SLOW JOE: Joe Henderson and his LSD (long, slow distance) writings that changed running

LSD, in running circles, means “long, slow distance.” Joe Henderson didn’t coin the term, but he did the most to popularize the practice of slowing and lengthening the runs. As author of a book with LSD: The Humane Way to Train as its title, Henderson was a prime mover in the running boom of the 1970s.

Rich Englehart credits that slim book with changing his own running for the longer, slower and better. He writes, “Forty years later I am still running semi-seriously. I reflect on the people who have influenced me and made the sport into such a tremendous experience. I know there are several, but perhaps none to whom I am more indebted than ‘Mr. LSD,’ Joe Henderson.”

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of his LSD book’s publication and the 50th year of Joe’s own running, Marathon & Beyond assigned Englehart to profile him for that magazine. His interviews, conducted over several months, resulted in the longest article in M&B’s history. Yet only a small percentage of Joe’s comments could appear in the final piece as direct quotes.

Now Rich has restored much of that original material to produce this book, Slow Joe. The added comments enrich the story of a man whose methods did much to make his sport a mass movement.