I realize now that these weekly posts aren't really about what actually happened in the past week, but rather stuff I managed to dig up from the internet in that given time period. And a general dumping ground for stuff irrelevant to an actual blog post, since I don't blog on days I don't exercise. Maybe these posts now deserve a different, more exciting heading. Oh well, here they are:
- List of books on running. Pdf of an appendix from something called Timeless Running Wisdom. Don't know what it is, could be a book. I thought I would save the list here in case I will later find it useful.
- Only You (Marathon special episode). There is a reality show in China called Only You (非你莫属）, which is about seeking jobs. As far as I know there are at least two similar shows in China on this topic. A "contestant" would come up, a job seeker, to face a panel of 12 bosses. They are real bosses in charge of fairly large companies in China, and in a face-to-face interview with the contestant (which in reality lasts about an hour but is then edited into a ~15 min. segment), make a decision whether to hire the job seeker. I used to be obsessed about this show but my enthusiasm has diminished somewhat. But I recently learned that they had a special marathon episode, for which they brought a number of high executives who runs or have complete marathons, among them a guy named Tongsheng Tian, who started running when he was 55 and has completed over 35 marathons since he started (he's 61 now). The episode was aired earlier this month, very appropriate to my current life events. Anyway, there are many reasons why this show organized a running themed episode, but I was intrigued and watched it. Wasn't too impressed with the episode, mostly because the four contestants who came up weren't very impressive. And overall the episode only tangentially related to running, and got annoying by the end (the bosses kept saying to the contestant that he should start running marathons, which is probably the worst way to get someone who doesn't usually find running fun to start). But I liked the spirit of the episode. I don't know how big running is in China, or how popular running marathons has been or when the enthusiasm started, but it's an entirely new culture I discovered. It's not completely separated from the running culture here, in fact a lot of the valuable running-related books are translated English best sellers, Born to Run and Running&Being among them.
- Speaking of this Tongsheng Tian, I've only recently learned about him. But apparently he's a big inspiration in China (or he has been advertised as such) and is considered one of the pioneers for introducing the people to marathon running as a sport. He recently published a graphical autobiography on his journey from an out-of-shape, 55-year-old man to the distance runner he is today. I haven't been able to get a hold of a copy of the book yet, and I'm sure his story is very motivating and inspiring, but the concept of a graphic book (comic book), the cover design, and even the title, seem to me a terrible plagiarism on an already popular book a Japanese female illustrator published on her own marathon running experience. Just look at the covers and tell me if it's a coincidence:
Tongsheng Tian's new book, illustrated by his daughter (released just last month).
Naoko Takagi's book on her running her first marathon (the Chinese translated edition was released in 2011).
Oh, and guess what, Takagi has "written" several books since then as a series of her marathoning adventure.
Year 2, Chinese translation released in 2012
Year 3, on marathoning and eating at all the places she's run. Chinese translation released in Nov, 2013.
Her most recent book in this series, on marathoning abroad. It's so new that the translated edition is not even out yet. I can't wait to read it~
You tell me what you think. If you want to have an inspirational book on marathon running, a book by a great Chinese runner on a great running story, at least be original and not be so obnoxiously plagiaristic. I believe his experience is real, but doing a book this way just makes him less respectable. I'm sorry, but I truly feel that.
- A review of the North Face Ultra Trail Shoe. Not that I'm looking for a pair of trail shoes, but I was reading this post and could only understand about 1/3 of it. I couldn't understand all the things this guest blogger is talking about with regard of the shoes he's reviewing. So I will save the link here and go back another day to figure what everything means.
- Tips for training for a 10K. Just to have it, should be useful.
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