Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

An engaging and deep study of endurance that helps you understand how to achieve better results in sport and in life.

The ability to endure is often the key factor for success in any endeavor. It’s needed to run a hundred meters and a marathon, climb Everest, pass final exams, and complete a difficult project. But do human beings have limits to endurance? And how can you do more?

Alex Hutchinson, a well-known sports journalist, former athlete, and recipient of many professional awards, presents results from the latest research showing that to achieve results you must cross not only physical barriers, but also psychological ones. Obstacles are set not just by the body, but by the brain. That means the mind is the new frontier—and our endurance limits are far more flexible than we once thought.

However, it’s also not true that “it’s all in our head.” By studying the physical aspects (pain, muscles, oxygen, heat, thirst, and energy reserves) and illustrating his arguments with stories from elite athletes and travelers, he reveals the complexity of the interaction between mind and body.

Alex Hutchinson was one of two reporters granted access to Nike’s ultra-secret Breaking2 training project, whose goal was to help athletes run a marathon in under 2 hours. That became the book’s driving thread. During the project, Hutchinson was able to observe elite athletes and visit high-tech laboratories around the world—and the conclusions he drew from what he saw were surprisingly universal. Endurance, Hutchinson writes, is “a struggle to keep going against the growing desire to stop”—and we’re always capable of going a bit further and doing more.

On October 12, 2019 (after the book’s release in the West), Eliud Kipchoge ran under two hours, covering the marathon in 1:59.40. “Now I can tell everyone that human potential is limitless,” he said after finishing.