Do you have a favorite running book or movie? Were you inspired by Spirit of the Marathon or the old school Chariots of Fire? Is there a running book you turn to again and again for advice or just to inspire you to get out there? For today’s Tuesdays on the Run, April, Patty, and I would like to hear about your favorite running books and movies.
I’m not really a movie kind of girl. I very seldom watch a movie unless it involves the local draft house where my kids can watch a kid appropriate movie and I can drink a beer. (Don’t knock it until you try it…) I did watch Spirit of the Marathon
Back when I got RRCA certified, I bought a ton of “coaching” books to read. Most of them are still sitting, unread. I did read and really enjoy Matt Long’s book, The Long Run: A New York City Firefighter’s Triumphant Comeback from Crash Victim to Elite Athlete
What You Can When You Can: Healthy Living on Your Terms
When I was coaching, one of the things I used to say to my clients is “even the small steps move you down the road”. What I meant was that every time you make a healthy choice, even a small one, you are moving in the right direction. WYCWYC takes that idea and expands on it. WYCWYC is all about living healthy in a way that works for your life.
Things I love about WYCWYC:
- The book is written in short, easy to read, but useful chapters. You can totally read it “when you can” and still get a lot out of it.
- This is not an all or nothing book. There is no guilt assigned to a day or moment when you “can’t”. If you want to eat the cookie, eat the cookie and enjoy it.
- WYCWYC offers concrete suggestions about how to seize the moment and add a little healthy to your life.
- WYCWYC is about living healthier. It’s not about making drastic changes or completely revamping our eating habits. It’s not about trying to be better each day. It’s about making small healthy choices each day and celebrating those choices.
What You Can When You Can does not hold some big secret to a healthier life. Instead, it breaks it down and makes adding healthy to YOUR life manageable. It’s a great little read and while many of the suggestions I’d heard before, it’s a great reminder to actually implement those ideas.
Guess which idea I implemented last night? I chose to make sleep a priority and that’s why this post did not go live until this morning. I don’t regret it.
Do you incorporate #wycwyc into your life? (You probably do, even if you didn’t know the term.)
[Tweet “What’s #WYCWYC? Check out my review of @carla_birnberg’s book! #greatread #TOTR”]
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Disclaimer: I bought my own copy of this book and all opinions are my own. I consider Carla a friend and am inspired daily by her. This post contains affiliate links.
I could not love this more – – because you get it. You get me 🙂 that was our goal and it made me smile to see weed achieved it. It’s all about breaking down healthy living to make adding it to YOURSELF life manageable. <3
Love this book! And you inspire me every day!
I LOVED Spirit of the Marathon! I only just saw it a few weeks ago and it brought tears to my eyes. I live in Chicago, too, and Chicago was my first marathon. So seeing all the familiar backdrops was so touching!
I feel like I should watch it again. It’s been a long time since I saw it.
This book sounds like it might be a great recommended read for my clients! I don’t know how many times I’ve said don’t beat yourself up for missing a workout or overindulging, or worrying about following something perfectly. It’s all about making it work for you!
Absolutely, especially if your clients are just beginning to make healthy choices. It’s informative, but not overwhelming.
I love the concept of this book! I’d have to agree that there is no “big secret” to a healthy lifestyle.
I saw Spirit of the Marathon a few years ago, and I also read a lot of running books. I started listening to Born to Run on audible but still haven’t gotten around to finishing it…I think I would have been better off reading it than listening to it.
I much prefer to read, but that’s my personal quirk – I don’t really learn from hearing things. I have to read them or write them down.
I have seen Carla’s book floating around the internet a lot lately! I may have to check it out!
You should! It was a good quick read.
I love “Born to Run” because for me, it made the impossible seem possible in terms of running longer distances. I also loved all of the sports science that was incorporated into the book. I’m also a sentimentalist, and still love “Chariots of Fire.”
It was a good book with lots of info! Still not sure my choice to go minimalist was my best one ever, but I finally seem to be injury free again.
Mile Markers is one of my favorite books too! I go back to that one often. I also like the Girlfriends Guide to Running too.
I haven’t read the Girlfriends Guide – I’ll have to look for that one…
I love this book too! If we’d all just keep up the little steps, we’d be amazed at the progress we’d make.
Exactly! I’m using the suggestions to try to slowly get back to my normal “not running a marathon” weight.
I love the idea of this book. It’s not extreme or unattainable – it’s all about taking little steps in the right direction.
Yes! It’s great for the non active person as a starting point and also for the active person as a reminder that just because you run, you don’t necessarily move enough.
I loveeeeee spirit of the marathon! I watch it the night before every race, and went to see the premier of SOTM2! Now I own both of them 🙂 Thanks for the book suggestion, I’ll definitely be checking it out!
I wish I had that kind of time the night before every race LOL. I’m usually running around trying to find some sort of missing running item.
I need to get that book!! Although just the title sort of gives words to how I live anyway, but I’d love some affirmation and I’m sure there’s some new stuff in there for me!
It was a good book and a quick read, so I definitely recommend it.
I’ve heard great things about this book! I haven’t read a lot of running books to be honest, but I will say that I LOVED Spirit of the Marathon 1 and 2, they got me super pumped up for marathon training!
I feel the need to watch Spirit of the Marathon 2 now…
Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives is one of my favorite books – super inspirational
I’ve never heard of that book. I’m going to have to see if I can find it.
I just recently read “Run like a Girl: Notes on Learning to Run” and it was really good! I could hear her talking in my head while I was running my half. Some of the things that she talked about were running through my head.
I also have the SparkPeople books you have, the Spark and the SparkPeople Cookbook. Love them both!
Do you use SparkPeople? I’m on there as RunningMama75 if you wanna add me 🙂
I’m not active on there. I was at one point, but I suck at tracking things…
I understand. I go through phases when I do really well and then times where I don’t. I’m trying so hard to be good this time, I seriously need to lose 50lbs. I know it would improve my running greatly.
I’m all about sleep. Say no more.
Went to bed early last night as well. Feels so good.
I want to go to that draft house you speak of!!
That book WYCWYC sounds great. I think it’s important to incorporate something like that into your daily life. I think we get too hard on ourselves when we want rest or want to enjoy a glass of wine or whatever other “not healthy” thing. We for some reason have to go go go and in order to be healthy, you have to remove everything from your diet. It isn’t true and if the majority of what you eat is good, clean food and you move your body most of your time, it’s ok to rest (you NEED rest) and it’s ok to indulge, as long as it’s not an all-the-time thing. We need to be nice to ourselves and stop looking at everything we do as positive or negative. I’ll have to check out that book!
Come to DC and we can go watch a kid’s movie and drink beer LOL.
I love WYCWYC – there’s no guilt, only common sense.
My favorite is “Run a Faster from 5K to Marathon” by Brad Hudson and Matt Fitzgerald. Comprehensive and a wide variety of running plans.