Book Review: "Come To Win"

The bad thing about checking a book out from the library is that eventually (and sometimes sooner rather than later) the book has to be returned. I checked out "Come To Win" by Venus Williams, on a whim last month. I was returning another book and saw this one. It's a collection of accounts by business leaders, visionaries, doctors, and artists on how sports has helped them achieve all they have. The book is already overdue and I really have to get it back tomorrow. Unfortunately I didn't get all the chapters read that I had hoped too.

I skipped around, going for the chapters that most interested me - including Vera Wang, Donny Deutsch, Denzel Washington, Soledad O'Brien, Marcus Samuelsson and a few others. The book is rather large, which makes it virtually impossible to take on the subway with me to read on the commute. One day, when I finally break down and buy a Kindle, I'll probably get this book and read it in full.

The personal accounts are very interesting. Some played professional sports, others received scholarships to play in college, and still others just participated in casual (yet competitive), pick-up games in their neighborhoods. The sports ranged from crew to football and track. But there is a common theme that runs through them: sports taught them discipline, self respect, how to win, and how to loose, to take risks, how to be part of a team, and how to handle pressure. All of these traits have helped them in their chosen profession.

A few of my favorite quotes:

"..sports can enhance your life by making you a better person. It teaches you how to self critique. It teaches you how to treat people. It teaches you how to push yourself to get better."  - Soledad O'Brien

"'Your brain only has room for one conscious thought in your head at a time, so you have to make sure it's positive.'"   - Julie Foudy (as quoted by Lucy Danziger)

"The true failure in losing is when you don't take anything away from it. If you just go through the pain of losing and don't, in any way, advance yourself further for any next game, life moment, or situation, then it's a loss with no caveat or no asterisk whatsoever."  - Donny Deutsch

"I'm convinced sports help people learn how to live their dreams, beginning with lesson one - never quit."  - Bill Clinton

These are just a few of the great quotes found in this book and I encourage you to read them all (unlike I did). There are great lessons in this book. While the people showcased in this book have accomplished great things and have made a name for themselves, we all share these same experiences as athletes.

For more information about the book, click HERE

My run this morning was really good. Just five miles at an easy pace. I like progressive runs, so that's what I did today rather than keeping a steady pace the entire time. I start out at a slow pace to warm up and slightly increase the pace every mile or so. The last .15miles I was going at 7.2mph. I like doing my runs this way so I have the strength and endurance to push my pace hard and sprint to the finish line!

Big news in our household! As of today, Woody and I are no longer subleasing and are the names on the lease of our apartment!!

• What's your finish line strategy?
• How have sports helped you in the rest of your life?

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Today's workout -

5mile run

2x40 sec planks

50 crunches

lots of stretching