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cecsheehan's review
4.0
Before starting "How Bad Do You Want It?", you must decide whether you want to glean training insight out of it or just enjoy the race stories on a surface level. If the former..... well, Fitzgerald says right in the intro that he didn't write this book to be heavy on the coaching or training advice. So you may end up disappointed. If the latter..... you're in for a treat. Even when you know the outcome, Fitzgerald injects drama and high stakes into every chapter, each detailing a different athlete. The only thing holding me back from a 5-star review is the mixed-up focus of the book. There are some takeaways, but not enough to live up to its subtitle ("Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle"). That said, this was my first Matt Fitzgerald book and definitely not the last!
jasoncomely's review
4.0
Great audiobook to listen to while running. Like the title suggests, it made me want to push myself a little harder. 4.5 stars.
jenbeans615's review
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Informative, delves into mental side of endurance sports. Explores how to tap into inner potential
shesagift's review
4.0
I listened to this on audiobook (about 75% in the spring while marathon training and the last 25% this summer) and I really enjoyed it. Fitzgerald is a surprisingly good audiobook narrator, and the book isn't read too monotonously or with excess enthusiasm. Each chapter starts with a story about an outstanding endurance athlete (some runners, often cycling or triathlon athletes though) and then goes into the psychology of each example. I really enjoyed the stories and analysis; I found them to be both enlightening and inspirational, giving me good ideas for sharpening my mental toughness as I chase a Boston Qualifying time this fall. Highly recommend to other endurance sport buffs!
mhawelka's review against another edition
3.0
This book wasn't quite what I thought it would be. It's more of an anthology of endurance athletes' stories with some specific psychology trait in the background. While most of those are inspiring stories, it doesn't change the fact, that if you are looking for a book on sports psychology this one is probably not what you're looking for.
pammoore's review
4.0
A great mix of stories + research. Matt Fitzgerald shares with us his gift of blending details, drama, and facts to make science not only palatable, but fascinating.
tsharris's review
5.0
Really great book on the psychology of running and elite athletic performance more broadly. Given the topic, I was afraid it would stray into pseudoscience or self-help but actually provides highly compelling (and suspenseful) narratives of race (mostly biking and triathlon) blended with thorough reviews of psychological literature about athletic performance.