Finding Ultra

Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself by Rich Roll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my kind of book.
Love to hear of an inspiring story - & this was. A man who had a hard start in life battling alcohol & then found sobriety... & then let the fun of aging get to him. Rich Roll realized he was missing out on life when at 40 yrs old, he couldnt get up a flight of stairs without feeling like he was going to have a heart attack. He was determined to make changes.... & changes he made. The story of his journey to an ultraman & to a feat that no one had ever tried before - doing 5 Ironman routes in less then a week. Having seen an Ironman competition in person & seeing the strain on people's face & hearing of the soreness & recover after ONE - I cant image 5 back to back to back.

I also appreciated this book because Rich talks so much about nutrition & how a plant based diet changed his life. It got his health back inline - it boosted his endurance & athletic abilities. There's useful information here - especially in the appendix where he explains why he eats like he does. I actually learned something myself. I have a hard time with anemia & since I've cut out meat, he talks about iron as a vegan. He warned that drinking tea with dinner can cause iron to NOT be absorbed by 50-60% ... I drink tea all day long. HOLY SMOKES! I had no idea. I really did learn things ...

& was inspired.

I loved that his wife asked him after a bike accident & Rich was lucky he didnt break his neck - she asked him a question about his life & if he died that day, would he be happy with the direction of his life & what he accomplished. Rich's answer is what I want to say in my life to that same question.

If you're interested in running, athetics, a turn your life around story, nutrition, you'll enjoy this book.

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Heroes & Monsters

Heroes and Monsters: An Honest Look at the Struggle within All of Us by Josh Riebock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had such a love/hate relationship with this book. More love then hate... DEFINITELY more love. This book is just a man's story - starting from childhood until the end of his life... & its written in a different way. And while some parts felt drug out & not to make much sense (the hate part) - other parts were so amazingly written, that one sentence would make me stop & think for 10 minutes. I think I wrote down more quotes from this book then any I've read in awhile...

We start off the book with a little boy that meets a talking Scarecrow... Jack.. & we see how Jack stays with this little boy through life...

It really surprised me when we found out who Jack is...

Its little things like that that just make me enjoy the book

I will say as well - the last chapter? I cried my eyes out... a wonderful way to end the book. That alone pushed it well over the edge of loving the book..

Loved that God is such an important "character" in this book... didnt expect this book to inpsire me to look at my relationships so deeply - especially my relationship with God.
Thumbs up Mr. Riebock

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