Adventures in Running and Ageing

If anyone has missed posts elsewhere about this, my book about the travails of being an ageing runner has recently been published.

I wrote it because I wanted to understand why running gets harder, and what causes us to slow down.
It's a blend of memoir and physiology which some of you might find interesting, not least because of my background as a fellrunner (of sorts).
A number of familiar races and faces are featured, and indeed this very Forum and a sprinkling of former and present worthies receive a mention.

It can be ordered from www.whaleandbear.com
(It's on Amazon too, but they take a very large slice of the money. Margins are tight when it's a high-quality product and a short print-run.)

I know a few Forumites who have copies on the way, including Socks and Multiterrainer. I notice that one has also been bought by a certain lady runner whom I last met on a Langdale race, when we were stranded together in the fog, on a rocky ledge somewhere in the vicinity of Crinkle Crags and the Bad Step.

I see that Richard Askwith has also written a book on the same theme. So that's two more books that I need to buy (not from Amazon!) and leave languishing on my shelf for a few years before I actually get around to reading them. :p

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Originally Posted by Tussockface

If anyone has missed posts elsewhere about this, my book about the travails of being an ageing runner has recently been published.

I wrote it because I wanted to understand why running gets harder, and what causes us to slow down.
It's a blend of memoir and physiology which some of you might find interesting, not least because of my background as a fellrunner (of sorts).
A number of familiar races and faces are featured, and indeed this very Forum and a sprinkling of former and present worthies receive a mention.

It can be ordered from www.whaleandbear.com
(It's on Amazon too, but they take a very large slice of the money. Margins are tight when it's a high-quality product and a short print-run.)

I know a few Forumites who have copies on the way, including Socks and Multiterrainer. I notice that one has also been bought by a certain lady runner whom I last met on a Langdale race, when we were stranded together in the fog, on a rocky ledge somewhere in the vicinity of Crinkle Crags and the Bad Step.

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Priced in Euro. Any idea of postage/taxes/cost in pounds?

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Originally Posted by anthonykay

I see that Richard Askwith has also written a book on the same theme. So that's two more books that I need to buy (not from Amazon!) and leave languishing on my shelf for a few years before I actually get around to reading them. :p

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Yes, our books came out in the same week. You wait all your life and two come along at once. What are the odds on that?
They even have similar covers. I actually considered calling mine ‘Racing Against Time’ at one point, and I’m mightily relieved I didn’t go with that!
Fortunately, the books are very different in style and content. Mine is much more focused on the workings of the body.
I’m not saying that makes it ‘better’ - particularly not in comparison with a great writer like Richard Askwith. I really enjoyed his book, once I recovered from the shock of its existence. Which book will suit which reader will depend entirely on what they want to know.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

Priced in Euro. Any idea of postage/taxes/cost in pounds?

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I’m on it for you. Just double checking.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

Priced in Euro. Any idea of postage/taxes/cost in pounds?

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The postage is €4.20, so the total is €25.20.
Obviously the sterling amount fluctuates slightly, but that currently works out at £22 incl postage.
There shouldn’t be any transaction fee - payments can be made using your credit card through Stripe, and the publisher pays the charge for that. Alternatively you can use PayPal, which is also free to you.
Hope that helps. It’s useful for me to know, too, so thanks for asking the question!

Just ordered one at 25.20 euros, what ever that is in real money!

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Originally Posted by Tussockface

The postage is €4.20, so the total is €25.20.
Obviously the sterling amount fluctuates slightly, but that currently works out at £22 incl postage.
There shouldn’t be any transaction fee - payments can be made using your credit card through Stripe, and the publisher pays the charge for that. Alternatively you can use PayPal, which is also free to you.
Hope that helps. It’s useful for me to know, too, so thanks for asking the question!

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Thanks - done!

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Originally Posted by anthonykay

I see that Richard Askwith has also written a book on the same theme. So that's two more books that I need to buy (not from Amazon!) and leave languishing on my shelf for a few years before I actually get around to reading them. :p

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I really enjoyed "Feet in the Clouds", as did my partner and daughter, despite being non runners. His second book however was a disappointment - it felt like he was scraping around the edges of his running career to get enough material to justify the price. How have people got on with this one?

Another book on the theme of running and ageing, and the relationship between diet, metabolism, exercise, and age, plus thoughts on evolution, health, and a bit of philosophy thrown in, was published in 2021: ‘Racing the Clock’ by Bernd Heinrich. He’s a retired professor of biology of some note: now in his 80’s, back in the 1980s he set US records for 100km, 100 miles, and 24 hours; his other book ‘Why we run: a natural history’ is also worth a look as are his books on biology.

I am halfway through Richard Askwith's "The Race Against Time" - a good read so far. The message from the sports medicine chaps - in great brief - is: don't stop; do weights, balance exercises, and speed sessions; and look forward, not to the past. One interesting idea is that those who continue to exercise a lot into old age may be in the minority, but in terms of overall health, those who do very little are the ones who are out of step.

I am really enjoying "Adventures in Running and Ageing" - worth every euro. It is a very different book from that by Richard Askwith - the emphasis is on the ageing process rather than ageing people.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

I am really enjoying "Adventures in Running and Ageing" - worth every euro. It is a very different book from that by Richard Askwith - the emphasis is on the ageing process rather than ageing people.

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So can you tell which is written by a journalist and which by an ex-teacher?

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Originally Posted by Graham Breeze

So can you tell which is written by a journalist and which by an ex-teacher?

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One is smoother to read, a bit dull at times, and I found myself thinking "get to the point". The other has the occasional awkward sentence, but lots of interesting anecdotes and turns of phrase, and I often wanted more detail.

There is the occasional scientific error in both - VO2max is not affected by lung function in normal people, and myoglobinuria is very different from haematuria.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

One is smoother to read, a bit dull at times, and I found myself thinking "get to the point". The other has the occasional awkward sentence, but lots of interesting anecdotes and turns of phrase, and I often wanted more detail.

There is the occasional scientific error in both - VO2max is not affected by lung function in normal people, and myoglobinuria is very different from haematuria.

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Thank you.

I have the Philip Jones book but have yet to start it.

Ever since journalist Richard Askwith started FITC with "This is how death must feel." some authors have believed in the need for drama so eg ex-journalist Johnny Muir starts his "The Mountains Are Calling" with "Hearts bursting against ribs." and carries on in a similar "plunging through the heather" vein until he eventually settles down. I find it all a bit wearisome. I think Muir is now a teacher.:)

My copy, ordered two weeks ago, still hasn't arrived. Maybe it's got held up in Customs on its way from Luxembourg. B***dy B**x*t.

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Originally Posted by anthonykay

My copy, ordered two weeks ago, still hasn't arrived. Maybe it's got held up in Customs on its way from Luxembourg. B***dy B**x*t.

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Mine arrived 4 days after ordering.

Better out than in :o

It is a fascinating book.

Everyone ponders the aging process - why am I slower than I used to be? - with runners having the evidence of past recorded times to ensure reality cannot readily be ignored. Philip, having pondered this question with the inquisitive mind of the school teacher and the literary skills of an English graduate, has produced an excellent book complete, after researching the subject in depth, with his findings and conclusions.

The title may suggest a dull and worthy book but readers will find that it isn’t. Philip writes with wit and humour and in a warmly welcoming way. The book is really funny, sometimes hilariously, in a droll way with some good jokes. And because he is a long term runner he thinks like we runners do and readers will recognise and empathise with his comments with that “Yes!” of recognition.

All runners get injured. If they don’t it is because they are talkers and not runners and part of Philip’s tale concerns his own problems with injury - which are, of course, often linked to ageing - including his three-year recovery from a dislocated shoulder/fractured socket.

Philip was a teacher, not a medical doctor and so while his book contains a lot of sound scientific information about how the body ages (there are many footnote sources to medical research and extensive Acknowledgements) his overriding goal has clearly been to produce a book that will be good to read - or why bother? So the medical information is presented simply and clearly and he has broken his text into 35 digestible chapters. But it isn’t a “Janet & John” with pictures so there are occasional references to Shakespeare’s plays and the Greek and Latin source of medical terms.

As I approached the end of my running days I often pondered how much better I would have been if only I had known certain things when I was younger - a regret not limited to running - so I wish Philip had written his book a few decades ago. It is perhaps ironic that the people who read “ageing” in the title might pick it up because they admit they might be, perhaps, ageing, just a little; but this is a book that one cannot start reading and learning from early enough - if you aspire to be a runner.

The book is a joy to read (although an index would have been useful) and gives the impression that Philip actually enjoyed writing it because it was as much a voyage of discovery to him as, I suggest, it will be to everyone who reads it.

Agreed - a very enjoyable book.

Have you got your freebie from Prof. Hans Degens yet? Mine arrived today - yet to be read.

PS: page 287, footnote 111.

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Originally Posted by Mike T

Agreed - a very enjoyable book.

Have you got your freebie from Prof. Hans Degens yet? Mine arrived today - yet to be read.

PS: page 287, footnote 111.

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Not yet.

I really cannot express how impressed I am with Philip's book.

I occasionally connect the odd word together into a sentence or two but the subject is generally on a subject I already know a little about so I am awestruck with what Philip has produced.

And with such a light humorous touch.

Wow!

Meanwhile, the publisher is still trying to ascertain what Royal Mail have done with the copy they sent me. :mad:

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Originally Posted by anthonykay

Meanwhile, the publisher is still trying to ascertain what Royal Mail have done with the copy they sent me. :mad:

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Hi Anthony. So sorry to hear that the book has gone astray in the post. I’ll make certain you receive your copy, even if I have to deliver it in person!