What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir

This past week I ran two half-marathons so it’s only fitting I post a review of Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Spoiler: it has me reflecting less on running itself and more on discipline, endurance, and identity.

Murakami doesn’t write this book as a “how-to” on running or even as a motivational text. Instead, he uses running as a lens through which to explore the creative process, aging, and the long-haul nature of any meaningful pursuit. His daily training runs mirror the consistency it takes to sit down and write novels year after year.

What struck me most is his acceptance of limits. He doesn’t glamorize pushing through walls or chasing glory—he’s honest about the physical and mental show more trade-offs that come with time. In a culture obsessed with constant growth and “no limits” mindsets, Murakami offers a refreshing reminder: sustainability matters more than speed.

For me, the takeaway wasn’t about running marathons, but about finding your own rhythm—whether in work, creativity, or life—and sticking with it long enough to see where it leads. show less

Murakami uses simplicity to showcase his brilliance, yet again. And that is precisely the reason why I enjoy his writing. However, there is a noticeable detour in his writing style – the simplicity is still present, but it has merely transformed into a contemplative and, to a certain degree, meditative form.

He seems to be indifferent to the life that he led before he started writing and long-distance running. He also highlights how one aspect of his life (long-distance running on a regular basis and keeping himself physically fit) helps him accentuate the other (his writing and his mental state). Moreover, he briefly ponders the topics of talent, writing, and youth. There are also other thoughts and ideas of his which breeze along show more with the main narrative of the novel, but he is never pushy or forceful with them; Murakami is merely thinking out loud in a cautious manner as he's aware we're listening.

This memoir in its entirety, feels like a long jog with an indefinite destination; the ending doesn’t matter, but the process, the experience you gain about the track you’re running on, and the awareness of your being and body, does.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book. I’ve always hated running, but this book motivated me to give running another chance. Maybe perspective is all it takes. show less

Enjoyable book, with a familiar Murakami tone. It tells you much more about the man that it does about the activity of running. I can imagine some people finding Murakami's fatalistic tone, and potentially false modesty a bit jarring, but it is totally in keeping with his urban existentialism. Worth reading for Murakami fans, but less so for people solely interested in running.

Reading this book felt a lot like sitting down and having a conversation with someone. A conversation that is ostensibly about running and races, but is really about life and approaches to it. Maybe one of the things that makes it interesting is that when Murakami started writing this, he was already at an age where he's just not going to get any faster at running. How to accept gracefully that your best days are behind you? That's a struggle everyone faces.

It's a slim volume and I read it in a few short sessions, but some of it will stick with me for a long time, I'm sure.

"Whenever I see students in gym class all made to run a long distance, I feel sorry for them. Forcing people who have no desire to run, or who aren't physically fit show more enough, is a kind of pointless torture. I always want to advise teachers not to force all junior and senior high school students to run the same course, but I doubt anybody's going to listen to me. That's what schools are like. The most important thing we ever learn at school is the fact that the most important things can't be learned at school." show less

Best for:
Runners looking for a meditation on running.

In a nutshell:
Author Murakami, better known by most for his novels, shares how running impacts his life.

Worth quoting:
“People sometimes sneer at those who run every day, claiming they’ll go to any length to live longer. But I don’t think that’s the reason most people run. Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest.”

“I'm often asked what I think about as I run. Usually the people who ask this have never run long distances themselves. I always ponder the question. What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue.”

Why I chose it:
I’m a runner, and this book has come up a lot.

What it left me show more feeling:
Content.

Review:
This is my second running book I’ve read this year. As mentioned in my previous review, I’ve been running for many years - nearly 15 years at this point. Sometimes I’m running slow and easy, sometimes I’m pushing myself to build up some strength. On off days, I’m lifting and stretching and rolling. I’ve only taken a handful of breaks in those times - usually due to injury, and once because I just stopped, and that non-injury-related-break was definitely when I’ve felt at my lowest.

I don’t always love running, but I’m always happy that I ran, and I think Murakami captures this feeling. He says he runs to help him write. For me, I need to move regularly otherwise I am scattered and all over the place. Running helps me focus. Yes, it keeps me fit to a degree, but I think the impact on my mental health is more pronounced. And while I am active in other sports (specifically football / soccer), running is a constant for me.

Murakami focuses most of the book on a couple of seasons of running. He and I differ on our approaches - he trains by running every single day; I used to run every single day, but since I’ve gotten a running coach, it’s more like 4 times a week. He talks about runs that go well and runs that don’t. He talks about the feelings, the specific thoughts when he’s running races. He runs further than I do - he does marathons, I’m only doing half marathons - but both involve so much time alone, outside, in all kinds of weather. It’s solitary but not lonely.

One thing I especially related to was him talking about how, as he gets older, his body just doesn’t do things the same way. He’ll train the same or harder and struggle to complete races in times he previously hit with ease. At the moment I’m training in the hopes of once again running a sub-2 hour half marathon (something I have only done once out of 14 races, and about 10 years ago), but it’s hard. I’m not old, but I’m older, and things ache more. Injuries appear more often. I might reach my goal; I might not. But I’ll keep running.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Recommend to a Friend show less

“Exerting yourself to the fullest within your individual limits: that’s the essence of running, and a metaphor for life—and for me, for writing as well.”

Murakami’s memoir about running, writing, and his outlook on life. The author took up running not long after he started writing. He eventually became a marathon runner, triathlete, and even completed an ultramarathon. This book is short and covers many parallels between what it takes to be a distance runner and a novelist. I was interested in this book due to my past efforts in marathon running, and also due to my fairly recent discovery of Murakami’s fiction. While this book is in a different category than his fiction, it is well told and insightful. I could relate to his show more views about solitude, focus, and competing against oneself. I would definitely recommend it to runners, as Murakami articulates what draws some people to it (and also understands it is not for everyone). While it does not reach the heights of creativity that I have experienced with his fiction, I certainly enjoyed it and recommend it.

“If pain weren't involved, who in the world would ever go to the trouble of taking part in sports like the triathlon or the marathon, which demand such an investment of time and energy? It's precisely because of the pain, precisely because we want to overcome that pain, that we can get the feeling, through this process, of really being alive.” show less

You may not think you want to read a memoir about a writer's relationship with running, but you definitely do. I'm not even a runner and I thoroughly enjoyed this. I actually contemplated going for a run after finishing this, but the feeling soon passed. ;)