I Hate Running and You Can Too

How to Get Started, Keep Going, and Make Sense of an Irrational Passion

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Pub Date 16 Mar 2021 | Archive Date 16 Mar 2021

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Description

BRENDAN LEONARD HATES RUNNING. He hates it so much that he once logged fifty-two marathon-length runs in fifty-two weeks. Now he’s sharing everything he’s learned about the sport so that you can hate it too.

Packed with wisdom, humor, attitude, tips, and quotes—and more than sixty illuminating charts—I Hate Running and You Can Too delivers a powerful message of motivation from a truly relatable mentor.

Leonard nails the love-hate relationship most runners have with the sport. He knows the difficulty of getting off the couch, teaches us to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, embraces the mix of running with walking. And he shares all that he’s learned—celebrating the mantra of “Easy, light, smooth, and fast,” observing that any body that runs is a runner’s body.

Plus Leonard knows all the practical stuff, from training methods to advice for when you hit a setback or get injured. Even the answer to that big question a lot of runners occasionally ask: Why? Easy: Running helps us understand commitment, develop patience, discover self-discipline, find mental toughness, and prove to ourselves that we can do something demanding. And, of course, burn off that extra serving of nachos.

BRENDAN LEONARD HATES RUNNING. He hates it so much that he once logged fifty-two marathon-length runs in fifty-two weeks. Now he’s sharing everything he’s learned about the sport so that you can hate...


Advance Praise

“Filled with empathy, understanding, and enthusiasm, I Hate Running and You Can Too made us love running more than ever and gave us bonus love  for charts that make you laugh until your stomach hurts.” —Megan Roche, MD, and David Roche, authors of The Happy Runner and coaches whose athletes have won more than twenty U.S. national championship races 

“As the author of Eat Bacon, Don’t Jog, I assumed I’d never run again. Then I read chapter two.”  —Grant Petersen, author and founder of Rivendell Bicycle Works 

“Brendan has a mad genius way to convey the mundane aspects of running. No matter if you’re a total newbie or veteran runner, this book just might make you run a little farther or faster and have a laugh while doing it!”  —Scott Jurek, seven-time champion of the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run and New York Times bestselling author of Eat & Run

“Filled with empathy, understanding, and enthusiasm, I Hate Running and You Can Too made us love running more than ever and gave us bonus love for charts that make you laugh until your stomach...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781579659882
PRICE $14.95 (USD)
PAGES 160

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)

Average rating from 26 members


Featured Reviews

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a PRC of I Hate Running and You Can Too. The author of this little book doesn't really hate running. As a long time runner, he has a love/hate relationship with running, like so many of us. This is a fun, breezy read for anyone who runs or wants to run...or should be running. The author is a seasoned runner who knows his subject well. The book is illustrated with fun graphics that help emphasize his points. This is probably one of the most enjoyable books about running that I've ever read!

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Finally a running book with which I can agree. I hate running. I always felt less of a runner because of it. Even when I was a triathlete, I hated running. Now I know why, because I made it hard. This author gets it, we can overwhelm ourselves with time, pace, effort ,and comparisons. We forget to have fun, relax, honor our bodies and experience freedom. You decide on your pace and comfort and report to no one. That’s what running should be. No expectation. It’s okay to hate it. What matters is you keep moving and keep trying. Running is running, fast or slow, long or short.
“Slow is eventually fast.”
“Put in the miles so you can put in the miles.”

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Next to me is a page of notes that have nothing to do with running, but everything to do with successful outcomes. Every piece of sage advice I scrawled on this torn sheet of paper is from I Hate Running and You Can Too, which, by the way, is the most approachable book on running I've encountered. Because of the wisdom imparted by Brendan Leonard, I stayed on the treadmill longer, went for the extra mile, and mentally challenged myself to quit my whining and complete the task because we are all our own worst enemies. If we don't admit that, we don't break the cycle.
The witty realism of Leonard's style is like having your best friend in your ear. The tone is encouraging, but also, he's not about to take your BS. What's especially nice are the "hang on the wall" quotes like "The pursuit of passion matters more than the passion itself" and "You have to be the person you don't let down". This is the kind of book you keep and re-read when you need to reboot and find your rhythm again. It is printed motivation that should be displayed, gifted, and pushed upon anyone who needs to get themselves started. Look, I may be laying it on thick here, but reading this book has the potential to be life-altering. And I'm going to go for a run now because I'm out of excuses and maybe, just maybe, I don't hate running as much as I thought.

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