My Year of Running Dangerously

I have recently gotten hooked on audio books.  I cancelled my Sirius radio and have started listening to audio books via the Overdrive app in my car.  With my local library card they are free and most books I would like to check out are available.  If they aren't on Overdrive they are likely on the Hoopla app which are also free with the library card.

I just finished listening to My Year of Running Dangerously and had to share how great of a book it is.  Even for non-runners it is a great read.  I actually especially liked it on audio book because it is narrated by the author.  He really puts his tone and voice fluctuations into it and draws you in.  I laughed out loud from the very beginning.

The author is a CNN correspondent pushing 51 years old who gets roped into running a marathon with his daughter and soon signs up for an ultra race.  He talks a little about the history of marathons, the struggles of balancing a full time, demanding career with both family and running, and the physical pains and mental games of the sport itself.

The author throws in some great wisdom within his humorous words with things like "What is inevitable is ideal" and "As people get older, life becomes all about playing it safe.  We protect our jobs and our money.  We guard our house and we try to make the world as risk free as we can for our kids because that is important. But along the way you can lose yourself. You start thinking that the great adventures are all gone and that you've reached all the limits....so when I started this it felt like something woke up in side me.  I stopped getting through my days and I started getting into them."

I've always said I love the running community.  Most of the time if you are running on the trail and another runner passes you coming the other direction you always give a wave, a nod, or a "good morning."  Simply because you are both running you have this instant connection.  The author reinforces the truth of this during his ultra run when he says "For such a lonely sport, it is odd how united runners can feel when circumstance and the relentless challenge of big miles put them in the same place at the same time.  There is a profound sense of teamwork."

These were just a few of my favorite quotes of the book.  It is a great book, funny, emotional, motivating, and honest.  I highly recommend it!