January 2020 / RUNNING
Fireside Reads
New Year’s Reading and Dreaming!
By Laura Clark
We have all pondered the adage, “Running is 90% mental and the rest is physical.” So, this New Year’s why not give it a go? When conditions outside are totally awful or you just can’t face another boring treadmill session, retreat to your fireplace, sip a glass of wine or a mug of hot chocolate, and relax without guilt while you recharge. The following selections range from inspirational, to training advice, to gear related, and on to everyone’s favorite: energy-restoring meals. One good read could be enough to get you out the door!
Christopher McDougall, in front, leads a donkey run through the Amish farmland in Pennsylvania in Running With Sherman. Matt Roth for The New York Times
Winning hooves-down in the inspirational category is Running with Sherman by Born to Run and Natural Born Heroes author Christopher McDougall. Again, he has given us a story that is essentially about running, but offers so much more, touching on rescued animal rehabs, sustainability, women’s rights, Amish culture, autism and mental health issues. Like a typically over-enthusiastic runner, McDougall decides to team with his traumatized donkey, inevitably targeting the World Championship Pack Burro Race in Fairplay, Colo. This may be a fireside read, but with the author’s restless penchant for hurdling from topic to topic, there is no opportunity for a few quick winks. McDougall once more brings us a running book you can even discuss with your non-running buddies.
Looking for a new challenge this year? Then sample Susan Lacke’s Running Outside the Comfort Zone where she revamps her rigid outlook to focus on events that are a true stretch of her abilities. Join her as she explores the Red Bull 400, an uphill run on an Olympic ski jump where oxygen masks were stationed every 400 meters, and the Frozen Dead Guy Days Coffin Race. Each chapter is a self-contained adventure, giving testament to the fact that “There’s more than one way to be a runner.”
Mental training began with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s landmark book Flow, where he explored the idea that being “in the zone” was crucial to performance. Deena Kastor continues with Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory, where we learn how an Olympian unleashes the power of positivity to banish her feelings of self-doubt and recharge her career. Added to that, Deena Kastor is, just like Joan Benoit Samuelson, a thoroughly sincere individual whose struggles mirror our own.
Complementing Kastor’s outlook with a sensual coffee-table style spread is Emelie Forsberg’s Sky Runner: Finding Strength, Happiness, and Balance in Your Running. With its mix of travelogue, recipes, contemplation and training advice, we have fireside permission to close our eyes, and indulge in a bit of daydreaming. It doesn’t hurt that the stunning photographs of sky running, ski mountaineering and snowshoeing are taken by master Kilian Jornet. Like Kastor, Forsberg becomes susceptible to the grind, but instead chooses to view her training as something playful, joyful and adventurous. Eschewing the coaching regime, she prefers to run spontaneously, by feel.
For those of you who spend New Year’s Day plotting your races and outlining your training, armchair with Pete Pfitzinger’s third edition of Advanced Marathoning. As a librarian, I recognize that often there is little reason for yet another edition of a book except to boost a repeat round of income, but this is not the case here. While I am more of an Emelie Forsberg sort of person, Pfitzinger’s approach has become less rigid and timelier since his first round, with new sections on “Multiple Marathoning” and the “Older (And Wiser) Marathoner.” And don’t let the marathon moniker fool you. With the exception of the training tables, the advice is suitable for all.
The Dolomites, Italy from Training for the Uphill Athlete. Eliza Earle
Taking your training up a notch and with a nod to this winter season, try Training for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers, by Kilian Jornet, Steve House and Scott Johnson. Think Jack Daniels’ Running Formula for the mountain goat set, the caveat being that haphazard training in this venue is more a matter of life and death than simply losing a medal. Highlights are the inspirational athlete essays, providing real-life examples of the principles illustrated in each section. The journey is replete with panoramic Sound of Music photos where it is tempting to squint and picture yourself in full skimo gear, attacking a majestic mountain. Even if this will never happen for you, it surly enhances your fireside adventure.
If you are searching for a challenge but unwilling to literally reach for the sky, then consider The Rise of the Ultra Runners by Adharanand Finn. The author of award-winning Running with the Kenyans, and The Way of the Runner, Finn basically enjoys the lifestyle we can only dream about: he gets paid to travel around the world and immerse himself in legendary running cultures. His latest foray explores the world of ultrarunning, once considered a fringe activity and now the comeback to, “What, you only ran a marathon?” Initially he viewed ultrarunning as the bastardaziation of pure speed, but in his quest to conquer the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, he comes to think otherwise.
Despite all this down-to-earth evidence, we continue to pursue the magic bullet, whether it be technologically advanced shoes, recovery devices or golden elixirs. In Good to Go, Christie Aschwanden exposes the fake science of popular and expensive recuperation methods. Been tempted by Tom Brady’s infrared pjs or Michael Phelps cupping? Of course not, you’re smarter than that! But what about RICE for injuries, now disclaimed even by the guy who invented it, and Gatorade’s super-hydration myth? The only benefit, apparently is in the pockets of the salesmen and gyms. So, what works? What your mother told you all along – get enough sleep! Another reason to doze off by the fireside.
What can be better than the scent of a fresh box of September crayons? For runners, that would be lacing up the perfect sneaker. In Kicksology: The Hype, Science, Culture & Cool of Running Shoes, Brian Meltzer, founding editor of Trail Runner, takes us on a fascinating journey! From early Boston Marathon’s leather uppers, to Bill Bowerman’s waffle iron, on to Phil McKnight’s “Just Do It!” marketing brilliance, fast-forwarding to Hokas, Altras and hi-tech unaffordable models. What he discovered was that Vaporfly and other $250 shoes are an automatic Boston ticket only for elite bodies sporting elite speed. Similar to Aschwanden, Meltzer learned that despite the new-and-improved hype, basic models work best.
To end on a whimsical note, how often have you wished you could jettison nagging to-do lists and play hooky from ordinary life? And not just for a measly week’s vacation? Read Outlandish: Fuel Your Epic and meet Morgan Sjogren and her smiley yellow-faced Jeep Wrangler as they explore the Southwest with fry pan, laptop and camera in hand, and manage to make a travel writer’s living from their outlandish, nomadic lifestyle. This is not a point A to point B narrative, but parallels Sjogren’s quirky personality with such chapters as “No Exit Route,” and “Why I signed up for a race I knew I couldn’t finish.” Jen Shelton (of Born to Run fame), you have met your match! And as a bonus, each adventure is accompanied by a free-range collection of hearty campfire meals, with a strong emphasis on burritos, and all sorts of outrageous fillings. Perhaps it’s time to cook up a fireside meal of your own!
Happy Reading and Dreaming!
Laura Clark (snowshoegal133@gmail.com) of Saratoga Springs is an avid trail runner, ultramarathoner, snowshoer and cross-country skier. She is a children’s librarian at the Saratoga Springs Public Library.