Week Four (Catching Back Up): Triathlon 101 by John Mora

I’m not a triathlete, but I’ve thought a time or three about trying a tri.  I hear that the Bob Hoskins triathlon in the (South Carolina) Upstate is a good one for newbies, and I’m sure I would appreciate the opportunity to complete one at the height of summer since I’m always cold.  Also, I received a fancy schmancy racing bike for Christmas and figure that triathlon training would give me motivation to go out and actually ride a bike instead of just gong to spin class once or twice a week (in addition to running and strength training).

This book has a lot of good information for the multisport novice: how swimming is all about good technique whereas endurance is key in cycling and running, the importance of “brick” workouts (biking plus running in one go) and practicing the transition from swimming to the bike ride and from the bike ride to the run, to name just a few things.  One of the biggest takeaways for me is that, even though Bob Hoskins is still six months away, I would probably be better off waiting until 2016 and taking time this spring and summer to get more comfortable with the bike (my first-ever 21-speed bike, and I haven’t ridden one outside in almost 20 years) and to work with a swim coach until I can competently execute more than a sidestroke and a breaststroke.  Better to learn these things before one is fully committed, I suppose…

I was a bit disappointed in some of the advice about preventing and treating running injuries.  Perhaps it’s a sign of this book’s age (it was first published in 1999), but he way overemphasizes orthotics and doctor stuff that may or may not do more than diagnose the problem.  There’s no mention of active release techniques (ART) or any other type of myofascial release, which (in my ample experience) is less expensive and more effective than seeing an orthopedist for anything less than a fracture.  Not that I’m at a point of seeking advice on how to deal with injury (as a competitive runner, I’ve been through nearly everything once), but I would pity any beginners who didn’t know to look elsewhere for more reliable information on injury treatment and prevention.

Good book overall, in spite of some deficiencies, and I’ll definitely keep this one within reach whenever I do undertake to complete a tri.

Week Three (Already Falling Behind): The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Last weekend’s post would have gone up a day late due to birthday weekend festivities, but then I locked the book I was reading (Triathlon 101, which will be the subject of the next post) and both my car keys in the trunk of my BMW and ended up waiting three days for a third car key to arrive at the dealership.  Fortunately, I still had access to my mobile devices and used the waiting period to shamelessly read a 40-pager that had been on my to-read list for years: Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.

Much of the world’s oldest military treatise is just as dry as one would expect – it was information that emperors and generals needed in order to successfully wage war against their enemies.  While reading, though, it was interesting to note its relevance to wars fought within the last two centuries and even currently.  A few examples:

“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.”  Hmm…

“It is only one who I thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.”  For example, not in a prolonged fashion…

“Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.” Sounds like something I read in a book on Zen Buddhism about how no two moments on Earth are the same.  That’s not about warfare, just something to contemplate and be mindful of.

“…to take a long and circuitous route, after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him, to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of DEVIATION.” This reminds me of how Chicken George outwits the enemy at the end of Roots. (What?  You haven’t read or seen it?  Well, check it out if you have a library card!)

“…an army without its baggage-train is lost; without provisions it is lost; without bases of supply it is lost.” The Napoleonic Wars, the Civil War and any number of wars through the ages have been decided by access to supplies and munitions.

This 40-pager even had pictures, so it’s not even like I read 40 whole pages.  But hey – I was about to read it over a couple of lunch breaks at work and resume reading the triathlon book once I was able to open my trunk.  More about that in the next post!

Week Two: Shame by Salman Rushdie

Even though Salman Rushdie’s my favorite writer and has been for years, this is the first time I’ve ever read two books of his back-to-back.  Maybe I was afraid of enjoying too much of a good thing, or perhaps it’s because his fiction is always such a wild ride that afterwards I feel that I need to read something lighter and brother.  In any case, I did it so that I could say I finished a book of his that I started over a year ago so that I could turn the page, as they say, and I’m glad I finally did.  A synopsis is available, among other places, here.

I really enjoyed this book when I started it but lost my momentum at some point.  When I picked it back up, I felt that the story was all over the place and stayed that way until the last 50 or 70 pages.  Once the relationships between all the characters and their individual stories is established, though, it starts hurtling along at a pretty good clip.  Shakespeare’s influence is apparent toward the end; the narrator references Julius Caesar, but I saw shades of Macbeth toward the end as well.  I gave this one four stars on Goodreads because I found the story’s apparent disorganization off-putting until I’d made it most of the way through.  Midnight’s Children was sometimes irksome for this reason (e.g. the intertext chapters where he returns to the present to address a character who doesn’t appear in the story until the end).  Thankfully, he changed his approach to the epic novel after writing this one, and the more-or-less linear progression in The Satanic Verses and the novels he’s written since has been a lot easier to follow.  I’m sad that he hasn’t published anything since Joseph Anton (2012; read it, loved it), but when he does, I’ll be one of the first to download it.

Week One: Nonfiction by Salman Rushdie

The first book I’ve read toward fulfillment of my resolution is Salman Rushdie’s Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002.  Although Salman Rushdie is my all-time favorite writer, I’m up past my bedtime as I type this and there are too many good things to say about this book, so I’ll keep it simple and provide a few highlights.

He drew me in with the first essay analyzing The Wizard of Oz (the appeal to Indian moviegoers, books vs. film, themes in both and little-known facts about the making of the movie) and kept me hooked with the many essays, lectures, open letters, monthly columns, etc. dealing with his life in hiding and the efforts that so many people made on his behalf to pressure Iran into canceling the fatwa issued by the ayatollah when The Satanic Verses was first published.  Within these collected works I saw ample fodder for his memoir, Joseph Anton (another great read), and I’m certain that he went back through them in order to write the draft.  It was interesting to read them as they were written at the time, without knowing how his own story would end, and to see what he had to say about things going on in the world at the time that were not directly related to his own circumstances.  Particularly memorable (for me) are the columns from early 2001 titled “The Grinch Who Stole America” and “It Wasn’t Me.”  Five stars out of five on Goodreads!