using some advice from Dean Karnaze

I have been doing a lot of reading lately...running reading, that is. These books not only keep me motivated, but they provide valuable information about running and training. So far I read Dean Karnaze's "Ultramarathon Man", Bill Rogers' "Running for a Lifetime", Murakami's "What I talk about when I talk about running", and "Running Legends"(author?).

Lessons learned:
1. There are no clear guidelines in terms of running, training, increasing mileage and preventing injury. People like Karnaze run 200miles at a time and never get injured.
2. Streching does not necessarily prevent injury. BUT streching helps keep the muscles flexible and it is particularly important as we age, bc flexibility decreases.
3. Strenght training is very important, particularly as we age, because after 35 (yikes!) we lose muscle mass rapidly.
4. Eat 1/2 your weight in protein. OMG
5. During long runs, vary your landing (inner vs outer foot) to prevent injury.
6. Ice away...
7. Take a few months off each year, where you decrease intensity of running and crosstrain more.
8. Swimming is the best crosstraining for running.