Book Review::: Spartan Fit! by Joe DeSena

I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to review an advanced copy of Joe DeSena's new book, "Spartan Fit!". After reading his previous book, "Spartan Up!" I was so excited to dive into this one.

Another reason I was so excited to read the book is because I need training tips! I'm signing up for the Asheville Super Spartan that's in August and I need all the help I can get.

I was mostly interested in the training plan and incorporating it into my workouts, however the thing about the book that I was most pleasantly surprised with was the history of the Spartans. I'm a nerd who enjoys history so those bits and pieces were very nice for me.

I was also surprised to learn that DeSena wants to have OCR be recognized in the Olympics. I enjoyed reading his argument as to why it should be there and honestly, I could see it. I can see his vision and how he's began implementing changes to make the races more uniform, just in between the two races I did in 2012 and 2013 (click links to read my reviews of those races).

I've started incorporating his workouts into my training and so far they're very challenging and effective. I think my favorite thing about them is that I can mostly do them at my house, with little to no equipment.

I also enjoy DeSena's no BS, suck it up buttercup attitude. He seems like a no nonsense kind of guy, and I really admire that.

This book is available for pre-order currently and will be available on August 2nd.

*I received a copy of this book in advance in order to provide my unbiased review. All opinions are my own, as always. *

review:::: the ultimate beginner's running guide: the key to running inspired

a few months ago i was contacted by ryan robert to see if i wanted to review his new running book, the ultimate beginner's running guide: the key to running inspired. i love to read and i love running so of course i was happy to oblige.

ryan sent me an electronic copy for my kindle [and after he very patiently walked me through the process of uploading it from email to kindle]. i started reading the book during the peak of my marathon training, so it was slow going.

as you can guess from the title, this is definitely for BEGINNER runners. i had read most of the information previously [between kara goucher's running for women, many, many issues of runner's world, and running blogs], but it was nice to have the information all in one place. i think if you were brand new to the sport, this would be a great place to get started, but even if you've been at it awhile, it's a great resource.

it was great to review how to dress for the elements... because i needed all the help i could get at our arctic marathon!

my favorite part of the book was when ryan talked about body image, motivation, inspiration, and being self conscious. when i started running i was SO self conscious, heck, i still am sometimes. i thought he did an excellent job with this topic, and it would be particularly helpful to all runners.

there are also some really great training plans in the back of the book, which ryan explains so they aren't overwhelming.

if you're a beginner, this is a great place to start. if you have a kindle, you can get the book for $1.99 here!

disclaimer::: i was approached by author to review this book. i was given an electronic copy at no charge, but i was not required to give a positive review. all opinions expressed are my own.