I enjoy reading, always looking for the next great read. I'm primarily a nonfiction kind of guy, namely because I like to learn something when I read. Facts, events, people, places...they all intrigue me. I catch a lot of fun criticism from the fictional book-reading group, but hey, I'm cool with that. My favorite reads are mainly recent American history books, and yep, you guessed it: books that involve running. So when a coworker suggested "Fast Girl", I quickly reserved it at the library. Living in the Madison area and being a runner myself, my coworker thought it would be a perfect fit. Most people in Wisconsin know the name Suzy Favor Hamilton, but I was intrigued to learn more about her running career, as well her post olympic career.
Perhaps my favorite runner of all time is Steve Prefontaine. And because of that, one of my favorite books about running is about Steve Prefontaine and simply titled "Pre". The book goes through his life growing up, his days at the University for Oregon and time spent competing in the Olympics. The book examined Pre's approach to racing and training, and if you know anything about Steve Prefontaine, you know he did things his way, in a style that was authentic and unapologetic. In my mind, the book about Suzy was going to be something similar to this: highlighting her early life, her days at the University of Wisconsin and her life after running. I was thinking the book would be 90% running, maybe 10% life after running. Instead it was the opposite, with very little about her running days and the bulk of the book being about her life in Vegas and dealing with her bipolar disorder. I wasn't disappointed in what I was reading, it was definitely intriguing but it wasn't what I was expecting.
I admire Suzy for her honesty in the book. I can't image how much courage it took for her to open up about her bipolar disorder, and tell the world how the disease drove her to an alternate and secret life in Las Vegas. I don't want to get into a full re-telling of the book, because I want people to give it a read themselves, but I think the average reader can relate to the anxieties and self-doubt she dealt with, not only in running but with life in general. I hope Suzy has found happiness here in Madison, and I hope she knows the running community and people around Madison still revere her as an Olympian and one bad-ass runner.