Blog Post – Science of Running by Chris Napier, PhD

I found this book in September at a bookstore during my trip to Folsom. It has quickly become one of my favorite running books. It is technical and scientific without being difficult to understand.

The graphics are a big highlight. Every chapter focuses on a different aspect of running and without each chapter at the most detailed illustrations of the human anatomy, including showing how muscles work when running in the first chapter: Running Anatomy to different areas of possible injuries in the chapter: Preventing Injuries.

There is a lot of dive into in this book. It is one you’ll want to re-visit many times.

If there is one flaw, it is in the training portion. It focuses on elite training rather than the regular runner. The training times are for very fast runners rather than those of us who are mid-pack or back of the pack. That is quite a disappointment, but it can be overlooked since everything else is pretty well done.

I recommend it as a terrific addition to your running library as no other book does with it does as well as it.