Category: Books

Happy Birthday!

We have rolled around to that time of year again. I am another year older.

My wife bought me two books off of my Amazon Wish List. She got me Running Through the Wall and Hal Higdon’s Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. I have no idea when I will actually get them, but they have been purchased for me. She gave me two envelopes with a picture of the books she bought.

I also was handed a package that was squishy. I had a pretty good idea what was in it. I had been looking for a short sleeve white shirt for a few months. I finally found one. Why it was so hard to find I am not sure. I picked it up Thursday and threw it in the shopping cart. I told my wife she could wrap it as a birthday gift since she was having trouble picking out something for me. I was a little surprised that she actually did.

I don’t think I am going to be going out and stuffing myself like I did last year. I mostly took care of that last night. We had some friends who had an open house type party. Lots of candy and such. I had more than my share. Tonight we have an activity at the church where we will be eating more candy. If I have any caloric deficit, it is being made up this weekend.

While running this morning with my friend Jeff I told him it was my birthday. Then I got a big laugh out of it. I was thinking about being 38 years old. That means that in less than a year my older brother turns 40. hehe

Review: Shoot For The Star

Shoot for the Star is the autobiography of the inspirational speaker and Dallas Cowboys football player Bill Bates. This is not a new book. It was written just after winning his team’s second trip to the Super Bowl. Bates went on to play four more years and win one more Super Bowl ring.

Unlike some of the other sports biographies I have read recently (Armstrong, Runyan) this one did not have a universal theme of overcoming incredible odds to be in the position he was in. Therefore, you really have to be a football fan, or particularly a Cowboys fan, to really enjoy this book. Fortunately for me, I am a Cowboys fan and my years of greatest interest in football were from 1984 to 1998. Bates played from 1983 to 1997. Not knowing it at the time, I basically watched Bill Bates his whole career.

The great odds that Bates did have to struggle with are the types of things that makes him a good motivational speaker today. His biggest struggle was that he was an average guy trying to make it in a game that favored the exceptional. At 6’1″ he was not overly large. I don’t know what weight he finished his career at, but at one point in the book he talked about only weighing 183 pounds. That is not very large when facing guys like Herschel Walker’s 6’1″ / 225 pounds. Bates never had a multi season contract (at least through the writing of the book) that guaranteed him a spot on the team. Each year in training camp he had to fight 150+ other men for one of the coveted 47-53 slots on the team roster.

Bill Bates is an example of your average person who wants to go out and leave a mark on the world. He shows that through hard work and tenacity a person can often beat out more talented and naturally gifted people to achieve what they desire.

This book was definitely written with the football fan in mind. It was nice to be able to read a book that did not feel like it had to explain every position on the field and what all the terms mean. That said, this is not a book that would be very interesting to someone who only has a casual knowledge of the sport.

There were just enough stats and records mentioned in the book to keep a fan intrigued without overwhelming someone with too much information.

Some of the stories he tells are incredibly hilarious. Many of the anecdotes I had to share with my wife. We laugh at some of the great antics that went on in the delivery rooms for our children. It is fun to read stories of other people’s experiences that are just as hilarious. Just imagine this: 25 people in a stressful delivery room to deliver a set of very pre-mature triplets and in the middle of them all is an excited first time, football-playing dad calling a huddle with the doctors and nurses so he can give a pep rally speech moments before delivery!

The stories from the field were especially interesting to me because many of the plays that he recounts in the book were plays I remember seeing while glued to the TV on a Sunday afternoon.

Great book for the football fan that is looking for some motivation. Probably not a book that would interest my mom. However, unlike many biographies today, this one was completely devoid of cursing and I don’t feel I missed any of the emotion shared between the players. My hat’s off to an author who manages to keep it clean.

Shoot for the Star, Bill Bates, Word Publishing, 1994, 238 pages.

Review: It’s Not About the Bike

I have to give high praises to Sally Jenkins once again for her writing skills. Like the previous book I read which was co-written by her, this one is well done. This time she teams up with Lance Armstrong in his first book It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life.

I have not previously known much about Lance Armstrong other than he is an amazing cyclist and the winner of 7 straight Tour de France races. I also know him as a marathon runner in the last two New York City Marathons.

The first of the book outlines a bit of his childhood. It does not dwell too long on it, for which I was thankful. Lance proved himself to be a angry kid with a chip on his shoulder, a typical jerk. The quicker we moved away from that, the better. Unfortunately, I think that is a character trait that he never outgrew. He may have softened in some areas, but, by his own admission in the book, it lasted quite some time. He bares it all in the book.

The fascinating thing about the book is his journey through cancer. He had testicular cancer which was not discovered until it was in a very progressed, late stage. By the time it was found in October 1996 it had already spread into his lungs and brain. Though I knew he had cancer, until I read this book, I did not know how severe his situation was. The whole process of chemotherapy, physically and emotionally, was inspirational as well as very emotional. I had no concept of what chemo did to a body. I know that not everyone goes through the same type of treatments for cancer, but I have a new appreciation for the emotional strength it takes for someone to endure such events.

The book then covers his physical recovery from the cancer and details his emotional hardships to overcome the fact that he was a survivor. His “jerk” status that he established as a kid (for me) was confirmed in the year after his fight with cancer. He basically lived the next year totally defeated. This was taken out on everyone around him who tried to help him through the struggle. Eventually he was able to snap out of his funk and get back to what he loved doing.

The final part of the book is his account of winning his first Tour de France in 1999. He talks a great deal about his wife during this part of the book. He emphasized the fact that he was going to be the best husband and father he could be. Since the book was written 7 years ago he has royally failed in those areas. Though I said I don’t know much about him, I have heard about some of his relationships since his break up from his first wife. Not much of a model father and husband.

I found it ironic tonight as I was thinking about writing this review, I looked up his wife to see what she is currently up to. She is now living life as a committed endurance runner. She writes for Runner’s World and while Lance was running the NYC Marathon yesterday, she was running a half marathon in California.

While I may not think very highly of Lance Armstrong as a role model, I do respect him for his amazing feats of athleticism. I cannot fully put my stamp of approval on the book since the amount of cursing was way more than I was comfortable with. However, if you are curious about the toll taken on someone’s life in the process of fighting cancer, I don’t know of a better introduction to the subject. It is an inspirational read.

It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins, Putnum, 2000, 275 pages.

Review: No Finish Line: My Life As I See It

This morning I finished reading a very enjoyable autobiography by Marla Runyan. Among her list of accomplishments as a runner are participation in 2 Olympic games (only 1 as of the writing of the book). She currently holds the 5000 meter indoor track world record. She ran competitive hurdles and competed in the heptathlon. All of which is amazing to be sure. What is more amazing is when you learn that she is blind!

She really tries to downplay her blindness in every day life. If you met her today (from what I have read about her) she certainly does not make a big deal of it and chooses to focus on the fact that she is an athlete primarily. But, I am glad that she got into the whole story of her blindness within the book.

For those of you who are not runners, have no fear, this book is not as much about running as it is about her life and story. While the second half of the book is focused on her first trip of the Olympics by the time you get to that point you will be so entranced with the story of her life you just have to know how it ends. However, “the future has not been written.” Or, at least her life is far from over. Since the writing of the book she has competed in the 2004 Olympics, had a baby and is continuing with Olympic hopes for 2008.

Her blindness is caused by Stargardt’s disease, for which there is no cure. She has some peripheral vision, though it is not even good enough with which to read.

The book is not a political one. It really is simply her autobiography, but she does end the book with some great words.

I have also learned that running saves lives. It saved mine, and Matt’s [her boyfriend at the time]. Running has the potential to alter lifestyles and priorities. I believe that many of the diseases and conditions that plague our society–hypothyroidism, Type II diabetes, obesity–are the results of a lifestyle of poor judgment. Children run. This is a fact. Yet, somewhere between puberty and adulthood, they stop running and start slouching and dragging their feet. And they sustain themselves on staples of potato chips and Coca-Cola. And the cycle continues.

Perhaps it’s idealistic of me to believe that the world could be saved if only everyone started running. “I don’t have the time,” people say, or “I’m not a runner.” There are a million excuses. But the body was made to move. Muscles, tendons, heart, and lungs were designed to be challenged and to move our bodies through our environment naturally. I believe that running is the fountain of youth. You need not look any farther than inside your own body to find a way to feel and look younger. Beauty comes from the inside out. Running doesn’t require an expensive gym membership or a lot of equipment. Kenyan children run barefoot along the grass fields and unpaved roads of their villages….

Basically, what it comes down to is a choice: a decision to do the opposite of what mainstream America tells you to do every day. There is no secret, no pill, no quick fix. Put away the Snackwells and the fat-free potato chips, and shop in the produce section more often. Leave your car in the garage. Move your body. Breathe. Sweat. Eat less. Drink water. A line from Matt’s favorite movie, The Shawshank Redemption, says it best: Get busy living, or get busy dying.

This is the only “preaching” she does in the book. The rest is the very interesting story of her life. Whether you are a runner, or never plan to be, I think you can find the book very enjoyable and inspiring.

My thanks to Terry for loaning me the book. He told me it was an “easy read” to which I have to agree. I am typically not a fast reader, but this book captured my interest so much that I finished it in just a few days.

No Finish Line: My Life As I See It. Marla Runyan with Sally Jenkins. Berkly Books. 2001. 303 pages.

Review: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

I had seen the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves on the shelf in our local library some time back, but did not think to pick it up until I heard Grammar Girl mention it and it seemed like a fascinating book.The theme of the book is punctuation. As boring as that may sound, it was actually a very enjoyable book to read. The author, Lynne Truss, is a very enjoyable writer. The book is obviously British and you can see that in her writing style. She did a fairly good job at pointing out the differences between British and American punctuation. I read the North American version of the book.

She had very humorous examples in the book to illustrate her points. One was a precious love letter that completely changed meaning when just the punctuation was re-arranged. The second version was a vitriolic letter to a spurned lover.

If you are not at all interested in grammar and proper punctuation, then this is not the book for you. It would definitely take a certain kind of geek to enjoy it. Which, by the way, I did immensely.