‘Run Walk Crawl: Getting Fit in my Forties’ by Tim Lebbon is a non-fiction book that charts his journey to getting fit in his forties.

A memoir that is a perfect blend of inspiration and humour. His brutally honest writing of a journey that began after a drunken New Year’s Eve challenge can inspire the most stubborn couch potato into doing a little bit more.

I did think that maybe ‘Run Walk Crawl’ may have been a book I was going to read and be bored out of my skull with the author listing his health regime and spouting “get fit”. I was really wrong. Ok, we have a small part in the beginning where he decides he has had enough of the overweight and generally unfit him.
We see him at the age of 41 setting out to get fitter. It doesn’t take overly long for him to begin to run marathons and take part in swimming triathlons and eventually participate in several Ironman challenges. Tim Lebbon says it as it is in this book. He doesn’t gloss over the brutal challenges he faces. He trains hard and is quite rightly very proud of his victories. He tells us of his difficulties physically and also mentally and how we managed to get over them.

I thought it was fabulous how his family came out at his events to support him. His children getting so much into it they joined with the IronKids to cheer him on. The friends made on his fitness journey also being there as one for him too. I felt the togetherness was a very important part for Tim and he even advises you to maybe join a club for the motivation that becomes such an essential part of the whole time.
His love for cake is clear and he even says that although he needs to be at the peak of fitness he does still indulge in a drink and even pizza. I very much understand that as quite a few years ago now I began a challenge of my own. To lose weight; I managed to lose 50lbs but I have slowly put it back on. I need motivation as Tim says and at the I have none. Now I have the earworm of Tim’s book maybe I shall try again…maybe.

His trips on his Ironman challenges are described brilliantly and he gives us the information of what is expected too. Anyone out there fancy an Ironman challenge but not confident enough? Get this book…it will help.

I surprisingly enjoyed my time with Tom Lebbon on his challenging, funny, honest account and hope that someone somewhere reads this and it motivates them to do something similar.

Thanks to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours and Dreaming In Fire for my copy of this brutally honest memoir.