The 'Starting Strength' for running?

While I don't take it as gospel, it's a pretty important book for weightlifting. I'm trying to get into running small distances, no more than 10k. I'd like to get reading up on it. I've spent years reading and researching on the internet and books, but there is so much crap and misinformation to sift through.

Could somebody point me in the direction of some solid reads, that aren't complete BS for running? (Other than born to run)

Thanks

The main one I'd recommend is Daniels' Running Formula by Jack Daniels.

The key to success in running is in building the aerobic system. Reason being is that running is a highly aerobic activity. For instance, in terms of energy system derivations, a marathon is ~99% aerobic, a 5km is ~95% aerobic, and even a mile is more aerobic than anaerobic. With that said, the majority of your running should be aerobic, which is exactly how high level runners train. Initially this'd equate to a slow jogging pace for most, possibly almost walking in some cases. For perspective, elite runners can jog aerobically at low 5 minute mile pace, which is the result of years of high volume aerobic training (and genetics), and not HIIT sprints at the track or "train fast to get fast" mentality that some would think. The stronger you get aerobically, the faster you'll be able to run an aerobic, low-end intensity, and so the faster you'll be able to run at high intensity as in a race should you need/want to.

The key here being that you can only really develop your aerobic system to its fullest potential by training predominantly aerobically. High intensity (HIIT) and general anaerobic training doesn't really help with this beyond the elementary/basic level as you're training the wrong systems. Basically nobody gets elite/true fitness from HIIT. That's because HIIT is supposed to be used for peaking / fine-tuning your aerobic fitness. It's only a short-lived boost and for 1-3 months at a time before you reach a peak/plateau and burnout. So it's not for long term fitness or to progress. You'll see time and time again this getting misused by people, especially in running clubs, who advocate it yet aren't progressing or getting anywhere beyond an average level etc.

In terms of a running schedule, I don't know how seriously you want to get into it, or whether you're combining it with a lifting schedule(?), but as a rough guide you'd be doing yourself the massive world of good by keeping it simple and simply building up to something like 4x 30min easy/aerobic runs per week (2 hours/week). As you get fitter, your pace will naturally increase at the same effort. At this stage there's absolutely no need to be doing anything extreme (which is actually a good thing as it won't interfere as much with whatever else you're doing too). You'd actually probably make better progress like this than someone trying to do something extreme anyway. If you're not at a stage where you can build straight to four 30min runs, then I'd look into something like Couch to 5K which incorporates jogging/walking and builds you up. If you wanted to take it beyond this, most running schedules have one longer run each week. So you could build one of them from 30mins to 60mins over time (or up to 10km like you said). You could also make/add a slightly faster run once you've established a good base. And as you get fitter and more serious, you'd increase everything for higher weekly volume / stress.

Good luck.

The main one I'd recommend is Daniels' Running Formula by Jack Daniels.

The key to success in running is in building the aerobic system. Reason being is that running is a highly aerobic activity. For instance, in terms of energy system derivations, a marathon is ~99% aerobic, a 5km is ~95% aerobic, and even a mile is more aerobic than anaerobic. With that said, the majority of your running should be aerobic, which is exactly how high level runners train. Initially this'd equate to a slow jogging pace for most, possibly almost walking in some cases. For perspective, elite runners can jog aerobically at low 5 minute mile pace, which is the result of years of high volume aerobic training (and genetics), and not HIIT sprints at the track or "train fast to get fast" mentality that some would think. The stronger you get aerobically, the faster you'll be able to run an aerobic, low-end intensity, and so the faster you'll be able to run at high intensity as in a race should you need/want to..

The main one I'd recommend is Daniels' Running Formula by Jack Daniels.

The key to success in running is in building the aerobic system. Reason being is that running is a highly aerobic activity. For instance, in terms of energy system derivations, a marathon is ~99% aerobic, a 5km is ~95% aerobic, and even a mile is more aerobic than anaerobic. With that said, the majority of your running should be aerobic, which is exactly how high level runners train. Initially this'd equate to a slow jogging pace for most, possibly almost walking in some cases. For perspective, elite runners can jog aerobically at low 5 minute mile pace, which is the result of years of high volume aerobic training (and genetics), and not HIIT sprints at the track or "train fast to get fast" mentality that some would think. The stronger you get aerobically, the faster you'll be able to run an aerobic, low-end intensity, and so the faster you'll be able to run at high intensity as in a race should you need/want to.

The key here being that you can only really develop your aerobic system to its fullest potential by training predominantly aerobically. High intensity (HIIT) and general anaerobic training doesn't really help with this beyond the elementary/basic level as you're training the wrong systems. Basically nobody gets elite/true fitness from HIIT. That's because HIIT is supposed to be used for peaking / fine-tuning your aerobic fitness. It's only a short-lived boost and for 1-3 months at a time before you reach a peak/plateau and burnout. So it's not for long term fitness or to progress. You'll see time and time again this getting misused by people, especially in running clubs, who advocate it yet aren't progressing or getting anywhere beyond an average level etc.

In terms of a running schedule, I don't know how seriously you want to get into it, or whether you're combining it with a lifting schedule(?), but as a rough guide you'd be doing yourself the massive world of good by keeping it simple and simply building up to something like 4x 30min easy/aerobic runs per week (2 hours/week). As you get fitter, your pace will naturally increase at the same effort. At this stage there's absolutely no need to be doing anything extreme (which is actually a good thing as it won't interfere as much with whatever else you're doing too). You'd actually probably make better progress like this than someone trying to do something extreme anyway. If you're not at a stage where you can build straight to four 30min runs, then I'd look into something like Couch to 5K which incorporates jogging/walking and builds you up. If you wanted to take it beyond this, most running schedules have one longer run each week. So you could build one of them from 30mins to 60mins over time (or up to 10km like you said). You could also make/add a slightly faster run once you've established a good base. And as you get fitter and more serious, you'd increase everything for higher weekly volume / stress.

Good luck.

It depends on how serious you want to get into it. In terms of starting to take it more seriously and going for faster times/races, ideally I'd say eventually build to 3-5x per week. Eventually you'd come to a point where more volume and frequency is required, since your body will adapt to current stresses. That won't happen any time soon though, even if you did the same volume for months on end.

If doing it for general fitness and health then 2x is good. If you started with 2x 30min aerobic runs you'd be doing great. Could even start with shorter runs if required. I'd say consistency is more important at this stage (provided you're doing a sufficient amount). So if you're consistency doing the two runs each week for a good say 8-12 weeks, you'll have improved your general aerobic fitness/health by quite a fair bit.

In terms of how fast/hard to go, I doubt you have a heart rate monitor or any race times (such as a 5km) to by to calculate that kind of stuff, so you'll have to go by feel instead. Basically take it easy (probably easier than you think) - lightly breathing and low stress, so that you're pleasantly fatigued after each (not destroyed and suffering the whole time). No need to go hard. In terms of tracking your runs, you could also use a free app called Strava, which basically uses GPS on your phone to track your distance and pace etc.