Ray Charbonneau
Auteur van Chasing the Runner's High: My Sixty Million-Step Program
Werken van Ray Charbonneau
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R Is for Running door Ray Charbonneau
The author is known as "the finest unknown running writer in America," which is a title I thought I had, but I'll concede. The short book is amusing and a good appetite whetter for his more extensive work, which I'll scope out. Gift this to a budding running friend. He/she will appreciate it (and gift What I Think About When I Think About Running, by Haruki Murakami to a friend who's been running for a long, long time).
“Overthinking the Marathon” is made up of various blog posts written in preparation for the author’s running of the Cape Cod Marathon. Ray has been competing in various races of all distances for many years, and wants to run a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time at his upcoming marathon. He decides to experiment, and “Overthinking the Marathon” is the result.
Read the rest of my review at: rel="nofollow" target="_top">http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/overthinking-the-marathon-ray...… (meer)
Read the rest of my review at: rel="nofollow" target="_top">http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/overthinking-the-marathon-ray...… (meer)
[Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (cclapcenter.com). I am the original author of this review, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.]
For the sake of disclosure, let me mention that author Ray Charbonneau is a good friend of the center, including being featured in some of our past anthologies, participating in our virtual book tours and more, so you should read today's review bearing all that in mind. But that said, I have to confess that I enjoyed his latest guide to long-distance running, Overthinking the Marathon, more than I have his other books on the subject; and that's perhaps because of the more personal, more anecdotal nature of this particular volume. More of a diary than a traditional guidebook, this is essentially a look at the almost six months actually leading up to a major marathon that the fiftysomething Charbonneau decided to try running competitively, reasoning that it might be his very last chance to run a marathon at a challenging speed; and so the book itself is a loosely structured series of stories, reminiscences, and practical advice, put together as a literal diary recounting the highs and lows of this training period, including the kind of metadata at the end of each entry that you might find in a runner's personal exercise log. As such, then, the format itself is its only real weakness -- the book is almost 300 pages altogether, and trying to get through the entire thing can sometimes produce the same kind of wearying feeling as when you sit down at someone's blog and read too much of the archives in one sitting -- plus of course if you simply don't like the subject of sports and the training that goes into them, you are by definition going to find this book impossibly tedious from page one. In general, though, as a non-runner I actually found this to be a pretty entertaining and interesting read, and especially when it comes to Charbonneau's funny and sometimes self-deprecating thoughts on the exponentially rising challenges of staying athletic as one gets older and older. It's not for everyone, but Overthinking the Marathon will actually appeal to more people than you might expect at first, and it's recommended that you give it a try if you have even a passing interest in the subject.
Out of 10: 8.5… (meer)
For the sake of disclosure, let me mention that author Ray Charbonneau is a good friend of the center, including being featured in some of our past anthologies, participating in our virtual book tours and more, so you should read today's review bearing all that in mind. But that said, I have to confess that I enjoyed his latest guide to long-distance running, Overthinking the Marathon, more than I have his other books on the subject; and that's perhaps because of the more personal, more anecdotal nature of this particular volume. More of a diary than a traditional guidebook, this is essentially a look at the almost six months actually leading up to a major marathon that the fiftysomething Charbonneau decided to try running competitively, reasoning that it might be his very last chance to run a marathon at a challenging speed; and so the book itself is a loosely structured series of stories, reminiscences, and practical advice, put together as a literal diary recounting the highs and lows of this training period, including the kind of metadata at the end of each entry that you might find in a runner's personal exercise log. As such, then, the format itself is its only real weakness -- the book is almost 300 pages altogether, and trying to get through the entire thing can sometimes produce the same kind of wearying feeling as when you sit down at someone's blog and read too much of the archives in one sitting -- plus of course if you simply don't like the subject of sports and the training that goes into them, you are by definition going to find this book impossibly tedious from page one. In general, though, as a non-runner I actually found this to be a pretty entertaining and interesting read, and especially when it comes to Charbonneau's funny and sometimes self-deprecating thoughts on the exponentially rising challenges of staying athletic as one gets older and older. It's not for everyone, but Overthinking the Marathon will actually appeal to more people than you might expect at first, and it's recommended that you give it a try if you have even a passing interest in the subject.
Out of 10: 8.5… (meer)
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
It's important to know before going into it that Ray Charbonneau's Chasing the Runner's High is not for everyone; in fact, it's a very specific guide geared almost exclusively to his fellow runners, one that has its general moments but that is mostly focused on very specific looks at clothing, exercises, routes, and other practical information that runners must think about when approaching their sport. As such, then, as a non-runner I found myself often drifting off during the wonkier parts of this manuscript, and as a self-published title it also has the common problem of going on much too long about subjects that few will care about (for example, an entire sub-chapter just on the various events that his Boston-based running club sponsors each year); but still, I found the more general information to be entertaining enough, and for sure written at a professional level that's worth your time. I couldn't even begin to attest whether the actual information in this book is helpful or not, but it's at least worth a look for all of you who are more versed on the subject.
Out of 10: 8.0… (meer)
It's important to know before going into it that Ray Charbonneau's Chasing the Runner's High is not for everyone; in fact, it's a very specific guide geared almost exclusively to his fellow runners, one that has its general moments but that is mostly focused on very specific looks at clothing, exercises, routes, and other practical information that runners must think about when approaching their sport. As such, then, as a non-runner I found myself often drifting off during the wonkier parts of this manuscript, and as a self-published title it also has the common problem of going on much too long about subjects that few will care about (for example, an entire sub-chapter just on the various events that his Boston-based running club sponsors each year); but still, I found the more general information to be entertaining enough, and for sure written at a professional level that's worth your time. I couldn't even begin to attest whether the actual information in this book is helpful or not, but it's at least worth a look for all of you who are more versed on the subject.
Out of 10: 8.0… (meer)
Statistieken
- Werken
- 6
- Leden
- 11
- Populariteit
- #857,862
- Waardering
- 3.5
- Besprekingen
- 4
- ISBNs
- 5