I practically never buy eBooks for my Kindle e-reader because I’m so cheap. Six months ago, I broke down and purchased a regular priced book. I was using a couch to 5k program with my kids and wanted an inspirational book about running. After reading the description to dozens of books, I felt my fix for digital retail therapy slipping away. I trudged through many a maybe-this-one-15-bucks-no-way’s until I discovered an obvious winner, here’s what Amazon said about the book:

Finding Ultra, Revised and Updated Edition: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World’s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself
On the night before he was to turn forty, Rich Roll experienced a chilling glimpse of his future. Nearly fifty pounds overweight and unable to climb the stairs without stopping, he could see where his current sedentary life was taking him—and he woke up.

Plunging into a new routine that prioritized a plant-based lifestyle and daily training, Rich morphed—in a matter of mere months—from out of shape, mid-life couch potato to endurance machine…

I bought it. I read it. I loved it. But the author wasn’t some random fat dude turned “endurance machine”. This guy used to compete for the best swim team in the country. He trained with the best coaches in the sport and had the impeccable drive to practice hard and compete even harder.
While I enjoyed the book, and it was monumental in moving me towards a plant-based or vegan diet, it inspired me to purchase it on the assumption that this dude went from total fatty to superhero. I wanted to know so bad:

1. How he did it
2. Why he did it
3. How I can too

And he did just that; but I craved to hear that a guy like me, a former marching band tuba player who binge eats captain crunch and grunts at his untied shoelaces could become an ultra-athlete. That ANYONE can become ANYTHING.

So, consider this blog my attempt at writing the journey I had hoped to discover in Rich Roll’s book. I hope one day my future book summary can read:

“250lb dad of five wakes up one day to the realize his cereal bowl is trying to kill him and transforms into a plant-based ultra distance machine. He explains the in’s and out’s of his 60lb weight-loss journey and how you too can go from middle-aged, borderline diabetic to completing your first ultra-marathon or any other super-hero feat.”

What would your book be about? Comment below!