10 Best Running Technique Books
Updated on: June 2023
Best Running Technique Books in 2023
Science of Running: Analyse your Technique, Prevent Injury, Revolutionize your Training
The Running Revolution: How to Run Faster, Farther, and Injury-Free--for Life
Runner's World Your Best Stride: How to Optimize Your Natural Running Form to Run Easier, Farther, and Faster--With Fewer Injuries
Run Better: How To Improve Your Running Technique and Prevent Injury
80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower
The Art of Sprinting: Techniques for Speed and Performance
Born to Run
The Encyclopedia of Colored Pencil Techniques
Build Your Running Body: A Total-Body Fitness Plan for All Distance Runners, from Milers to Ultramarathoners—Run Farther, Faster, and Injury-Free
Running for Office: The Strategies, Techniques and Messages Modern Political Candidates Need to Win Elections
Fourth of July in Ocean City, Washington
Summertime means fun, fairs and the Fourth of July. While I miss the days of firecrackers in the driveway, mom fussing about somebody losing a limb and kids running amok in the neighborhood, I wanted to start a special new tradition with my children.
I never met anyone who was hurt from a firecracker explosion, but noticed the eventual change from 'firecracker' to 'fireworks', and heard plenty of lectures from my mother about the dangers of firecrackers, which began the summer she did an article about it and a photograph of a friend and me holding sparklers was on the front page of the paper. Ah, my fifteen minutes of fame are already over.
When I had my children, my mother urged me to create special memories for them that they would take with them into their adulthood. Life is different than it was when I was a child. Everyone goes to big displays in town on the 3rd of July, and rather than running amok in the neighborhood, you have to be so careful about how long you will let your children out of your sight. A personal fireworks display is pretty costly to a family on a budget, so going in town seems like the best option.
But, I wanted to do something different. I wanted something exciting. I didn't want to go camping, and I am not keen on parking miles out of town and walking on foot for a fireworks display that will require being caught in traffic, carrying sleepy children and a slew of other unpleasant caveats. Also, I have been accused of many things but being outdoorsy is not one of them. I am not generally opposed to the outdoors, but my idea of a good time doesn't involve midnight hikes to the bathroom, smelling like a campfire or being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
One year, on a whim we decided to drive to the coast for the day. We headed towards Ocean Shores to fly kites and play on the beach. We packed a picnic, and threw a few other supplies in the car and everybody (two kids, at that time) jumped in the minivan. We haven't purchased fireworks in years, and while a tank of gas in our gas-guzzling family-mobile was probably easily dwarfed by the cost of buying a modest, personal fireworks display, we wanted to go anyway. It's a four-hour drive, so we were going to make it just in time to take in the afternoon...just in time to drive back, I know. Planning logistics that make sense to the rest of universe is not one of my strong suits.
It was a beautiful day. Sunny and just on the cusp of being hot but not quite. Once we got to Ocean Shores, it had cooled down with the breeze wafting to shore from the chilly Pacific Ocean water. We'd forgotten swimsuits, so everyone rolled their pants up to their knees and waded in the glistening, bright blue water. Having gloriously neglected that detail as well as many others in our quest for a day of adventure, we all ended up soaked to the waist and covered in sand. We shook the sand out of our flip-flops and made our way to a local pizza joint just up from the beach for lunch. We were intent on heading back to the beach to hoist our kites in the air, build sandcastles and bask in the beauty of the day when we inquired about a whether or not there was a fireworks display that evening on the beach from the cashier at the pizzeria. He directed us five miles north from where we were to Ocean City; since Ocean Shores had had their fireworks display the previous evening.
The fireworks would begin just after the sun went down. Rather than heading back to the beach in Ocean Shores we reloaded the herd into the van and drove to Ocean City. We parked on the beach, close to what appeared to be the cordoned off area for the fireworks display later on, and we took in the cool, crisp dusk ocean air while the kids played in the sand. When it was time, we all cuddled under a blanket and gasped in awe of the fireworks exploding practically right above our heads. Sparkling rivulets of light danced above us as we sat beneath the night huddled together, trying desperately to keep warm. Nothing, however, could have prepared us for the after-fireworks show on the beach. As soon as the first display ended, we began getting ready for the long drive home. The sun had set and our feet were cold since we had all neglected to remember shoes and sock instead of flip-flops and sandals, and my husband and I were drinking now-lukewarm coffee. But, we could not focus on the chill we felt or the regret in not filling our thermos with fresh, hot coffee.
For a moment, the entire beach was still and you could only hear the waves sweep in and sweep out. Then, in what seemed like an instant, all five miles of beach from Ocean City to Ocean Shores began to set off their personal fireworks. It was a panoramic display of light against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean and a deep, dark ink blue sky. It was a wall of lights, with all the crackling, shooting sounds filling the chill with a remarkable finish to a perfect, sunny day. The individual displays were undiminished by displays next to them, and it was as if it were choreographed to be just as it was. For an hour or so we basked in the beauty of an entire beach filled with individuals celebrating our country's independence by thrilling the horizon with the most intense fireworks display I have ever seen.
That moment eternally and indelibly etched a love for this day that I had never before experienced. We decided that very day that we wanted this to be what our family did each year to celebrate the independence of our nation. I have not forgotten the freedom and beauty of that one day, and the memories I carry with me for myself and my family have made this holiday my most favorite.
