Books, books, books - The brave athlete
Back in my reading pile ‘cause it’s so good:
“The brave athlete” by Simon Marshall, PhD, and Leslie Paterson
Time to talk about another book, don’t you think? I’d very much say yes, let’s do it!
I’m currently enjoying re-reading “The brave athlete” by Simon Marshall, PhD, and Leslie Paterson. And I have to say that I am enjoying it as much as I did the first time around. No small feat!
I first stumbled across this book more or less when it came out. At the time I had been running for decades, was exercising four to five times a week, going on crazy hiking and trekking vacations all over the globe, and running half marathons for fun. At the same time, I felt that signing up for a special marathon for a special birthday might just be pushing it too far, because “I am not an athlete”. Yeah, I know – now…. At the time, I was also training to become a better business and life coach as well as ultimately, a running coach. Enter a coaching session with Thomas, a fellow coach in training, who listened to me and then just asked me “So if you’re not an athlete - what are you then?” And I looked at him and thought “afraid?”
In the following days and weeks I fell down a rabbit hole called “what is an athlete”. And let me tell you, it was only mildly entertaining. I met weirdly judgemental belief systems based on results only, misogyny, and other crap, as one does in the internet.
It did however yield this book which I immediately ordered and devoured. I mean - how can you resist a book that tells you about being an athlete by pointing out you are in fact reading that book so there has to be at least part athlete in you? Spoiler alert - I couldn’t… so I got my answer and I got so much more. Things like deep dives into belief systems, ways to deal with obstacles or setbacks, as well as honing your skills for when the going gets tough.
What I really really liked the first time around was the tone set in lightness and the relatable examples. While some of this stuff can be pretty heavy, it never felt that way, even if there were chapters where I could relate to all of the examples. Oops.
The second time around reading the book finds me at a different point in my career and in my life: More experience in coaching, some training as a running coach - yeah, I don’t know how THAT happened - and more ups and downs as a runner. I now I enjoy deep diving into all the “nerd alert”- chapters which seemed to be packed with facts and still enjoyable to read. And create more oops-moments…
Would I still recommend this book? Heck yes, of course! I don’t think it has lost any of its appeal and relevance – plus it’s enjoyable for both athlete and coach.
Oh - and by the way: if you were wondering, yes, I did run that special marathon on my special birthday and it was the perfect birthday party for a running athlete!
PS the definition of brave that starts the book: “being brave is about feeling fear and getting stuck in anyway.“ So to my initial question whether I was afraid or an athlete - probably both!
Here’s more books…
How can you resist a book that tells you about being an athlete by pointing out you are in fact reading that book so there has to be at least part athlete in you? Spoiler alert - I couldn’t…