Skip to content

Posts from the ‘book review’ Category

May 8

Duel in the Sun

Duel in the Sun Book Review

If you ran a Boston Marathon, you probably have heard of this classic battle between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley in the 1982 Boston Marathon. In Duel in the Sun, the author, John Brant, tries to tell a dramatic tale of this classic race, but his style of weaving personal lives of these two accomplished runners into the epic battle did not work for me. It was as if I was trying to watch a Boston Marathon broadcast and a couple of Lifetime movies at the same time, flipping channels every 20 minutes or so (I would not do such a thing while watching Boston Marathon broadcast, but you know what I am trying to say). It totally diminished the dramatic value of the monumental race, and excitement was not felt. I wish the author stuck with the race and tried to recreate the scene in greater details – both Salazar and Beardsley deserve that. And that’s what readers would expect from the book title. I don’t think the author dedicated even one third of this book to the duel in the sun.

This is not to say Salazar’s and Beardsley’s life after 1982 have not been notable. They are. They have gone through some troubles that are heartbreaking to read. This contrast between their personal battles and this historic race is so great that they try to dominate readers’ attention, which I found hard to put together.

Apr 25

7 Comments

Run to Overcome Book Review

Run to OvercomeIt was a couple of months after Meb Keflezighi won the Olympic Marathon Trial in Houston when I saw an Amazon promotion posted on Twitter about this book, Run to Overcome. It was offered at $0.99! I jumped on it and started to read. However, it did not go as fast as it has done for other books. This is partly because I had three other books (Young at Heart, The Four-Minute Mile, and Jim Ryun Story) from the public library, which I had to finish within three weeks – they were all great books. That, unfortunately, made me put Run to Overcome aside for a while until I finished one of these three books. I went back to it for a few chapters, but I started to read the second one of the three. This was repeated until I read all three books. So, there was no continuity in my reading of Run to Overcome, and possibly this is one of the reasons why I did not get into it too much. But also I felt the story-telling could be more captivating, especially considering Meb’s experience in having spent his early childhood in Eritrea, moved to the United States, and become elite runners and considering how much he achieved over the years.

There are plenty of materials he, or the editor, could have turned this into a better story. Perhaps, the impact from his life events got diluted, because they covered too much. Both Four-Minute Mile and Jim Ryun Story covered only a few years of each spectacular runner. This book covers almost 30 years of Meb’s life. But then, Young at Heart covered about 60 years of John A. Kelley’s life and I could not put down the book. There should be a way to make Meb’s story more exciting.

Also, the focus of the book may not be very obvious to its readers. There is competitive aspect, spiritual aspect and instructional/educational aspect to this book and none of them stand out strongly. For example, Ryan Hall’s book, Running with Joy, has very strong spiritual component, and others I have read have very strong competitive components. Run to Overcome might have succeeded if the focus was more clear to the readers.

I admire Meb’s excellent achievements and his tenacity that just wouldn’t quit. Reading this book, I learned that he has overcome many challenges and obstacles, and running certainly helped him overcome. I wish all the best in his training for and performance at the London Olympics this summer.

 

Apr 13

1 Comment

Jim Ryun Story Book Review

Jim Ryun Story Jim Ryun Story covers the first four years of his running career from 1962, when he was a mere 15-year-old high school sophomore, through 1966. With excitement and father-like warmth, the author Cordner Nelson tells a Cinderella story about this Kansas ‘ugly duckling’ turning into a ‘physiological phenomenon’, winning race after race and breaking world records in half mile, mile, and two miles. He also represented his country in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when he was only 17 years old. I knew Ryun’s name and that he once had a mile world record, but I had no idea he was so young and he had other world records other than a mile. Very impressive.

I know it’s absurd, but as I tuned pages, I could not help but compare Ryun with, um, me. It’s totally outrageous and vulgar: Such comparison does not make any sense whatsoever. But I was once in high school and ran track, too, though the similarity pretty much ends there, sadly. OK, maybe I was just putting myself in his shoes or wishing I was half as good as him or even regretting I did not push harder to get better results. My high school coach thought I was more suited for 800m, but I could not bear a thought of running, let alone sprinting, a track twice, without any break. So I insisted on 400m, which produced no glory. My PR of 53.1 was not even good enough to run in the final of regional meet. But the troubling thing is I was OK with that. I was nonchalant about the results. After all, track was not my first choice: I wanted to play volleyball but my high school did not have a team. I was basically forced to belong to a sports team and I picked track, because I did have some success in sprints and jumps in junior high school. But the level of competition was much higher in high school, and I was not into track that much. Because of this pathetic attitude toward track and lack of competitive drive and discipline in my high school years, Ryun’s hard work and accomplishments seem even more impressive and admirable. Ryun was quoted “If a person is willing to work hard enough, it is possible to achieve a high goal”. I have nothing to say to that!

Enough about me and back to the book. As I turned pages, I could not stop cheering for him, and having finished this book, I was invigorated and refreshed. This is mostly because Nelson focused on Ryun’s success and described Ryun as shy but pure and hard working individual who was raised with good old Midwestern values. He did not win all the races he ran on the track, but it seems he used his failure or mistakes to run better next time. His improvement and progress was just spectacular. Off the track, everybody, whether s/he was his fellow student, teacher, journalist or even rival, liked him. There is no dirt on him in this book!

I do not know how he developed after 1966. I can easily look that up online, but I did not want to alter my opinion I formed from reading this book. I would love to find another book that followed him after 1966.

I would recommend this book to those who are track enthusiasts. But even if you are not, I think you will have similar takeaways and enjoy the story tremendously.

Apr 10

3 Comments

The Four-Minute Mile Book Review #bookreview

The Four-Minute MileAbout 58 years ago, on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister of England broke the four-minute barrier for a Mile race for the first time in history. I read The Perfect Mile that detailed how the stage for this athletics breakthrough was set up among Bannister, John Landy of Australia and Wes Santee of the United States. In his memoir, The Fout-Minute Mile, Roger Bannister himself tells how such great milestone was achieved. This is not his training log or a ‘how to run a strong Mile race’ text book. In fact, he does not say much about his training in the book, other than he never spent more than half an hour a day in training. This is a book where, I believe, he attempted to answer why he ran.

Bannister wrote this book in 1955, one year after he ran 3:59.4. He was a medical student at Oxford during most of his running career, and he is also a very good writer. A little on the dry side but eloquent, scholastic, and philosophical at times.

Needless to say, the best and the most electrifying part of this book is when he tells the story of May 6 and the race. But a few sentences in Conclusion stick with me, and I quote him here, because it is very good:

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. It also does us good because it helps us to do other things better. It gives a man or woman the chance to bring out power that might otherwise remain locked away inside. The urge to struggle lies latent in everyone.

Now, I am not a medical student or a doctor, but I’d like to think this is true and want to think that running makes one a better person.

Before you go, here is a period footage of Bannister running 3:59.4 on May 6, 1954 at Iffley Road track in Oxford . Enjoy!

Apr 2

4 Comments

Young at Heart Book Review

Young at HeartWith its history, prestige and popularity, one would think the Race is greater than its racers. The Race – I am referring to Boston Marathon here – demands so much out of runners, alters their lifestyle, and upper handedly crashes dreams of many eager runners year after year. It is one of the most exclusive marathon races, if not the most exclusive, that there is. However, John A. Kelley who ran 60 Boston Marathons with two wins and seven second places was as great as the Race itself to many. Young at Heart beautifully illustrates and brings forth tributes to his life that captivates and inspires runners of all ages. At the same time, the book loosely chronicles the history of Boston Marathon with Johnny as the main character, especially during those 60 years when Johnny kept running.

It must have been his destiny when his father’s parents emigrated from Ireland and landed in Boston on April 10, 1870 on S.S. Marathon. Boston Marathon started in 1897 (with only 15 runners!) and had already become a Boston tradition by the time Johnny was 13. That was when he first experienced the marathon. Soon after that, he discovered taste of distance running, and the history was in its making. In 1928, he entered his first Boston Marathon at the young age of 20. Though he was not able to finish the first two marathons, his talent blossomed several years later and he made a name for himself when he took second in 1934. The rest was history.

With 119 marathons completed and as a three-time Olympian (Berlin, Helsinki, and London), his athletic talent cannot be argued and truly impressive. But what makes me drawn to his character is his longevity – the fact he ran Boston year after year until he was 84 years old. Many elite runners had come and gone during these 60 years, and nobody comes anywhere close to what Johnny has achieved. He seems to give the credit to his luck, genes and support system, but obviously he knew what he was doing to stay healthy, injury free and focused for such a long time. He was king of conditioning.

Besides his running, the book shares his personal stories about his family, wives and friends. Obviously his talent and fame helped, but his down-to-earth and humble personality drew many people closer to him, not only locally from Boston but from all over the world. There is a lot of love he gave and received. Readers of this book will surely enjoy this aspect of his life.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wish I read this sooner. I highly recommend this book, not only to competitive runners but to anyone who likes to read about inspiring people.

Mar 2

Running For The Hansons Book Review

Running for the HansonsHaving read Ryan Hall’s Running With Joy, I gained some understanding about the life of elite marathon runners. It’s not glamorous as you might think, and they are not at nowhere near the same level as those professionals from tennis, golf, football, etc.. Rather, it’s very humbling – run a lot, eat carb-intensive meals, get some rest, repeat. Every day. When I came across with this book, Running For The Hansons, I expected the same but thought there might be something more about team training. I knew about Hansons-Brooks Distance Project. Olympian Brian Sell and Olympian-to-be in London Desi Davila are from the team. So, I gave it a read and it was interesting and fast read.

Sage Canaday, the author, shares his experiences and opinions about training with the team. It’s interesting, because he is not crème de la crème of marathon running (at least as of this writing) and not making much prize money, so he has to do all the work he is given to stay with the team and train with the team. He and his teammates of the similar situations have to work at Hansons’ shoe stores almost every day, in addition to the humbling lifestyle of elite marathoners. And they are in Michigan and his description of the winter gave me a shiver! So, he complaints about the weather, and is fed up with working and dealing with customers, and vents about the hard workouts, and I sympathize. But he is a good sport and train hard to qualify for the Olympic Trial 2012. I think it is great that he is putting himself through such physical and emotional difficulties to chase his dream. I totally praise his efforts and I would do the same if I was in his position, because it is such a gift of a life time. Regardless of outcome, he can at least say he tried it. The camaraderie must be something he must enjoy and can take away from his experience.

I enjoyed the book and I wish all the best to Sage and his future endeavors!

Feb 20

1 Comment

Advanced Marathoning Book Review

Advanced MarathoningI wish I read this book 4 weeks before. That would have let me follow one of their shorter programs for Boston (eight weeks to go!) and I could have avoided the calf/Achilles tendon strain that put me off the training past three weeks! Ugh!!

In Advanced Marathoning, Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas explain each aspect of training in detail and provide integrated solutions and training schedules for experienced marathoners. Their training methods and recommendations are convincing, because they explain it in science. For example, they break down why ‘hitting the wall’ happens and explain the physiology behind the phenomenon. Then, they explain what need to happen in order not to hit the wall in science. They do not explain anything with anecdotal facts or even common sense. There are other books that provide similar concepts, training methods and schedules, but this book is much more complete than others I have read.

This book is perfect for those who are training on his or her own without a coach or nutritionist. This book will tell him or her when to train hard and when not to (and explain why). It will also tell him or her the optimal carb loading during the training and before the big race.

Having read a few chapters, I decided to place an order in the local bookstore, so that I can have my own copy of this book and re-read as necessary during my training. Great book.

Feb 20

1 Comment

Bowerman And The Men Of Oregon Book Review

Bowerman and the Men of OregonAn Oregon legend, one cannot just label Bill Bowerman a legendary track and field coach at University of Oregon and on the 1972 Munich Olympic team. This nearly 500-page biography of Bowerman documents the stories of his life, and Kenny Moore, who was coached by Bowerman, is the perfect writer to tell the stories. Bowerman was an educator, a war hero, an innovator, a philanthropist, a husband and a father who loved the creative process of his being and “was motivated more by the journey than the destination.”

I originally picked up this book after having learned that Steve Prefontaine was coached by him. I watched movies about Pre (both movies discussed in this book as Bowerman was involved in key decision making processes) and read stories about Pre, and there was always this coach who had such an authority and big influence on Pre’s adult life. After a few years of knowing each other, they built a beautiful coach-student relationship firmly built on mutual trust. I wanted to read about the coach. It turned out that he developed and created dozens of national champions.

As the book cover reveals, Bowerman was also a co-founder of Nike. He was the one who started to make running shoes for his runners at Oregon and he made them at home using his wife’s waffle irons. He was responsible for founding the company which was behind the national running craze of 1970s. While I don’t necessarily agree with the good Nike shoes did to the general public, but he gave back his wealth to the University of Oregon and people of Oregon. And the philanthropic tradition still continues today.

There are many aspects of his life that are exemplary to anyone’s life, and I recommend anyone to read this book whether s/he is a runner or sports fan. His dedication to each aspect of his life was created by his strong conviction and executed with warmth and precision throughout his life. I am glad I read this book.

Feb 12

1 Comment

Racing Weight Book Review

racing weightRacing Weight is a book about a weight-loss system for endurance athletes, and it offers a complete solution to achieve the optimal racing weight for endurance athletes. There are two books: The first book is for those endurance athletes who are in the middle of training and want to shed weight to maximize performance. The second book is for those who are starting to get into an endurance sport, or starting a new season, or maintaining off-season fitness and want to lose weight before they get into a training cycle. The author, Matt Fitzgerald, has done good research and developed a good weight-loss system for endurance athletes. However, every weight-loss system comes with responsible diet, and I am just not interested in giving up my appetite for delicious food! Also, I have been following my own training that seems to be working just fine. So, I only skimmed and read parts that explain his inspiration for his writing and logic of his system. This book would be a very good resource if I wanted to change my training or eating habit. I recommend this book to those who are looking for a weight-loss system and who are interested in following suggested diet and training.

Racing Weight Quick Start GuideHaving skimmed through the books, I took note of the importance of tracking my weight and body-fat mass/lean body mass. I recently bought Witherings’ Body Scale that helps me track all these metrics. According to ideal body-fat percent population profiles, my optimal racing weight could be about 160LB. This is derived by Lean body mass / optimal lean body mass percentage, which is 163*0.818/0.835. Of course, I need to verify this by running some distance at this weight and see how I feel. But in the past, my weight has been pretty consistent between 160 and 165 on race days, so 160LB sounds reasonable. I have little interest in finding out if I can run faster if I am below 160LB. I have read somewhere that you could shave off two minutes in Half Marathon if you lose five pounds. I cannot see myself trying to lose eight pounds!

There are much more in these books. For example, the decade-long debate about the best way to get leaner; ie., low- to moderate-intensity exercise vs. high-intensity exercise. The reason why keeping high mileage is a better way for runners to get leaner than calorie restriction. When to eat what. What diets the elite athletes follow. Potential eight-week low- and high-volume workout. On and on and on. I would love to hear from anyone who follows this weight-loss system.

Jan 30

2 Comments

Running Book Review

RunningThis novel, translated from French, is about the Czechoslovakian legendary Emil Zápotek, aka Czech Locomotive, who won three gold medals in the Helsinki Olympic Games. It’s a short novel (122 pages) and easy to read. Though the original author, Jean Echenoz, is supposed to be one of France’s greatest contemporary novelists, I cannot help but think Zápotek must have led more exciting life and the book does not capture it in entirety. It may be that the excitement was lost in the translation but I am not reading the book in French to find it out.

The book does touch on different aspects of Zápotek‘s life. His humble upbringing, modest but fun-loving personality, vigorous training method he invented for himself, stubbornness about other training methods, his wife who is also an Olympic champion, life after the competition under Soviet oppression, etc. Unfortunately, none of these aspects of his life is not depicted in details that I was hoping to learn, because Zápotek is such a legend, a hero, and an inspiration to many runners and athletes. I was looking forward to a story of verbal exchange with Jim Peters during the marathon, where Zápotek asked Peters how things were going. After Peters replied the pace was too slow, Zápotek simply took off and won the race in record time. Also, I would have liked to know more about a story where Zápotek gave one of his gold medals to Ron Clarke, an Australian distance runner.

I guess I need to try finding those stories somewhere else.

« Older Entries
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,827 other followers

%d bloggers like this: