Bloggers don't always make great book authors, but Brooks produced a very solid guide to becoming a runner or improving as a runner. Highly recommended!

If you're looking to run a marathon or even a half marathon, this is the book for you. You'll learn to run effectively and in a way that helps prevent injury. There are a variety of training programs and stretching routines to learn. I personally wasn't especially fond of the tone but I can't deny it's usefulness.

Practical and relatable book about running. Brooks is an engaging writer who inspired me to get out there and run some miles.

Before I ever started blogging, I read running blogs. At the time, I was starting to run half marathons and while searching Google for advice, I stumbled upon a few running blogs written by women who were moms and/or 'regular' runners. Totally relateable, I ate up everything I read. I probably learned more about running from those blogs than from any technical books I had been reading. I enjoyed the camaraderie that developed with the authors when I left comments on their posts. Through this community, I developed a confidence in my running as well as developed an identity as a 'real runner'.

One of the first running blogs I ever read was Amanda Brooks' Run To The Finish. Along with some of the other runblogging pioneers like Miss Zippy, Marcia's Healthy Slice, Shut Up and Run, and the ladies at Another Mother Runner, Run to the Finish has been on my to-read list since then. Althought we've never met in person, over the years, Amanda and I have become blogging friends simply through commenting on each other's blogs. It's been a lot of fun and exciting to watch her opportunities grow through her blog. This month, Amanda released her first book, aptly titled: Run to The Finish.

Run to the Finish, in Amanda's words, is not a book "for the elite runners. It's a book for me and you and the 98 percent of us in the middle of the pack to know that its just fine to be the best runner you can be while juggling work, family, friends, and still enjoying that delicious slice of pizza every Friday night."

Run to the Finish is organized so that runners can pick up the book, get motivated, learn about training, pick a race, train for it (there are training plans), dress the part, run the race, and keep on going. Maybe even (although she says you don't have to) run a marathon. If you've read Amanda's blog, you know she has a gift for being relatable through her writing and that relatability also comes through the on pages of the book. Much of what is in the book isn't going to be new to experienced runners, but all of it is motivational! New runners will find much to embrace here--I can't imagine not wanting to run after reading the book.

Amanda calls herself a 'student of running' and her experience and expertise are evident. She also has a sense of humor, sprinkling funny anecdotes and comments throughout the book. For example, in the chapter titled: 'You Are A Runner', she invites readers to celebrate their averageness and to choose their running name, using your last name and the last animal you saw on your run.

Here's some important advice from the book: 'don't call yourself a jogger'. For the underconfident runner, Amanda does a great job teaching us how to chase the self-doubt away. She also says to be sure to name your inner critic (hers is Margie) so that when you shut her down, people will assume you're on a phone call instead of just talking to yourself. I love this idea because my inner critic is a jerk and I can only imagine the looks I'd get if I tried to shut that one down!

"Once you cross the finish line of a distance that once seemed unattainable, the sense that you can tackle anything becomes very real." ~Amanda Brooks, Run to the Finish

Isn't that the truth? How many of us runners have come to the conclusion after running a distance we never thought we could run that yes, we CAN do hard things? And that doing these hard things gives us the confidence to tackle hard things off the road?

At the end of each chapter, there's a list of funny running trivia--an example is 7 Lies Runners Love Telling, which includes gems like "running is not why we're injured" and "you get used to early mornings". News you can use: did you know that breasts don't just bounce up and down, they move in a complicated figure-8 pattern. Something to ponder when you're on a long solo run...

Amanda is a running coach and there's plenty of advice about prehab, rehab, and training. God knows most runners are notoriously terrible about doing these movements to strengthen their hips and glutes. My only complaint about the book is that she shares a ton of prehab and warm-up exercises, but not photos to accompany all the exercises, just some of them. Maybe this wouldn't be an issue for most of you, but I'm not very coordinated and looking at photos helps me to get myself in the right positions.

Run to the Finish is an easy to read running reference for all of us. Instead of a technical training manual, this breezy but comprehensive book is like having your BRF (best running friend) cheering you on. This would be a great gift for a new runner or the experienced runner who doesn't plan to BQ until her 80s.

Last month I dnf'ed a judgmental running book within the first few pages, and I'm so happy to have picked up Run to the Finish instead. If you run, you are a runner. Full stop. In Run to the Finish, Amanda Brooks acknowledges that on the bell curve of running capabilities, most of us are going to fall somewhere in the middle.

What I absolutely love about this book is it shows the mindset of a runner. Runners are such great people, and I think she nails the passion and the lack of judgment that you will find with the majority of runners.

It took me a while to figure out who this book was intended for. At first I thought it was for someone who was considering becoming a runner. I felt like the first 10% was spent convincing me to become a runner even though I already was one. But then the next 20% made running sound so painful I felt like the people she convinced to run in the first chapter would already be ready to quit!

Thankfully she mentioned running isn't actually supposed to hurt before she dove into injuries and prevention.

In the second half of the book, she took a look at training plans and gave advice on nutrition, clothing, etiquette, and more for race day.

I love that the author is passionate about running and is sharing her experience and knowledge with anyone interested in being a runner. I think the best audience for this book is probably the beginning runner who is looking for insight into what it means and what it takes to be a runner or the runner who would like some insight into entering road races.

I liked the title of this book. There are a ton of books out there that talk about how to increase speed or run long distances. There are fewer that just talk about how to love the run and how to keep doing the thing you love. I wish there had been a little bit more on the love of running or some descriptions of the author's run but I did enjoy the inclusion of lists of possible causes of injuries, exercises, and training. The inclusion of cross-training, especially the off days (restorative yoga was a nice touch), was also nice. While informative, some of this information was a little dry but overall a nice book for those of us who aren't elite athletes but just can't seem to quit the sport.

Three and a half stars
This book came out March 3rd
ARC kindly provided by Hachette Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

To quote Run to the Finish, "This book is for the runners who aren't in it for the podium, but instead for the feeling of satisfaction from a mile well run."

That one quote sums up my relationship with running. Even though I've been running for almost 7 years now, my pace hasn't drastically improved from when I first finished the Couch to 5k program. I've never placed in the top 3 of any AG categories. And while I still get the very occasional PR, I'm totally trying to adjust to a new mindset that my biggest competition is myself and to not beat myself up. My main goal for races now is to just simply have fun (and not get injured). Brooks' section about dealing with your "inner Simon Cowell" and overcoming any mental barriers that one may put on themselves rang true to me. The last few months leading up to my January marathon had been about getting out of my own head and

This book had a whole bunch of info regarding everything there is to running. I especially enjoyed the parts where Brooks went into detail about how to help stretch and strengthen your glutes and hips to help improve on your running form. I wish I had read this book before I did my recent training cycle for my first marathon. I came out of training and post-race relatively unscathed, but I still feel like this would have been beneficial to read before or during the process.