Marathon Running For Mortals

As with anything I have the remotest interest in, as soon as I decided to sign up for a marathon, I've immediately started to ingest any and all information I can find on it like something hungry... that eats books.  Something more original sounding than "bookworm"... Knowledge Beaver? I don't know. It's nearly my bedtime, leave me alone.

Point is, for me, it's not a hobby if I haven't completely nerded out on it first. 

First book I've got my greedy mitts on on the subject is John "the penguin" Bingham (if you're a slower runner like me, look him up. Guy's an inspiration!) and coach Jenny Hadfield's Marathon Running For Mortals.  I've already read Bingham's No Need For Speed and enjoyed that, so made sense to seek out his waddly wisdoms first.

Devoured the thing in a couple of days.  It's rather good!  Full of memorable quotes and tips to do squiggly lines under in biro (not pencil.  Biro makes them super important).  Here are a couple of quotes that got the squiggle treatment from me:

"If you climb too slowly, you find yourself getting bored with the pace and the activity.  If you climb too quickly, you find yourself so winded that you can't enjoy the beauty of the experience... You should find the place between boredom and exhaustion."

"Long distance success is more about tenacity than talent."

"You may not be in the top tier of that race, but as a long-distance athlete, you are fitter,better trained and more disciplined than 99 per cent of the population who have ever lived. Remind yourself of that when you start to obsess about your pace or finish time."

And most importantly

"It's all about the medal."

Too right, Mr Bingham.  Too right!