Book #7 - The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women

This weekend, I finished book #7 for the year, The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais. This book annoyed me. It was nice to read about running and training from a non-elite runner who struggles for motivation and isn't the fastest person around, but she complains entirely too much.

Dawn Dais hated running. And it didn't like her much, either. Her fitness routine consisted of avoiding the stairs in her own house, because who really has the energy to climb stairs? It was with this exercise philosophy firmly in place that she set off to complete a marathon.

The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women is a fun training manual for women who don't believe that running is their biological destiny but who dream of crossing the finish line nonetheless. It opens with a realistic training schedule and is chock-full of how-to's, quizzes, and funny observations, which Dais felt were lacking in the guides she had consulted.

Dais's book integrates entries from her journal, sharing everything would-be marathoners need to know about the gear, the blisters, the early morning workouts, the late-night carb binges, and—most important of all—the amazing rewards.

Anyone can do a marathon. This book just makes the experience a little more bearable and a lot more fun.

There were parts of the book that were entertaining and made you laugh and plenty to relate to (I mean, who wants to get up super early on a Saturday to go run?), but she complained entirely too much throughout the book. You don't really learn much about marathon training that you can't read somewhere else online, but it is nice to know that not everyone is out there running 7 minute miles and "normal" people can run marathons too. Overall, if you read this book, don't go in expecting much. You'll be entertained some, but probably mostly annoyed if tons of complaining annoys you like it does me.