Run Forever by Amby Burfoot Book Review

run forever

As many of you know, Amby Burfoot was the editor of Runner’s World Magazine. He’s one of the leaders in today’s running world.  Now, in his 70s, Amby, who was a former winner of the Boston Marathon and author of the book, The Complete Guide to Running, wrote Run Forever in 2018.

After attending a certification course for RRCA, I was compelled to go out and buy the book from Amazon. (I just realized I must have read it before. My original review is on the link below.)

About Run Forever

I found a lot of interesting takeaways from this 200+ page book. One of the highlights for me is his discussion on the walk-run method. Although this method is generally taught to beginners, experienced runners like Amby are embracing it especially as we age. He feels that walk-run can be done forever.

He writes: “If you allow yourself to accept it, run-walk will open more doors than you can possibly imagine. It is the most important tool for lifetime running. Give it a try.”

Interestingly he writes that although Jeff Galloway was his roommate in college, he was inspired by the run-walk method from Tom Osler, a 1960s top marathoner. He proposed running for 15 minutes and walking for five minutes. When Amby tried it out at a marathon, he felt fresh throughout.

This book is comprehensive and one of the better books I have read on running. Amby is a good writer and he keeps the book flowing.

Without disclosing the entire book, here are some of my takeaways:

  • Stride — If you fall under 160, you are over-striding. Shorten your stride.
  • 10 percent rule – He believes that your mileage should go up no more than 10 percent each week.
  • Repeat rule – run at least 2 weeks in a row at the same mileage before bumping to the next level.
  • Run slow – keep those long ones slow and at a conversational pace.
  • Use short races for training.

There’s a host of information about injuries, nutrition, training plans, and more. Although a lot of the information I already knew, I found it fun to read and informative. It definitely gave me a boost to go out there and run more. (I just wish this knee issue wouldn’t hold me back.)

Anyway, you can pick up the book on Amazon. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it.