The history of running

I have just finished reading Running, A Global History by Thor Gotaas.  Although I enjoyed reading this book it would not be my first choice if recommending a book on running to someone.  It is an ambitious attempt to chart every aspect of running since before records were kept in 348 pages.

Invariably, by trying to capture so much you find that the book actually comes up short on all the areas it covers.

As he says at the beginning, the book is written from the perspective of a European, living in Scandinavia and the bias that this  brings.  There is also a tendency to present the narrative in a story format which I think takes something away from the book.

Never the less still an enjoyable read.

As far as my running is concerned I am slowly increasing the mileage but am still struggling to up the pace and am still finding hills difficult.  But I feel things are moving in the right direction.