Running Like a Girl: Notes on Learning to Run

Until five years ago, Alexandra Heminsley was decidedly not a runner. Nor was she athletic in any sense of the word. She was an ordinary, curvy woman who was convinced that sports of any kind, especially running, were beyond her. But she's made running part of her life, and gets to reap the rewards: not just the obvious things, like a touch of weight loss, health and glowing skin, but self-belief, and immeasurable daily pleasure.

She's discovered a new closeness to her father, a marathon-runner of many years standing , and her brother, with whom she ran her first marathon, as well as a new side to herself, and has become intrigued by the little-known but rich feminist history to running. Along the way, Alex has had to handle the logistics of learning to run: the intimidating questions of a 22 year-old sales assistant while buying running shoes, where to get decent bra for the larger bust, and how to apply Vaseline to make the wearing of both comfortable.

She's worked out how not to freeze, how not to get sunstroke, and what (and when) to eat before a run. She' s worked out what's important (pockets) and what isn't (appearance) about what you wear. She's conquered the logistics of how to run a race, and how to use a heart rate monitor. She's run the gamut of uncontrollable emotion that a long-distance race can bring, and she's experienced the zen moment of distance covered, problems solved, that is the grail of every regular runner. Part memoir, part how-to, Running Like a Girl is a funny, warm and practical exhortation to ordinary women to lace up their sneakers, and see what they are capable of.