Running with the Mind of Meditation by Sakyong Mipham

I originally bought this as a birthday gift for a friend who I knew had started meditating (the same friend, incidentally, who should be credited as having got me out on regular fitness runs in the first place. Note the term ‘fitness’ run; e.g., before I developed into an ‘obsessional’ runner and back in the day when 2 km round a lake near Warrington was a significant challenge!) As I had the book a little ahead of time, I started but didn't finish reading it before the birthday. I guess it’s credit enough that I ended up buying a second copy for my friend so I could keep reading, and even more so that I currently have that second copy back on loan to reread, having lent my own copy to someone else! Enough confusing detail on the bibliographic arrangements of my social running network and on to a bit more about the book.

You’d probably need to have been living in seclusion as a Zen Master to have avoided  all the discussion about ‘mindfulness’ and ‘being in the moment’ that’s currently caught the attention of the zeitgeist through popular media, in which case you probably don’t need this book anyway. Unless, of course you’re about to start running, in which case, buy it because you’ll find that what Mipham does is skilfully apply these mental and spiritual principles to a relationship with the physical body, especially the negative habits and pitfalls of the mind during the act of running. It goes a bit beyond ‘positive thinking’ however, and links these psychological tools with the mechanics of running dynamics through awareness of breathing. Now, you might feel that you don’t need anyone to instruct you on how to breathe  but trust me, if you breathe right, you run right, and you might be surprised what a difference being more aware of this usually unconscious reflex makes.

It’s not an uncommon statement that running is 'x' percent mental (insert your preferred value here!) and when I first read the book, I certainly found some of the content helped me mentally manage the tougher runs. This was especially true of the darker moments on the standard Sunday LSR (Long Slow Run) when I was holding off the gel for another mile but could feel my focus slipping. That’s just me and my runs though and I’m sure the same will be equally so for runners who are targeting shorter distances or maybe doing them a bit quicker. I also linked it to an increasing awareness of the advantages of engaging in regular yoga practice, which I initially started to enrich my core and strength building work.  There was a distinct parallel in  the cultural link to the Eastern philosophies and I found it expanded on the same benefits of linking the physical and mental selves that I had already identified through yoga. The book certainly didn't turn me into a meditator, but then it doesn't try to; it maintains accessibility by referring to but not being overtly religious or preachy and makes a clear distinction between running and meditating. In fact, Mipham clearly states that they are two very different things, despite the assertion of many runners that ‘running is my meditation’, which was indeed my own perspective for quite some time. Interestingly, though I first read this as a runner, I have now started exploring the act of meditation to help manage stress and anxiety so I’m now re-reading it from the other perspective which is proving just as informative.

Essentially, this is an interesting take on some of the psychological aspects of running but it won’t necessarily be for everyone. It’s certainly an interesting read however, especially if you’re already engaged in a yoga practice, are considering meditation and mindfulness as tools for managing other areas of your life, or are looking for a new angle on coping with mentally challenging workouts!

Eat and Run by Scott Jurek

I discovered Scott Jurek when reading Born to Run by Chris McDougall (my last review). I was delighted to find not just another runner with the belief that plant based protein could sustain an healthy, athletic lifestyle, but also one who regularly ran and won challenging mountainous ultramarathons! It didn’t take me long upon discovering that he had written a book (titled with two of my favourite activities!) promising not just a deeper insight into this character but also a scattering of recipes, to get hold of a copy and dive straight in.

The book give a very personal, autobiographical account of his life including interesting discussions on how childhood experiences and upbringing can affect ‘mental toughness’; the ability of an athlete to endure where others might not. These stories, that continue through ‘high’ school (well, he is American!) experiences, various sporting activities and the inevitable tales of loves and losses, are liberally interspersed with various recipes as well as bite sized (pun intended) hints and tips on running. Many of these are linked to aspects of the story, which I especially enjoyed as it felt almost as though I was getting an opportunity to connect with the text on a sensory or physical level too.

Jurek strikes a balance between running and fuelling as well as other parts of life that have affected his decisions and life path, and doesn’t flinch from sharing darker times as well as happier moments. I found I appreciated this, as far from expressing these in a self-pitying manner he uses them as an opportunity to discuss recovery, from not just physical injuries but also failure and personal strife.

This book is of course great for veggie runners (despite having followed a non-animal diet since the age of 10, I learned a few tricks!), but also for anyone who enjoys stories and cookery books! Though food and a plant based diet is of course important to the concept, Jurek avoids being preachy and so I am confident that proud carnivores (mostly, though not exclusively ones who run) would also find interest and enjoyment in many aspects of it.

One of the author’s favourite quotes (each chapter is sub-headed with a motivational tit-bit) is “Sometimes you just do things” (and no, he’s not, to the best of my knowledge sponsored by Nike) you could do a lot worse than following this advice when it comes to both your tougher training runs and sitting down to read this book!

Born to Run by Chris McDougall

Probably one of the most discussed books about running that has been widely on the market in recent years, there are no doubt so many online reviews of it that I doubt this one is really adding much to the debate! Born to Run by Chris McDougall is often cited as being the text that kicked off the whole barefoot running craze (which recently appears to have blown over in favour of a return to ‘maximallism’; proof yet again that you just need to experiment and find what’s right for you!), but really, I think non-runners will get just as much from it as at its heart is simply a damn good story. The book details the experiences of the author as a journalist following a band of eccentric (real life) characters whom, amongst other things, travel to run an ultramarathon in competition with the Tarahumara community of Northwest Mexico. The Tarahumara are now pretty famous in the west, especially amongst runners, and are especially well known for their apparently innate athletic abilities and their tendencies to run distances that are to many unimaginable, in loose, flowing clothing and homemade sandals after long nights of heavy drinking.

You may not learn much from this book in terms of running technique or fuelling strategies (though I predict a temptation to nip to your local health food shop to experiment with chia seeds!) but it can be safely described as a page turner. There are actually one or two chapters later in the book that do go into a bit more detail about the logic behind barefoot running, as well as a very interesting theory about human endurance running performance and why we seem to be so good at it as a species.

I can honestly say that reading this book inspired my first attempt at a cross-country run (albeit a much wetter and muddier experience than the hot, sizzling South American ones as described by McDougall!) and I was genuinely sorry when I finished it (the book that is, not the wet, muddy run). I wouldn’t be surprised if, as I did, you then went off to hunt down a ‘spin off’ book from one of your favourite personalities featured in the story. You may even head out to your local park and kick off your trainers!

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

This is a nice short book and a good one to start on if you don’t fancy anything too heavy! It was the first running related book I picked up when it jumped out at me after a search on Amazon (not sure what I was searching for now!) because I had read some fiction of his (the Elephant Vanishes and Norwegian Wood are a couple of his most famous books) and so I was curious. The first thing that struck me was that passages of it were like reading my own thoughts written down for me! Someone else thinks like that when they’re running!? There are quite frankly too many examples of this in the early chapters to give any examples, and anyway, everyone will have their own ‘latching points’ in the text so I’ll leave you to make your own if you read it but for me, it was the first time I started to be aware enough of these to assess the changes in mind set that running had brought about for me. 

Another feature of the text that I identified with was his discussion of ‘tesselating’ different commitments and interests (including running) into a busy life, especially a transition phase when moving from bar management to becoming a writer. As someone who also juggles multiple commitments and interests, it gave me an additional reason to believe that fitting high mileage into a busy week was not only possible but actively therapeutic! This high mileage and the details Murakami goes into about not just his training but his marathon (and one ultra-marathon!) races also had an impact on me, mostly as at the time I read it, I was just coming up to my first half marathon, having only completed one (10k) race in my life. I was feeling if not totally overwhelmed then certainly respectful of the distance and reading about someone who was regularly (yet carefully) running at least twice as far certainly helped me put things into perspective and mentally ‘shout down’ the miles!

The book has an easy and informal style, good for a relaxed read and is very story based, not at all dry or full of running tips, facts or figures; it does not aim to be a text book. I also found the chapters to be well ‘chunked’ meaning each reads like a little story in its’ own right so it is easy to dip in and out of whilst not losing track, almost like a series of short stories that make up one longer one.

If you like travel journalism you’ll also enjoy this I think as he does talk quite a bit about his experiences running in different parts of the world.  I especially enjoyed reading about the bits in Japan as I had not long visited (and run there!) myself, but he also visits the New York City Marathon and does the run from Athens to Marathon (amongst others!)

I don’t think it would be too much of a spoiler to share my favourite quote from the book too, which is a pretty good off-the-peg mantra for when runs get tough! He quotes an anonymous runner who sates that ‘pain is inevitable, suffering is optional’ and that’s a thought that’s got me through many a tough mile since, as well as being quite applicable to a range of other situations in life!