Audiobook Review: Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner

As I mentioned to you before I recently started subscribing to Audible. I have listened to three books in the three months I have subscribed. Most recently I listened to Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All night Runner by Dean Karnazes. I have both read and listened to this book.

In the curious case of Ultramarathon Man, let me preface this a little. When I first read this book about 4 years ago I borrowed it from the library. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about the book not so much that it was poorly written but rather the subject matter being self glorifying, egotistical etc. That being the case I didn’t want to spend my hard earned money on something I might find worthy of the waste basket. I gave it a read and actually enjoyed it. At the time I wasn’t an ultrarunner and only aspired to be one. Reading about someone go through every agonizing step from couch to ultrarunner was just what I wanted to see and read. To read accounts of Western States and Badwater, two of the classics in the world of ultras is kind of can’t miss literature in my narrow minded , tunnel vision view of literature.

A few years later I read Karnazes’ book 50/50 Fifty Marathons in Fifty States in Fifty Days it was his follow up book. I bought that book because I enjoyed the first one so much. That book was okay but just okay. I guess when you know the outcome of the story it becomes more or less a series of 50 race reports hardbound into a book. Don’t get me wrong I love race reports but this book could have been and probably was Dean’s blog (I can only speculate). I love blogs but for someone looking for great literature or a great story or something epic then look elsewhere.
Fast forward a few years to me purchasing the Audible audiobook Ultramarathon Man. As it goes the book is half as long as the other books I have purchased so on a dollars per word value it is a little short. I had run a couple of ultras and remember the stories as being empathetic . Listening to the book the stories are still great and after completing a couple of ultramarathons I still found it inspirational. Now here is the ‘BUT’.

Only after hearing the words come off the page and into my ears I had to shake my head. Maybe I am too modest. Maybe I should toot my horn a little more than I do. I am proud of my running accomplishments and maybe I should flaunt it more. Whatever the case (I am choosing my words carefully) I have maintained a bodyweight and body fat content consistent with my running lifestyle. So even in this little blog of mine which very few people read I would never refer to myself as cut, ripped, muscular, single digit body fat or whatever would make a reader envision something that I may be but modesty wouldn’t allow me to say. When I heard the narrator say these words written autobiographically by Dean I thought it was a little much. I honestly don’t remember reading this the first time through the book or maybe I just blocked them out. After the first cut/ripped reference I passed it off but soon came the second, third and fourth reference and I thought too much.

Have you ever gone on the Ultra List? It is kind of a throw back to the early days of emailing before chat rooms and Yahoo Groups and the like. Without going into too much detail about how it works let’s just say the threads are various and can go on for quite some time. Most or all of the participants are hardcore ultrarunners with various pedigrees so their opinions are valid and not some couch potatoes or armchair quarterbacks putting in their two cents. Mention Dean Karnazes or simply DK on the Ultra List and you get a long continuous thread of Dean bashing with only the occasional ‘but he was so inspirational to me’. In his defense he is very inspirational, his accomplishments are incredible and I never really polarized myself one side or the other. Now after listening to the book and hearing the blatant lack of modesty I see where the bashing gets its fuel. Dean deserves all the attention he gets both good and bad.
Bottom Line: Would I buy the book or audiobook again? Hell yes, I just told you it was inspirational even if it does make we wince when I hear the word ripped.

Audiobook Review: Born to Run

Recently I have started subscribing to Audible. If you don’t know what Audible is, they are a company that produces audiobooks ‘for your listening pleasure’ that can be downloaded to your iPod or MP3 player. The books run the whole range from bestsellers to textbooks to classic literature to podcasts. I can’t remember the number of thousands of titles they report to have but it is a lot. I first heard about Audible through the Phedippidations Podcast as Audible is one of the sponsors of the show. I’ve been subscribing for a few months and every month I can’t wait to use my one credit for my next download. Of course, you can buy as many books whenever you want but my monthly subscription affords me one book per month. If you do it this way by paying about $16.48 CDN/month ($14.94 USD)you can get more expensive books for less because most books are one credit which is your monthly allotment for being a member.
So far I have listened to three books but have built up a wish list probably for the next year or so. I am hereby going to give you my 2 cents worth of reviews for the books I have listened to.

Audible Review: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Narrated by Fred Sanders)
What more can a person say about Born to Run that hasn’t already been said. McDougall writes an epic tome about his adventures into the world of ultramarathoning. Being an ultrarunner myself, this was no brainer for my first Audible book. I bought the book a few months prior to buying the audiobook. If you haven’t read the book McDougall shares with his readers his adventures into Mexico to run an ultramarathon with the legendary Tarahumara Indians as well as some legendary ultrarunners from this world too. People have described this book as the best book they have ever read about running. I couldn’t agree more. I won’t elaborate too much about how much I enjoyed the book but it has so many facets that appealed to me such as: the history of ultrarunning, the Tarahumara, barefoot running, the science of running and some really interesting characters.

Finding time to read books for a father of four is almost as challenging as finding time to run. When I get a chance to read it’s usually in some crowded noisy place like an airport or on a train. At times the book can get pretty ‘heady’ meaning there are some deep anthropological or physiological theories explained in layman’s terms but still somewhat elevated. McDougall gives full credit to the researchers and their work and thus gives as much background as possible before delving into the full on theories. That being said if you can’t read the chapter from start to finish the flow of thought is interrupted and you lose the gist of the theory. Step in Audible and a narrator coursing through the heady matter explaining it at a pace and meter better than you could ever read yourself. You can back up or speed forward if you want. Audible is perfect for some of my long commutes or long runs.

This is my favorite audiobook by far. I have listened to it start to finish a couple of times and listened to certain chapters nearly a dozen times. I never tire of the subject matter and always seem to pick something up each time though.
Bottom Line: Two thumbs up. Audible rules

Book Review: Once a Runner

Okay I believe the hype. Long touted as the best running novel ever written (by Runner’s World) it was forever on my hit list of books to read. But reading it proved elusive as the book has been out of print for decades. So the story goes John Parker wrote the book and sold original copies out of the back of his trunk. Read and re-read the book took on a cult status. I wasn’t sure if it was because if it was out of print or because it was that good.

Flash forward to the new millennium, thirty some odd years after its first release and Quenton Cassidy, the hero, is on peoples mind again. I finally picked up a copy and lay into it. The book did not disappoint me at all.

But let’s be real for a moment. There aren’t a lot of running novels. Sure there are a lot of novels whose characters run or their characters are runners. None come to mind right now but I’m sure they are out there. This book running aside is well written and captivating.

It is a fairly elevated read. Parker writes masterfully. Each chapter is short and beautifully written. You immerse yourself in the life of Quenton Cassidy who is on a Holy Grail quest to run the mile in under 4 minutes. Being a runner you empathize with Cassidy in his day to day workouts and how entwined into his life they become. Parker spares little detail and you actually feel Cassidy’s pain.

My favorite chapter has to be the one entitled ‘Intervals’ which Runner’s World published in its entirety as an excerpt to the book. Parker being a former miler himself writes with incredible believable accuracy.

Although I have not read Running with the Buffaloes the story of the college life of the University of Colorado Buffalo cross-country team I imagine it would be of similar stuff. Quenton Cassidy being a fictional character is so real by the end of the book you are forever wondering ‘Where are they know?’ Hence Parker has written a sequel to Once a Runner and followed it up with Again to Carthage.