Friday Favourites – Running Book part 2
So last week I reviewed my favourite running book focusing on information about marathoning and training. This week I’m going to review my favourite fun running book. I’ve mentioned this book several times on my blog, and it’s just because I love it so much. It speaks to me as a busy mom, a runner and a working mom. They are coming out with a new book too called Train like a mother, which I filled out a survey for so I’m looking forward to this book, and am curious to see if any of my comments, quotes or stories make it in.
Title: Run Like a Mother
Authors: Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea
How I found it: I was looking up running books and found this one online. I really wanted it but I don’t buy books for myself a lot, and with a little baby at home I didn’t have a lot of time to read. So my husband told his family that I really wanted this book, and I got it as my gift for the family Christmas exchange. I was so excited to get it and started to read it right away.
Summary: The tag line on the cover says it all “How to Get Moving — and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity”. This book is a really entertaining look at mothers who run. It has a lot of information about the authors and how they manage to fit running into their busy lives, and where their passion comes from. They also have gotten stories and tips from other mothers and have helpful information on topics that are not always discussed in running books and magazines, such as bras, finding a bathroom on a run, pregnancy running, etc. It really is a book that encompasses all the things that moms go through when running whether they are real or perceived.
Likes: I love the fact that the book has 26 chapters, because a marathon has 26 miles. The English major in me loved the .2 that writes about if famous women were runners. Too funny. The writing in general is humourous and makes you feel as if you really know the authors personally. I also appreciated that they didn’t just discuss being a mother, but also running while pregnant and getting back to it post-delivery. I read it while pregnant with Katrina, and since I had started running after Lillian I didn’t have a post baby running lifestyle but it was really nice to know that the road back is hard but that I’m not alone.
Dislikes: The chapters were short, and there were pages of quotes stuck in random places. I like the quote pages, and the authors did them to make up the .2 miles in a 26.2 mile marathon, but I didn’t like when they were in the middle of a chapter. I felt it took away from the book and I had to read ahead to finish the chapter or topic and then go back to read the quotes or added tidbits. I’m not actually sure if I read all of them because of this.
Facts and/or Wishes: I wish the book had been longer. I was sad when it ended and wanted more. I also think it would have been nice if they had gotten a male point of view, especially when the authors were discussing how their husbands help them to run. I would have liked to hear from the husbands about why they support their wives in running in their own words. I wish they had gone more in depth with the clothes, such as finding the best undies for running. I mean if you’re going to talk about them may as well go in depth. They also have a blog, which I wrote about on my favourite blogs post, and t-shirts for the run. I have two. One is a pregnancy shirt and I’ve got loads of photos of me in it on this blog, the other says “badass mother runner” and I need to drop another 5lbs to wear it. Await a photo of it once it fits.