Feet Don't Fail Me Now The Rogue's Guide to Running the Marathon

by Kaplan, Ben

• ISBN13: 9781771000734
• ISBN10: 1771000732
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-01-14
• Publisher: Greystone Books

Summary

In Feet Don't Fail Me Now, running and music columnist Ben Kaplan describes how to train for a marathon in one year, even if you have never run before. Based on his own experience transforming himself from an "average guy" into a dedicated runner who qualified for the Boston Marathon, the book provides a week-by-week training program, split into four three-month sections--each concluding with a race from 5 kilometres to the Boston Marathon--along with critical information about such topics as nutrition and hydration, how to select shoes, race strategy, pacing, proper form, and whether or not it is important to stretch, with input from experts from around the world. Kaplan also draws from his music writing and connections and includes recommendations for songs to run to by musicians such as Jack White, Paul Simon, Norah Jones, Justin Bieber, Willie Nelson, Feist, Pearl Jam, and Ghostface Killah. He presents serious information, but his humor and infectious enthusiasm make it a hell of a lot of fun. You can feel Kaplan's excitement about running, his rock-star friends and their selections, and the various experts and others he interacts with on his road to the marathon. Feet Don't Fail Me Now will inspire the most recalcitrant runners to lace up their shoes and hit the pavement.

Author Biography

Ben Kaplan writes a weekly column on running for the National Post, as well as covering the music scene for the newspaper and interviewing celebrities such as Mel Brooks, Barry Manilow, Snoop Dogg, and Joan Rivers. An average runner (and degenerate bar fly), he also teaches a weekly "Learn to Run" course at the Running Room. Born in Brooklyn, he was an editor at GQ and staff writer at New York magazine and has written for The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Runnner's World, and Spin, among other publications.