"Keep it steady and conserve your energy," I tell myself as a few runners eagerly pick up their pace on the downhill portion of the Queensboro Bridge. We're on the Manhattan side of the bridge, and about to turn onto First Avenue. After the lonely and windy Queensboro bridge, the cacophony of cheers, whistling, and heavy breathing of runners next to me feels overwhelming. Swiftly and deftly I begin to pick up the pace on First Avenue. Suddenly, the thought of running my first marathon, the NYC Marathon, crosses my mind.

As of September 22, there are 39 days left until the TCS NYC Marathon; 39 days until New Yorkers line the streets cheering for 55,000+ runners doing what they love to do. Through recommendations from friends and my own research, I selected a set of books about runners and different running cultures. For children, dreams and goals start when they pick up a book at the library. Even now, I experience the same feelings picking up these running books and still get inspired to set new goals. These stories have given me different point of views on running short and long distances, have motivated me for this year's TCS NYC Marathon, and have brought up emotions I wish to share in this post.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Louis Zamperini has become a new idol for me. A troublemaker in his youth, Zamperini became a track runner after his older brother tried to set him straight. He participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany where he impressed Adolf Hitler with a 56 second time for his final lap during the 5000m race. Zamperini also ran a 4:08 minute national collegiate mile record in 1938 which stood for fifteen years.

Once WWII began, Zamperini became an airmen flying in bombers in the Pacific Ocean. In 1943 his flight crashed and he and the surviving crew drifted in the Pacific Ocean for over a month until the Japanese found them. Tortured and humiliated, he mentally and physically stood his ground as a prisoner of war in secret Japanese camps. He accounts his deep strength and his strong will from the running he did when he was younger, saying that his older brother Pete taught him to never give up in dire situations. 

Inspirational and uplifting, Unbroken exemplifies the will to overcome the toughest obstacles in life, and to move on to live a better life.

Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life

I have been visiting different NYPL branches, and decided to run between a few branches in Harlem. My run took me from Macomb’s Bridge Library, to Hamilton Grange Library, and I finished at George Bruce Library, where I stumbled upon this autobiography from Louis Zamperini and immediately checked it out.

Zamperini turned to religion after WWII  to better control his life troubled with post-traumatic stress disorder. He learned to forgive his Japanese captors and move on with his life. In this autobiography, Zamperini does not preach about his religion but instead describes how it helped him focus and live his life to the fullest.

With anecdotes followed by life advices, this is a great autobiography to read after reading Unbroken to find out more about Louis Zamperini.

Born To Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Probably one of the most popular running books out now, Born to Run explores running through the Tarahumara people, an indigenous Mexican tribe of ultrarunners. Shy and elusive, the Tarahumara people are world-renowned distance runners who run incredible distances through the desert “without breaking a sweat.”

Christopher McDougall meets Caballo Blanco, an eccentric American who has earned the trust of the Tarahumara, and discovers the running culture that heavily influences the Tarahumara’s daily lives. Along McDougall’s personal running training, he sets out to find why running is so important to man. How and why are we capable of suffering through pain to run a marathon? How are we physiologically built compared to other species that also run? Is barefoot running better than having expensive and backed-by-science sneakers?

McDougall meets other extraordinary ultrarunners, such as Scott Jurek, and sets up a race against the Tarahumara tribe; a race that McDougall also participates in.

Born to Run is an inspirational book for runners and nonrunners alike, and a great introduction into the world of ultrarunning. I am of Mexican descent, and this book's introduction to the Tarahumara has been life changing. Discovering this hidden tribe has piqued my interest in ultrarunning—so much so that I'm planning on running an ultramarathon later this year.

Check out Born to Run on Staff Picks for the month of September.

Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure, and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth

If you look up the winners for recent marathons, there’s a good chance that the winner is from Ethiopia or Kenya. What is it about these people that sets them apart from other long distance racers? This is one of the many thoughts that goes through my head when I'm surrounded by amazing runners during a race.

Adharanand Finn, called a mzungu in Kenya referring to his European descent, sets up a goal to run a marathon in Kenya while also trying to find the secret to the Kenyans' success in long distance running. Finn read Born to Run, and its revelation of barefoot running interested him—as it does for most runners. Before going to Kenya he also read that all children begin running barefoot and that it helps them naturally develop into amazing runners. When he arrives and starts training, he finds out that this is not necessarily the case. So, what is the secret to their success?

When read together, Born to Run and Running with the Kenyans juxtapose the impact of running in two vastly different cultures and people, and will make one wonder about the running culture throughout the world.

Sometimes it's difficult to appreciate how much work a runner goes through to be on top. Running is not just physically taxing but also mentally taxing, and Running with the Kenyans is a great view into a culture of running to be the best.

You don't have to be a runner to the enjoy the sport. Whether a runner runs on a long, winding road or loops around a track, the hours of dedication, the amount of pain they put themselves through, and their personal reasons for running are enough to appreciate the love for the sport. 

Even though I have been physically training for a sub-3 hour marathon, I would still not be as prepared for running if I had not read these books. I'm in the middle of another set of running books I took out from NYPL for an upcoming blog post. The next set of books will be the last set of inspiration before the 2015 NYC Marathon, but the next set of inspiration for a lifetime of learning and always improving.