Follow Your Heart (autographed edition)

**THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO RECEIVE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE BOOK!!**

Autographed copies available through Boston Marathon Monday (April, 17th 2023). Please allow us time to autograph and ship your book (they should arrive within 14 business days). If you would like a personal inscription please include that in the “Notes” section at checkout. Thanks!

Follow Your Heart – The Story of Stephanie Bruce’s Not-So-Final Season is a personal and behind-the-scenes look at one of America’s top distance runners as she trains for what was meant to be her final race–the 2022 New York City Marathon. Her longtime coach, Ben Rosario, follows along in real time, writing a chapter each week as Steph wins an international title, a national title, a half marathon, and produces some of the best workouts of her life in the build-up to New York. Sprinkled in throughout are Steph’s own raw thoughts and emotions via transcribed interviews Ben conducted with her as the segment progressed. The two discuss her congenital heart defect diagnosis, how she met her husband, juggling life with two young boys, her grief over the loss of her mother, and much more.

Ben also includes his own insights into the HOKA NAZ Elite team during a time of extensive change for the group. He reveals the reason he handed over the head coaching duties to two-time Olympian Alan Culpepper, shares his feeling about the athletes who left the team at the end of 2021, and dives into the “super shoe” revolution. He also describes the rocky journey Steph’s teammates, Matt Baxter and Aliphine Tuliamuk, had on their own respective roads to New York. It is a hold-nothing-back look into the inner workings of a professional running team, and the mind of one of America’s top marathon coaches of the last decade.

The book’s climax takes place in New York, on marathon weekend, followed by one of the toughest decisions of Steph’s life–whether or not to go through with her plans to retire. In the end, readers will know Stephanie Bruce, an athlete that has been one of the most authentic and transparent figures in her sport, better than they ever have before.