Walking Outside the Box,Used

Review An inspirational memoir about finding the inner athlete in yourself. Says Reynolds (The First Marathon: The Legend of Pheidippides, 2006), a selfdescribed clumsy preTitle IX baby, 'I have long believed I have a great journey in me.' Here, she traces her recent steps in that trek, hoping to inspire others to follow their own paths to health and selffulfillment...'It is funny,' she writes, 'I was not an athlete until my first marathon at the age of 50.'...Her story should motivate those in a rut to take charge of their lives. This frank, enjoyable 'whyto' guide to walking offers direction for personal growth as well. Kirkus Discoveries Product Description 'Long after my bedtime I was still chuckling out loud, crying quietly, walking in words with the inimitable just susan. A read with Susan is like a journey with a best friend. Give yourself a pressure break, and walk with the queen of owning your life.' Dr. Elaine DollDunn, author, Gotta Run About the Author Susan Reynolds is an artist, writer, adventurer, and distance walker who has participated in a variety of distance events and solo treks. She is an advocate of the sport of walking. Susan lives and trains in the foothills of the Black Range Mountains in southern New Mexico. She was inspired to write her first book The First Marathon: The Legend of Pheidippides while falling asleep on a plane homeward bound after her first marathon. Susan is currently training for a 275 mile solobackpacking trek in Lapland, Sweden. Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. ...Another untruth of my childhood: 'You are going to be built just like your mother when you grow up.' My mama. Nancy. A formidable wonderful oneofakind force on this earth. She was amazing. I have never known anyone who even comes close to being like her, and her influences over her children still have repercussions to this day. If she was your friend or your mama, the world beware should it think to harm you. If you crossed her, you'd best pray for mercy before facing her fury. She was honest and brilliant and full of contradictions. Born in 1930, she was the traditional wife and mother of her time, but she was more outspoken than just about any woman I have ever known. She was full of fears and yet seemed fearless. She could play any musical instrument she could tune. She loved art and music and intelligent people, but was afraid to fly. She and my Pop raised their five children to be strong independent people but when the day came for each of us to leave home and find our way, Nancy especially had a hard time letting us go. My mama had her first bout of cancer at the age of 40. I was sixteen. I graduated early from high school and worked parttime for a doctor at the University of North Carolina Medical School. I was biding my time to start college, for even I knew I was too young at sixteen. When I wasn't working, I was helping out with Mama. She'd contracted hepatitis from a blood transfusion after her mastectomy. I won't go so far as to say I ran the house for her, I didn't. But I did what I was asked and helped where I could, and one thing was to keep her company as she lay in bed on doctor's orders while her liver healed. Her second bout was two years later: a new tumor in the same place as the last one. I had just finished my first year in college. We spent the summer together in a small apartment in Houston, Texas while she underwent radiation treatments. Mama was raised in Houston. I met many people from her childhood and relatives I probably would have never met otherwise. She handled her treatments bravely, and by summer's end she seemed to be free of the disease. Mama was a large lady. Her illnesses didn't help. It also didn't help that she was one of the best cooks anyone could know. And she always cooked. I remember lean years when Papa was in graduate school, but once they were better established, food at our table was not only deliciou