Running the Dream: One Summer Living, Training and Racing with a Team of World-Class Runners Half My Age

Matt Fitzgerald is a California-based runner and the author of numerous running books, including Run: the Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel (2010), 80/20 Running (2014) and How Bad Do You Want It? (2015). During the summer of 2017, he spent three months training as a “fake pro runner” with naz Elite, the hoka- sponsored squad based in Flagstaff, Ariz. The idea was to live and train at altitude with pros like Scott Fauble, Steph Bruce and Kellyn Taylor (something few 40-something recreational runners get the chance to do), guided by their coach, Ben Rosario, during the 13 weeks leading up to the 2017 Chicago Marathon.

When the book opens, the veteran marathoner is in his mid-40s and his PB of 2:41 is nine years behind him. He has a recurring Achilles injury, and he sustains a groin injury after a particularly hard workout with the squad. As a result, he’s reluctant to share his real time goal for Chicago, which is an ambitious 2:39, until his new teammates insist that he be open about it. But being part of an elite squad means having access to topnotch therapists who patch him up well enough to keep him training toward his goal.

We won’t reveal whether he achieves it. Suffice it to say that, though there is altogether too much detail about his daily interactions with his teammates, it’s worth persevering to the end for Fitzgerald’s wise ref lections on two things: why runners like him are so driven to fulfil their potential, and what it really means to enjoy the process.— Anne Francis