Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Two for Tuesday - Book Review

Today's twosome is books. I'm always looking for some good reads for bedtime. Reading helps my mind relax before getting some rest.

Once a Runner by John L. Parker.

I think this book is a must read for all athletes. I read this one twice because there were some great moments I wanted to relive. My favorite quote from this book is "Trials of Miles, Miles of Trials". For me that single quote sums up my training, racing, and life. There is also a time when the main character does 20 quarter miles in a row. Complete body breakdown, but he came back very strong.

Iron Will: The Triathlete's Ultimate Challenge by Mike Plant

Iron Will was a disappointment for me. I stuggled through this book as the years went by reading about how Ironman, and triathlon, got started. The characters are popular with some age group stories thrown in.

While the history of Ironman Hawaii is important I was not expecting a history lesson from this book. I was hoping for more information about IM races all over the world. I think I will get that from a different book I recently acquired, Becoming an Ironman.

The link above has some reviews as well and I agree with some of them. I'm sure each person will react differently to this book. I borrowed it from my coach, glad I didn't buy it.

Feel free to suggest some books that you have enjoyed.

1 comment:

Trifrog said...

Running Within: A Guide to Mastering the Body-Mind-Spirit Connection for Ultimate Training and Racing (Paperback) by Jerry Lynch, Warren A. Scott

What I got most out of this book was that running can be experienced simply for the mere joy of running; not to train to get faster; not to enter a certain number of miles into the log; not to lose weight; just to run. Conversely, when I bought it, it didn't have that subtitle which sounds like it was added to appeal to the folks who only want to experience the mental aspects which will help them run faster.

But it did also cover performance (see an old post of mine) so I intend to reread this book again soon as I remember its great visualization and mental techniques for training and racing.