.
What I really liked about this book and made it one of my go to books for running injuries is the “Injury time” chapter.
It’s amazingly detailed, with pictures of joints and muscles involved in the injury, and what to do and who to go to when you suspect an injury, which I believe it’s extremely informative for the recreational runner.
Running Well also has “injury maps” which take you through an “injury journey” using arrows to guide you from the location of the pain to a possible diagnosis and a quick fix suggested by the authors. It goes like this:
- where you feel the pain
- what type of pain you feel
- when you feel the pain
- possible cause
- possible diagnosis
- quick fix
The maps are simple, straight forward, easy to follow and it makes for a book you go to over and over again.
For each injury you have exercises which help rehab or to manage the injury. This book has a rather complete approach to injuries.
Another topic I haven’t found so detailed in other books is on “Prevention and treatment of common running ailments and annoyances” where we find out how to manage athlete’s foot, blisters and corns, black toenail, the stitch, muscle cramps, hyponatremia (caused by drinking too much water) and more. Yet another plus for Running Well.
Other topics in the Running Well book include:
- Running form
- Training plans and exercises for strength, stability, mobility and flexibility and, to my surprise, because it’s the first book on running I find this topic in, nerve “flossing” exercises
- Running shoes and running shoe anatomy
- Returning to running from injury
- Nutrition
Congratulations Sam Murphy and Sarah Connors for a very well written book on running.
Highly recommended for all runners if you want to:
- keep your body healthy and keep running in the years to come
- reduce the risk of injuries and understand what’s happening when you get injured
- understand the important of running shoes and how to choose them
- design training sessions and programmes to best fit you