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    An Accidental Athlete: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Middle Age
    Unavailable
    An Accidental Athlete: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Middle Age
    Unavailable
    An Accidental Athlete: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Middle Age
    Ebook163 pages2 hours

    An Accidental Athlete: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Middle Age

    By John "The Penguin" Bingham

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Known by fans as "The Penguin" for his back-of-the-pack speed, John Bingham is the unlikely hero of the modern running boom. In his new book, the best-selling author and magazine columnist recalls his childhood dreams of athletic glory, sedentary years of unhealthy excess, and a life-changing transformation from couch potato to "adult-onset athlete."

    Overweight, uninspired, and saddled with a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoking habit, Bingham found himself firmly wedged into a middle-age slump. Then two frightening trips to the emergency room and a conversation with a happy piano tuner led him to discover running--and changed his life for the better.

    Inspiring, poignant, hilarious, and heartbreaking, An Accidental Athlete is a warm and engaging book for the everyday athlete. Bingham tells stories of the joys of running--the pride of the finisher's medal, a bureau-busting t-shirt collection, intense back-of-the-pack strategizing. An Accidental Athlete is about one man's discovery that middle age was not the finish line after all, but only the beginning.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVeloPress
    Release dateAug 1, 2011
    ISBN9781937716004
    Unavailable
    An Accidental Athlete: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Middle Age
    Author

    John "The Penguin" Bingham

    John "The Penguin" Bingham is author of several books about running and featured columnist for Competitor magazine, spokesman of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program, and race announcer of the Rock ‘n' Roll Marathon Series. His popular column The Penguin Chronicles ran for 14 years in Runner's World magazine. Learn more about The Penguin at johnbingham.com.

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    Reviews for An Accidental Athlete

    3/5

    4 ratings3 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I'm not a runner, but I have friends who are. I found this book to be interesting, but a bit repetitive at times.
    • 3/5
      I'm waffling on whether to give this two or three stars. Two seems low, but the description "it was ok" matches it better than "I liked it."

      The good: Bingham has a great storytelling voice and he offers a lot of encouragement and enthusiasm. He is a great counterweight to the idea that running must be an elite activity for only the very fit. He tells us that runners are people who run, no more, no less. There is a lot of encouragement, empathy, and folk wisdom inside these pages. As a fatass who in his late 30's is trying to leave years of sloth, smoking, and overeating behind, I am encouraged by Bingham's personal stories.

      The not-so-good: this is more of a self-help book than a running book. That is not necessarily a problem, but Bingham knows how to tell a story and he knows how to work a crowd. As an end result, I don't trust his words as much as I might. Have you ever talked to a really excellent sales-person and then not be certain whether you want to buy the product because you don't trust your own enthusiasm for it? I get that feeling after reading Bingham. Does he make me feel better about running because running is a great thing or does he make me feel better about running because his words convey enthusiasm convincingly?

      I like this book and I'd love to buy Bingham a beer, but I'm left feeling like I've just heard a particularly skilled evangelical preacher give his testimony and make an altar call. I'm buying what he's selling, but I don't fully trust the surge in enthusiasm I feel for it.
    • 4/5
      John Bingham is what he describes as an “accidental athlete” or an “adult-onset athlete”. At 43 years old, after years of eating, smoking and drinking too much, he started running. I think I enjoyed this book so much because I could relate to so much of what the author experienced in his life. He was a kid who wanted to play sports and had fun playing sports but wasn’t very good at them. When the day came that he figured out he wasn’t very good, he didn’t want to play anymore.He had a lucrative career, great house, several motorcycles – all the trappings of success. He thought he has happy. It wasn’t until one day when he decided to move more that he realized life could be better. He started with biking and then decided to try running. When he first started, he ran a 30 minute mile! Even now he is a middle of the pack runner, which I can totally identify with. I really appreciated his philosophies on running; that it’s okay to be slow and the goal really should be to have fun.The author does get a little repetitive at times, mentioning things in later chapters that he’s already said in previous chapters but it wasn’t enough to get on my nerves. I’m still recovering from surgery so I can’t run right now but after reading his book I really want to get out there again. I’ll probably re-read it when I’m able to actually run again. If you are an accidental or adult-set athlete or even someone who’s been running for most of your life, I think you will really enjoy this book.