The warm season is here, and with it comes more time for hitting the open road on holiday, family vacation or a long weekend of racing. What to slip in your carryon?
Two new books that I’ve been toting around with me lately (and returning to again and again) are Kara Goucher’s Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons” (Touchstone, 2011) and Martin Dugard’s To Be a Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking on a 5-K Makes You a Better Person (and the World a Better Place) (Rodale, 2011).
Both ‘chunk’ content in quick-to-read and digest bits, so they’re perfect for tucking away in a summertime travel or gym bag. Have a minute and want to get inspired? Pick up one of these volumes, flip it open to a page and set out to explore another topic or chapter.
They’re ideal for the time-crunched reader and running enthusiast.
First up, Running for Women has an absolute travel trove of tips, strategies and insights put down on paper by a girl who knows a thing or two about running. As an Olympian, Nike Oregon Project member and new mom, Kara Goucher offers readers solid food for the hungry (female) runner’s soul.
Brimming in style and substance, chapters will propel you to get started; continue to train well; build a support network; prevent injury; find work-life-training balance; fuel up; race strong; prep for a marathon; navigate a pregnancy; and keep running for life.
There’s a lot covered here, but dipping in feels more like a treasure hunt rather than a dizzy maze. Every suggestion is in tight, short and compact units, so you can bounce around (rather than move linearly like most books have you do) and learn something new every time.
My favorite chapter (at the moment at least; it changes with every page flip) gives advice on balancing your passion for the sport with everything else going on in your life. Oh, boy. This is something I’m always struggling with, as are many other runners I know. So, it was kind of refreshing to read a top shelf athlete put it into perspective…and even call us out on it a bit.
From the chapter Balancing Running and Life:
You hear it a lot from women runners that running is their escape, their outlet, their sanity time. Once I heard a woman say that running was the only time in her life when she felt truly herself – happy, calm, and confident.
When I hear these things – and believe me I’ve had thoughts like these in the past – on the one hand, it makes me appreciate the incredible power that running has, and how important and wonderful it can be in our lives. Who doesn’t need sanity time? But on the other hand, I would suggest that if you feel like this a lot – that running is your one escape – you probably need to take a closer look at what you’re escaping from. It may be time to make some adjustment and shift priorities to make your life a little easier on you.
What’s more, making running your escape hatch to Sanityville puts a big burden on your running! What if you get injured and can’t run for a while? What if your running goes a little stale and you need a break from it? What then? What becomes your outlet at that point?
But, just as you think Goucher could give Debbie Downer a run for her money, you turn the page and see that she obviously loves logging miles in her runners. She’s only sharing the same reminder she offers herself when her training creates conflict and anxiety in her life’s other areas: “Running isn’t going to tuck you in at night, Kara.”
From the clip, you might think the book is heavy on philosophy and light on the tangible stuff. You’d be wrong. Did you know that it’s a good idea to try to run on three surfaces every week (road, trail and track)? Or that eating one egg yolk a day will feed the most plentiful neurotransmitter in your body (called acetylcholine, it’s responsible for every one of your thoughts and movements!) and also assists in getting nutrients in and toxins out of your brain cells? She suggests hard boiling a week’s worth of eggs and popping one daily into your noggin (aim for your mouth) and you’ll feel the difference.
You’ll find dozens and dozens of the authoress’ favorite quotes and replies to letters she receives. There are meal plans, time schedules and bare bones, simple training plans for 5K, 10K and half marathon distances. In fact, there’s so much more, I haven’t even scratched the surface.
Frankly, the worst thing about Running for Women is that it’s written specifically for women. Yes, that a good thing; but, there’s so much of value to boost training and mindset that it’s too bad men wouldn’t naturally pick up a copy for themselves. (Then again, guys: Maybe you can buy one for your favorite running honey and she’ll let you have a peek if you’re nice.)
Can you tell I really, really love this book?
Moving on to something for the boys (and for us girls, too, actually) is an amusing and sharp reflection on a lifetime’s worth of running, coaching and writing by New York Times bestselling author Martin Dugard. To Be a Runner consists of a series of short and lively five-to-ten page essays.
While the format offers content in larger chunks compared to the previous book, the spirited mini sagas are easy enough to pick back up and return to later. In fact, the book does such an outstanding job in keying up your desire to run that you’ll likely not make it through a chapter in one sitting (that is, if you’re not belted into some moving vehicle while reading).
You’ll get to race alongside a talented but very-happy-to-share-that-he’s-human writer and runner. Go with him from first steps, to building those important base miles; from fending off excuses, to taking time to stretch (physically and emotionally); from easing into and embracing serious training fully, to letting go and getting a little wild (running with the bulls in Spain, for example, or logging and relishing the naughtiness of a bandit run on a private golf course).
You’ll get bruised and battered along the way, but you’ll love every minute of it.
As a head California high school cross-country and track coach, Dugard takes you on a cavalcade of amusing and inspiring personal and professional journeys. You’ll be standing right beside him as he challenges his young athletes to strive to be and give their very best at every practice and meet. You’ll shiver alongside these young runners as Coach Dugard introduces them to a yearly tradition: a 10-mile run atop Mammoth Mountain followed by a 10-minute dip in one of its icy streams.
Each of Dugard’s stories offer up humble reflections of the author’s own struggles and setbacks, achievements and learned wisdom. Philosophical musings (and a smattering of general spiritual mentions and references to God, which might annoy the strictest atheist) nestle alongside tips and tricks of the trade gleaned from years of hitting the open road. To Be a Runner will help any newbie get their sea legs. Yet there’s enough new research data and solid storytelling to quench the thirst of seasoned pros alike. Actually, I believe the pros will probably enjoy Dugard’s short tales the most.
From the chapter Hills:
Watch yourself next time you undertake a long climb. Even if you’re running with a group, there’s no place for chitchat. The mind turns inward. The outside world, with all its frantic busyness, is replaced by the here and now. What matters is the simple pursuit of being your best – not walking, not letting the pace slack, and maybe just chugging slowly up the hill, one cruel step at a time, until it is done.
I give my runners lessons in hill running all the time. On downhills, I tell them to lean into the slope and get up on the balls of their feet. …For uphills, I talk about the importance of the arms staying low and relaxed as they climb, never coming across the body or riding high like a sprinter’s. The important thing is to quiet the upper body so that every bit of engine horsepower pours into the legs.
At the bottom of every hill, on any course, my runners will hear me yelling “ten quick steps.” And then I watch as their cadence powers up to light speed for those powerful ten. It has made a marvelous difference, no matter the length of the hill. “Ten quick steps” is a nice way of saying “change your outlook” or “calm your fears.” You take the fight to the hill at a time when the natural tendency is to slow down and hold a little something in reserve. “Ten quick steps” is the antidote for “This is where it gets bloody.”
I challenge you to read any of these essays and not pine to jump into your runners as soon as you can and simply…go. Anywhere. As long as you’re running.
Happy reading, happy trails to you this summer!
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