This chrismas eve was another wonderfull day for me. After a great dinner my husband cooked I couldn't resist to grab a book and finish reading it. It is not a great drama series or anything of that sort. By now you probably guess it right, yes, it is a sport's related title: MAGICAL RUNNING by Bobby McGee.

Since I don't know how many of you come here and when, I can only wish you Merry Christmas once and this review is going to be a little pick a boo gift for you into a new posiblilites and perhaps greater and more sucessfull new year of 2010.

This 230 page diamond of runners quo is filled with psychological concepts that should help us run faster, happier and more with our head on our shoulders where it belongs. It consists of 13 main chapters and includes the topics such as how to assess yourself as a runner, and where you are as one right now. How to run as a life long joy rather than for a target in mind or that there is a difference between setting the goals and targets and that most of us have it wrong.

... In second chapter Bobby describes how we should start within ourselves, we should affirm ourselves of positive believes only through which we can start trusting ourselfs and move on to a bigger more sucessfull running carreer.   He gives endless examples and affirmation statements and in further chapters he describes how to get there. The next one is about the "start line" and accessing where we are and trying to understand that mostly it is our mind that is holding us back. All we have to do is deal with the present situation which provides access to improvement and control and removes unrealistic expectation which our congnitive selves bestoved on us. There is also a huge tabulator at the back of this chapter to help you record everything every day and help you to start looking forward not backwards. Next he talks about setting the targets and goals. He is stressing that goals as we know them are targets, not really goals. Targets are future running PRs and something "materialistic" we want to achieve, such as medal, but our goals should be percieved by us as a state of mind of doing the particular activity  - in this case running. Example of a goal in runners career should be to run with joy every day and enjoy the moment. He also points that our mind tells us what are easy targets and unrealistic targets. Those who set them too easy are cheating themselves and those who set them too high get dissapointed but in Bobby's mind this should not hold us from enjoying our running. And I totaly agree with him.

Next he teaches us to visualize, to listen to talk to someone, to live as a runner, to try to make yourself a better person through running and others will percive us as such as a result. He talks extensively about Relaxation and  clearing of our minds and other obstacles which are present before the race and even on a rainy day. He talks about anxiety and how it can affect every athelete before any even if he/she is not mentaly ready for it. And some people never are - but here he gives you a recipie how to eliminate and even a solution of how to solve the problem if the anxiety already attaced you before the race. From my personal experience I can confirm that he is totaly righ here and what I have learned just here in this chapter was priceless. And yet, I think the most important part in this book is the chapter of "strategic running" where he makes a great point that there is a huge difference between Knowledge versus Knowing. Most of us have plenty of knowledge but for one reason or another we aren't aware of our surroundings or our mistakes we do during our runs and most responsible factor is our mind. So if you want to grab the key to kingdom of running  it can be handed to you right here, but you would still have to find the gate and open the door.

Go, run and have fun, and if you are at the book store check our MAGICAL RUNNING by Bobby McGee, you will not be sorry you have read it !

Merry Christmas!