I Run, Therefore I Am STILL Nuts!

Part I It’s All in the Approach to Make Your Runs Beyond Reproach If it works, then don’t nix it Chapter Much Ado About Something Style points can equal mile points Chapter Watch, What You Say To Me! Flattering words are now coming from the strangest of places Chapter We Could All Use a Little More Common Dense In the words of Fleetwood Mac, sometimes it’s best to go your own way Chapter HIIT Me With My Best Shot Better fitness through sheer masochism Part II Who’s Running With Me? There’s alone in a crowd and there’s company while going solo Chapter Solitary Refinement So long, solo long! Chapter Look At Me Now Is it conceit to tweet your feats? Chapter Forecast: Partly Cloudy, Good Chance of Pain If you can follow Sparky Anderson’s words of wisdom, you’re on the way to nirvana Chapter Every Dog Has Its Way You can lead a dog to the trail, but you can’t always make him a canine convert Part III Lacing ’Em Up and Laying ’Em Down There are wins and losses in racing, and a heck of a lot in between Chapter What Are the Odds That Older and Slower Equals Better? Using your shortcomings to your success in the long run Chapter Count Me in on Counting Me Out Other challenges to pencil in after 100-mile races are erased from your to-do list Chapter Refraining From Explaining A poor race performance may not seem just, but it needs no justification Chapter Log Me In Do elite runners put on their shorts one leg at a time? Part IV The Road to Injury Is Paved With Foolish Intentions Injuries come and injuries go, but stubbornness often remains Chapter Runner, Heal Thyself! The path of self-diagnosis begins with a not very bright guinea pig for a patient Chapter The Impact Of Nonimpact Can true love be found with a sweat-inducing, cardiac-demanding, quadriceps-exhausting piece of machinery? Chapter Behind Every Comeback Is a Foolhardy Failure Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice, runner rehabilitation is in order Chapter Malady Malfeasance There are more than two certainties in life Part V From the Back of the Pack to the Fleet-Footed Elite, Runners Are Not Run of the Mill What some call quirks we choose to call talents Chapter If the Shoe Fits, Snare It! Locate another pair of your favorite shoe model that’s been discontinued and it’s sweet souls almighty Chapter Running Is Elementary, My Dear Simplicity is the father of ascension Chapter Do What They Say and Watch the Day Zip Away Operating by the book makes for a long read Chapter Gesticulate in Kind To acknowledge or not to acknowledge, that is the question Part VI The Nonthinking Person’s Guide to the Path of Least Resistance In the words of the esteemed Yoda, do or do not; there is no try. Chapter Do What You Want to Do Whatever starts your engine and puts a bounce in your step Chapter Giving Yourself the Benefit of No Doubt Sometimes it’s best to just stop thinking Chapter More Than a Feeling Take to the sky on a natural high Chapter The Time Is Now The times may be changing, but our infatuation with time is constant Part VII The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Nonrunning Runner Weak in the knees while knee deep in anatomy Chapter Woe Is Knee! Lacking the ability to run a step is the first step to admitting you have a wee bit of a problem Chapter The Arms Have It How to survive when those horrific words are spoken to you: “You’ll have to be non-weight bearing on your leg for a while.” Chapter Scope Me Out It’s better to sometimes recognize your limitations than end up prone on the ground Part VIII Jack of No Trades, Master of Run Learning while on the run is all part of the fun Chapter Lessons Learned, Lessons Spurned The sundry and wacky words of wisdom absorbed from years on the run Chapter Who Can Leap Standing Water in a Single Bound? The many peculiar talents of Resourceful Running Man and Running Woman Chapter Phoning It In Taking the talk test to a whole new level of communication Chapter Fashionable Fartleks Wick me away! Part IX Enjoying the View on the Competitive Drive Keeping perspective is a good thing, though an elusive thing Chapter To Thine Own Self Be You There is more than one path to the top of the mountain; the key is uncovering your itinerary Chapter Climb Every Mountain, or at Least a Small Mound Now and Then Sometimes you got to go with the flow and redefine your definition of slow Chapter Just Lose, Baby! There is joy in Mudville Chapter Faster-Finishing Counterparts Setting the pace for the race within a race Part X The Legs Have It! Don’t Be De-Feeted Figuring out what will keep you on the streets Chapter May the Stick Be With You! The magic wand will woo you in the land of self-massage Chapter Not Fully Baring My Sole Less is more in more ways than one Chapter The Rhythm of the Run As Martha and the Vandellas sang, there will be dancing in the street Chapter Getting the Bends for Bending Can a runner with the flexibility of concrete and a limited attention span survive in the world of yoga? Part XI Behind Every Nuts Runner Are Often Very Accepting Nonrunners The family of a runner knows the difference between RICE and DOMS Chapter For Better or for Worse A union of soles and souls Chapter Over Hill, Over Dale, and I’m Pale I wonder if there’s an extra entry fee for the mud bath Chapter Have Shoes, Will Travel Can a runner and a nonrunner find and maintain marital bliss on the open road of race-destination vacations?