Yoga for Runners by Christine Felstead

I'm an average runner and an even worse yoga practicer.  I know yoga is supposed to be something where you don't measure how well you're doing, but when after three months you still can't do the simplest of poses for an extended period of time, well, I would think that qualifies as being terrible at it.  Still, I keep trying and thought that this book might help me with soreness after running.

All different levels of yoga practicers can use this book.  It offers a variety of yoga sequences that the advanced user can skip right to, or a beginner can sit down and use the book and learn about each of the poses and the area of the body that they target.  To start with, the authors of the book have sections on a fit body, how running and yoga relate, breathing, and the different types of running injuries.  Then the chapters separate out into different body parts and include diagrams of bones and muscles, different yoga poses that target these areas, and what running injuries you can prevent or alleviate by doing these poses.  In the latter part of the book the sequences dwell and it also gives a section on "Yoga Off the Mat" which includes things you can do to help with sitting at an office job all day.

The overall format of the book is easy to follow.  The chapters are clearly spelled out and the diagrams of the poses have instructions so while you aren't 100% sure you're doing the pose right, you have a general idea of how it is supposed to be performed and where your limbs should be during the pose.  I did enjoy that they put diagrams in of the spine and other body parts to illustrate where the poses were working.  It helped picture how the move should be done.  In fact, the only thing I found rather odd about the whole book was the testimonials on yoga included throughout from various people.  Since I already had the book it seemed weird that they were trying to sell it to me through these testimonials.

I tried Yoga Sequence 2: No Excuses Post-Run after a 6.5 mile trail run that wore me out.  My hope was that it would help prevent some of the aches of the run afterward as I probably shouldn't have been running that long that day.  It took about 6 minutes and the poses were all relatively easy.  Afterwards, I noticed I didn't have any problems with my IT band like I normally do which is a positive thing.  I do still have a few aches a few days later, but I'm attributing these to the normal muscle soreness and not injury.  So while I can't say that this result is all because of the yoga I did afterward, I'm sure it's a contributing factor. I will be trying more sequences as a result of having done this one. 

This is a good book for a runner.  I can't see a non-runner using it very much but maybe a die-hard yoga person who likes to read everything on the subject would enjoy it as well.  With helpful diagrams and useful information, it definitely has a place on a runner's shelf.

Yoga for Runners
Copyright 2014
251 pages

To Be A Runner by Martin Dugard

I'm always looking for something to inspire me into liking running. I run, I can't say I particularly enjoy it all the time, but I always feel like I've accomplished something after a run. So, enter all the running books I can find for helping with that inspiration. This one had an interesting title "To Be A Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking on a 5-K Makes You a Better Person."

We start the book with how Dugard got into running through his parents. Then we jump ahead to some of the races he's done and his eventual entry into coaching cross-country. In fact, most of this book is about his coaching and his runners and what they do. But he intersperses it with musings, stories about when he wasn't running, stories about injuries, and a few different races (including one that sounds like the original Tough Mudder).

Dugard is very self-focused. This book is about him and I'd call it more a memoir than a running book. Sure, there was a lot of running, but it was more about Dugard running than running in general. He mentions coaching cross-country because of his kids, but we don't really hear to much about his kids in the book. And the same with his wife, she's mentioned here and there, but it's usually just her telling him to go running when he's cranky.

I found some useful tidbits in this book. Like not tracking my time while running and it might make it more relaxing. I'm going to start leaving my tracker on silent and just enjoy my run (although music will still be a must). And I learned the names of several interesting sounding races that might be a goal someday. But I also got to learn of Dugard's disdain for runners like myself. It's kind of clear from his description that I'd more be considered a non-runner rather than part of the elite. But that's ok, I'm likely to never encounter the man so I'll just keep doing my thing. He's a good writer, very eloquent and the story flows nice. It does jump around a bit in terms of topic, but I didn't think it was distracting.

A decent book about running. It has some interesting topics and some not so interesting stories. But I still think it's worth a read.

To Be A Runner
Copyright 2011
235 pages

Run or Die by Kilian Jornet

**This review is part of the Amazon Vine Program**

I'd never heard of Kilian Jornet before reading this book. Which is probably to be expected. Despite considering myself a "runner" I still think a 10k is a distance to shoot for. Ultramarathons and what Jornet does is just beyond me. But in search of the ever elusive secret to not getting bored while running long distances, I decided to take a chance on reading this book.

Jornet, originally having started out as a skier, was always a fan of the outdoors thanks to the excursions his parents took he and his sister on as children. Now, grown, and a very competitive athlete, he currently is a trail runner, ultramarathoner and skyrunner. All of which are humongous feats of athleticism. In this book he gives a stream of consciousness on some of the races he's won, some of his past memories, and a little bit of his personal life.

Jornet really focuses on the running in this book. While people are mentioned, they are secondary. We have a little bit of his mother and sister as they accompanied him on some of his adventures. Not much of his dad at all though. A little bit more of his family and what they thought about his running wouldn't have been out of place. And there was some of a previous girlfriend, but I didn't really enjoy those parts so I can't say I was thrilled to read about her. About himself Jornet really is able to exude his passion for running. And he admits his faults too, giving his true reasons for really wanting to run and acknowledging that he really needs praise from others for motivation. I like that kind of honesty and think it's a very real perspective.

This book is a little more flowery in the writing that I normally like (maybe as a result from the translation?) but I actually found myself enjoying it here. What I didn't like however, were the odd instances of his time with his girlfriend thrown in. Unlike his reminisces about his family, they just didn't fit and were distracting. Perhaps if they had had their own area they might have worked, but fit in between some of his challenging races they were definitely out of place. The sections where he is describing the races are wonderful though. You can almost feel what he's feeling and really commiserate with his pains and sore muscles and just marvel at how he's still moving after so many miles. If the whole book had focused on the races themselves I think it would have been excellent.

I would probably rate this book 3.5 stars. It had some fantastic parts, great writing in some areas, but ultimately had its readability disrupted by some of the personal stuff. While I can never envision myself running those kind of distances, I have nothing but the deepest admiration for Jornet and his running skills.

Run or Die
Copyright 2013
145 pages

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

This memoir combines both running and writing; two subjects that I'm definitely interested in.  And Murakami is apparently a well known author, although this is the first I've read of his works.  And I can see why, it was interesting and well written.

Murakami was running a jazz bar and in college when he first got the notion to run.  And it stuck.  And then he decided to sell the jazz bar and take up writing.  And that stuck too.  From then on it was a passion that would spread over decades for him, although lagging at times when he developed other interests.  And running is weaved with writing for him so that both have a place in his life.  Although triathlons are taking hold now as well.

This is a translated work, but I think it was done very well.  Murakami has a nice approachable voice to his writing and while he doesn't really describe anyone but himself in this book (it is a memoir after all), the few that he does are approached kindly and with positive attributes highlighted.  For himself, he does show all his strengths and weaknesses.  He isn't shy about sharing his success in writing, but nor is he shy about showing his less than stellar run times and goals that he didn't make.  It shows him as a very balanced person.

The running is what really interested me in this book.  In fact, Murakami does such a good job of describing running and its effects on the mind and body that it made me feel rather guilty that I haven't been running lately, but blamed it on moving and work and other things in my life.  In fact, if I hadn't already packed my running clothes, I probably would be out there right now the book inspired me so much.  And I liked the way he tied it in with writing.  This book was actually written in short little pieces and then combined together, but the transition was easy and you'd never know it started out that way if he hadn't of told you.  And it was a quick read so it never had a chance to get boring either.  I did think that maybe this book would offer some tips on how to cure my short attention span while running, but Murakami just says that most runners don't always want to run and you can feel that way sometimes.  It apparently is more natural for him and while he does admit that he thinks about all sorts of things when he runs, he is never very precise because he says his thoughts are never very precise.  Not feeling that way when I run, it is hard to relate in a way.

But regardless, that fault lies with me, not him.  And this was a very good book to read, although maybe a bit limited in audience.  I don't really see non-runners getting into this book, but that's ok.  For those of us who want to run, it's there for inspiration.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Copyright 2008
174 pages

The Longest Race by Ed Ayres

**This book is part of the Amazon Vine program**

I've been trying to turn myself into a runner. I like the idea of running; the fitness, the goal of crossing the finish line, there really isn't anything bad about running. But it's very hard for me to get motivated as my mind tends to wander and I get bored while running. So knowing that this was a book written by an ultra-marathoner, I figured that he would have some good tips in here for helping that, considering he runs for fifty miles straight.

And while this book does have a few tips (located in the back) it's actually more a story about Ayres journey and his thoughts on the world. The book takes place in 2001 and the running of the JFK Ultra-marathon, a fifty mile race through the Appalachia trail and surrounding areas. Ayres is competing at sixty years of age and he breaks down the race into several chapters. Through these chapters there is a different theme at each section being that of thinking of wars past, thinking of the ecological future, how running derives from the activities of primitive man, and so forth. It's actually almost a stream of consciousness type of writing except that it isn't as choppy and random as those seem to be. But it does have that quality of the topic being all over the place. But the main constant is his running and what he does to run the way that he does. He talks about breathing, metabolism, and other things about running that I actually found very helpful.

Since this is Ayres thoughts we are mostly focused on his experiences and him in this book. And that's not a bad thing, you could almost call this an auto-biography of sorts. He may go on about other topics but the undercurrent is that he is running this race as a sixty year old, and that's really impressive. He doesn't go so much into his faults per say, but he does share his mistakes and how he's improved them in running. Like diet while on races, he shares what works and didn't work for him while running these ultra-marathons. You will learn that Ayres is a Quaker and deeply involved with wanting to improve the world's policies on taking care of resources. And if that's not your thing than you might not want to read Ayres book, because he is only telling it from his side.

I really enjoyed the running parts of this book. Sure the other parts were interesting but they distracted me when I just wanted to read about the running. I almost would have liked to have seen two books and I probably would have read both of them. I just found myself hurrying to get past the history lessons and scientific explanations to find out more about Ayres' run, which really intrigued me. Not that the history and science weren't good themselves, they just weren't what I wanted to read while reading about running. But despite that the book is still ok; it's one that I would probably re-read and maybe read at different times with different focuses on the book. Maybe look at only the running sections one day and the science the next. I do know I'll go back to the tips at the back at some point because they seem very useful.

I won't be running any ultra-marathons anytime soon; it's all I can do to finish a 5k in a respectable time. But you never know what the future will bring. My curiosity has been piqued by this book, and that's always a good thing.

The Longest Race
Copyright 2012
232 pages