Rating: 
Summary: A must-read for cross country runners...
Review: I was lucky enough to go to the second and third weeks of Green Mountain Running Camp in Lyndonville, VT. Both weeks I heard Chris Lear speak of Adam Goucher and I also heard my coach praise this book so I decided that I had to read it for myself. I have to say it truly captures the essence of distance running and the pain involved. It really inspired me to run my hardest on every run and proved to me that natural talent has nothing to do with success, it's how hard you train and how good your coaching is. I am lucky enough to have an excellent coach who has coached through 5 undefeated seasons and I can see that I have a chance to improve significantly if I just stick to it and believe in myself. Anyone who runs, especially anyone who runs cross country must read this book in order to fully appreciate what real champions are made of. You may think books like this would be humbling for people like me since the men consistently run 5:00 minute miles in workouts and I have yet to break 6, but instead it looks beyond the times to the personal accomplishments of these men. (long live chis severy in our minds)
Rating:
Summary: Running With the Buffaloes: A Season Inside with Mark Wetmor
Review: If you have ever run competitively at any level or have had a son or daughter who has run, and you enjoy learning more about this much-neglected sport, this book is a must read. The author takes the reader along, almost day-by-day, through a whole season with the Colorado cross-country team, a Division I powerhouse.The book does keep the reader in suspense about how the Colorado cross country team will do at the National meet and whether Adam Goucher will finally finish first, after coming so close several times, at the National meet, but the main story line nearly takes a back seat to the fascinating details as to what it takes to be a top flight Division I cross country runner. Seeing how these athletes push the envelope in training and performance, and how they constantly dance with injury is eye-opening. If you like times, paces, and mileage, this book will satisfy you. Newspaper reporting on track and cross-country tends to be scarce and certainly with few details. This book will not leave you wondering about the runners performance at meets or at practices.
Rating:
Summary: Great read for cross country afficionados!
Review: If you love distance running or cross country, this book is a fascinating look at a great team and a dynamic coach. Adam Goucher is the most well known, and best depicted, of all runners in this book. Many other top notch American distance runners also are mentioned. Chris Lear does a first rate job of making the joys and agonies of a cross country season real. Never sloppy or sentimental, the author does a fine job of describing the sport, the team, training sessions, and the personal dynamics of runners and coaches. Of course, it helps that he was a first person observer of the CU team during one of its most demanding seasons. I plan on recommending this book to every high school distance runner that I know as well as all my coaching acquaintances. It's a gem.
Rating:
Summary: A New Direction for Running Books
Review: In his book, Chris Lear, taking on a different task than the tradition running novel. Lear followed the University of Colorado's Men's Cross-Country team throughout the 1998 season. Through the course of the book, readers become part of the team and relive the trials and tribulations associated with being on a nationally ranked cross-country team. The Colorado men spend the fall chasing a dream and Lear spends it documenting their chase. His presence in the team meetings, workouts, and everyday life gives all readers an idea of what its like to be on one of the best teams in the nation. Lear follows Adam Goucher and the rest of the CU team in their quest for a national title. Along the way there are victories and defeats both emotionally and physically. Never before has a book captured the essence of a team and its pursuit of a goal like Lear does in Running with the Buffaloes. Whether its seeing what it takes to be one of the best runners in the country or going from walk-on to All-American, you can find it in this book. Lear also gives a first-time look at the training that CU does and the methods of their famous coach Mark Wetmore.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for all past, present, and future XC runners!
Review: In this book, Chris Lear does a magnificent job of portraying what it's like to be on a cross country team, and he makes you feel like you're practically there with them. You feel like you're one of the members of the team. You begin to feel emotion after bad races, along with the good. You connect with them, even though many who read this book will never meet any of the runners mentioned in this book. I got so into this book, it almost felt like I lost a friend when Chris Severy's tragic accident occurs. Chris does an exceptional job of portraying all of the workouts they do, along with their mental preparation, and team love for one another. He also does a wonderful job of portraying the legendary coach Mark Wetmore, who I would now personally love to meet, all because of this book. Every time I would pick up the book, I would read a little, and want to go out and race. It also will make you wake up and realize your dreams, and what it will take for you to accomplish them. This book inspired me personally, and will do the same for many other high school runners I'm sure.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing book for dedicated runners.
Review: Let me start by saying that I will never be able to run the mile faster than 5 minutes. Why do I say this? It's simple really. This book is for dedicated runners only. Now, just because I can't run 1606 meters in 300 seconds, does not mean I am not dedicated. Rather, I found this incredibly inspirational. This book is a very interesting look at the University of Colorado Men's Cross Country Team. The dynamic personalities are detailed and very entertaining. This book may be hard to find, but it will also be hard to put down! I made the mistake of reading this at the beginning of my post cross-country 2 week rest period. Why was this a mistake? Because it motivated me to run faster, harder, and longer after every chapter I read!
Rating:
Summary: Emotional and inspiring
Review: Mr. Lear has captured the struggles and triumphs of his subjects well. The pain is what I remember most about this book. How this team overcomes pain is what Lear describes so well. This book will hold you captive until you finish it so be ready to go the distance.
Rating:
Summary: As good as a hard 15 miler at sub-6:00. I loved it.
Review: My first Cross Country race was in 1951, as a 14 year old high school freshman. I ran competitively for the next 45 years (until my hip gave out) and coached high school kids (5 State Championship teams) for 32 years.I've read everything I could get my hands on, from Lydiard to Galloway. This is by far the best book about elite level Cross Country training and racing I've ever read. Only "Train Hard, Win Easy, the Kenyan Way" is even in the same ballpark. Adam Goucher's double wins at the qualifiers for World Cross Country last Feb. - in the rain and cold and mud - were awesome. This book helps you understand how he reached this level and how he could attack those brutal conditions. It also makes you a part of the whole team experience as the U. of Colorado Buffaloes go after the 1998 NCAA Cross Country Championship. All the races are there; all the work-outs too. And, even if you know how it came out, you will still be totally caught up in Chris Lear's step-by-step (well, almost) account of that race. I was aware beforehand of the tragedy that hit the team at mid-season - the death in a biking accident of one of their top runners. I wondered how Lear would handle it. He does so exceptionally well. He moves you with the story of this truly extraordinary youg man. One caution: This is not "Once a Runner". I love John Parker's book. Heck, I even live in Gainesville FL (Parker's fictional Kernsville). It, too is a great book about the world of elite athletes. But my non-running wife really liked "Once a Runner". I would never dream of suggesting she read "Running With the Buffaloes". This is a book for runners, pure and simple. It's probably only for hard core runners, for that matter, or young runners who will become hard core. If you've never run something like 25x400 with a buddy - and raced the last one - and laughed in total exhaustion as you finished (and done a couple of miles warmdown after, of course) then this book may not be for you.
Rating:
Summary: The New Millenium Once A Runner!
Review: My name is Stephen Jayaraj and I recently finished Chris Lear's book Running with the Buffaloes. I also had the privilege of meeting and working with the author at a running camp in Vermont. I have to say this is the best running book that I have ever read- the new generation Once a Runner. Lear definitely gets to the heart of distance running and the commitment, heart and ability it takes to compete at the highest collegiate level. The book will make you cry, make you laugh and most of all inspire you to reach for your potential in the sport. I would recommend this book to all runners out there and I think you will realize that Chris Lear is a rising young star. Thanks for your time and consideration. -Stephen
Rating:
Summary: The best running book since Once A Runner
Review: People generally read books about running because they truly love running itself. But only a few such books provide even a fraction of the enjoyment of a simple run. The classic, Once A Runner by John L. Parker, comes to mind, but there aren't many others. You can add Running With the Buffaloes to the short list. Lear was shrewd, talented and lucky in writing this book: shrewd because his main subject is Olympian Adam Goucher, the strongest and boldest American distance runner since Bob Kennedy; talented because he has a clear, interesting, energized writing style; and lucky because his nonfiction, real life drama has a happy ending after an all-out struggle. The core of the book is a daily description of cross country practice at the University of Colorado in the fall of 1998. For most people, reading about cross country practice would seem to fall somewhere between drudgery and torture, but Running With the Buffaloes is actually thrilling. Goucher's intensity, his coach's counsel and depth, his opponents' strengths and abilities and his teammates' successes and failures all weave together in a completely gripping tale. Lear keeps his chapters short, resulting in a pace that moves urgently. He assumes a level of awareness about running that is refreshing. For once, reading about running is like talking to someone who cares as much as you do, someone who is excited and knowledgeable. When the Colorado team returned to campus for fall classes in 1998, they had two goals: win the NCAA championship and have Goucher win the individual title. Championships are built deliberately, with passion and anxiety. Goucher faces this with more than a little Prefontaine running through his veins. Describing him and his teammates, the Colorado coach observes: "In football, you might get your bell rung, but you go in with the expectation that you might get hurt, and you hope to win and come out unscathed. As a distance runner, you know you're going to get your bell rung. Distance runners are experts at pain, discomfort, and fear. You're not coming away feeling good. It's a matter of how much pain you can deal with on those days. It's not a strategy. It's just a callusing of the mind and body to deal with discomfort. Any serious runner bounces back. That's the nature of their game. Taking pain." In Running With the Buffaloes, Lear makes this wonderful, alive and memorable. Reading it, you are actually a part of every step, every run, every test and every triumph.
|
