{"product_id":"9781934030738","title":"An Accidental Athlete: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Middle Age","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eA funny thing happened on my way to middle age. I became an athlete. And not just any athlete, but a runner—all without taking a running step until I was 43 years old.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKnown by fans as \"The Penguin\" for his back-of-the-pack speed, John Bingham is the unlikely hero of the modern running boom. In this warm, witty memoir, the best-selling author and columnist recalls his childhood dreams of athletic glory, sedentary years of unhealthy excess, and a life-changing transformation from couch potato to \"adult-onset athlete.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOverweight, uninspired, and saddled with a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoking habit, Bingham found himself firmly wedged into a middle-age slump. Then two scary trips to the emergency room and a conversation with a happy piano tuner led him to discover running—and changed his life forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn turns inspiring, poignant, hilarious, and heartbreaking, \u003ci\u003eAn Accidental Athlete\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of the unexpected joys of running—the pride of the finisher's medal, a bureau-busting t-shirt collection, intense back-of-the-pack strategizing. And one man's discovery that middle age was not the finish line after all, but only the beginning.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"VeloPress","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47048495071472,"sku":"9781934030738","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781934030738_p0.jpg?v=1763641529","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781934030738","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}