Very enjoyable book that seems like you are chatting with girlfriends. I'm not a Mom but I could still identify with the authors and their stories of becoming runners and fitting the training for longer events into their busy lives. Filled with some practical advice but mostly it's just a window into the minds of other "mother runners" and helping you to realize that we who run are all a lot alike. ( )

This book was free when I grabbed it off Amazon. I totally did not know what it was about, but I knew "getting moving" was something I needed. It was, in fact, about running. And it made this non-runner remember how much I used to love running in school. When I was little, the boys said I was the fastest runner and we had races, and in high school I would go for random runs around the neighborhood during my sophomore and junior years.

Time to lace up the tennies and try it out again. The author recommends couchto5k so I'll try it and see how things go. ( )

This was a book I expected to like, but I find myself strangely disappointed. My number one complaint is the tone of the book. The authors try way too hard to sound "hip" and "with it." There are far too many cutesy and pop culture analogies...the sort of thing that is going to leave this book horribly dated in just a year or two.

Beyond that, the content of the book was disappointing. Perhaps an absolute beginner might benefit from the "advice" contained here. But if you've ever picked up a running magazine (or even any fitness magazine, for that matter) or cruised the internet looking for running tips or browsed running blogs, you already know everything that's in this book.

I suppose I hope for more advice from a "mother" point of view: how to fit in it. Instead, the advice seemed limited to, "Don't feel guilty, you deserve it!" Well, yeah, I know that. But knowing I deserve it and finding a way to sneak it into my schedule are two different things.

I also managed to find myself disgusted at the marriage chapter (and it takes a lot to offend or disgust me!). When discussing how to balance running and your marraige, their solution was, "Your husband shouldn't bitch. He should be happy to have a hot wife. So f**k him." (And actually, that, too, was literally one of their suggestions: a well-f**ked husband is a happy husband. So have more sex and then he won't mind you running so much.)

This was much more of a cutesty, anecdotal, memoir sort of book than an actual guide to running. I tend to reserve 1-star reviews for books that were unfinishable and this wasn't quite that bad...but it was close. ( )

I’ve been running for over 15 years. What started out as an easy (and cheap) way to avoid the Freshman 15 has turned into a passion I expect to have for the rest of my life. Over the years, I’ve read a lot of running books, including books targeted specifically for women. Out of all those books, this one may be the best I’ve ever read. Run Like a Mother is like the best running buddy I’ve never had. In 26 chapters, co-authors Sarah Bown Shea and Dmity McDowell address all the ups and downs of running with brutal honesty and a welcome sense of humor. Sarah writes from the perspective of a competitive, obsessive runner while Dmity brings the more laid-back perspective. This dual perspective was refreshing and helpful.

Run Like a Mother contains all the helpful advice needed for beginning runners, like what shoes and clothes to wear and which gadgets are worthwhile. What sets this book apart from other running books, however, is the forthright coverage of embarrassing (e.g., post-partum incontinence) and shameful (e.g., body image, exercise addiction) topics. Run Like a Mother does not include specific training schedules, but it does have excellent information about incorporating speed work, hill training, strength training, and cross training into a running program. Above all, this book is motivating and made me want to get off the couch and start running. I plan to pick it up again anytime I feel my motivation slipping. Mothers will particularly enjoy the topics related to running while raising children, including how to care for children while undertaking a rigorous training schedule and how to get children interested in running. ( )

Reading this book was like lunching with my girlfriends after one of our training runs. So much good information, shared experiences, and intimate talk about a sport we love (or in my case have a love/hate relationship). I didn't start running until after the birth of my daughter, so the chapters on running while pregnant and post-partum weren't really for me (although still funny) and I was disappointed to see I'd already read a couple of chapters that had made their way into Runners World, but nevertheless I loved this book and will highly recommend it to all my running girlfriends. ( )