New Book Review: "The Success Trail"
New book review for The Success Trail: Learn to Win with a Marathon Runner's Mindset, by Jack Perconte, Second Base Publishing, 2021:
Copy provided by author Jack Perconte (former professional baseball player).
As a lifelong runner, I've read many running books over the years, and this one differentiates from all the others due to its probably being one of the most down-to-earth. As a former professional baseball player and runner of 14 marathons and counting, Perconte noticeably maintains his humbleness throughout. He states plainly that his experience should not intimidate the reader, even going so far as to stating in the opening pages that he wasn't a great baseball player, and that he didn't even become a runner until he was middle-aged. That said, becoming a professional baseball player obviously means that someone has already reached elite status relative to the competition, and he writes from experience successfully finishing over a dozen marathons (even though he admittedly still ponders how someone can run a marathon in less than 2.5 hours, considering less than 5 hours a miraculous feat).
The fifteen chapters in this book revolve around mindset: (1) "The Forward Mindset", (2) "The Courageous Mindset", (3) "The Commitment Mindset", (4) "The Planning Mindset", (5) "The Health Mindset", (6) "The Beginner's Mindset", (7) "The Identity Mindset", (8) "The Athlete's Mindset", (9) "The Happy Mindset", (10) "The Winner's Mindset", (11) "The Acclimating Mindset", (12) "The 'In the Zone' Mindset", (13) "The Patient Mindset", (14) "The Hero's Mindset", and (15) "The Analytical Mindset". Each of these chapters follows a relatively consistent pattern that can be summarized as a dream sequence conjured by the author followed by a quote by a well-known individual, the author's experience, how the author's experience might relate to the reader's experience, and short stories about marathon legends and the author, concluding with important takeaways for the reader from each of these stories.
Beginning in the second chapter, Perconte starts laying out what he views as the "stairway to success" a few steps at a time. As the author mentions in the dream sequence at the outset of this chapter, "confusion and anxiety reign with no destination; goals are imperative for achievement and avoiding pointless wandering and wasting time…the success trail needs a solid foundation; laying pavement will smooth the road to the starting line." While the author doesn't explicitly state as such, the stairway to success essentially answers the question posed in the first chapter: "Do you ever wonder what it takes to do something noteworthy?" And I find it very clever that 26.2 steps are laid out across the remaining chapters, a bit reminiscent of the 26 chapters of Meb Keflezighi's "26 Marathons: What I Learned about Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career", which symbolized that runner's 26 marathon competitions.
One of my favorite steps is probably the second-to-last: an honest analysis of performance. I've always, always been negatively impacted on my runs by negative thoughts. While I naturally work through and purge built-up negative thoughts during my runs (and so I need to actually reference my thoughts in order to do so), it is the persistent negative thoughts that always cause problems. Perconte offers retroactive solutions, although unlike his solutions many of my negative thoughts are admittedly unrelated to my actual running. "Even though one may have solid reasons for underperforming, excuses and negativity diminish the effort. When answers to 'why' come, it is valuable to frame them in ways that make you feel like you overcame them. Instead of saying, 'The weather slowed my time,' I say, 'I battled some horrible conditions and made it.' Instead of, 'Cramps kept me from the time I hoped for,' it is, 'I learned today I must hydrate better to prevent cramps.' Winners analyze in a positive tone."
In reading through this book, I can relate to much of what the author has to say. I've done my own informal mental "fact-checking" against my personal running experiences, and I can attest that I share many of the same conclusions as the author. For example, in the concluding pages of the third chapter the author comments about the inspiration that running has provided him, a phenomena I don't think non-runners will ever understand until they give running a real chance. "Research studies give many convincing reasons to run and be physically active. The one that motivates me the most is why I recommend people run – the mental stimulation it creates. Whenever I get into a mental rut and the fruitful ideas dry up, movement on foot makes my brain thrust into a higher gear. Exercise brings out my cerebral functioning, as it helps me think, imagine, create, love, pray, reminisce, hope, and feel alive."
The software engineer in me appreciates the "Employ a Start-up Scheme" at the outset of the fourth chapter. From my experience, even though the agile movement may have started in the software development community the key is incremental improvement over time for any of life's endeavors. Over the years, folks have commented to me that they had "tried" running in the past, and upon further discussion I've found that this usually meant they tried running for a very short time period, not really giving it a chance. While as an adult I personally get highs on a frequent basis while running, I never experienced these while I was competing as a student athlete. If I had given up running at an early age, I simply would never have experienced getting a runner's high. But now that I regularly experience these, I have another motivator to keep running. These experiences remind me of a presentation I gave several years ago about using one's skills to benefit non-profit organizations: in my conclusion, I stated my last tip: "Don't quit, but know when to move on." Seriously, don't simply quit for no good reason! You might very well be close to reaching your next milestone goal, but you'll sadly never know if you bow out too early.
The author briefly mentions his use of mantras in the concluding paragraph of the tenth chapter. As I mentioned in my review of "Still Running: The Art of Meditation in Motion", I personally use a mantra as the point of focus while running. I typically use even-numbered phrases that correspond to a sequence of strides, and in recent years often count, with the most recent being a mantra of "1, 2, 3, 4". However, when I do this I am actually doing so to zone out. In fact, I've often commented to others that time seemingly passes by much more quickly when I do this. Now, thinking back to my beginnings as a runner in grade school, I was explicitly coached to focus on my breathing. However, once I got this down I found it distracting to be consciously aware of my breathing, so over time removed this practice from my repertoire. It's interesting that Perconte's mantra examples, "Relax, Breath, Improve" (the acronym of which speaks to his professional baseball career) and "Pace, Focus, Confidence", both consist of odd-numbered phrases that are each multiple syllables, so I'm wondering how he breaks down these words in his head. Perhaps I'll reach out and ask him! After all, he did reach out to me to send a copy of this book for my review.
I'm in agreement with Perconte's philosophy that when one strives to go high and far, life is purposeful, the way it should be. And I personally believe that life is like running a race. I've often been asked about my races by those who didn't discover running until adulthood, and I'm always very clear that I no longer race due to burnout. But I continue to run every single morning throughout all four seasons of the Chicagoland area, usually on the trails-over-rails network that is literally only a block from my residence, or on my Precor treadmill when the weather is unbearable or I need a break from the much, much more rigorous outdoor run. However, races provide goals, bringing meaning to many runners. The marathon distance in particular to which this book caters is especially meaningful to many. Several years ago, the author of "The Purpose Driven Economy" sent me a copy for my review when it was first published, and in many ways, I think Perconte's book could be realistically titled "The Purpose Driven Run". I greatly enjoyed reading this book, and sincerely think that all runners (especially those interested in running a marathon for the first time), will find benefit reading this book.