Tri Book Club

So here's what I've been reading both tri and not

I've been very s-l-o-w-l-y reading Breakthrough Triathlon Training / Brad Kearns Not because it's not good but because I keep trying to read it before bed and I keep falling asleep book in hand, glasses on. It's not a traditional training book like a what to do when, how to build a program, technique improvement etc. It's more of a narrative. He talks a lot about the importance of positive mental games. Stories about the pros he's met. What I've taken away from it is the lesson to enjoy every workout completely. ****

Here's a little secret about me. I'm a closeted hippie. My parent were crazy hippies and it's apparently rubbed off on me! I'm sure it's not a huge surprise after you find out that I drive a Smart car in MASSIVE TRUCKS CALGARY. I harassed Dale the bike tech at Speed Theory when he said to just throw the tube into the ditch! But I'm digressing. A friend recommended Brendan Brazier's Thrive Diet to me. Initially I thought cool a Vegan Ironman. While the book has a lot of interesting points and some even more interesting recipes I was bothered by the tone. He wrote a lot of fairly scientific knowledge as fact without footing the date. As a professional researcher I am sceptical about information passed on as truth without backup. I agree that whole food eating is far healthier, I just don't think I'm tree huggin'/granola eatin'/Birkenstock wearin' enough to not cook my food above 275! **

Finally, for the non-tri/sport related, The Abstinence Teacher / Tom Perrotta. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tom Perotta. He wrote the books that were made in movies like Election and Little Children. He write the ultimate suburban satire, what's really going on behind those fences? In Abstinence Teacher he take on opposing sides of the right to pray. A small suburban town has been taken over by a new evangelical church. The book is written in a he said/she said style with the male being a former rock band member, hard core drug using now turned member of the Tabernacle Church. The female is portrayed by Ruth a sex teacher who has had her knuckles slapped by suggesting in class that that oral sex can be enjoyable. (Insert Hot Tube joke here) The two square off over a soccer match when he starts praying with Ruth's daughter. What Perrotta does masterfully is teach without preach. He resists the need to tell the reader what to think about either side of this hot potato issue. ****

Next up

Triathlon for Women / Sally Edwards
Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes / Monique Ryan
A reread of Anne of Green Gables to celebrate the 100 year anniversary
The Way They Were: Dealing with Your Parents' Divorce After a Lifetime of Marriage Which I hope to never have to recommend to anyone.