Marathon: You Can Do It! by Jeff Galloway

When I started my training, I used the C25k app which was basically about getting couch potatoes up and running without hurting themselves. It was all about the run walk method, which was a great place to start. As training progressed, I kept up with a bit of run walking, mainly because it felt right and I was keen to avoid hurting myself if at all possible. So I did a lot of my training running for 8 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. My view was that at some point I'd dispense with the 2 minutes walking, but secretly, I was dreading it.

Then I discovered Jeff Galloway - phew! I think this is a great book for the beginner runner who has set their heart on completing the marathon distance, preferably without hurting themselves. You'll find much of what you need to know to get yourself around the course. The book convincingly explains both the how to and the why of the run walk method. It also covers running form, hydration, nutrition, mental preparation and race day planning.

It's really easy to read and there are plenty of references to other resources so that you can deepen your knowledge if you wish.

So far, Jeff, so good for me - thank you. I'm loving my running and you've shown me the way! I've completed my first half marathon at Kimbolton Castle and I'm on my way to the 2014 Berlin Marathon on 28th September.

The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting by Brené Brown

Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She is highly regarded internationally for her research into vulnerability and shame.

In The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting: Raising Children with Courage, Compassion and Connection, Brené outlines how our mistakes actually contribute positively to our kids' development, well-being and sense of place in the world . Brené summarises it like this "It's actually our ability to embrace imperfection that will help us teach our children to have the courage to be authentic, the compassion to love themselves and others, and the sense of connection that gives true purpose and meaning to life." This is the wholehearted life.

According to Brené, it is impossible for us to "give" our children what we do not have ourselves. So if we want our kids to live a wholehearted life, we must first be doing so ourselves. To those of you that are already living the wholehearted dream - "you're amazing" (and you kind of already but humbly probably know it) - to the rest of us "you're amazing" (you just don't feel it yet). Here are Brené's 10 pointers for wholehearted living which are actually taken from her most recent book Daring Greatly:

1) Cultivate authenticity and let go of worrying about what people think

2) Cultivate self-compassion and let go of perfectionism

3) Cultivate resilience and let go of powerlessness

4) Cultivate gratitude and joy and let go of scarcity and fear

5) Cultivate intuition and trusting faith and let go of the need for certainty

6) Cultivate creativity and let go of comparison

7) Cultivate play and rest and let go of exhaustion as a status symbol and productivity as self-worth

8) Cultivate calm and stillness and let go of anxiety as lifestyle

9) Cultivate meaningful work and let go of self-doubt and supposed to

10) Cultivate laughter, song and dance and let go of being cool and always in control

You'll get a much better idea of what she's all about from her TED talks like this one on vulnerability

If you can make the time, I thoroughly recommend reading / listening to any of her work.

What am I thinking?

It often depends on what I've been reading.

So, I've added a new page ... Inspiration ... where you can find quick summaries and useful links to author's blogs, TED talks, book reviews etc.

Over the last couple of years I've read and listened to a lot of books on my quest to understand the workings of the world better. If I enjoyed them, I'll be including them. I  might even throw some of my favorite craft books in for good measure!

It's a bit sparse at the moment, but I'll keep adding to it.