Ray Charbonneau

Overthinking the Marathon Ray Charbonneau

Overthinking the Marathon is an intimate look at one man's preparation for his 21st marathon.
Reading Overthinking the Marathon is like having Ray as your partner for a season of training, 17 weeks that culminate in the 2012 Cape Cod Marathon. Some days Ray talks about the nitty-gritty details, other days, it's about the things that make running interesting and fun, even - no, especially - when it hurts.
Training for his marathon is important to Ray, but he leavens his obsessiveness with a dry humor that acknowledges that one mid-packer's race isn't going to change the world.
"Ray Charbonneau insists he hasn't written a marathon guide, and he's right. Instead, he's loaning himself out as a thoughtful, veteran, and funny training partner. You couldn't find a better one as you get ready for your next 26.2-miler." -Amby Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon winner and Editor-At-Large, Runner's World
"Marathon running is the easy part. It's the thinking that's the challenging part for the long-distance runner. Ray shares his internal dialogue with us as he readies himself for one more attempt at 26.2." -Dave Goodrich, the "Marathon Maine-iac" (Marathon Maniac #238)
"Ray is the opposite of me: he's speedy, understands math, and cares about the weather. I have instructed his cat to keep him awake until he agrees to pace me."-Vanessa Rodriguez, author of The Summit Seeker: Memoirs of a Trail Running Nomad