Hey, we’re all on summer vacation a little bit lately, right? So I figured we’d go with what I’ve heard is a super fun and insightful read, and use it for July & August as our beach / cottage read. So, grab a copy of “Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory” by by Deena Kastor with Michelle Hamilton and let’s dive in!
I’m especially stoked to read this because there are a couple of projects I have sitting on the backburner that would essentially be doing what Michelle Hamilton has done with Deena, so I’m excited to see how the two collaborated to tell Deena’s amazing story. And of course, with the 50km mountain run coming up in just a few weeks, I need some more running motivation!
OK, so why I’m into it: It’s all about dealing with burnout looming, and the idea that training your brain and being kinder to yourself would actually help her reach her running goals. I just wrote about dealing with some training setbacks—$hit can’t always go smooth—so I could use a little of that grace and resiliency. And I loved the concepts of mindfulness and calmness on the run brought out in Mindful Running (our first Athletic Bookworm read!). Deena was quoted extensively in that book and I loved her thoughts in there, so I’m excited to read the more narrative version of her full story.
The synopsis: “Deena Kastor was a star youth runner with tremendous promise, yet her career almost ended after college, when her competitive method—run as hard as possible, for fear of losing—fostered a frustration and negativity and brought her to the brink of burnout. On the verge of quitting, she took a chance and moved to the high altitudes of Alamosa, Colorado, where legendary coach Joe Vigil had started the first professional distance-running team. There she encountered the idea that would transform her running career: the notion that changing her thinking—shaping her mind to be more encouraging, kind, and resilient—could make her faster than she’d ever imagined possible. Building a mind so strong would take years of effort and discipline, but it would propel Kastor to the pinnacle of running—to American records in every distance from the 5K to the marathon—and to the accomplishment of earning America’s first Olympic medal in the marathon in twenty years.”
Into it? Let’s get reading!
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