Book Review: My Life on the Run by Bart Yasso

To check out the book on Amazon, click here

For the past two weeks I have been sick with the worst cold I have had in many years. While that kept me from my favorite pastime (running, obviously), it gave me plenty of time for my second favorite pastime, reading about running.  Fortunately, just a week or so before I got sick, I had ordered a book I had come across while perusing Amazon.  It was titled My Life on the Run:The Wit, Wisdom, and Insights of a Road Racing Icon by Bart Yasso.  It arrived just as I was feeling well enough to be bored out of my mind.

If the author's name sounds familiar, it may be because of the fairly well known “Yasso 800” workouts that many training for marathons are familiar with. Yes, it is that Bart Yasso.

What many people don’t know about the originator of the Yasso 800s is that he is the “Chief Running Officer” for Runner’s World magazine and has been for many years. In that capacity he has had the opportunity to run around the world in many unusual places and meet many interesting people. Basically when an opportunity to cover some unusual event for Runner’s World magazine came up, they sent Bart.  This book is his chance to share some of those stories with fellow runners.

The book is mostly memoir style. It opens with a gripping story of how he discovered that he had Lyme Disease while on a running expedition to Mt. Kilimanjaro, then backtracks to discuss how he got into the sport of running after a youth of “cigarettes, booze, and dope.”  With characteristic Yasso humor, he quips “I only got high once in my life: from 1970 to 1977.”  The bulk of the book is his running adventures in various places, including Antarctica, the Arctic, India, and Italy, as well as some unique (and funny) U.S. races, including a burro run and a bare buns run.  

Bart also shares his experience with ultra-endurance events, such as the Badwater Ultramarathon and a solo cross country bike ride. In addition to the inherent interest of these events, Bart is a master story teller with a great sense of humor, but he also has an ability to reflect on the experiences in a meaningful way. A great example of this a chapter in which he talks about some of the inspiring runners he has met over the years.

The final section of the book, and the shortest part, addresses training.  Bart is a proponent of a 10 day training cycle rather than the 7 day training cycle that most people use. I have been interested in this idea for several years and have used it successfully in the past. The idea behind it is that to get in all the workouts one needs to develop well in distance running there are not enough days in the week to allow proper rest and recovery between hard workouts, leading many runners to become injured when they up the intensity and/or mileage.  I find that this is true for me as I am getting older. To make the 10 day cycle, though, I have typically had to alter and adapt traditional 7 day schedules because there just aren’t a lot of 10 day cycle programs available.  

This is where this portion of Bart’s book fills an important niche. Bart explains the idea of the 10 day schedule that he calls “The Perfect 10,” and then offers a set of training plans for 5k/10k, half marathon, and marathon based on a 10 day training cycle. There are three levels available for each distance: newbie, seasoned, and hard-core. 

The programs are simple and easy to follow. The various workouts are explained briefly (and yes Yasso 800s are part of all the programs). The Perfect 10 programs include all the key workout types a runner needs to develop: distance, tempo runs, hills, speedwork, race pace runs, as well as rest and cross-training. The basics of each workout are explained briefly.  He presents just enough information for readers to know what to do, but not so much that a runner would be overwhelmed with information.

Here is one typical 10 day cycle in the newbie marathon program:

Day 1	Tempo run: 15 min warmup/30 min at half marathon pace, 10 min cooldown
2	Rest day or cross-train
3	4 mi easy
4	Speedwork: 4x Yasso 800s
5	Cross-train
6	3 mi easy
7	5 mi easy
8	LSD: 8-10 miles
9	Rest day
10	4 mi easy

Just in case you aren’t sold on the 10 day schedule, Bart also includes a section of the more traditional 7 day training plans. He says that they are similar to the plans he emails out to participants in the Lehigh Valley Half Marathon (of which he is the race director). These are also sound programs but nothing that different from what can be found in other training books or web sites. I think the strongest aspect of the book in this section is the Perfect 10 idea and plans.

The final section of the book is called “Must-Do Races Near and Abroad.” This is a list of some of Bart’s favorite races, with short explanations of where they are, what they are about, and why they are special. While I was familiar with many of these races, and my number one bucket list race, the Western States 100 miler, is on the list, I was amazed to see that I had not run a single one of the races listed.  If you are a runner who loves to travel (like I am) this will certainly have you pulling out your calendar trying to figure out how to fit in a few of these.  

All in all, I loved this book. It is an easy read that is really enjoyable. If you have a runner on your Christmas list who loves to travel, this would be a great gift. If you are a little bored with typical road races and want to expand your horizons, this book will definitely give you some inspiration. Plus, if you have never considered a 10 day training cycle, this aspect alone is worth a look, especially if you are a master’s runner. I am planning to give his half marathon plan a try.

If you want to read more about Bart, he has a web site. It is http://www.bartyasso.com/  He travels to many races and is often a pre-marathon speaker. I would love to have the chance to hear one of his presentations.  There is a calendar on the site that lists races and appearances. Check it out. He may be coming to a marathon near you. 

Book Review: Scott Jurek's Eat and Run

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"We strive toward a goal, and whether we achieve it or not is important, but it's not what's most important. What matters is how we move toward the goal. What's crucial is the step we're taking now, the step you're taking now."  Scott Jurek, Eat and Run

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I love books about running. Several shelves in my book cases are devoted to my fairly extensive collection of running books.  On those shelves are many that I have read multiple times and that are like old friends. In those books, especially the memoirs and biographies, I often find things I can relate to and stories that inspire, but there is no book on my shelves right now that has had more impact than the one I have just finished reading. I am referring to Scott Jurek's new book , Eat and Run, which was just released this past Tuesday.  

Many times I have tried to explain, either to my road running friends or to non-runners, why I love trail running and ultras. This book expresses it so eloquently. If anyone wants to really understand the heart and soul of ultrarunning, it is all here in this wonderful book.

Those of you who have read Born to Run, may already be familiar with Scott Jurek. If you are not, let me give you a quick bio from his web site: 

Scott Jurek's outstanding competitive resume includes victories in nearly all of ultrarunning's elite trail and road events, including the historic 153-mile Spartathlon, the Hardrock 100, the Badwater 135-mile Ultramarathon, the Miwok 100K, and—his signature race—the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, which he won a record seven straight times. The Washington Times named him one of the top runners of the decade, Runner's World awarded him a Hero of Running and Ultrarunning Magazine named him Ultra-Runner of the Year three times. In 2010, he set a new US all-surface record in the 24-Hour Run with 165.7 miles—6.5 marathons in one day—for which he was named USA Today's Athlete of the Week.

Scott is a truly amazing endurance athlete and has been one of my running heroes since I first saw him in the Race for the Soul video that I told you about in an earlier post. 

Although I had pre-ordered a copy of the book from Amazon, I could not wait for it to arrive. I drove down to my local Barnes and Noble and bought the only copy in the store. I thanked my lucky stars there was one available and headed home. I was already anticipating a good read because I had read (and loved) the excerpt from it printed in Trail Runner magazine, called "The Wisdom of Hippie Dan."  Expectations were high, but the book exceeded them in all areas.

First let me give you the basics about the book.  The book is a memoir of Jurek's life from childhood and his beginnings as a runner, through his climb to ultramarathon greatness, to the present. However, it is not just about running. Scott's approach to life is thoughtful and holistic, and thus his story is as well. The book is as much about nutrition and spirituality (his becoming a vegan and searching for a better understanding of himself and life in general) as it is about running, as these three things are the essential essence of who he is -- it would be impossible to look at running in his life without also looking at these other things.  At the end of the chapters, which mostly focus on the running, there is a section of training tips and a vegetarian recipe for any readers who may be interested in exploring that area.

This book will not just appeal to runners and ultrarunners. There is something in this book for everyone who has ever strived and questioned, been the underdog, doubted themselves, dealt with adversity, decided to live more deliberately, attempted to live with integrity by bringing action in tune with principles, and searched for one's limits. If there is any doubt that a non-runner could enjoy the book, let me tell you this. I started to read a portion of the first chapter to my husband, who has never run a step in his life (unless someone was chasing him). He was so interested that I ended up reading the entire book aloud to him because he didn't want to wait for me to finish it so that he could read it himself. He loved it as much as I did.

Why?  (I smile as I start the paragraph this way because "why?" is a question that Scott never stopped asking throughout the book.) What makes the book and the story so captivating? Well first, Scott is a person that many people will be able to relate to on several levels.

Scott is an underdog of sorts who overcame and achieved. His childhood was difficult. His mother was ill, diagnosed with MS at an early age, when Scott was quite young. His childhood and adolescence was full of worry, working and caring for his siblings and his ailing mother. His father was hardworking but stoic. Scott was the "Pee Wee," the wimp, the picked on kid, the sidekick to the natural jock.  To watch the transformation of this unlikely athlete into a world class champion is incredibly inspiring and gives hope to all of us that anyone can accomplish great things if they approach them carefully, with passion, perseverance, and determination.  His father's advice, which is a key mantra in Scott's life, "Sometimes you just do things," will be something that will no doubt pop into every reader's head at some point in the future when things get tough in running or in life.

A second thing that I love about the book is his honesty on so many levels. He is honest about his failures and shortcomings. He could have packed the book with the stories of only his successes, but he also talks about his failures, the races he didn't win or sometimes didn't complete, and the times he struggled physically and mentally. He talks about the ambivalence of the situation with his family, his moments of selfishness, and his moments of questioning and self-doubt in an honest way that has to be respected.

I also love the balance he continually seeks between being a spiritual person and being a competitive athlete. He will be poetically describing the beauty of the Colorado Rockies one minute and the next be discussing his strategy for turning out his headlamp to trick his competitors in an effort to win the race. One moment he is appreciating the simple grace of the Greek people and the next running like hell as he passes a competitor to demoralize him and discourage a counter-attack.

This is something that many trail and ultrarunners can surely relate to. We love the spirituality of the experience, but it is a race. If we were only interested in the spirituality, we would run the trails and not venture into the race situation.  He does such an outstanding job of showing how the appreciation for the beauty, the reflection on the meaning, and the competitive aspect can all flow in and out of each other as part of the total experience.  

Another fascinating aspect of the book is watching the evolution of Scott's desire to live deliberately.  He is very Thoreau-like in his approach to life, which is how the vegetarian/vegan aspect comes into play. Part of his quest to live more deliberately and also to excel as a runner led him to a concern with what he was putting into his body. This led him to his decisions to become vegetarian and later vegan, which is something that he believes in passionately. Again, the honesty comes into play here. He is honest about his evolution to the full vegan he is today. He talks about how in the early stages of his transformation, he would sometimes still stop at McDonald's for chicken sandwiches or sausage and egg biscuits.  He recognizes that we may not all desire to switch to a vegan lifestyle, but he does invite us all to think a bit more carefully about what we decide to put into our bodies and the effect this has on our lives. 

If you have ever considered making changes to your diet, Scott's book will definitely be an inspiration.  I had actually been contemplating this idea for several months, and just the Hippie Dan excerpt had been enough to convince me to give it a try. I have been almost meat free for the past month (with just a few exceptions -- we need to empty the freezer). I can't wait to try some of the recipes that Scott has provided in the book.  (I will be reporting back on my progress on this plant-based athlete thing over the next few months.) 

 Finally, I love the relationship in the book between Scott and his friend Dusty. I have always been a sucker for the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid style guy friendships, and their unlikely and quirky friendship was a high point of the book for me.

I guarantee you that you will not be disappointed by this book. If I could choose only one running book to have with me on a desert island, this would be the one.

If you are still in doubt about whether you might want to read the book, check out this video promo:

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I am so passionate about this book that I have decided to have this as my June giveaway. (That extra copy I ordered came in handy!)  Click here to visit the Through a Running Lens Facebook page for details on how to enter. Contest end Friday, June 15th.
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This is a good thing for my Michigan audience because Scott will be appearing in Lansing on June 20th at Playmakers and in Grand Rapids on June 21st to promote the book.  For out of state readers, here is a list of scheduled appearances

• 6/5: New York
• 6/6: Boston
• 6/7: Chicago
• 6/8: Washington DC
• 6/11: Portland
• 6/12: Seattle
• 6/13: San Francisco
• 6/14: Boulder
• 6/15: Los Angeles
• 6/16: San Diego
• 6/18: Austin
• 6/19: Minneapolis
• 6/20: East Lansing
• 6/21: Grand Rapids
• 6/22: Seattle
• 6/24: Denver

(P.S. If you do decide to order the book from Amazon, I would be very grateful if you remembered to click through one of the links to the book on this site.)

Book Review: Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Runnning

"The running group has become a movable village, where women swap advice on matters small and large, from issues as mundane as helping a baby sleep through the night to crises as grave as a hospitalized child."   -- from Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running

This past Sunday was Diva Night at Playmakers  (my local running store) an annual event which celebrates women runners and walkers in the community. It is a fun night of socializing, sharing stories, learning about new gear, clothing, and equipment, and generally celebrating being active, vibrant women. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out on the video page.

 In looking around the room, I could not help but be struck by the diversity of the women attending and how we all mingled together in a big happy bunch. Running is like that. It creates instant community. It doesn't matter if a person is rich or poor, black, white or brown, liberal or conservative, religiously devout or atheist, a high school dropout or a scholar with a Phd., we all share very similar experiences as runners, and those experiences give us a common ground. It is amazing when you think about it.

 The Diva Night experience reminded of a book I had read recently titled Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running. It is one of the few books I have in my collection that focuses exclusively on women runners and tries to capture their experiences and unique perspectives.

The book is comprised of 21 short vignettes of real women runners. It is a celebration of regular women who are also runners, some of whom happen to be professionals. It covers the life experiences that women share that bond us together, just as the experiences and struggles we share on the roads and trails bond us together as runners.

If you read the book you will be amazed at how many ways you can relate to these women. There are women here who have battled loss, cancer, alcoholism, eating disorders, injury, and their own lack of self-esteem, and found their way through these life struggles with the help of running. Many took up running to help them cope with problems in their lives or as part of attempts to make their lives better. Their stories are inspirational and entertaining.

The book introduces you to some wonderful women, such as Sister Marion Irvine, known as The Flying Nun, who took up running at age 48 and qualified for the Olympic Trials six years later and who was still running when the book was published in 2006 at the age of 75. It also profiles Grete Waitz, 9 time New York marathon winner, who just passed away last year from cancer. It also includes an interesting look at two Kenyan women runners, Catherine and Anastasia Ndereba.

One of the more interesting stories for me was that of Cheryl Treworgy, the mother of Shalane Flanagan, who is on our current women's Olympic marathon team. Cheryl was a runner in the 1960s, one of the pioneers of women's running. Her story reminds us of how far women have come in a short amount of time. Cheryl was banned from running alone on the high school track because the idea was unheard of. She had to wear boys running shoes because they did not make them for girls, and her grandmother made her clothes to run in. She went to Indiana State University, and she was the entire women's track team. The men's team would not allow her to train with them so she found a high school team that allowed her to train and compete with the boys (if she didn't get in the way) to help her prepare for her AAU meets. It is amazing to think that this was only one generation ago.

The book also celebrates the friendships that women make through running and the value of the group experience. There are stories of running partners, such as Susan Pajer and Marilyn Darrows, who met and ran together to cope with the loss of Marilyn's husband, or the Dawn Patrol, a group of women runners who meet faithfully regardless of the weather. There is also the story of the Centipede Team of the Aggies running group, which run the famous Bay to Breakers race as a centipede, hooked together with bungees into a single group of 13 runners, or the girls at Students Run Philly Style, who hope that running will help them find the path to a better life. There are so many wonderful stories.

This book is not deep reading, and it is not a masterpiece of prose. However, I found the book enjoyable and a nice addition to my running library. The chapters are short and easy to read. It is a fun book if you want a little inspiration and motivation. It would also make a good gift for a woman runner in your life, especially one who may be going through a rough patch physically or emotionally, as a major theme in all the stories is the strength of the women and their ability to persevere and triumph regardless of what life throws at them.