A friend of mine got me Stu's book because he had seen him speak at an event. He passed it along to me with a grunt and said something like, "you like running, right?"

In this book, Mittleman outlines an approach to running that is actually... "gulp"... fun!

As I read through the chapters, I realized that Stu was talking very explicitly about what I had been doing as a runner but was never able to put it into words. My approach, just like Stu's is the long, slow, distance approach. Run because you feel like it, not because you have to--for any reason.

Stu works extensively with heart rate monitors, but that doesn't mean this book isn't accessible to runners who abhor them. I'm not a big fan of strapping myself up to a monitor at all, but still found extreme value in the book.

The main portion of the book covers how to run for fitness and training. The general idea is to train at a comfortable heart rate and if you're interested in gaining speed, you should push your heart rate up in intervals. The training techniques are effective and again the good news for non-runner-techno-geeks is that Stu explains how to read your heart rate without even taking your pulse. He talks about how to sense where you are and where you should be for the specific type of training you need.

Mittleman also covers nutrition (a low carb approach) and kinesiology for addressing certain issues physical and mental.

Funny enough as extra testimony to the book, I gave the book to an obese client of mine and she absolutely loved the philosophy of it--regardless of whether or not she's ever planning to run.

Great book for long distance running, training, and for exercise psychology. Click here to buy it from Amazon.com today!