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. 

Running and Blogging: What's Keith Richards Got To Do With It?

This running blog was inspired by Keith Richards. No, not some guy named Keith Richards at some local running club or 5k race, like you might expect. THE Keith Richards, guitar player for and founding member of the Rolling Stones, who besides being one of the world's greatest guitarists and songwriters, is also now an award winning author. I just read his memoir Life, which as you can probably guess from the apt title, chronicles his life, as well as the life of the Stones. What does that have to do with running you might wonder? Well, directly nothing, but indirectly quite a bit actually.

As I made my way through the book, across the decades of Richard's life and through the type of escapades you would expect from one of the early "bad boys" of rock and roll, one thing was absolutely stunningly clear: Richard's life is possessed by his love for and obsession with music. At one point he says that no matter what he is doing, the music is always there working away in the back of his mind, creating that next riff  or fussing over how to get a new sound. Where music is concerned, he exudes passion and intensity. Whatever is happening around him passes through the music lens -- everything in his life is part of his music, and music is part of everything in his life. It is not just what he does; it is who he is.

Before I picked up the book  I had always thought him to be a rather interesting "character," but I could not imagine that there would be a single thing in his life to which  I could personally relate. Although I know nothing about guitars and even less about writing music, I understood and empathized with what he was saying about his relationship to music perfectly because that is the relationship I have with running.  

Unfortunately I am not world-class or even lucky enough to make my living with my obsession. I am just a slightly above average master's runner. However that does not change even a little the way that the passion for running invades my mind and my life.

For me, running is ever-present.  Besides the obvious and physical daily questions, ("When will I run today?" "How far will I go?" "Is that a pain in my knee?" "Should I run trail or road?"), there are also the races in the back of my head, those I've run and those I hope to run. The training questions that need to be pondered. The gear that needs to be perused. There are the times, the splits, the comparisons to other performances that need to be analyzed. There are the runners, past and present, whose stories need to be read and reflected on. There are my steadily growing groups of running friends and my thoughts about how they are doing and what they have done. There are questions about when to eat and what to eat and why. Running has become my passion, and it is also a lens through which I process my world.  

Many runners may not recognize (or desire) this level of passion. I am sure many musicians do not share Keith Richard's level of obsession either. Many non-runners, and probably some runners as well, may not approve of being so "obsessed" (although I never really understood why people need to pass judgment on that). That is as it should be.

People come to various activities with different levels of interest and engagement. I do a lot of activities that I enjoy immensely but which I am not passionate about. However, I think that every person should search until they do find the activity that inspires a level of passion that transcends mere enjoyment. I think that those are the things that help make people thrive.

I did not find that running was my passion until I was in my late 30s. I remember on  a run one day when I was 40 when I just was flooded with joy at the idea of having found something so wonderful at a time in my life when I thought I pretty much knew who I was and what I was about.

Have you found your passion yet? Maybe it will be running? Maybe it will be raising orchids? It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you find it  and embrace it. It will give a level of meaning and pleasure to your life that will enrich everything else that you do. 

So why start a blog? Well, because one of the things about a passion is that it clamors to be shared. Richards was fortunate that there were literally millions of people with whom he could share his passion. I don't expect to share my passion with millions, but if I can share it with a few and perhaps ignite that passion in someone else, then I will be immensely satisfied.