Like a good coach, Flo-Jo works to inspire and never condescends; she helps you get started, spurs you on, and then sends you huffing and puffing on your way. She explains running's physiological and emotional benefits in detail (and those of walking, too, if you're so disposed); introduces you to shoes and equipment; and stresses the importance of safety and road etiquette, good nutrition, stretching, warming up and cooling down, and, most of all, making sure that regardless of your health or age to check first with a doctor before beginning any serious running program. With the basics in step, she shoots you into the fast lane with advanced training tips, injury maintenance and prevention advice, and racing suggestions (how to find, prepare for, and run them), from local 5Ks on flat courses to demanding international-scale marathons.
In the For Dummies tradition, she ends with a series of top 10 lists. Two of them, taken together, nicely capture the essence of Flo-Jo as hard-nosed competitor and elegant personality: More Than Ten Ways to Sharpen Your Mental Edge and Ten Beautiful Races. For Flo-Jo, victory and aesthetics were just two legs of the same race. --Jeff Silverman