Learning from Two Books & a DVD

I am reading a book about the New York Marathon and I had no idea it was such a big race (it's the largest event in New York every year). Very inspiring book. I also watched a DVD from the library, "Spirit of the Marathon," a documentary on five different runners training for the Chicago Marathon, and it was very inspiring as well. I am also reading, "The Runner's Diet," and I am pleasantly surprised by how good it is. If anything, it emphasizes how all the protein bars and gels etc. are good for ELITE runners and that the average person who is running for weight reduction will not benefit from that stuff. It also advocates changing one food habit at a time and making this a slow, life style change rather than the all-or-nothing mentality, steps like adding one green vegetable to your meal every day and just focusing on doing that for three weeks (21 days) before adding another vegetable or dropping soft drinks or your daily doughnut, etc. Common sense that is not very common!