Last night I finished up this book. I thought the second half was better than the first. Overall, the book is really good but the last bit of it really made it a page turner for me. Mostly because the author started speaking my language and I could really relate to what he said about running. The book is meant to explain the power and beauty in the simple act of running and tells numerous stories throughout it. It validated a lot of things that I had been thinking about lately.
I'm going to bullet point some of my favorite lines out of this book that I found to be completely true...and sums up running in an awesome way. I think you really can relate this to just about any sport, not just running.
*"No matter what level of runner you are, devoting yourself to the journey of becoming a better runner strips you of the unnecessary baggage you clutter your life with. There's no time for reality tv when you're on a mission. The journey forces you to shut up, stop complaining, and stop making excuses for why you can't do it."
*"Committing to running creates a habit, not only of running, but of all the traits that it takes to be successful in all areas of your life, including discipline, devotion, and attitude."
*"Life is full of distractions that divert our attention away from what we're doing and what we want to accomplish....too much time is wasted performing tasks that don't lead to results. Recognize the distractions in your life, what is urgent versus what is important, and work on limiting the distractions, so you can accomplish what you want."
*"One of the things running has taught me is that we have control over some things, but not all things. We have control over how many miles we run. We have control over our training to become better runners. But we don't have control over many illnesses or injuries that take running away from us. Part of being a runner is the ability to let go of the things you can't control and focus on the things you can."
*"Running is a chance to try. To make an effort. Whether it's to try to run longer, faster, easier, or smarter, there's an opportunity for every type of runner to try, from the beginner to the Olympian. If you want to become a better runner, you need to get out of your comfort zone, physically and emotionally, and make an effort you have not made before. There are consequences to our efforts. If we try harder, we succeed more. And success breeds motivation to try harder to succeed more."
*"We don't run for the t-shirt or the medal or to lose the five pounds around our waistline. Not really, anyway. Despite how shiny your marathon medal looks at it dangles from its post on your wall, the intrinsic rewards of running will always far outweigh the extrinsic ones. Sure, we all like shiny medals. But when the motivation and reason and discipline and desire to run and to be a better runner comes from inside of you, you have a much greater chance of success."
*"When it is you that drives you, the process and the effort mean so much more."
*"Runners do something very unique-we seek out discomfort. Yet we get nervous and anxious about it. We learn about ourselves when we're uncomfortable. We are asked in no uncertain terms "What are you going to do right now?" Few other times in our lives are we asked such a decisive question at such a decisive moment. It's very revealing."
*"Running gives us the opportunity to seek out discomfort so that we may learn to deal with it, rise above it, and become hopeful about our future. And that's very much like life."
*"Runners have an obsession with running that rivals most other obsessions, perhaps because runners truly believe that they are running toward who they want to be."
There are many more great parts of this book but those are some of my favorites. This book was a great read on how running creates life lessons. I'm sure runners and other athletes can completely relate to most of this book. For non-runners this book helps explain why we are "crazy" and run for fun.
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