Not inspirational but informative

Tread Lightly
by Peter Larson, Bill Katovsky
 
I guess I'll have to read this again before saying much about it.  I read it during vacation, mostly in front of a big screen TV playing NCIS episodes.  My concentration must have been faulty.

I remember that it's full of summaries about research into the question of why running injuries seem so common nowadays despite mankind's unique adaptation to running over a lot of years of evolution.  The most common predictors of a future injury are previous injury, lack of experience, competition, and weekly running distance. Since a runner can't or won't control these factors, what can he do?  in an attempt to answer that question, the author does an near-exhaustive research into the factors that can be controlled--footgear, running style, and nutrition. 

The first two topics are done well but the nutrition chapter is skimpy.  I get kind of sick of the "paleo diet" assumptions that human evolution stopped in the prehistoric period; that human gut microbes (which continue to evolve) don't play a part in optimal nutrition; and that food preparation methods don't have an impact on their nutritional suitability.  You can skip this whole chapter and still get a lot out of the book.

Lot of good syntheses of research here and a few good conclusions that I'll leave you to uncover on your own.  That way you get the research as well--plus an opportunity to question it.