"Mud, Sweat and Tears"

I've had a pretty easy running week this week post the "Run Y'Ass Off" Half Marathon last weekend. Since I have nothing in particular to report about my own running I thought I'd post a book review about someone else's running. As most of my running mates and blog readers would know, I'm a running book addict and I do a book review for each issue of the Australian Ultra Runners Association's (AURA) magazine, Ultramag. This is the most recent one. It will be published in the December issue of Ultramag. I hope it entices you to run and to read running books (including this book in particular).

Mud, Sweat and Tears – An Irish Woman’s Journey of Self Discovery is a great read. It is Moire O’Sullivan’s story of how she unwittingly dived into the deep end with mountain running, picked herself up and dusted herself off, and went on to achieve some remarkable running feats.

In an interview with Walking and Hiking Ireland, the Irishwoman said: “ My first ever mountain race was up Corrig Mountain, near Dublin with the Irish Mountain Running Association (IMRA). All I remember was trying to run uphill and nearly dying. And then, just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, we tried to run up to the summit in the worst of Irish weather. The wind blew me off my feet. The mist nearly made me get lost on top. The bog and heather tripped me up again and again. I hated it and vowed never to return. Less than 24 hours later, I thought it was the best thing I’d ever done, so went back the next week for more.” Sound familiar? In essence, it’s O’Sullivan’s portrayal of what is captivating about running, despite the hardship, which gets you in.

From both a stylistic and content point of view Mud, Sweat and Tears – An Irish Woman’s Journey of Self Discovery is easy to read and unpretentious. It purposefully tells the tale of O’Sullivan’s journey from being a complete novice runner to three years later (2008) making a solo attempt at the Wicklow Round – ie, a gruelling 100km mountain run over twenty six peaks of Ireland’s remotest mountain peaks. On that occasion, after 21.5hrs, O’Sullivan collapsed two summits from the end battered, bruised and unable to go on. A year later she returned to complete the challenge and become the first person to ever do so. She eloquently captures the extremes of both the toughness and the exhilaration of it all.

Included in the chronicling of her journey up to and including this remarkable achievement, O’Sullivan provides just the right amount of detail about how she learnt to train smart, fuel up and navigate successfully. In keeping with the flavour of the whole book, O’Sullivan presents her learning in these respects as having come from the school of hard knocks. There’s no mention of sports science, complicated training programs, finely tuned diets or specialised recovery techniques. It all adds up to an intriguing story of an “ordinary” novice runner who transformed herself into one of the world’s best mountain runners.

O’Sullivan’s other running achievements include:

• Twice winner of Ireland’s Mountain Running Championships

• Winner of the Irish 24 hour Rogaine Championships (with Andrew McCarthy), and

• Winner of the IMRA 50km Irish Mountain Navigational Challenge Series and the first female to ever win this event outright.

Reading this book left me with two overwhelming thoughts/feelings – (1) it renewed my sense of “toughen up”; and (2) it made me determined to go and run in Ireland.

To read more about Moire O’Sullivan and/or to purchase Mud, Sweat and Tears – An Irish Woman’s Journey of Self Discovery visit: http://moireosullivan.com/

Elizabeth Bennett, AURA Media Relations Officer & ACT State/Territory Representative.