Remember when we were kids and we had summer reading lists?

I've found reading about running to be a good motivator, so I thought I'd share.  Hooray, book club!

This week it's books, and I was thinking next week I might do gear.  We'll see.  Maybe you want to run a marathon one day.  You'll be able to find out all of your required reading and all of your recommended gear right in one place.  For now we'll stick to just a few books.

Everyone who has stepped foot in a running store in the past couple of years has heard of Christopher McDougall's Born to Run.  As far as adventure books go, I never really imagined that a book about running would be all that exciting.  The activity is pretty redundant, we've all done it, and there's really not a whole lot to it, right?  This book has stirred up a lot of discussion in the running community, especially about ultradistances and barefoot running.  A lot of runners say it paved the way for the barefoot movement.  While I still haven't completely bought into the whole barefoot thing, I found the book to be a great story about runners from a variety of backgrounds coming together to enjoy the sport out in the elements.  If you've read it already you may want to follow up on the sad story of Caballo Blanco.  

Like I said, I haven't completely bought into the whole barefoot thing, but I'll admit that it's mostly because I just don't have the patience.  I dabbled.  I started with Barefoot Ken Bob's Barefoot Running Step by Step and even got myself a pair of the goofy shoes.  The thing is, barefoot running can be pretty dangerous if you don't take it super slow.  It works all sorts of different muscles and it's been responsible for a lot of injuries because let's face it: runners like to run.  If you do it too much in a way that you're not used to you're probably gonna get hurt.  Barefoot Ken Bob suggests starting with as little as 100 yards or so a few times a week and very gradually building barefoot distance from there.  I'm training for a marathon.  I don't have time for that.  Maybe later.  Still, I think a lot of what he has to say about proper form is still relative, and I think it's been super helpful in my speed training.

Next is The Lure of Long Distances: Why We Run by Robin Harvie.  I think I found this most appealing because this guy was an amateur runner when he decided to take on the challenge that he covered in this book.  He trained for what is considered by many to be the toughest footrace known to man - a 150 trek from Athens to Sparta.  I enjoyed it more for the reflection on why distance runners put themselves through hell day after day, to compete in races that they're happy to finish let alone win. This book was particularly motivating when I hadn't started my strict running calendar yet, but was still trying to increase my mileage.

You might know A. J. Jacobs from his 2008 New York Times Bestseller, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.  I'll start by saying that I didn't read that book.  The book I did read, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humbe Quest for Bodily Perfection is similar to the first in that both follow Jacobs as he turns his life into an experiment and then retells it to the reader in a way that is both hilarious and informative.  Drop Dead Healthy isn't a book about running, but as I learn more about how my diet, my rest, and pretty much everything else can affect my performance, I figured this book couldn't hurt.  I've picked up a few habits after reading it, to include flossing and *trying* to sleep more.

One of the body parts that Jacobs didn't cover as much as I had hoped was feet, but I figured for a runner they're important enough for me to pay them special attention.  I haven't finished it yet, but currently I'm working on Fixing Your Feet: Prevention and Treatment for Athletes, by John Vonhof.  I'm in the lucky minority when it comes to runners in that I rarely ever get blisters of any sort.  *Knocks on wood.*  I need to be careful though, because this luck is bound to run out eventually, and there's more to foot care than just preventing blisters.  When I tried to do the whole barefoot thing for a minute last winter I was a little overzealous and ended up with a bone bruise on the ball of my foot.  It still looks a little funny, but it doesn't hurt when I run and that was enough to win the "okay" from my podiatrist.  After worrying about this little hiccup and seeing some really nasty blisters at the races I've been to, I downloaded this to my kindle mostly as a "just in case" read, so that I know what to do if I run into problems again.

Next on the list is Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek.  He's probably the most well known ultramarathon runner, and he was one of the lucky few that got to run with the Tarahumara in the race featured in Born to Run.  According to amazon.com he recently completed a race that was equal to six and a half marathons in less than 24 hours.  I'm really looking forward to this book, and the fact that I've already downloaded it on my kindle is helping to get be through "The Foot Book" which is admittedly a bit dry.

This was so much fun, I think I will follow up with gear next week.  And I promise pictures.  I would have added some this week, but pictures of a kindle would be a little repetative, no?