I just finished My Year of Running Dangerously by Tom Foreman. Does two make a list? If so, here’s my current list of great audiobooks for running:
- My Year of Running Dangerously by Tom Foreman
- What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
(I’d call it the list of great audiobooks for ‘runners’ but then you might mistake me for someone who can run for a mile without getting winded.)
When I say “just finished” I mean like just a few minutes ago. And I just finished a run as well.
It wasn’t a dangerous run like you’ll find in Foreman’s book. I’m guessing he does more than I just did for a warm-up.
I started running about a month ago. I was walking to a Blink nearby which I’m a member of strictly because there was a Blink very close to my old apartment and I haven’t gotten around to canceling it. While walking to that gym, I realized I could get to my regular gym in about the same amount of time if I ran.
So I picked my pace up and headed to my regular gym.
That began my year of running safely. (I think. I mean it’s been a month now and I’ve been jogging 2-3 times a week. I know that a month isn’t a year and that runners probably don’t consider what I’m doing running.)
Oh yeah, the book.
Foreman used to be a long-distance runner in his younger days. He picks it back up after his daughter asks if he’ll train for a marathon with her. Foreman shares his thoughts about running, family, work. It also has chapters that are diary-style entries about different runs.
Those sections really get you inside his head and are the best part of the book.
In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running Murakami has a similar section about running the original marathon course in Greece. (That might need a capital-M Marathon.)
I’ve mentioned twice that I wouldn’t call myself a runner. I also don’t call myself a writer.
When can write about my runs and make it 1/10th as enjoyable as Foreman or Murakami make it, then I might start calling myself a writer.
Today I laced my shoes up and headed out the door. I use a futuristic elastic fanny pack to hold my keys and phone. Years ago I had an arm band to hold my phone which was inconvenient for jotting down workout notes between sets. (But great for feeling like the Predator.) Then I ran for 20 minutes.
I’ve got work to do.