First Marathons: Personal Encounters With The 26.2-Mile Monster by Gail Waesche Kislevitz
SUMMARY: A collection of people’s stories about their first marathons. Some are great, most are good, a few are a little slow. Overall, I enjoyed it.
With my own first marathon quickly approaching, I thought this would be an interesting read. The editor collected stories from a variety of people about their own first marathons, and published them in this book. Some of the stories are funny, others are more serious. Some of the people you may have heard of such as author Erich Segal, and well known runner Bill Rogers. Others are just everyday people that you have never heard of. If you are thinking about running your first marathon, I know you will enjoy this book. I think even people have have run many marathons will enjoy this book.
Conributers are Kim Ahrens, Rick Bachmann, Tory Baucum, Bill Begg, Leah Begg, Ellen Bellicchi, Richard Bellicchi, Heidi L. Winslow Butts, Ileta Coley, Ted Corbitt, Toshiko d’Elia, Lauren Fessenden, Wayne Gibbons, Tina Gordon, Scott Greeley, Rob Hemmel, Donna Isaacson, Marion Irvine, Roger Jones, John Joseph Kelley, Thomas King, Gail Waesche Kislevitz, Nina Kuscsik, Paul Mbugua, Jim Miller, Mike Roam, Bill Rodgers, Erich Segal, Matthew Shafner, Larry Smith, Ray Steffen, Allan Steinfeld, Dick Traum, Jeff Blackwell Vlaun, Grete Waitz, Shan Worthington, Sandy Zanchi.
Read more…
Without Limits
SUMMARY: A very inspiring movie about runner Steve Prefontaine. I highly recommend it!
Though this movie came out in 1998, I hadn’t seen it until a couple months ago. I was down in Gatlinburg, TN to compete in a karate tournament, and they played the movie on HBO. I sat in my hotel room, and managed to see most of the movie. Before seeing this movie, I didn’t even know who Steve Prefontaine was. It immediately went on my list movies that I had to see. So when I got home, I found that the library had the DVD, and I put it on hold. I finally got it the other day. I watched it today while I was on the treadmill running my scheduled 8 miles. The timing was perfect as the length of the movie was almost exactly the length of my 8 mile run, and my cool down. Nice! Donald Sutherland does a great job playing Prefontaine’s coach Bill Bowerman. I grew up in Seattle, (a few hours from where Nike shoes came from) and have been wearing Nike shoes since the Nike Cortez’s originally came out. It was fascinating to learn how the company got it’s start. You gotta see this movie!
Read more…
Running With Angels: The Inspiring Journey of a Woman Who Turned Personal Tragedy into Triumph Over Obesity by Pamela H. Hansen
SUMMARY: Has some running, but doesn’t focus on it. Book will probably be inspiring for people seeking weight loss.
Much of the book is about how the author lost several children, and how she battled a weight problem. I think besides her being overweight, I think she also had/has serious self-esteem problems. If someone looked at her funny, she thought it was because of her weight. If her children didn’t do well at something, it was because she was overweight.
She tries various diets but they didn’t work for her. She eventually starts running. And as she starts running, and being more careful about what she eats, she begins to lose weight. She eventually goes on to run a marathon. Parts of her marathon efforts are interspersed throughout the book which is a little confusing. Personally I like books to be a little more chronological.
If you are interested in weight loss, then you will probably find this book inspiring. It you have lost child, then you also might find this book helpful. If you are looking for a book about running, then you might be a little disappointed.
Read more…
Tanita 6102 cardio heart rate monitor
SUMMARY: Works okay under proper conditions. Price is good.
More of a pulse meter than a heart rate monitor. I originally bought this pulse meter to try and measure my morning resting heart rate. It hasn’t been very useful for that though. When I wake up, I am still have asleep, and can’t focus my eyes. Then I need to turn the light on, and find the unit. After all of that moving around, my pulse has usually risen anyway.
Where I find it useful is when I am sitting around at work, or at home. I can pull the unit out of my pocket, and get my pulse. It is good for biofeedback. I can watch my pulse, and try to force myself to relax, and get my pulse lower.
The Tanita cardio heart rate monitor measures your pulse by measuring the light changes going through your finger. As your your hear pulses, blood is forced and into your finger, and less light comes through. Sometimes, it is tricky getting your finger in the right position. Because the unit it is looking for changes in light, it needs a consistent light source. So this unit does not work while you are moving around. Don’t even think about using it while you are running or walking. It just wont work. For that, you will better off buying a real heart rate monitor with a chest strap.
Since I bought the Tanita cardio heart rate monitor as a pulse meter, it has one behaviour that is really annoying. You press “PULSE”, and then put your finger on the sensor. It will read, and display your pulse for one minute, then switch back to displaying the time. I didn’t buy this as a clock! I don’t want it to keep switching back to displaying time!
Anyway, if you just want something to see your resting heart rate, while you are sitting around, and don’t want to go through the hassle counting beats, while watching a clock, then you might like this unit. The price is good.
Read more…
Surviving The Toughest Race On Earth by Martin Dugard
SUMMARY: Interesting book. Slows a little in places though.
The author starts out covering the Raid Gauloises as a journalist. The Raid Gauloises is a race that combines multiple disciplines. For example, you might sky dive, then hike through a jungle, then kayak on the ocean, then mountain bike up a mountain, etc. Details of the race are kept from the racers until shortly before the race. They are held in remote places like Borneo, the Andes and Madagascar. Eventually the author goes from journalist, to competitor. He puts together a team, but the team doesn’t work well together, and then after an injury, he is forced to drop out. The next year, he comes back as an independent, not part of a team. But going along, ready to fill in if a team loses a member. He eventually joins a team. The team encounters many problems, and is forced to quit. The author manages to go on and complete the race.
The Raid Gauloises has inspired other races such as Mark Burnett’s Eco Challenge, and very loosely The Amazing Race.
Read more…