What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Book Review
If you are a runner and you are searching for a good book that will surely spark your interest you should check out a book entitled "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running".
It is written by a Japanese writer named Haruki Murakami.
He has won many prizes like the Franz Kafka prize.
His work has been translated into more than forty languages to accommodate its demand over the world.
From Jazz Bar Owner to Runner
It is notable on how this writer has become a runner. He actually started as a business owner of a jazz bar in his place. Since he liked to write so much he decided to get out of his club, sell it up and to dedicate all his time to writing.
After a period of time of writing he slowly realizes that he rarely gets any physical activity. Because of this he decided to pursue running to be able to balance the unhealthy lifestyle of a writer with a healthy physical activitity like running.
Well, Murakami has come a long way. From being absolutely unhealthy he has now come, to date, to a total of twenty five marathons (including a solo run in Athens), some triathlons and a sixty two miles ultra marathon in Norther Japan.
The Influence of Running
In this book the author writes about how running has influenced his writing as well as his life overall. So in parts the book is very focused on his running, in other parts it is more about life and what happens to him or occurs to him as he is running. He writes about his preparations for the New York City Marathon.
He thinks of himself as a runner who stays in the middle of the pack and also distinghuishes between normal and serious running. When he is in marathon preparation he is doing "serious running" which equates to a minimum of six miles per day for six days a week.
Running a Solo Run in Athens
Quite underprepared Murakami decides to do his first marathon as a solo run in Athens. The way he describes this run is very interesting. He keeps count of how many dead dogs and dead cats he passes on the heavily trafficked road.
He describes the weather with a lot of detail. According to him it was so dry that his body did not get much of a chance to perspire since his sweat would immediately evaporate into thin air.
And there are more great parts in this book, like when he describes his ultra-marathon in Northern Japan. During that race, at a point of utter exhaustion, he almost seems in another world. He also says that it took a long time for him to recover from that experience, not just physically, mentally as well.
He also opens up about how runners form an unwritten bond with other people they meet while they are running, the ecstatic feeling runners feel with their little achievements when they past certain miles during a marathon race, the feeling you have when you have runner's blues, the little battles you will find yourself involved with during a race, and a lot more.
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