Endure

Three stars feels too low, but the Goodreads “I really liked it” seems a bit overenthusiastic for this.

Lots of it was really good! Some cool science, some interesting stories, and it's refreshing to see a book like this from someone who was close to that elite level. It definitely passed the test of whether I was telling people anecdotes as I was reading them.

Some things bugged me though, similar to other reviewers. While the book admitted it wasn't a how-to guide, I definitely wish it had had more tips or things to try. Especially since the author briefly described things that did work for him! Also, his tendency to wander in a narrative was sometimes annoying, I generally don't need my nonfiction to be weaving stories in and out of each other but I understand that's a taste thing.

Also, the book feels like it will be rapidly outdated and due for a new edition. The central story tying so many chapters together was Eliud Kipchoge's first sub-2:00 marathon attempt, but he's since beaten that, and some of the science was cutting edge at the time with only preliminary results.

As a last point, the audiobook narrator did a pretty bad job. He mispronounced so many names (especially of the African endurance athletes), and was inconsistent, changing from different pronunciations within the same chapters. He also misread 2:05 as “two minutes and five seconds” instead of “two hours and 5 minutes”, which shouldn't have been hard to pick up on given the chapter context.