STARTING OUR COLLECTION OF BOOKS ABOUT RUNNING

I believe in the power of the written word.  Words are the basis of communication, they help us in understanding each other.  An American publisher by the name George Glatfelter  once wrote that “the purpose of the spoken word is to convey meaning;  The purpose of the written word is to memorialize meaning.”

And the best medium that encapsulates the power of the written word is the book.  In this age of the internet, when I want to research on something, I quickly use Google.  However, if I want to relax and enjoy learning, I’d do it by reading a book.  Books are meant to curl up with and demand our full attention.  Reading a book is  a priceless  experience. 

What makes a book special?  It is art.  I again quote from Mr. Glatlfelter- a book Is “ …all about the enduring nature of literary art.  Art that moves us, inspires us, causes us  to grow in ways that we never imagined and then enables us to pass the same gift to others.”

Given this belief in the power of the written word in books, we are now endeavoring to start our collection of  books about running.  These running books we can share among us Bach 83 runners in the hope that these books would gain us more knowledge  and  more love of our latest passion.    

So far, I have with me 3 running  books:

This book is the first-ever running book I purchased  and this will remain my favorite for a long long time.  A non-fiction narrative written by a former Associated Press correspondent,  the book talks about the Tarahumara Indians of Northern Mexico.  In talking about these cousins of  the Apaches, the author helpfully and delightfully meanders thru several running topics  such as ultrarunning, , barefoot running and the evolutionary origin of running .  What stitches all these ideas together is the author’s relaxing and very engaging writing style which cannot help but inspire and challenges the reader to aim for farther distances and greater horizons in ones running.  I started reading this book in the last day of 2009 and when I finished it by the first day of 2010 I have already resolved to finish a marathon within the year 2010 (we know how that turned out – I finished not just 1 but 3 marathons plus and more importantly I got to encourage a few more Batch 83 classmates to be marathoners as well).  Such an inspiring book and my fellow Batch 83 runner Fards confirmed this  a few days after I lend this book to him when he texted that after reading the book he now wants to tackle and finish an ultramarathon.  Enough said.    

In the Runnr Store in Bonifacio High Street I bought this book which is  based on the highly popular and highly successful marathon class of the University of Northern Iowa.  The authors of this book are a psychology professor (Whitsett), a physiology professor (Dolgener) and a marathon class student (Kole). Started in the spring semester of 1985, the class has been offered five times over 10 years, and all but one student finished the marathon.  That is approximately 200 students – all first-time marathoners and many with absolutely no running background.  The book follows the same 16-week, four-day-a-week workout plan.  This book aided me in crafting the training program for 4 of our Batch 83  classmates when they started  on their quest to finish a marathon for the first time.  This marathon was the Camsur Marathon in Sept 2010 and out of these 4 classmates, only 1 failed to accomplish the objective of being a marathoner.  Not a bad success rate and the key to its success is its emphasis on the psychological aspects of the marathon.      In reading this book, you will get to learn of the usefulness of such concepts as visualization, self-talk and  achieving flow.

I bought this book at the huge Kinokuniya Book Store in Kuala Lumpur.  Written by the sports editor of the Colorado Daily newspaper who happens to be a  2:24 marathoner, the book is more than a collection of biographies. It details the development, training techniques, coaching and motives of 21 great runners who dominated the global  distance running scene in the  1950s to the early 1990s.   Who are these running legends?  They are Emil Zatopek, Kip Keino, Priscilla Welch, Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter, Lasse Viren, Alberto Juantorena, Grete Waitz, Steve Jones, Lorraine Moller, Sebastian Coe, Ingrid Kritiansen, Toshihiko Seko, Robert de Castella, Juma Ikangaa, Joan Benoit, Said Aouita, Rosa Mota, Arturo Barrios,  Uta Pippig and Noureddine Morceli.  Now, if you don’t have any idea who these icons are, then you really need to read this book if you consider yourself a running enthusiast.  A runner who does not know who Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter are is like a basketball fan clueless who Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are.    I  read  the chapters on Emil Zatopek and Bill Rodgers, and  already am very much enjoying the insights and tips I am getting on the training of these running legends.   My favorite being Zatopek’s admission that he had done his laundry by putting it in his bathtub, adding soap and water, and running on it with combat boots for two hours.

In the next few weeks, I expect to take delivery of 3 new books courtesy of my very good friend Magen from California.  I have been very fortunate to have a dear friend like her, ever  supportive of my passions in sports.  

These 3 books coming soon  are:

I ordered this book because I want to share this with our Batch 83 classmates and other friends who would often come up with excuses that they are not fit or do not have the body to endure running.  This is the first book written by the author of the popular Runner’s World column “The Penguin Chronicles”, who transformed himself from an overweight 240 pound   couch potato who smoked into a runner who has finished more than a dozen marathons and hundreds of road races.   This is guaranteed to be an insightful and motivational book.    

Co-written by the Penguin and his running coach, this book is ideal for Batch 83 runners thinking of running their first marathon and for slow marathoners like me.   I quote a book review from Amazon.com – “Mr. Bigham does not take the elitist attitude some runners have towards the sports of marathoning;  that it has been cheapened by the influx of mere mortals who dare to venture out on to the 26.2 mile course with nothing more than a pair of shoes and a few weeks of training.  Instead, he maintains that there is a place for everyone in the pack.  All runners pay the same entry fee.  The mere mortal may have put in just as much training as the elite runners to get to the finish line.  Some can cross the line in just over 2 hours, others require 3 or 4 times that long.  If they have given  it all for 26.2 miles, they have run the same race.  Anyone contemplating this lifetime achievement but who fears that it is out of their  reach should buy this book.”  Yes indeed. We ordered this book and we will be enjoying it to the max, as any mortal can.

Our deep bond to running is driven by an impulse the author Benjamin Cheever (novelist and Runner’s World writer-at-large) describes as “the desire, the need, to escape into ecstacy.”    With written words like these  , I am  sure I will  love  this book which is  part memoir, part history and part narrative journalism.  I dig history and I look forward to reading about the origin and exploits of Pheidippides who ran (and died) the first marathon in 490 B.C. Greece.  I  am also eager to read about the marathon  running  exploits of the author in such geographically-diverse venues as Boston and Baghdad, Iraq,  New York and Merdoc, France.     His adventures  has taken him into the hills of Kenya in search of the secrets of the world’s fastest long distance runners, and I am curious to know what it is.            

So there you have it.  We have running books for sharing in the hope of elevating our running experiences. 

Life goes by fast.  Try reading a book to slow things down.