Wait for the Movie

Looking for the Davey Tree/United Way race results? The Viper's helpful post is here.

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Bart Yasso has been a great ambassador to the sport of running. He has run in some amazing places and has had some great adventures. He started his own race. He devised his own simple, yet effective, marathon prediction workout. He is not an elite runner, though he has won a marathon. He has staved off Lyme Disease and overcome drug addiction.

Yasso's reasons for running are probably similar to yours. He seems like one of us. So when I got his book, My Life on the Run, I really wanted to like it, but it was just OK.

The first and largest section of My Life on the Run serves as a memoir and recounts Yasso's running adventures. Parts of this section were excerpted in the June issue of Runner's World. That preview was akin to the movie trailer that ruins most of the good jokes of a comedy.

You get the Badwater experience, the naked race, the donkey dash and the rhino encounter. Sounds exciting! And it is, on the surface, but don't expect much more than reportage from this book. While these running adventures are amusing to read, there isn't much substance to the passages. If you're expecting philosophical insights, go read George Sheehan.

The second section of the book is something I can really do without: page after page of training schedules. I should expect this from Rodale, which also publishes Runner's World, but training principles are not why I wanted to read this book.

Granted, more explanation on "Yasso 800s" and the "Perfect 10" schedule (based on a 10-day cycle, instead of seven days) would have been fine since these are Yasso's principles, but then Yasso essentially writes, If this plan isn't for you, here are some more traditional training schedules. Which, by the by, you can find anywhere else.

The final section of the book is a brief description of Yasso's "can't miss" races. Frankly, I only flipped through this section, as I currently have no plans to race outside Ohio. When I have the time and money to take my running on the road, I'll revisit these recommendations. Meanwhile, Yasso ought to check out the Akron Marathon.

My Life on the Run is an amusing and fast read. Yasso's running life is well-reported, but left un-excavated. It's the type of book that would be perfectly at home in your bathroom.

Viper's Quick Review: Dust off your library card.

Next planned pick-ups: Everyday Drinking by Kingsley Amis; All the Way Home by David Giffels.