The Complete Book of Running by James Fixx (1977-09-12)

I was going my library and found this book. I took the opportunity to read it again, and allowed me to conclude that this is best book I've read on running. Granted, it was written in the seventies, and heart rate monitors were not out, but the layout of the book is the best. I also have his second book he wrote. If you don't have it, go for it.

WOW, I had originally purchased this books eons ago, in the early 80's and I had been jogging already for since 1976 when I was a teenager. The information in this book inspired me more than anything else about jogging. I LOVED THIS BOOK! I had lost it somewhere through many moves and life changes in my life and I had also quit jogging due to an illness I went through. I'm 48 now, will be 49 in a few weeks and I still believe in my heart that I'm a runner, a jogger. I'm purchasing this book TODAY and can't wait to read it again! If there is any book that encourages you with running, believe me, it's this one. It's a MUST HAVE FOR ALL RUNNERS [JOGGERS]!

I started running way, way before the "running craze" hit. This was in the late 1950 and very early 1960. Let me tell you it was pretty lonely out there. Little was known, shoes were very primitive and attitudes were even more primitive. All that changed and one of the primary movers of that change was this book and books like it. You have no idea how nice it was to know there were others out there. I purchased my first copy when it was first published and am still reading it to this day. Yes, some of the data my be a bit dated but to tell you the truth, not all that much. I stil run and what was true then is still pretty much the truth now. Cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I grew up in the 'boom' time of running: I was a teenager coming into running during the late 70's and early eighties. I still remember a wonderful article in Runner's World magazine on Jim Fixx. I am still saddened by his death. He was the 'every man' of running: un-pretentious and soulful. His prose is precint, witty, and full of life. I recommend the book not only for its knowlege base, but for the sheer 'readability'! And yes...those are actually his legs on both of his book covers! We all miss you, Jim. -Will Soyars

How well I remember when this book was published in 1977. I was a teenager and hardly anyone I knew jogged or ran for pleasure. In those days it was rare to see anyone on the street actually doing exercise. With this book, Jim Fixx revolutionized the world of exercise, and especially the sport of running. This book precipitated the running boom of the late 70's when every granny laced up her New Balance's or Saucony's and hit the streets. Jim Fixx was an overweight business executive who began running simply because he wanted to improve his tennis game. He loved running so much that he gave up tennis to concentrate on increasing his weekly running mileage.Fixx writes extremely well and it's still hard to put this down. It's held up remarkably well in the intervening 25 years and the information is still current and just as riveting as it was back then. Fixx has special chapters on kids running, women, senior citizens, injuries and the Boston marathon. He spends considerable detail on expounding upon the magical "runner's high" which occurs on runs lasting more than 45 minutes. Based on considerable personal experience, I will say that the runner's high is freequently elusive, but you'll know when you get it. Jim Fixx died of a heart attack in the late 1980's while running on a quiet Vermont road. Unfortunately, this became the butt of some late night jokes made by overweight comics thinking it was ironic that a running guru would die of a heart attack. But Jim Fixx has the last laugh: he helped usher in the running boom and cement this avocation in the lives of millions of people. This is an outstanding book, as interesting and readable as it was when it was first published all those years ago.