Run, Rabbitt, Run

I didn't start this blog as a place to marry two of my favourite things - running and reading - however that's the way it's naturally going as I'm learning about running in my typical way of reading everything about a subject. I keep thinking about sub-categories of running books.  I gravitate towards the ones written by women about their experiences of starting from non-runner and building up to serious running.  I have a stack of books about technique and ones about hardcore/professional runners.  I'm on my second reading of the fab The End of the World Running Club which is fiction.  Phil Hewitt probably slots into the first category but the book provides a different experience because, obviously, he's male.  Different issues (bleeding nipples, eeek) but also a different approach to running.  A manly approach maybe.  Phil's is a tale of tenacity, determination and ambition. As he goes from marathon to marathon he is constantly searching for that...

"Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that's the essence of running, and a metaphor for life - and for me, for writing as well." Murakami's running memoir is a delight to read, it flows so beautifully and sets a scene so perfectly. Murakami started running after selling his jazz bar to write full time and realising he needed a way to stay active.  This book follows his running journey through training for and taking part in numerous marathons and triathlons but centres around his training for the 2005 New York Marathon.  The book is a jumble of memoir, travel writing, training log and personal thoughts that somehow works perfectly.  Whether you are a fan of good writing and Murakami's fiction or a runner in need of inspiration and advice this book covers it all.  His everyday observations of everything from the changing of the seasons to the dead animals he encounters on his runs open your eyes to the world that you can explore whe...