In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, the author began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing. Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes the reader to places ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him.