Running the Dream

All said and done, this is a pretty standard running memoir: “I had a dream, I went for it, I learned some stuff along the way.” The author's dream was to PR in the marathon even though he was over 40. He went for it by playing professional runner with NAZ Elite in Flagstaff, acting as a member of the team and receiving all the amenities the pro runners are afforded: training at altitude, training partners, professional coaching (including strength coaching), daily massages, time for an hour-long afternoon nap, access to a sports psychologist, etc. For the 16 weeks (I think?) leading to the Chicago marathon, the author's only job was to become a better runner - and by doing this, he hoped to PR.

SPOILER: He did. Apparently when your entire life is centered around running and you have virtually nothing else to worry about and state-of-the-art facilities and the best places to run and extremely talented people to run with and a whole team of the best professionals in the biz boosting you up, you can PR in the marathon. Shocker!!

Sarcasm aside, I think there were some useful “it's the journey not the destination” nuggets that I appreciated. He ended with a bit about goal setting that I found really useful: setting time goals is absurdly common in running, but is quite arbitrary and often leads to a lot of frustration. Ultimately, we're all just trying to be the fastest version of ourselves – so why not make that the goal, and let the time come to you? This is absolutely how I'll be approaching my next marathon block.

I also enjoyed some of the insights into pro training life, but TBH I've gotten a lot of that from podcasts, instagram, and vlogs so there wasn't anything groundbreaking here.

Also, I listened to the audiobook to have a little inspiration on flat recovery runs and grueling elliptical sessions; however, the narrator's (the reader, not the author) monotone performance made me feel low-energy. Wouldn't recommend it.

Overall, just an okay read. Giving it 3 stars because it inspired me nonetheless.

If you are into running and especially training and marathons, I highly suggest this unique story from a veteran writer-runner fake pro runner (as he calls himself throughout this book), Matt Fitzgerald.

Missing one start out of five is for the missed opportunity to have a second or third sub story line(s) around one or two pro-runners as well as a slightly smoother writing imho.

If you are training for a marathon or half for that matter, you will find this book inspiring too.