When you are an injured runner you tend to find other things to do. One of those things for me over the last few months is reading. I’m not a BIG reader, in fact you could say I am a non-reader unless it’s something I am really passionate about or find easy to read.

I’ve been lucky to have not only one opportunity but two; Thank you Runner’s World.

Meb For Mortals. How to Run, Think, and Eat like a Champion Marathoner By Meb Keflezighi – {You know, the 2014 BOSTON MARATHON WINNER!!!} with Scott Douglas.

I was kinda nervous to even turn the pages in this book. I’m not an elite athlete. I’m just your average every day female with a vegan husband and am a Mom to two little girls that likes to run….and set some goals for herself. I thought this book might be more for the experienced runner, the faster runners, the ones that run FULL marathons all the time, ya know.

It’s not, it’s for everyone.

There are nine chapters:

1. Think like Meb: How to set goals and achieve them but also what do to when you don’t.
2. Run like Meb: Focusing on good running form. I learned a lot in this section. I’ve never been truly coached as a runner {many other sports such as soccer, volleyball, badminton but never running}. I felt like this section will help me think about my form when I am running and what I should be doing which is great.
   • What’s interesting about this section is that it brought me back to my days of competitive soccer. Almost all the running drills Meb demonstrates in this section I did during soccer warm ups/cool downs. I was 14 when I learned about Fartleks and Caricoa (moving laterally at a skipping pace} though I never learned the technical name for the last one until reading this book. It all clicked for me…during my soccer training, I was learning physical literacy skills focused on running. Those skills are key for soccer. So, thanks Meb for clarifying that for me…honestly, a light-bulb moment.
3. Train like Meb: “Be a student of the sport”. Learning from others will help your own gain in running.
   • Meb talks about the importance of “long runs”, interval workouts, recovery runs, FARTLEKS, hill workout and altitude training. I’m not sure if I could pull off any great altitude training other then running on top of the south/north mountain where I live but something to think about!
   • He also shares some training examples and shares his own.
4. Race like Meb: How do be your best mentally and physically on race day!
   • Good sleep the week before is more important then the night before the race. This happened to me last year and I ran a PB! I remember a good runner/triathlon friend telling me that and I’ve never forgotten that advice. So since Meb does it…I’m going to continue this habit.
   • He also give some good tips on sunglasses but I’m going to leave that one out so you can read it yourself 😉
5. Eat like Meb: I’m kinda already like Meb here 🙂 I don’t eat fast food very often and rarely drink alcohol and have a massive sweet tooth just like him! Who would have known! He talks about weight control in this section as well.
6. Strengthen like Meb: This section was a big learning for me. Really, why should I {a runner} strength train? What am I going to get out of it? Well, I do know that it will help with preventing injury….since I’m injured but on the mend finally.
   • He provides images of strength training exercise you can do with your own body weight, exercise balls (I might steal some for work) and a small ball (bosu type ball).
7. Stretch like Meb: Meb talks about why we should stretch. There are many days last fall post half marathon that I did not stretch after an easy 5-8k run – this big mistake lead me to my injury. Not only does he think stretching is important but yoga and pilates as well.
   • In this chapter he provides images / demonstrations of numerous flexibility stretches.
8. Cross-Train like Meb: Did you know Meb has an Elliptigo for cross-training? I didn’t even know what this was until last fall when I met a store owner who road one to work. He talks about why to cross train when healthy and injured (thank you) and the best forms of cross-training if health or injured.
9. Recover like Meb: If you didn’t understand why you need recovery days, rest days before; this is your chapter to learn! Not only that, Meb provides some tips on speeding the recovery process which I know a lot of runners do…myself included.

That’s a lot of Meb 😉 

I felt comfortable with the content of the book once I started reading. I learned a lot and know that this is going to be another must-have/go-to book for me and my running. There is a lot of information to learn and I’m already planning on taking my highlighter to it in a few days.

A few key points for me:

• Setting goals: “They should be things you want to achieve yourself, not to meet someone else’s expectations”.
• “Training and desire are what ultimately get you to the finish line”.
• I liked that he gives short little tips to try if you are pressed for time (5 minute warm up, 5 minute strengthening workout).
• Even elite athletes can race after a significant injury.
• I need to work on my running form!

I feel like there are a lot of runners (friends, acquaintances, bloggers) that I know/have met who would really benefit from this book to take them to the next level with their running. Now, I’m not saying that these people don’t know what they are doing…they are way ahead of me (or so I think) and the advice Meb provides in his book, I think would help them.

For more information on MEB:

You can buy the book here:  http://bit.ly/MebFM15PR

Meb on Facebook

Meb on Twitter 

Meb on Instagram

Co-author Scott Douglas on Twitter

Please note: I was provided “Meb for Mortals” by Runners’ World to share a review on my blog; All opinions are my own 🙂

Do you want to run like Meb?

Are you going to watch Boston this weekend?

Can you relate your current running back to your childhood sports/learnings?