Tag Archive: marathon running


mboy258There are no books or websites (at least none that I’ve found) written for vegan men who decide to run their first marathon at the age of 59.

By way of contrast there are plenty of guide books and blogs with photos of healthy young athletes; a fact that tends to have a de-motivating effect on mature runners like yours truly.

This post therefore has the twofold aim of plugging a gap in the market and sharing my experience after finishing the gruelling 42.195 km (26.219 mile) course.

I am living proof that you can go the distance on a plant-based diet and at my age.

I am not one of life’s natural runners. At high school I made a conscious attempt to avoid the cross-country races that were part of physical education curriculum.

I only really started seriously jogging late in my 40s when the effect of the ‘dolce vita’ in Italy was starting to be evident through a rapidly expanding waistline. Continue reading

WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING by Haruki Murakami (Vintage Books, 2009)

3031024When I first read this memoir about five years ago I was a casual jogger.

Picking it up again as I train for my first marathon, I see it now as a valuable mini-manual to get into the right physical and mental state.

You don’t have to be an amateur athlete or an aspiring writer to appreciate Murakami’s down to earth words of wisdom but it helps.

As a celebrated novelist, frequently tipped for the Nobel Prize for Literature, and a prolific marathon finisher, the Japanese writer and runner shares his experiences in a style that goes beyond the standard textbooks on both pursuits. Continue reading