"What do I talk about when I talk about running" Haruki Murakami

Before reaching for this book my only contact with Murakami was reading his "Norwegian Wood"; and, although I heard a lot good about him, I have to say I was not too impressed with it. However, when I heard that Murakami is a passionate runner and that he wrote a book on the subject -- I just had to read it.

And I'm glad I did. The book is very non-pretensions and presents loosely connected thoughts of the author on running and the role it plays in his life. He's a fairly serious runner (running around 60km per week in 6 sessions, on average and running a marathon per year). It's been a while since I read this book so I don't remember the details, but if you are into running I think it's a good read. Let me conclude with some quotes from the book that I particularly liked.

My time was awful [...]. There are three reasons I failed. Not enough training. Not enough training. And not enough training.
The gym where I work out in Tokyo has a poster that says, 'Muscles are hard to get and easy to lose. Fat is easy to get and hard to lose'. A painful reality, but a reality all the same
I'm often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder this question. What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue.
In long-distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be

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