Friday 17 July 2015

My best selection of Ultra Running books and Podcasts

I read a lot of books. A huge amount of books. and when i'm not reading them i'm listening to them through audio books and podcasts. I see a huge amount of threads where people ask what are the best books for Ultra runners, Ironman Triathletes and what the hell are podcasts anyway. I'll cover podcasts in another blog.

So here is my definative list in no particular order and with a little summary from me. You could even buy them if you click one of the links and I will earn about 5p if i'm lucky

Books

Born to Run: The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
by Chris Macdougall.
If you haven't read it you must have been in a Mexican Cave for many years. Yes the story moves around the place and yes there has been massive discussions about barefoot running but this is still in my top 10 of all time best books. I love the stories and the science. This shows the true capabilities of the human body and what we are actually capable of doing.

Natural Born Heroes: The lost secrets of strength and endurance
also by Chris MacDougall
An amazing book not only about running but about the true life heroes of the second world war as well as mixing in parkour, strength and conditioning, nutrition, a variety of heroic stories and a detailed explanation of fascia. This was a medical term I was unfamiliar with but have now learnt is of massive importance to everyone.

Ready to Run
by Kelly Starrett
The go to book for ALL athletes in my opinion. Kelly breaks the body down and shows you how to rebuild it in a stronger, more effective way. There are no stories about endurance or achievement but if you want to be the best runner you can be then get this book.

The Endurance Handbook: How to Achieve Athletic Potential, Stay Healthy, and Get the Most Out of Your Body
by Dr Phillip Maffetone
I LOVE the Maffetone Method. Running at your optimal heart rate and allowing your body to naturally get faster, healthier and stronger. What's not to like in this latest book for Dr Phil. I have personally trained dozens of athletes in this method and all have seen amazing results and many who used to hate running now run at least 5 times a week and ADORE IT.

Never Wipe Your Ass with a Squirrel: A trail running, ultramarathon, and wilderness survival guide for weird folks
by Jason Robillard
I bought this book originally because I thought the title was fantastic and hilarious. What is contained within the book however is pure gold if you like running ultra marathons or are looking to do your first ultra.

Running and Stuff
by James Adams
James is a lunatic, he looks like one, acts like one and runs like one. Actually he is a bloody nice bloke and yet he still manages to knock out amazing ultra marathons in the UK and abroad. His funny and irreverent stories of races and the way he speaks to you through this book is brilliant.

Out There: A Story of Ultra Recovery
by Dave Clark
Dave is my current coach, I sought him out after reading his superb book as I felt a connection with him and his achievements. This is no ordinary ultra runner who has lost a few stone and done some amazing races. NO!!!! Dave is an ULTRA GOD and a thoroughly nice guy. His book will shock you, upset you, warm you and amaze you as you read about his triumphs, massive failures and the person he was and has become.

Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons
by Bryon Powell
This was one of the first books I read on Ultra Marathons and it's still one I refer to one a regular basis. Get this for the plans alone as they are tried and tested by many athletes in the same way that Be Iron Fit is used for Ironman triathlons. Bryon runs IRunFar and covers all major ultra marathons through his website, twitter feed and facebook and is one of the most knowledgeable people on the American scene.

Running with the Kenyans: Discovering the secrets of the fastest people on earth
and
The Way of the Runner: A journey into the fabled world of Japanese running
both by Adharanand Finn
I have chosen both of these books as they are both superb reads. To get an insight into the Kenyans from someone who has lived with them and trained with them is superb. The tale of the Japanese dedication and how highly they value ultra runners made me want to move there instantly.

The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei
by John Stevens
The definitive account of the truly mind blowing Marathon Monks from Japan. These guys take Ultra running to another level in the aim to achieve enlightenment and become living gods. Forget DNF's these guys have to commit suicide if they stop at any point in the long 7 year journey which sees them start with 100 days of consecutive 40k runs up and down mountains and progresses to the 7th year where they have to run100 consecutive days of 84k folowed by 100m days of 40k just to finish them off. They also have to do a shit load of other crazy stuff to achieve complete control of their mind and body but if I told you it would spoil it. Needless to say this is one of the best books I have read on controlling human suffering with the mind.

Athletes Guide to Recovery: Rest, Relax, and Restore for Peak Performance
by Sage Rountree
We all like to exercise and run and there are never ending threads about recovery and how long it takes between races. Yes there are lots of super human athletes like Dave Mackey who seem to be able to knock out ultra marathons on a daily basis and the Marathon Monks mentioned above but they all have got there through listening to their bodies and understanding what it takes to recover. This book will help you to understand your own body more and you will be amazed at how long it actually takes to recover properly.

If you have any books you think deserve to be included in this thread then please comment. If I haven't read them I will buy them and report back

Thursday 16 July 2015

Running in Crete in the land of the Natural Born Heroes

Chris MacDougall has got a lot to answer for.

He first wrote the amazing book Born to Run: The Hidden Tribe, the Ultra-Runners, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen which is still in my all time TOP 10 best books of my life and believe me I have read a lot of books in my time.

Then recently he released his latest book Natural Born Heroes: The lost secrets of strength and endurance.

This is a mish mash of stories about the 2nd world war hero's in Crete weaved cleverly with Parkour, strength training and other tales of heroic acts that mystify and entertain.

When I first read BTR as it's now commonly known I was drawn to email Caballo Blanco the mysterious white horse/ghost runner who is the main focus of the book. We conversed many times and I signed up to run the 3rd version of the race with a couple of other UK runners. Unfortunatly due to a stupid injury and cash issues I was unable to make the race and it is still one of my biggest regrets. Not because of not being able to race but also not actually being able to meet Micah True (Caballo).

For anyone who doesn't know the tale this fabled ghost runner died recenly doing what he loved best, running on the trails of the Copper Canyons in Mexico. His legacy will live on for many years with his race the CCUM (Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon) which was set up to help the Tarahumara people which this book BTR is based on.

So enough about BTR what about NBH (Natural Born Heroes).

The Cretan people according to MacDougall's book have long been associated with heroism. Zeus himself was born in Crete and Pheidippides the legendary Greek runner was also from Crete.

Pheidippides the Hemerodrome


Birthplace of Zeus

Like BTR this latest book has a main character and for me it is focused on George Psychoundakis a Cretan peasant who became a war hero in WW2 by continually relaying messages back and forth across the mountainous terrain of Crete. These routes were often ultra distance and over the craziest terrain I have ever run along.



I developed a huge respect for George with my exploration of a small part of Crete in the week I spent there on holiday in July.

It's not just the mountains, and there are many of them. It's more the punishing foliage that greets you at every twist and turn. Think UTMB on steroids and throw in a miriad of the nastiest bastard thorns along the lines of Barkley.



Not that I have experienced Barkley but I have seen the videos and read the reports and can only associate parts of the Cretan landscape with that sort of terrain.

I ran every day, and every day I got covered in scratches, twisted my ankles, feet and knees in every way imaginable. Now bear in mind I was running for fun, training for my next 100 mile run and so not covering vast distances and certainly not under constant threat of my life.

I did however get chased by a little handbag dog and another nasty little bastard. I learnt a new use for water bottles that day when a quick squirt in the face stopped them in their tracks!

The twists and turns, roots and rocks reminded me of the worst parts of the TDS and CCC in Chamonix. The scenery was spectacular and haunting at the same time. The Cretan people lived up to their reputation as the most hospitable people in the world. They are even a little odd at times as we found out one day on a drive through the mountains.

We stopped at a cross roads, hopelessly lost with a choice of 6 different roads to choose with little or no signage. It was reminiscent of the Northants 35 Ultra where there is a road like this that everyone gets lost at!

Suddenly this tiny old lady who was sheltering from the sun comes up to the car. It's lunchtime, bloody hot and we are in the middle of nowhere up the top of a mountain and there she is sitting in the little shade there was.

A brief unknown conversation starts and we try unsuccessfully to ask directions and she tries unsuccessfully to talk to us. Then she gets in the back of the car!!!

She then proceeds to tell us where to drive. This wily old woman wanted a lift and was going to take us roughly where we wanted to go as long as it was along the route she wanted to go.

We laughed long and hard the whole way as she blithered on in Greek about the towns, the scenery, food, at least that's what we thought she might be saying.



We drove for an hour around the craziest of roads and mountain passes and see some beautiful villages that you would not know existed. Always getting waves and Kalimera's from the lovely few people who lived there, in the middle of nowhere. We dropped her off and found out later that this is normal practise in the mountains for the people who live there.

They can wait for hours for a car to pass and then however many of them can fit will get into a car and be eternally grateful.

The Cretan's are also blessed with over 100 different edible weeds. These weeds it seems are natures Super Foods and all at our feet. Horta seems to be the favourite on the marketplace although Horta seems t be a word associated with a variety of different weeds which all look different. Think of spinach used in a salad or steamed with some olive oil and salt and a gazillion health benefits.

Kalitsounia was a sort of health pie that I searched high and low for but was unable to find. You can buy the sweeten version anywhere but the true Kalitsounia seems to be only available in the mountain villages. This is often made with Horta and local cheese and is supposed to provide immense nutrition to ultra marathon runners.

It seems the Cretans have a endless supply of highly nutritious food growing in abundance everywhere and this is another fabulous fact in NBH. Chris tells you all about the weeds you can eat and how amazing they can be for your body.

So would I go back......

In a heartbeat.

Crete was beautiful, magical and tougher than anything I can imagine. I would love to run an ultra there one day and experience more of the Island.



As for the book Natural Born Heroes.....well lets just say I now have it on Audible too as there are so  many nuggets of fantastic information that you can often miss when reading it.

I highly recommend Crete for training camps or holidays but like any Greek island the true spirit is lost in the commercial, tourist parts and the best is always high in the sky. Up those bastard mountains covered in spiky, vicious brambles, tripping over rocks and roots in the trail of the heroes.