running

If running is sort of natural, there’s a lot of effort (sponsored by Nike)

How to Run by Paula Radcliffe

July 20, 2022 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

CBR Bingo 2: Bodies So this is on the level 1 literal side in that Paula Radcliffe’s How to Run is very much what you’d expect based on the title. I’ve been thinking about starting to train for a marathon (first time) for a while, found one that would work schedule-wise, but I hadn’t found a training plan I liked. This book has a practical level of information about training that most other books do (including charts or various kinds), but I like the more […]

Playing for keeps

Trigger by N. Griffin

May 27, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Trigger is a disturbing look at child abuse and the toxicity of one family, and how the one person who is supposed to help you can be the one person who you fear the most. The life of our narrator is set up so that when an answer is given, three more questions occur. And yes, there are literally trigger warnings due to the language, violence, and implications some scenes present. And the scary part is some of what N. Griffin writes about is pulled […]

Thou Shalt Check Thy Grammar Before Offering Running Advice

The Marathon Method by Tom Holland

May 1, 2022 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

Overall The Marathon Method seems to be a pretty decent guide for long-distance running. It’s got specifics, both practical and theoretical. It explains not just the ‘how’ but also in most cases, the ‘why’. For example, why do a lot of runners use those gels packets no one seems to like? Because the body’s carb stores are likely to run out around mile 20 of a marathon’s 26.something, and those gel packets are a potable way to not run into the near total body shut […]

Fartleks are Funny

How to make Yourself Poop and 999 Other Tips All Runners Should Know by Meghan Kita

January 23, 2022 by CoffeeShopReader Leave a Comment

Long-ish story short, when most everything shut down mid-March 2020, I was forced to start running outdoors a lot more in order to keep up my fitness which is important to me. By late fall that year, I decided to start adding distance. Spring 2021, I’d signed up for my first half marathon; it went virtual to no one’s surprise. I found one not far from me that October, which also ended up going virtual right before the race was supposed to happen; I found […]

The Courage to Start Running

The Courage to Start by John Bingham

June 23, 2021 by esmemoria 2 Comments

I found The Courage to Start by John Bingham an incredibly inspiring read. Bingham is well known for his writings about runners who are “penguins.” A penguin is a runner that might be slow, have an unusual stride, is often in the far back of the starting line, but is fulfilled. Bingham talks less about the technical aspects of running and more about the psychological and emotional growth that comes from regular practice. While he doesn’t frame it as such, he has a Buddhist way […]

She overcame death to win Gold

Unbeatable Betty: Betty Robinson, the First Female Olympic Track Field Gold Medalist by Allison Crotzer Kimmel

October 29, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The only thing keeping Unbeatable Betty: Betty Robinson, the First Female Olympic Track Field Gold Medalist by Allison Crotzer Kimmel from being a 5 is that it felt a little unorganized in places. However, the author has done an amazing job of telling us the story of a woman who is little known in the sports world; even though Betty Robison was literally the first woman to accomplish winning a gold medal in her sport. I was not always feeling that the “big picture” was […]

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