plant and run

running books | August 22, 2009

[This is for those who needed a reminder of how much of a dork I am.]

So, do you like the summer? Sunny, lazy days spent on the beach has gotta be one of life’s pleasures. I’m sure each of us has our own little pleasures that come along with summer vacations. For me, one of those is reading. For some reason, I just love to take a book on a trip and have a great experience to always associate with it. I still remember the book I read on my honeymoon [yeah, I am unequivocably a dork.]

So as I picked back up on running, I surmised one great way to find motivation to run was to read some great books on running. I scoured the web for recommendation and settled on three books. As the summer is ending and my residency is starting, I have completed all three. Figured I would take a couple of minutes and tell you about them so that you can find a bit of runner’s motivation like I did…

Running with the Buffaloes

The first book I tackled was Running with the Buffaloes by Chris Lear. It reads like a documentary-style blog that chronicles the 1998 Cross Country season for the University of Colorado Men’s Team. Most chapters are only a couple of pages long and describe either a daily practice or weekend meet.

Sounds like it would be boring, right? Nope. This is a pretty exciting book for a couple of reasons. First of all the story of what this team encountered over the course of the year is pretty darn exciting…and it’s not fiction. [I won't give it away...suffice it to say it's one of those real-life plots that could be another sports movie.] Secondly, the plot ebbs and flows like an actually cross country season. The “daily practice” chapters spin up momentum leading up to the big meets. I found myself too excited to put the book down without getting to a meet and seeing how the team performed. Thirdly, Boulder must be one of the greatest places in the world to run. I absolutely loved reading about the different courses and trails the team ran on. I’ve decided that sometime before I die, I have to run Magnolia Road.

Once a Runner

The second book I read is perhaps the most “famous” running novel ever written [oh, I know it's such a large genre]. As far as the legend goes, John Parker self-published Once a Runner back in 1978. It quickly became a cult classic that was almost impossible to find and was passed along from runner to runner to read. It was recently reprinted by Scribner and is finally widely available.

Once a Runner is a coming of age book in the vein of Catcher in the Rye and The Graduate. It’s the fictional story of Quenton Cassidy, a college miler attempting to break the 4-minute mile mark.

Perhaps what I appreciated the most was peering deep into the soul of a runner. It definitely stands out from the other two books I read as a novel [rather than a true story] and a true piece of literature. While an exceptional read, I must admit that it was my least favorite of the three.

Born to Run

I think my favorite of the three was Born to Run by Chris McDougall. It is the true story of a quest to find the super-running Tarahumara Tribe in the Copper Canyons of Mexico that somehow led to an unbelievable 50 mile race between the greatest American and Tarahumara runners in the world [you can find pics of the actual race here].

As crazy as it might sound, Born to Run reminded me a lot of Donald Miller‘s stuff. It is a clever first-person narrative that at times makes you laugh out loud but also makes you stop and think. I think I would call it a “didactic autobiography.” In other words, it’s a story told in order to teach you something.

I loved it. Easily my favorite of the three books.

Ultimately, all three were wonderful books…and all three kept me itching to get out and run all summer long.