Fireside Reads

By Laura Clark

We have all pondered the adage, “Running is 90% mental and 10% physical.” So, this New Year’s why not give it a go? When conditions are totally awful or you just can’t face another treadmill session, retreat to your fireplace, sip a glass of wine or a mug of hot chocolate, and relax without guilt while you recharge. The following selections range from inspirational, to training advice, to an ultramarathon thriller – yes, there is such a thing! One good read could be enough to get you out the door!

If you’re sitting by the fireplace, I’m guessing that you first need a good dose of inspiration. Open Chasing the Grid: An Ultrarunner’s Physical and Spiritual Journey in Pursuit of the Ultimate Mountain Challenge, penned by Kenneth Posner. If his name sounds vaguely familiar, it should be. A devotee of the Catskills’ Escarpment Trail Run and Thatcher State Park, he also authored Running the Long Path and is the founder of Run Wild, Inc., a New York State non-profit whose mission is to raise funds for land conservation and stewardship in the Hudson Valley and beyond, by organizing running races and through other activities. Visit and you might spot some familiar faces: runwildhv.org. 

When his running ambitions were put on hold due to a recurrent ankle injury, Ken focused on completing the obscure Catskill Grid, a challenge where you summit 35 Catskill peaks in each of the 12 months of the year for a total of 420 separate ascents. Similarly, the Catskills 4 Seasons 140 program requires hikers to summit each of the 35 High Peaks in each of the four seasons. While the Catskills are not as tall as the Adirondacks, the trails are less defined and involve considerable bushwacking and navigational skills. As a Wall Street analyst, he goes overboard with detailed appendages listing species observed, grid charts completed and sample operational plans which come close to a military campaign. He eventually took a leave of absence to complete his new obsession and write this book. 

Fueled by the writings of John Burroughs, Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau, Ken Posner reassessed and learned to go beyond performance to thoughtful enjoyment, with the seasons of life echoing the seasons of nature. If interested, listen to Tayte Pollman’s ATRA interview with Ken: trailrunner.com/trail-news/author-ken-posners-trail-transformation-in-chasing-the-grid.

Not ready to commit to a full-on read? Then sample The Unforgiving Hours: The Grit, Resilience, and Perseverance at the Heart of Endurance Sports, by Shannon Hogan. Getting through this book need not be an ultra event and need not be about running. Shannon traces the paths of 10 athletes chasing cutoffs: biking through jungle terrain on a one-speed, tackling Alaska’s 200 kilometer “Iditasport” adventure, and 70-year-old Gunhild Swanson’s last minute victory at Western States. Makes heading out around the neighborhood in the cold darkness seem eminently doable. With a writing style that rivals Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run penchant for abandoning the storyline to investigate culture and historical background, Shannon Hogan, herself an endurance athlete, provides an aside-laden approach to each accomplishment.

Eager to turn serious and delve a bit deeper into the far-reaching implications of running? Then try Better, Faster, Farther: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women, by Maggie Mertins. A sports journalist, Maggie begins before our usual starting point – Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb and Kathrine Switzer, pioneering women who broke barriers in marathon running – and travels backwards roughly 100 years to investigate male efforts to keep women corseted and immobile. Her premise is that woman’s relentless, albeit glacial, quest towards sports inclusion opened the door to equality on other fronts as well. 

Getting back to Roberta “Bobbi” Gibb, did you know that when she applied to medical school she was rejected because she was “too pretty,” the fear being that she would distract the “real” doctors? Or, more recently, that Paula Radcliff was heartily criticized for not retiring from competition when she became pregnant? Even now, the laced corsets continue to reappear in other forms as Maggie dips her toe into today’s male/female controversy, hesitantly venturing into the feelings approach. If you feel like a woman, does that make you a woman? Her book raises yet more questions. It gets us to think, which is, ultimately, a good thing.

For those who are just beginning, sample Think Like a Runner: Understand Why We Run and How to Do It Better, by Jeff Horowitz. An author and coach, Jeff, guides you on your running journey, from contemplation, to finding the time, to gear choice and through the decision to enter a race. He touches on form, speedwork, cross-training, weather, and injuries. Most importantly, he is accepting of your personal needs, non-judgmental and encouraging. He emphasizes that running is just as much mental as physical, meaning that at some point you have to surrender your cozy fireplace and just get out and do it. Generally, once you are out there, you discover that it is not so difficult and return with a radiant glow that has nothing to do with couching next to a warm fire. Eventually, you will come to appreciate and add to some of Jeff’s ‘You know you’re a runner’ tips, such as “You think cool and cloudy is perfect weather” and “When someone says Thanksgiving, you think Turkey Trot.”

Foot and foot with all that training goes the familiar disconnect between fueling and simply eating. Not all calories are created equal and some, while fun, do not perform as well. Kylee Van Horn’s Practical Fueling for Endurance Athletes: Your Nutrition Guide for Optimal Performance, provides a nudge in the right direction. We all hate having someone tell us what to do, especially for something that seemingly requires no particular skill and Kylee’s laid-back approach makes nutrition seem doable rather than all-or-nothing threatening. With an extensive selection of recipes and a list of snacking options that go beyond the standard banana or bag of chips, she will help you form your own individualized game plan to go along with your training goals.

And what is a fireplace without a suspenseful mystery book? Runner 13, by Amy McCulloch proves a compelling read that will have you adding yet another log to the fire just to prolong your stay. Set during an imaginary Sahara Desert stage race, race director Boones, like our real-life Lazarus Lake of Barkley Marathons fame, is hoping for failure, wanting to test just how far contestants will push themselves. Boones is a master puppeteer who delights in changing the rules while the race is in progress. Connecting all is the bib, the ritual armor you don prior to every race, indicating you are ready and worthy to compete. Traditionally, Boones awards bib #13, with its dark magical undertones, to someone he expects to be noticed either for fast times or daring exploits. But for Adrienne, it becomes a target and she discovers herself literally running for her life. 

And, if all else fails, open Cassidy Randall’s Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali. Journey back to the 1970s when women were denied access to male-dominated climbing expeditions and join mountaineer Grace Hoemen as she assembles her “Denali Damsels” team. Suffering from altitude sickness near the top, Grace must decide whether to soldier on and risk her team’s effort. There is no good choice. If nothing else, you will come to appreciate that surviving an hour at 10 degrees Fahrenheit is eminently doable. 

Sit back, enjoy your fireplace and beverage of choice, and dare to dream!

Laura Clark (snowshoegal133@gmail.com) of Saratoga Springs is an avid trail runner, ultramarathoner, snowshoer and cross-country skier. She is a children’s librarian at the Saratoga Springs Public Library.