An event in London on Thursday
My Love Affair... WITH RUNNING: Raziq Rauf and Hattie Williams
Thursday, July 23 | 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Stoke Newington Bookshop
159 Stoke Newington High Street
London N16 0NY
This Thursday, I’ll be in conversation with Hattie Williams at Stoke Newington Bookshop, and we’ll be talking about writing books about running from both a fiction and non-fiction standpoint.
We’ll discuss why we love running so much, how we speak about it in different ways, and how running impacts our respective creative processes.
AND we’re having an after-party at Johnny Boy’s (a brand new American-style diner that looks really good) around the corner. If you’re in London, you’d be a fool to miss it.
The only running book in Selfridges??
I never expected it, but this is exactly where This is Running should be. Allow me a moment to celebrate, please.
I’ve worked hard enough over my career to understand what I’m good at (or not) to have confidence in my writing. The level of writing inside the book is good enough to get over 5,000 of you reading my work every week, but I do judge a book by its cover. That’s where Batsford, my publisher, comes in.
Somewhat superficially, Selfridges only really stocks beautiful books. They’re positioned as books to make your home beautiful, and Batsford makes some of the most beautiful hardcovers around, in my opinion. That’s why I went to them in the first place. The fact you can also gain value by reading mine is almost a bonus with this perspective.
Personally, having so much digital output is great – writing is writing, after all – but creating a beautiful physical artifact was high on my priority list for This is Running. Many of you have told me that you want the paperback/eBook/audiobook but seeing the real-time reaction of people holding the hardcover is confirmation enough of what I planned to create.
Get your copy of, This is Running
USA - Bookshop.org US | Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Signed copy (US)
UK - Bookshop.org UK | Amazon UK | Waterstones
Is Josh Kerr running’s greatest storyteller??
This weekend saw the culmination of Josh Kerr’s Project 222, where he aimed to break the world record for the mile, which has stood for 27 years.
I have been fully invested in the saga from when he first publicly announced his intent, back in March. I saw his two 800m training races in Los Angeles, and was overjoyed to realize that I would be in London for the grand finale at the Diamond League.
I wrote 1000 words on how Josh is intent on reeling people into middle-distance track for Tempo Journal.
Watching Josh Kerr power through the final 200m was one of the most exhilarating sporting moments that I’ve ever witnessed first-hand, and I was on the finish line for the two sub-2hr marathoners in London in April.
The following day, I was lucky enough to meet Josh Kerr IRL at a Trackstaa podcast recording. My son, who accompanied me to the two meets in LA as well as the London Athletics Meet on the weekend, drew Josh a poster commemorating his massive win. That my kid ran his own mile race a few weeks ago in LA was a nice piece of commonality. (Yes, I believe I’ve successfully groomed/recruited a new runner.)
For all the criticism that Josh Kerr gets for being bold and transparent with his words and his charismatically glam accessories on the track, there’s no greater figurehead for track athletics. Aside from spending some serious time talking to my son, the way he meticulously detailed his training with Lloyd Kempson on the podcast was fantastic.
My key takeaways:
Focus on rest and recovery (input over output) above all else
When you’ve trained for a race, think as little as possible and trust your body
Use caffeine on race day by taking 8 days off caffeine in the lead up
This was a multi-year project, not multi-month
Cooper Lutkenhaus: Generational
Keeping on the track theme, Cooper Lutkenhaus is a 17-year-old American 800m phenomenon. I tried to interview him earlier this year but schedules didn’t quite align. I’m fascinated by stories like this, and this 5-min short ‘film’ by Coros (probably his major sponsor) tells a nice part of where Cooper has come from.
Chamonix: confirmed
The bookend of my summer has been confirmed. I will be attending UTMB at the end of August. If you’re out there in Chamonix as well, let’s hang out. I’ve never had fondue.
B is for Balance: how much is too much?
I see achieving balance as one of the defining principles of my life. It’s a difficult thing to parse and explain in this world of running where so many people are pushing to find extremes.
It was as far from balance between running and writing as I’d ever been. So when people ask me if I’m training for a marathon, that’s the answer that’s too complex to outline in a casual exchange.
Either way, I find it so interesting to dive into these things with like-minded people, especially when we can discover little bits about ourselves through the conversations.
I’d love to know what you think. Leave a comment or you can always just reply to the email!
Thanks for reading,
Raz xx
When training is going and I’m into it, it’s all I care about. When I get a little toasted or step back, the boredom creeps up and creativity is there waiting for me
I try to be careful with timeframe when I think about balance. Balance in the hour usually isn't a good thing (balance and focus are rarely compatible). A balanced year (or decade) might be a good goal sometimes (but probably not if you want to be a good parent, for example). The real trick is to balance your various periods of deliberate imbalance, towards having a balanced lifetime.