Again to Carthage

"If he could conquer the weakness, the cowardice in himself, he would not worry about the rest; it would come.

"Training was a rite of purification; from it came speed, strength. Racing was a rite of death; from it came knowledge.

"Such rites demand, if they are to be meaningful at all, a certain amount of time spent precisely on the Red Line, where you can lean over the manicured putting green at the edge of the precipe and see exactly nothing."
--John L. Parker: "Once a Runner"

That quote from the running classic "Once a Runner" is blown up big and is pinned on my bathroom/changing room wall. Friends told me to read that book when I was having a bad patch and it was just as inspiring as they said. And now I'm excited! Amazon have just told me that my copy of "Again to Carthage" is on the way.

This is John L. Parker's follow-up. Runner's World recently featured an extract from the new book -- 30 years in the writing -- and an interview with John L, who was hospitalised with heart problems right after he handed it in.

Copies of "Once a Runner" are hard to get; I've seen them advertised online for $400. So the entrepreneurial among you may want to get a couple of copies at least of "Carthage"!