Book Review: Run!

The moon was out and we saw some sheep.
We saw some sheep take a walk in their sleep.
By the light of the moon, by the light of a star;
They walked all night from near to far.
I would never walk. I would take a car.

- Dr. Seuss poem quoted in Run! that neatly sums up my attitude toward exercise

I loved Dean Karnazes first book Ultramarathon Man. In fact, I read it once a year. I love it partly because he's so inspirational, and partly because I spend the whole book thinking "This is has got to be the craziest mother ever." One of my favorite scenes in the book is after his first big ultramarathon, when he finishes the race. He climbs into his fancy company-car Lexus, and every single muscle in his body seizes. He can't move a finger. He can only open his mouth and scream. No passerby can hear him (thanks to the great soundproofing of the fancy Lexus), and he then proceeds to projectile vomit chunks of fruit all over the car's fancy leather interior. When he finally gets his body out of the car, for a while he can only lay on the ground.

What inspires a man to continue ultramarathoning after an experience like that? Insanity, I think. Which is why his books are so much fun to read.

So I anxiously awaited the release of his latest book Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss. (In case you didn't know, a marathon is 26.2 miles long). As soon as it was available in stores, I downloaded it to the Kindle app on my phone and started reading.

Overall, I'd say the book is pretty good. It doesn't have the "Wow! This dude is insane!" type feel of Ultramarathon Man, but it's still a decent read. Check it out of you like to get into the head of people who inspire others with their extreme craziness.

And, I admit: it did kind of make me want to attempt a marathon. Of course, I hate even driving my car for 26.2 miles. So covering that kind of distance on foot is insane, right?