I have known Dr. Mark Cucuzzella for over a decade. He’s my business partner, mentor, coach, and friend whom I’m fortunate to have met via the natural running community. Quick bio:
Lt. Col. (Dr.) Mark Cucuzzella is a Professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine. As a US Air Force Reservist he designs programs to promote healthier and better running with the US Air Force Efficient Running Project. Mark has presented running workshops on over 50 military bases. You can view modules on his Efficient Running website. He has been a national-level Masters runner, having competed for over 35 years with more than 100 marathon and ultra-marathon finishes. Mark is a two time winner of the Air Force Marathon and has a marathon PR of 2:24. As well as being the race director of Freedom’s Run race series in West Virginia, Mark is director of the Natural Running Center, an education portal designed to teach healthier running. He is also the owner of Two Rivers Treads – A Center for Natural Running and Walking in his hometown of Shepherdstown, WV. Mark’s innovative work and story has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Outside Magazine, Running Times, Runners World, Air Force Times, the Washington Post, JAMA, and other medical and media outlets.
I have read Run For Your Life many times and keep coming back for refreshers. If you’re into barefoot or natural running, this book is the bible of Sustainable Injury-Free Running – perfect companion and lifelong guide to injury-free and pain-free running.
This book, and my mission, is directed at making running safer and more fun, regardless of what shoes you wear. I may be the only physician in the country who also owns a shoe store! The American College of Sports Medicine recently published a position paper on footwear that confirms and underscores what our small store, Two Rivers Treads, has been doing for years.
The proper shoes and running form is key to lifelong injury-free running. Elements of shoe design that work to enhance natural foot function:
- A flexible sole
- A lower drop or no drop—in elevation from heel to toe (differential)
- A thinner shoe
The goal as outlined by the book is to master the movements and maintain proper form. Then build more speed and power into that form. Eventually, a properly performed drill becomes your running form.
The drills provided in the book and those that you select can be performed as infrequently as twice a week, requiring no more than fifteen minutes each time. Best done on days when you are not tired and after warming up. Begin by picking some exercises that look easy and graduate to more challenging ones that play to your weaknesses—until they become your strengths.
Consider this book a user-friendly owner’s manual to the body – you are training for the rest of your hopefully long and healthy life.
For more information and useful running resources, see the dedicated book website, Run For Your Life book, that Dr. Mark updates regularly or to the Natural Running Center with more frequent articles.
About Run For Your Life (from publisher):
A straightforward, easy-to-follow look at the anatomy, biomechanics, and nutrition of running.
Dr. Cucuzzella “aims to improve the fitness and well-being of all, from the uninitiated to beginners to veterans who still have new tricks to learn” (Amby Burfoot, Boston Marathon winner, writer at large for Runner’s World magazine, and author of The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life).
Despite our natural ability and our human need to run, each year more than half of all runners suffer injuries. Pain and discouragement inevitably follow. Cucuzzella’s book outlines the proven, practical techniques to avoid injury and reach the goal of personal fitness and overall health.
With clear drawings and black-and-white photographs, the book provides illustrated exercises designed to teach healthy running, along with simple progressions and a running schedule that shows the reader how to tailor their training regimen to their individual needs and abilities.
Table of Contents
PART I: Before the Starting Line
- CHAPTER 1 Our Bodies Are Older Than We Think
- CHAPTER 2 Stand Up and Breathe
- CHAPTER 3 Walk Before You Run
- CHAPTER 4 The World Is Flat If You’re a Foot
- CHAPTER 5 The Springs That Move Us
PART II: The Body in Motion
- CHAPTER 6 The Elements of Style
- CHAPTER 7 The Engine That Runs Us: Building Endurance
- CHAPTER 8 Move More and “Exercise” Less
- CHAPTER 9 Eating to Go the Distance: Nutrition and Health
- CHAPTER 10 What’s for Dinner: Setting Your Meal Course
- CHAPTER 11 Recovery Is the Training
- CHAPTER 12 Running a Marathon
- CHAPTER 13 The Runner’s High: The Mind of a Winner
- CHAPTER 14 Outsmart Injuries with Prevention
PART III: Running Is for Everyone
- CHAPTER 15 Women Are Pulling Away from the Pack
- CHAPTER 16 Young at Heart
- CHAPTER 17 Healthy at Any Age
- CHAPTER 18 The Nature Cure
- CHAPTER 19 Running in Place: The Health of Our Communities