I’m inspired to run a marathon
I finished reading Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and it just made me fall in love with long distance running again.
In this quirky memoir of sorts, he talks about how running shaped his life as a writer. There’s an interview he did with Runner’s World here, which is a great little introduction to his book.
As the summer morphed into autumn, I increased my jogging sessions to a few times a week. The last three months have been very busy, and like the dry leaves than sweep the sidewalks with the cool breeze, my schedule has also taken on a more languid pace.
I have toyed with the idea of running a full marathon at least once in my life but never committed to one. After reading this book, I feel like throwing myself into a serious running routine for the next 12 months and would like to run one in Japan at the end of 2010 or early 2011.
It was lovely to read about Murakami’s thoughts on marathon running and writing. He throws out gems that sum up the relationship with this popular sport and being a novelist. Both are difficult, long drawn tasks where stamina, patience, a strong will are essential to being successful. I have a new admiration for him being able to endure the pain of both. But he also says very simply that the reason why people love marathons is because it’s fun.
Because of this book, I went online to find out more about this enigmatic writer. Here’s an interesting piece in The Japan Times about baby boomers, the Sarin gas attack, and his writing/running routine. And you might also want to read about the hype around his next novel, 1Q84, here.
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