Books about running by women runners

[ChannelRunner2]

I think it was Coach Bennett (before I stopped listening to his podcast; he rambles too much for my taste) who got me to search for books by runners. There are a ton of books out there where the title already intimidated me. I don't want to hear how fast or far you can run... I did find a few that seemed interesting: By female runners about their struggles in a male-dominated field. I was delighted that the public library had copies of the audio books, so I could try them out without buying them.

Well, was I in for a surprise! I am hooked!

I listened to Kara Goucher share about her struggles with disordered eating, sexist racing contracts by Nike, and finding other female athletes to work and fight with. Then Alison Désire brought in another intersection that I had completely ignored thanks to my white skin privilege: Running while Black. It had never occurred to me to consider where I run to avoid harassment (just "is it pretty?" or "is the path comfortable?"). I also learned a ton about the influence of Black runners on running in the U.S. Then came Lauren Fleshman who, like Goucher, struggled with disordered eating, Nike contracts, and the negative voices in her head.

Christine Yu's audio book isn't out yet (or at least not at the PL), so I got the actual books from Désire and Fleshman and am rereading them now. While Goucher's book is more memoir, both Fleshman and even more so Désire add a lot of historic and scientific information into their books that I couldn't all catch listening.

I am noticing how much these books are inspiring me to run - and to run mindfully, enjoying my runs rather than focusing on speed. They did totally turn me off Nike, though, so no more Coach Bennett for me... I am going to try out Tina Muir's Together Runs soon while waiting on her book The Sustainable Runner to arrive...

Anybody else found any running inspiration in books from other runners?

[RollingPea]

Thanks for the interesting post ChannelRunner2. I have been intending to read Murakami's memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.newyorker.com/magazine/2008...

I've only recently switched from music to podcast listening on longer runs. Hadn't thought of audiobooks - great idea.

[ChannelRunner2 Graduate10]

I just started listening to Christine Yu's "Up to Speed" and am totally hooked! It's probably another book where I buy the hard copy. Yu is a science journalist. In her book, she digs into the science on women athletes (and athletic women) and why there is so little.

Now I gotta dig around The Well HQ some more, which is mentioned in the chapter on menstruation: thewell-hq.com/