OMG, I LOVE this book on every level - the witty writing (seems to be a recent theme for me), the unflinching honesty, and the exposed emotion. I'm not all the way through it, but this is one I will read again, maybe right away. You may be wondering what this has to do with a fitness blog, but the whole second part is about the author's 4-month stay in an Ashram in India and her struggles to quiet her mind and learn to meditate. I have to confess I can relate to her fragmented, straying, dialoging mind. (FUNNY reading how her mind works) And anyone who practices meditation will probably string me up for this, but I see great commonalities between the discipline required by running and that needed for meditation. When I am on a long run and want to be done, it's not because I'm that tired or any part of me is ready to give out, it's because my focus is waning. I'm ready to be done...do something else...move on...entertain me!! That's when I remind myself I really don't want to be doing anything else. The author talks about how we brood about the past and worry about the future and spend so little time in the present, in the now. That's what running does for me. I have no choice but to be in the now and I want to extend the time I spend in now and find ways to get that without my running shoes on. Great book, HIGHLY recommended.By the way, I have to slip in that Jake won 3rd in his class at his first bodybuilding show Saturday in Atlanta so here's a nice shout-out to Jake - congratulations!!
