Marathoning For Mortals

I breezed through 'Marathoning for Mortals' over Thanksgiving weekend.

I had the pleasure of hearing John "the Penguin" Bingham speak at the Team In Training pre-race pasta party the night before my very first marathon - the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. Bingham is a great motivational speaker who knows exactly what to say to assuage the fears of first time marathoners. He also offered practical advice in the form of amusing anecdotes.

Much like his speech, this book's target audience is first time full or half marathoners or anyone who is remotely interested in completing a race. The book really emphasizes the fact that anyone can complete a full or half marathon. I highly recommend this book if you fall into these categories.

If you've already completed a marathon, this is probably not the book for you. It does offer quite a bit of practical advice but I would recommend it as more of a motivational tool rather than an instructional manual.

I applaud Bingham for publicizing his 'anyone can do this if I can' approach to running. I love that the "You might be a penguin if..." section on his website is full of stuff only slow runners would understand.