The Pursuit of Endurance

Summary:

Jennifer Pharr Davis, a record holder of the FKT (fastest known time) on the Appalachian Trail, reveals the secrets and habits behind endurance as she chronicles her incredible accomplishments in the world of endurance hiking, backpacking, and trail running. With a storyteller's ear for fascinating detail and description, Davis takes readers along as she trains and sets her record, analyzing and trail-testing the theories and methodologies espoused by her star-studded roster of mentors. She distills complex rituals and histories into easy-to-understand tips and action items that will help you take perseverance to the next level. “The Pursuit of Endurance” empowers readers to unlock phenomenal endurance and leverage newfound grit to achieve personal bests in everything from sports and family to the boardroom.

(Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

In this book we get to know Jennifer’s journey towards pursuing the FKT, but also provides insight into the experiences of a lot of the other recent FKT-holders and big figures within the Appalachian Trail community.  I really loved this book not only because Jennifer is a unique in being a female who held the FKT, but also because she can share her insight of actually having experienced the journey when telling the story of others.

An underlying theme throughout the book definitely included Jennifer coming into her own and exploring why endurance athletes capture our collective imagination.  These are characters who surpass the bounds of what seems possible for an average human, but also there is an emphasis that these are average people who have decided to pursue crazy dreams.  There were a few spots that were a little slow for me, but overall I’d highly recommend this for any sports fan.

Rating: 4 stars!

Who should read it? Fans of running, the Appalachian Trail and intense sporting pursuits.