This week’s post will be the first post that focuses on Running for Women by Kara Goucher (of two). This week, I asked participants to focus their posts (as it relates to your reading) on one or more of the following questions:
What about Kara’s story do you relate to?
What did you learn about your own training from Kara?
What did you like about the book? Dislike?
Although I’m not training right now (I’m recovering from my marathon-training cycle, and it’s mentally much harder for me right now, especially my battle to include more protein in my diet), I read Running for Women initially, and again this week in preparation for this post! Part of the reason I chose this book was because I felt like it included information and stories that would be relevant for new and intermediate runners. The book is formatted according to different running “needs” so one could jump around and read selected portions of the book – or read it like I did the first time, from start to finish. Along with the chapter format, Kara also includes quotes throughout the chapter from other runners, which I liked as well – it added to the validity of what she was saying. I especially related to Kara’s story when she talked about how she dealt with her own injury – she talks about sitting on the couch and eating boxes of cereal (read: Honey Nut Chex, for me) and that’s exactly how I’ve felt when I’ve been injured. Obviously I’m not a world-class runner, but it was nice to know that everyone gets the injury blues (and to see how she dealt with it). I also liked reading about her own insecurity around other runners, such as when she met them pre-marathons! It’s nice to know that she had the same pre-marathon jitters that I had, even though she runs for a living. Overall, I loved the book because I heard Kara’s voice, it was a simple and enjoyable read, and provided relevant information about running.
Training-wise, I’ve been limiting my runs to six miles at a time and I’ve had good and bad ones (some REALLY bad). As I mentioned, I’m struggling with NOT running as much as I want and then being bummed when I do run, and they don’t go like I think they should. Figuring out what I should be eating and when is a huge struggle too – I need to be careful about calories too, for the first time in a while, because I’m not running as much as I’m used to. I’m also starting strength training (with my coach) and that’s been a good experience – but also making me hurt in places I didn’t even know I had! Bottom line: I’m really glad I have a coach who listens, because I’ve gotten pretty frustrated with the recovery and maintenance training cycles – but that is why I need help! I definitely wouldn’t have stuck with the training, diet, and especially not the strength training without having a coach!
If you are interested in learning more about Running & Reading Long, visit the site or stop by our “Twitchat” tonight at 7 pm MST! Every Thursday we will hold hour-long “twitchats” using the code #runreadlong from 7 pm to 8 pm MST. I will post a series of questions coded Q1: and the #runreadlong hashtag. Code your answers using A1 (or A2, A3…) and #runreadlong with your answer. The questions will be about your reading that week, any training struggles, and overall feelings about running!
Run, Read, and Become a Runner!
