Book Reports

Title: Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory

Authors: Deena Kastor and Michelle Hamilton

Summary

The book is a memoir that follows Deena’s journey to becoming an elite athlete. The book highlights the importance of mental strength and positive thinking in achieving personal and athletic success. Kastor discusses how she incorporated the benefits of positive psychology into her running practice. She talks about her struggles as an athlete and then developing mental strength to improve her performance. 

Structure

The book is organized into four parts – Open, Grow, Believe and Play – and tells her story chronologically. 

• In Open, Kastor recounts her history as a child growing up in Southern California and learning that she had a gift and affinity for running. She discusses her transformation from doubting her ability to coming into her own as a runner and winning several races, ultimately getting multiple athletic scholarship offers to run in college. She recounts her years as a college athlete at the University of Arkansas and, after graduation, her decision to turn pro.

• In Grow, she discusses her decision to move to Colorado to be coached by Coach Joe Vigil. She learned much from him, not only about the specifics of training, but about all the other aspects of life that support running: rest, stretching, stress-management, and joy and happiness, something that Kastor focuses on a lot.

• In Believe and Play, she shares her stories of significant competitions, including the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia in 2000, Athens, Greece in 2004, and Beijing in 2008, as well as marathons in New York City in 2001, Chicago in 2005, and London in 2006.

• The final chapter is a workbook entitled, “The Optimist’s Guide: 7 Mental Habits For Reaching Your Potential and Living a More Positive Life.”

Pros

There is much to be gained from Kastor’s book. She strikes the right blend of the physical aspect of running mixed with the psychological and spiritual aspects. Do you have to train? Definitely. She talks about weeks of running 100-120 miles to prepare for marathons. But she also promotes practices such as visualization, positive self-affirmation, and expressing gratitude. 

Also, she’s open about her successes without being haughty and failures and challenges without asking for pity. She’s just a human being trying to live to her potential and sharing her experiences and lessons learned along the way.

Cons

The book spent too much time on specific races and recounting individual stories. I find it hard to believe that she would remember the exact wording of specific conversations that happened years ago or so many individual thoughts during so many specific races. The reader has to wade through all of these dialogues and monologues to get to the heart of the book. Nevertheless, I understand that these stories add flavor and context for the key take-aways.