Endure by Alex Hutchinson. A review of the book.
I have just finished reading Alex Hutchinson’s book, Endure. It is one of the best books that I have read in a while. So, here are some of the things that I enjoyed –
1. There is a discussion about diet.
I have just finished re looking at some of Tim Noakes’ material and also re-read Dr. Phil Maffatone’s book, “Endurance, Training, and Racing”. Both Noakes and Maffetone advocate a low carb, high-fat diet. This is revisited by Hutchinson.
The debate is best summarized as follows:
“You train to burn fat, but you race on carbs”.
With regard to Tim Noakes, (who wrote the blurb on the back cover of the book), Hutchinson humorously writes the following,’ “Tim is probably his own worst enemy. He’s a very strong personality, and he gets these really neat, innovative ideas, but instead of saying, ‘Wow, I’ve found a better way to explain this, ‘ he says, ‘Everybody else is wrong.'”
2. The book is packed with unusual stories of endurance.
The stories are fascinating. There will always be outliers that will push boundaries. The question that has been asked so many times to these people goes something like this, “Why did you climb that mountain?” The answer, as you guessed, “Because it’s there.” 
3. Time is spent looking at Eliud Kipchoge’s attempt at becoming the first human to run a sub 2-hour marathon.
This has to be the single greatest physical feat carried out in the last decade and should go down in history as being of equal importance at Roger Bannister’s breaking of the 4 min mile record. It’s impossible to read about the work that went into the attempt without feeling your pulse race. We were treated to one of the single greatest moments in sporting history.
4. A theme that comes out strongly through the book is that relaxed athletes perform better.
Here are two quotes that I found really interesting – “One of the most famous proponents of facial relaxation was the legendary sprint coach Bud Winter, who had honed his ideas while training pilots during World War II. “Watch his lower lip,” Winer instructed a Sports Illustrated reporter who visited one of his practices in 1959, as his star sprinter streaked past. “If his lower lip is relaxed and flopping when he runs, his upper body is loose.” Then Winter offered a firsthand demonstration of the optimal running face. “Like that,” he said, flicking his tension-free lower lip with his fingers. “It’s got to be loose.” Later in the book he reports the following, “Telling runners they look relaxed makes them burn measurably less energy to sustain the same pace”.
5. Finally, this passage on the importance of belief.
“According to filmmaker and former elite runner Michael Del Monte, who spent months in the heart of Kenyan running culture while filming the documentary Transcend about the rise of marathon-turned-politician Wesley Korir, it comes down to belief. “Even the humblest Kenyan runner, he noticed, wakes up every morning with the firm conviction that today, finally, will be his or her day. They run with the leaders because they think they can beat them, and if the harsh reality proves that they can’t, they regroup and try again the next day.” And that belief, fostered by the longstanding international dominance of generations of Kenyan runners, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I hope that I have done enough to pique your interest in the book. It’s one of the best to come out for a long time.
Mike Roscoe.
