In Shape Out of Mind's Recommended Reading List

When I was little, I struggled to learn how to read. Go figure that this hippie whole language approach to learning wouldn't work for me, and being the competitive, overachiever that I was, I freaked out and somehow forced myself to read, and to read well, the summer before 4th grade. As with everything you have to work hard for, I truly appreciated my new skill and attacked books with a voracious and passionate appetite. Then I became neurotic about recording everything I read and started making lists. Lists are the sign of the hyper-organized and the mildly insane. I should have stuck with it because now I'm not sure how many books I've read, or what books I've read, and sometimes I take home books from the library only to find out I've read them, twice.

I was a pudgy little kid with an awkward haircut and strange social skills. The world inside books allowed me to pretend to be awesome, when I definitely was not. The safe haven I found inside books is a lot like the safe havens I now find inside fitness studios and out on race courses. It doesn't matter how much life currently sucks on the outside - for those hours, I rock. Combining my two loves, I frequently read about fitness and running.

Here are two books I have enjoyed:

I received a free copy of Dean Karnazes Ultra Marathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner in college. I got it at EMS after purchasing a new spectator's chair to day-drink in during lacrosse games. The thing sat on my bookshelf until 2009, but once I cracked its spine, I was hooked. Who had ever heard of running all-night? I didn't even realize they had races for people who wanted to run 100 miles in the dark in the middle of nowhere. I became obsessed with one day running the Western States 100. Now that I find myself running my first ultra (50K or 31 miles on May 7th!), I've been rereading the parts where Dean trained for his Western 100 qualifying 50 miler. I don't plan on throwing up all over the interior of my car, but I will pack snacks.

I came across Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Chris MacDougall on an old boyfriend's bookshelf last summer. I read through chapter 5, realized Dean Karnazes was a bit of a self-promoting sellout, and decided I needed my own copy stat. In addition to a ton of information about a hidden tribe of super-runners, the book taught me about the Leadville 100. Add that to the growing list of abusive ultras I will one day run. I also learned of some other runners who find it totally appropriate to drink all night, and then participate in grueling physical activities. If they can party blackout until dawn, and then run an ultra for kicks, I think I am totally justified in my pre-10K debauchery. MacDougall does a great job of weaving his quest to find Caballo Blanco, the little-known history of the Tarahumara, the background of running and different runners, and this ultimate trail race into a coherent story that captures your attention and makes you want to throw out your sneakers for a pair of sandals. In Shape Out of Mind highly recommends this book.