auntieannie

Quick read, not much to it. I was interested in learning more about Murakami and also interested in running, so it was an obvious choice. It's a memoir, and a bit whiny at times -- this hurts, my body doesn't function as well as it did when I was younger, etc. Normal stuff, but the stuff you hear from your friend on the daily commute, not what I read a book for. "If you live in Boston, Samuel Adams draft beer (Summer Ale) and Dunkin' Donuts are essentials of life. But I discovered to my delight that even these indulgences can be offset by persistent exercise." p.15"The total amount of running I'm doing might be going down, but at least I'm following one of my basic rules for training: I never take 2 days off in a row. Muscles are like work animals that are quick on the uptake. If you carefully increase the load, step by step, they learn to take it. As long as you explain your expectations to them by showing them examples of the amount of work they have to endure, your muscles will comply and gradually get stronger. It doesn't happen overnight, of course. But as long as you take your time and do it in stages, they won't complain -- aside from the occasional long face -- and they'll very patiently and obediently grow stronger. Through repetition you input into your muscles the message that this is how much work you have to perform." p.71This discussion was kind of interesting, keeping in mind the alternate worlds of 1984 and 1Q84: "To exaggerate a bit, it was as if by completing the over-60-mile race I'd stepped into a different place. After my fatigue disappeared somewhere after the 47th-mile, my mind went into a blank state you might even call philosophical or religious. Something urged me to become more introspective, and this newfound introspection transformed my attitude toward the act of running. Maybe I no longer have the simple, positive stances I used to have, of wanting to run, no matter what." p.118-119 [His view on running eventually changes back to positive. I also found this interesting -- especially since my reaction to 1Q84 was "so what?" "No matter how much I write, though, I never reach a conclusion. And no matter how much I rewrite, I never reach the destination. Even after decades of writing, the same still holds true. All I do is present a few hypotheses or paraphrase the issue. Or to find an analogy between the structure of the problem and something else." p. 120