The Looniness of the Long Distance Runner : An Unfit Londoner's Attempt to Run the New York City Marathon from Scratch
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Book Overview
Out-of-shape and hammered more often than not, Russell Taylor, nearing 40, begins training for the NYC marathon as something of a midlife crisis. His journey from the treadmill in North London to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0233050817
ISBN13:9780233050812
Release Date:January 2003
Publisher:Andre Deutsch
Length:224 Pages
Weight:0.35 lbs.
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Very British humor but observations apply to US runners too
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Taylor is a professional British comic writer, which shows: the book's well written, funny, and British. British in a P. G. Wodehouse, not a ribald way. Much of the humor derives from his observations of runners' everyday peculiarities, most of which may be seen in the new world as well. The book is also a bit sad, because (I think) Taylor tried to overcome middle aged unfitness too quickly - to run the NY Marathon - and paid a price. The price was all post-NY so I'll not reveal details. But check his 1/2 marathon time and his NY time: the former predicts over 20 minutes better than he ran in NY. Check also his training heart rates: too high. It's fair to assume he ran the marathon before he was ready. But as he writes the "marathon"'s a unique brand; who'd want to read about his travails trying to run merely 13.1 miles?
On the nose
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
Taylor captures the realities of starting a running program beautifully and with LOL humor. If you're a runner, don't miss this.
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