Running

I bought this book initially because I found a similarity in Jen Miller’s story, of how she became first a jogger, then a runner and eventually a marathoner. And I was intrigued that most of her story took place around my home, the Jersey Shore. I’ve often looked around at the start of a race and wondered whether most of the people were the same super jocks that I couldn’t keep up with in school, or if they too found running by way of working through issues in their life. What starts out as a way to loose ten pounds or perhaps work through a rough time in your life ends up becoming an essential part of your life. That’s what I found interesting about Jen Miller’s story. It’s an honest chronicle of her personal and professional life, paralleled with her struggles to continually take on new running challenges. I too have experienced difficulties along the way, and started using running as first an outlet, and gradually, through hard work and persistence, experienced victories that influenced other areas of my life. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to her honest accounting of struggles, mistakes, and eventually discoveries. Discoveries that she’s capable of a lot more physically than she had thought, and the discovery that you can’t live your life by someone else’s standards. If you’re that runner who can jump out of bed at 3AM and bang out ten miles at a 5 minute pace, you might not relate to this story, but for the other 95% of us who work our asses off to get to the starting line, I think you’ll relate to her story. Whether you’re training for a 5K or a marathon, we all have hurdles along the way both physically and personally and Jen Miller describes hers in way I think a lot of people can relate to. As I read about her disappointments, countered with challenging herself to increasingly tougher distances, I thought of George Sheehan’s quote, “If you don’t have a challenge, find one”. I’d definitely recommend her book, I found it to be a well written and very entertaining story. Bill

This is way more interesting than a self-improvement book about running faster. As a longtime jogger I bought it seeking a peek into the mind of racy (pun intended) girls who easily outnumber males today in road running. I didn't know Jen A Miller has a graduate degree in English and is a surprisingly adept writer in her own right. She uses the superstructure of her difficulties in making the grade running races to describe fairly intimately her struggles with domineering men. She throws in occasional F bombs and observations like "I was getting laid on a regular basis." We pull for Jen as she agonizingly works her way through the challenges confronting a modern woman whose siblings are married and whose biological clock is ticking. Why aren't women attracted to boring nice guys? This gifted writer could use her diary of life experiences as a launching pad for a detour into fiction down the road.

Running a Love Story is filled with inspiration, hardships, growth, and brutal honesty. Author Jen A. Miller started writing her book Running a Love Story in 2014 and published it on March 22nd, 2016. She has been a freelance writer since 2005 and is still doing it now at the age of 42. Her running experiences and relationships have inspired most of her writing, in addition to her tips when it comes to freelancing. Running a Love Story was influenced strictly by Miller's running journey, as well as her romantic relationships through nonfictional text. By following one woman's development in the sport, Jen aims to show women how distance running may pave a path to inner peace and empowerment. Jen starts her book off with the very beginning of her running experience which is sparked by forced conditioning for the sports she participated in during high school. She complains about how bad and foolish running is, yet she goes on to train for a 5k in college. Then she progresses to 10 milers, half marathons, and full marathons. Throughout her running career, she struggled with her love life constantly. She met men that made her temporarily happy but suffered the longer she was with them. Because of her insecurities, she stopped eating properly and used running to abuse her body. She also started drinking alcohol on a regular basis because of a toxic relationship she was stuck in. Overtime, she realized she ran because she liked it and it made her happy. Another relationship that seemed like it would end happily ever after changed drastically closer to the book's middle and end. In the beginning, he was a very nice man and started a running career because of Jen, and they progressed together. Overtime, they became more serious and talked about having kids, marriage, and their future together, but after they moved in together, his personality changed. She had no say in any of the decisions they made together on their house, where they lived, etc. She attempted to guide him after he became very rude, but each time he made himself the victim, she eventually gave up. She felt forced to stay with him and took the blame for everything. The weight on her shoulders from all of this made it hard for her to be happy but she stuck with running as her escape. Eventually, she realized what was going on was going to end up a nightmare if they decided to get married and have children. It took her a very long time to learn that she can always rely on running and she doesn’t have to rely on a man. Jen uses vivid descriptions and personal anecdotes to engage the readers. This helps with the understanding of the purpose she is proposing to her audience. She includes rhetorical questions to make the readers think and reflect on their own experiences while reading the book. I really enjoyed reading this book because I love running but I was caught off guard when I read profanity-like words and some explicit descriptions. I highly recommend reading this book if you are interested in running and are mature enough to handle parts of the book. If you are looking for motivation or a reason to run, this book is for you. I really enjoyed reading this book because I love running but I was caught off guard when I read profanity-like words and some explicit descriptions.

It was ok.