50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance! [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

I thoroughly enjoyed Ultramarathon man, so when I heard he was writing another book about his Endurance 50 Challenge I couldn't wait. Karnazes account of his experience running 50 marathons in 50 states has some very good information in it. He, of course, went over the running he'd done to that point, as well the type of running that he had wanted to do, which led to the Endurance 50 challenge. This was right up my alley because I have become a huge fan of running as many marathons as possible. My body tends to recover easily so the urge to run more often has only grown with time.

So it amazes me to follow Karnazes trek from state to state with a marathon every day. He offers some gems of knowledge on various aspects, such as eating, hydration, recovery, pacing, conditions and on and on. With 50 marathons in a row there is plenty of fuel for the fire.

For the most part the chapters correspond to some aspect of running and how it related to that day's marathon, or sometimes two to three marathons a chapter. As would be expected, this couldn't go on for every chapter. Some chapters would reference that days marathon and the chapter would not mention more than a sentence or two, sometimes none, of the actual marathon, instead going off on a tangent about something entirely different.

What was amazing was to find in the appendix a doctor's evaluation of Karnazes' health from running all 50 marathons, and came to the basic conclusion that running that many all in a row had no adverse effects and that he indeed seemed to be getting stronger as each marathon went on. In fact his last of the 50 marathons in New York was his fastest, coming in at a little bit after 3 hours!

I whole heartedly recommend all runner's to get a hold of a copy and read this extraordinary account. Fascinating read.

5 stars.

Dean's first book was excellent and I recommend it to all sorts of folks, both runners and non-runners alike, as an interesting story of a guy who does truly amazing things. I must admit to being a big Dean fan and I even ran four marathons with him during his Endurance 50 tour. That said, this book is pretty weak compared with UltraMarathon Man. Anybody who has run a couple marathons should be able to give you the advice from this book. If you're a runner you should still read this book as it does have some interesting anecdotes and Dean's such a nice guy, but his first book was much better.

I will never be a ultramarathon racer because I am a bit tall, a bit overweight but Dean's book makes me want to be a better me in all that I do in my life. I was lucky enough to get a signed copy of this book at a book signing in Costa Mesa last weekend and met Dean. He is a great guy. He is humble, funny and stresses that he is no superhero. He was so positive and I was inspired! I loved his first book and this one is even more interesting.I am more of a long distance walker but after reading this book I want to walk a bit further and maybe aim for a 5k (which for me might as well be a ultramarathon) and I think Dean would be just fine with that!!!!