BOOKS
‘Inside a Marathon’
BY CHAD AUSTIN
T
wo of my favorite activities are
reading and running. Imagine what happens when I read about running. [Insert mind blown emoji here.] I’ve definitely read more than my fair share of running books over the years. There have been training manuals, biographies and fictional stories, as well as books on nutrition, meditation and mental toughness. I’ve read books about running history, philosophy, and anatomy and physiology. At a minimum I think I’ve earned a Bachelor’s degree in running. Just when I think I’ve seen every type of book imaginable about running, a new approach on the topic appears. Enter Inside a Marathon: An All-Access Pass to a Top-10 Finish at NYC by Scott Fauble and Ben Rosario. The book is part biographical, part storytelling, part training manual and journal and part coach-athlete interaction. As the title states, it’s an inside look at a marathon, not the marathon. It’s not a how to account for running your best marathon. It’s a look back at Fauble’s 18 week build-up to the 2018 NYC Marathon including insights from Coach Rosario. Fauble and Rosario are part of Northern Arizona Elite (NAZ Elite), arguably the most successful elite training group in the U.S. at this time. Not only has the group been busy winning national titles, but they’re also setting the bar when it comes to social media and promoting not only themselves, but also their entire training group. They obviously have a firm grasp that in this social media era, companies are looking for athletes with a platform that are willing to create and engage with an audience – rather than just run fast while wearing their shoes and apparel. This book is just another example of creating a platform to engage with their audience. Prior to writing this book, Fauble had completed just one marathon running 2:12:35 at the 2017 Frankfurt Marathon. That’s a respectable time for sure; however, I think it’s safe to say that Scott Fauble wasn’t a household name after that race. Yet he had enough confidence in his abilities, both running and writing, to approach Rosario with his idea for this book. He states that he wrote the book because he “would have absolutely devoured something
18
SUMMER 2019
The new book “inside a marathon” includes a foreword by des linden. like this if someone else had done it… there’s never been a non-fiction, first person account of the training segment leading up to a major race like the New York City Marathon.” What makes this book so interesting for me is that each week of this 18 week training cycle is written as its own chapter, complete with Fauble’s training log, along with Rosario’s and Fauble’s recap of the week where they write about the highs and lows, aches and pains, what they’re trying to accomplish with specific workouts, lead up races, etc. One of the cool things about this approach is that neither Ben nor Scott knew what the other was writing. They completed their weekly recaps separately and submitted them to Rosario’s wife, Jen, who
compiled them throughout the process. She also took nearly 200 beautiful photos that really enhance the book. While it’s really cool to see the specifics of an elite runner’s training log, the truth is that the vast majority of us will never be able to replicate it. However, no matter how fast we are, we all go through similar physical and mental challenges. This insight from Coach Rosario reminds me that we may be doing things right, even when it doesn’t feel right; “He just needed to get used to feeling sort of semi-tired all the time again. In other words, he needed to embrace marathon training… he’s used to having some pop in his legs at the start of a workout. It’s not going to be like that during
