I just finished the book Running on Empty, by Marshall Ulrich, about his journey across America...running. It was an inspiring tale with some fun stories. If you haven't heard of Marshall Ulrich, that's ok. I didn't know who he was either before I read the book, but he definitely makes the "Who's Who" list for ultra-running. He says in the book that he's always had a thing for doing the seemingly impossible challenges, and that running across the country was on the top of his list. He wanted to try to break the world record for the fastest time running from San Francisco to New York City. Why he waited until he was 57 to give it a try, I'm not sure. Probably because he was busy doing other things. Like running Badwater...4 times...back to back to back to back...in July...at age 50...Alone; Winning Badwater 4 times before that; scaling Mt. Everest and other peaks; Eco-Challenges in places like Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, Patagonia, Borneo, Fiji. It's almost unbelievable the extreme things this guy has accomplished. You'll see if you read the book. He's definitely not the type of guy to sing his own praises...the book might have been more entertaining if he were, but I enjoyed it because of how down-to-earth he is, notwithstanding all his accomplishments. I'll give you the rundown in the standard format:
- Entertaining: is it a page turner? Is it hard to put it down?
- Informative: Does the book give good advice? Is the advice (in my experience) accurate?
- Inspirational: When I finished a chapter, did I get my butt off the couch and onto the trails?
- ENTERTAINING - 7
- The first part of the book tells his life story in whirlwind fashion. It was fun to read, but I found myself wanting more details about his family, friends, why he did all the things he did. It was almost comical the way he told about his extreme accomplishments in such a nonchalant way. The heart of the book was the story of his run across the country. That's a long way to run, and every day is basically the same thing. I read another book about a long journey and it was somewhat of an endurance exercise to get through it. Running on Empty is better than that. Still not like reading a novel where the author can throw in whatever he wants to move the plot along, but not so much of a death march either. It seemed like every time I started to get bored with the journey he would throw in a story from his past, or a bit of history, or something to keep me going. While I don't think entertainment was necessarily his main objective in writing the book, Marshall does a decent job of keeping the pages turning.
- INFORMATIVE - 6
- Marshall Ulrich probably knows more about ultra-running than almost anyone. But, again, I don't think he wrote the book as a training guide. The things I learned from the book were more history pieces. He talks about groups of people who ran across the country decades ago and why they did it. Ted Corbitt, who coined the term "ultra-running," was introduced to me by this book. His biography is now on the list of books I want to read. The Appendix sections at the back of the book, however, are somewhat more informative as far as running goes. He includes a few sample weeks of his training schedule (which he does not recommend for runners not planning to run across the country), his diet for the run, injuries, clothing and supplies, and charities/sponsorships. Pretty interesting to read about those things and see how they compare with an average race.
- INSPIRING - 7
- Believe it or not, I wasn't too terribly inspired throughout much of the book. There were some points that got me going but a lot of the things he described were just too much for me...a little over-the-top. Not the writing itself, but the things he did are things that I will never do, and I know I will never do and I'm perfectly fine with that. The thing is, he did so many extreme things that took so much time that his family life suffered. He didn't communicate well with his family at all and they resented him for being gone so much. That did not inspire me because that's not who I want to be. He talks about it and why he lived the way he did, but that part of the book really didn't inspire me. But, when he gets to the end of his run and is summing everything up, that's the good stuff. Honestly, it's hard not to be inspired reading the firsthand account of someone running across America. Just a quote or two from the last few pages of the book:
"What I've done serves mostly to show that nearly all limits are self-imposed, a false construct of the mind. You can take on mind-boggling challenges. It may test your relationships and cause you to question your sanity, but you can do it!"
"We can endure the trials, overcome the obstacles, put up with the pain to realize our dreams...Why not try?"
- OVERALL - 6.67
- I enjoyed reading this book. I started it right before a round of tests so it took me a while to finish. Hopefully the review is still accurate. His message that anybody can do anything they really want to is universal. Reading about how the run changed him speaks to a lot of people as well, especially those whose lives have been influenced by running. Check out the book when you get the chance...and let me know what you think of it.
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