Keep On Running

I must have been running for well over 30 years now and whilst the distances - I've never really been a long distance runner (I've managed to complete a few 10K's and a single half marathon) - have got shorter I now run much more regularly than I used to, especially since I was made redundant 4 years ago. At the moment it's up to 6 or 7 days a week and the distances only vary between a mile and three miles at a time (much more usually the former!) but it always gets my day off on the right foot (and the left foot otherwise I'd be hopping) and I love being outside trundling at my own pace especially when its early and you almost feel like you have the world to yourself.
For some reason it then came into my mind that the author Haruki Murakami (of the sublime Norwegian Wood fame) had written a book on running and he has - it's called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
In 1992, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and in the book after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and writing.
Its intended to be equal parts a travelogue, training log, memoir and reminiscence covering his four month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon with the settings ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien Gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston Bay and his own funny, sobering, playful and philosophical take on exploring the population of althletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running. I might not exactly be a distance runner myself but it sounds fascinating and I will definitely be adding it to my reading pile.
I didn't want to inflict you with a shot of my 'languid' running style so when I came across the front of the box for my brother's old running heart rate monitor it provided a depiction of a much more acceptable version of a runner (he even appears to be grasping a gold nugget for good measure!) for blip purposes! :-)