Book review: what I talk about when I talk about running

Whatever respect I had for Haruki Murakami as a writer - which is considerable - it’s nothing compared to discovering that he has run an ultramarathon. The man is a mental and physical genius! Throughout WITAWITAR he talks as runner and as novelist, and throughout he gives the sense that he cannot be one without being the other.

As you can tell from the title, he really likes running. The book is framed around Murakami’s love for running, but don’t be fooled - it’s much more than that! As a runner myself I found the book very inspiring. I’ve run three marathon in my life and absolutely loved the sheer planning, preparation and effort to commit to months of training that comes down to a single race-day. Then Haruki aims to run a marathon a year (mostly at incredible times) and even tackles the dreaded ultra-marathon and triathlon. Joking aside, I was incredibly inspired by the way he picked up running in the middle of his life as someone who hadn’t really dabbled in the sport before and I’ve since been motivated to try some long distance running again. So thanks Haruki.

If you’re looking for an insight into the mind of a modern genius, some motivation to garner mental resilience, Haruki invests a lot of time and energy in this activity to overcome the physical pain and mental challenge associated with running and the sheer feeling of being alive.

(Non-runners should not be put off by the title of the book, a play on Raymond Carver's “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”, because while the neuroses and obsessions of the runner leap from every page, along the way we learn little things about Murakami the writer and Murakami the man).