Cathy Utzschneider. Mastering Running. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2014. 232 pp. $19.95.

Dr. Utzschneider is a professor of competitive performance and goal setting at Boston College.

Mastering Running is informative and practically helpful. I have improved my running technique and speed because of its content. Furthermore, it inspired me to begin running competitively. I recommend this book to any who run. ( )

I don't know if I missed it in the description, but this is intended for an older age-group, 40+, about 10 years beyond me. It is a good book, however. It is clearly written, doesn't get preachy or overly technical.. She discusses various injuries, nutrition, training, goal-setting.. She offers several training programs to prepare for marathons, and how to be flexible with your training. It is a good resource overall for the middle-aged folks, and I can see myself going back to it as I get older.

This is intended to be a manual for runners over 40, and as such its coverage is pretty broad: notes on the challenges posed by aging, form drills, flexibility exercises, injury prevention (and dealing with the injuries that happen anyway), training strategies, and a wide variety of training schedules for races from the mile to the marathon. The schedules recommend more frequent workouts than others I've followed, frequently prescribing six runs a week rather than four or five. Personally I find that two days of rest -- or at most cross-training -- per week are pretty important.

As a survey, it's not bad. The only comparable book I'm aware of is Hal Higdon's Masters Running, compared to which Utzschneider's book is less entertaining but more useful, better organized, and less cluttered with personal promotion. The main flaw is that Utzschneider necessarily sacrifices depth for breadth, and readers interested in a fuller discussion of, say, form or flexibility will have to consult other resources.

This might well be a 5-star book, if only I could have read it two years ago. The advice is sound -- author Cathy Utzschneider tells us all you ever wanted to know about running, proper training, running form, and performance improvement. She also tells us how to avoid common (and not so common) runner's injuries (sadly, too late for me, I haven't been able to sustain a running program since damaging my knee running a marathon 2 years ago).

The book will serve anyone running their first 5K all the way to a marathon. Utzchneider brings long experience as a running coach, and adds plenty of anecdotes of her own throughout the book. Much of her advice is sound and oft-repeated (sadly, not as oft-heeded in my case). If you need a plan, inspiration, or just a gentle reminder on what you ought to be doing should your methods go astray, this is an excellent book for any runner's library. ( )

As a 40 year old who is trying to get back into running, I have picked up a few different books with running plans and information. This has been the most helpful one of the bunch. Actually targeted at runners over 35 (somehow I didn't realize that what the "mastering" part of the title meant until I read the introduction), this is a great book for a runner who is a little older. It contains basic information, advice on workouts, and some very helpful pointers on avoiding and understanding injury. I also like the tone of the book. Other running books either talk above my head or get a little preachy. She presents straight forward information in a conversational tone. Highly recommended. ( )