Good reads on running

“Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest. If you’re going to be away for years, it’s far better to live them with clear goals and fully alive than in a fog, and I believe running helps you to do that. Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life — and for me, for writing as whole.”

So said Haruki Murakami in his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The book published in 2007 is a memoir by the Japanese novelist who is as passionate about long distance running as he is about writing.

Murakami’s prose is easy going and his style is quasi-philosophical. The book is replete with insights about running and life in general.

Non-elite runners who go through the daily grind of training will certainly relate.

He said: “Running day after day, piling up the races, bit by bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself. At least that’s why I’ve put in the effort day after day: to raise my own level. I’m no great runner, by any means. I’m at an ordinary — or perhaps more like mediocre — level. But that’s not the point. The point is whether or not I improved over yesterday.”

This book elevates running from a mundane activity to one that is instrumental to self discovery and appreciation of life itself.

Another recommended reading is Endure by Alex Hutchinson. I first read it shortly before I ran the New York City Marathon and I remember being so inspired by it going into the race.

Hutchinson is an elite runner with a PhD in Physics so he has both the athletic experience and the capacity for scientific analysis necessary to inquire into the limits of human endurance. He had spent years poring over studies and speaking to scientists, coaches and athletes in order to write this remarkable book.

He found that so much of the previous research had been directed at ways of building a stronger human “engine” when an equally important aspect of endurance is mental.

His argument is compelling.

That endurance athletes do not drop dead after the finish line and can still afford to go on longer means that they still have untapped reserves of energy despite their perception that they were already emptying the tank. Our brains send signals to our muscles to continue running but as we fatigue, the signals get weaker and weaker. The brain then thinks the body is reaching its limit.

“The mind, in other words, frames the outer limits of what we believe is humanly possible.” But, says Hutchinson: “…the brain’s opinion isn’t always right.”

What we often perceive to be our own limits are not yet in fact our physical limits and improving our mental toughness brings us as close to our actual limits as possible.

Thus, the physiological model needs to be completed by a “psychobiological” model, which essentially says “how hard it feels, and how much you want it, dictates how long you can sustain it.”

I have since realized that what I love primarily about running — more than the physical benefits — is how it enhances my mental game and trains my brain to override pain and suffering.

As Hutchinson had put so eloquently: “Taking a punch without flinching requires self-control, but endurance implies something more sustained: holding your finger in the flame long enough to feel the heat; filling the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds’ worth of distance run.”

The third book in this list is actually not a running book but the principles are very much applicable.

James Clear’s Atomic Habits talks about the power of small habits in creating lasting changes in one’s life.

Its thesis is that real change often does not come from one big effort but from countless small decisions one makes on a daily basis. A considerable emphasis is given to building a system instead of focusing on goals.

Clear is an exceptional storyteller as shown by the real-life examples he relates. The principles have helped me cope with the rigors of marathon training and taught me the value of nacre mental improvements.