Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B008I506CG | Format: EPUB
Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness Description
A dominant force in the sport of ultrarunning, Scott Jurek is a seven-time winner of the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run and a two-time winner of the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon through Death Valley. Eat & Run offers an inspirational account of Jurek's life as a runner and vegan. Regaling listeners with jaw-dropping tales of endurance, Jurek also delivers sound science and practical advice-as well as his favorite plant-based recipes.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 8 hours and 24 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Recorded Books
- Audible.com Release Date: July 5, 2012
- Language: English
- ASIN: B008I506CG
Scott Jurek had me from the prologue through the very last word. The book arrived on a day when I had no time for reading it. Or so I thought. Just a peek, I told myself. I opened it and flew away with the runner, the skinny adolescent, the determined athlete, the world-renowned ultrarunner, the vegan. Many hours later having reached the end, I was finally able to put it down. That is some book!
The writing is crisp and vivid. The running is sweaty, painful, uplifting. Sometimes you are face down in Death Valley dry heaving and doubtful you can go on, sometimes you are jubilant in victory, always you are mesmerized, captivated, held in the grip of a writer who has something to say and knows how to say it. The book is written with certainty, determination, and nerve. Jurek grabs you and holds on just as he holds on to his dreams and aspirations. His father taught him "Don't ask why. Sometimes you just do things." The theme continues throughout the book, throughout Jurek's career. It is a rule that makes for hard lessons, but lessons that serve him well.
Along the way the author introduces us to fascinating characters, among them Dusty, his favorite last of the race pacer, his father, the disciplinarian and complicated man who eventually balloons to 280 pounds but urges his son to give up his vegan diet, his mother, the creative cook and loving early force in his life whose own life-force was sapped and eventually stamped out by multiple sclerosis.
The book is unified by three compelling themes: the running itself, the joys and requirements of food and eating, and deep spiritual discovery. All work together just as all have worked together to make Jurek the outstanding man and runner that he is.
I learned so much from this book.
Scott Jurek's book, Eat & Run, is inspiring in so many ways. Although I don't (yet) aspire to be an ultramarathoner, I am a consistent runner (max out at 26.2 races) who greatly appreciates the solitude, freedom, introspection, and feeling of wholeness that comes from running. This is not a book just for ultra-runners. For anybody who is serious about body/mind/spirit issues, I think this book is an excellent resource whether a recreational runner, a frequent racer (no matter the distance), cyclists, and even elite athletes from other sports who will appreciate the discussion about performance, nutrition, competition, camaraderie, and self-doubts.
A handful of things I appreciated about the book:
- The coming of age aspect of the book: In this sense, Scott's life journey is told more like a novel than a biography. The transparency into Scott's life (both good stuff and bad stuff) as it related to his underdog social status as a kid, his relationship challenges with his father, the tragedy with his mother's sickness, and his circle of friends helped create a meaningful feeling of a kid who faced both normal and abnormal struggles in life while searching for meaning and striving to overcome.
- Character development: Again, although this is not a novel, Scott and Steve Friedman did a fantastic job developing the various `characters' in the book. We got to know people really well.
Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness Preview
Link
Please Wait...