Books: Two from Meb Keflezighi

With the Summer Olympics right around the corner and me training for a marathon, I thought it'd be fun to look at two books written by Meb Keflezighi, perhaps America's greatest living marathoner, and co-writer Scott Douglas:

Meb for Mortals: How to Run, Think, and Eat like a Champion Marathoner

If there was ever a book that does "what it says on the tin," Meb for Mortals is it.  This is a plain English guide for intermediate and advanced runners that does indeed tell you how to run and train like Meb. It's a full spectrum look behind the scenes in a world-class athlete's life; in addition to the usual training guides and running plans, there are chapters on form drills, diet advice, cross-training, and most importantly, mindset. Yes, there are times when even an incredible athlete like Meb doesn't feel like getting out the door, and the book has some good concrete suggestions for setting goals and overcoming adversity.

26 Marathons: What I Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career

Runner's memoirs are a dime a dozen, but Meb's 2021 memoir stands out for what it does not contain. It's centered almost exclusively around the 26 marathons Meb ran in his competitive career, without too much information about his childhood and college years. In some ways, that's a shame (Meb and his family immigrated as refugees from Eritrea by way of Italy in 1987, and their story is a compelling rebuke of anti-immigration rhetoric), but the focus on the 26 races does give the book structure and purpose, much like a marathon does to running in general. While Meb is famous for winning a silver Olympic medal and the 2009 New York and 2014 Boston Marathons, it turns out the other races in between taught him plenty of lessons.