Book 2 picks up where The ADHD Hunter leaves off, moving from the woods to the trail. The ADHD Runner is a firsthand account of learning to run as an adult beginner with an ADHD brain — the Ruck-Run-Rest cycle, treadmill “emulator mode” training, and the discovery that movement, not willpower, is what actually anchors a restless mind.
What Running Actually Does to an ADHD Brain
This isn’t just a feeling. Running raises dopamine and norepinephrine, the two neurotransmitters most directly tied to attention and motivation — the same systems ADHD disrupts. It also stimulates BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a protein that supports learning, memory, and brain plasticity generally. A single 20 to 30 minute aerobic session has been shown to measurably improve executive function — response inhibition, attention — in people with ADHD, and the effect compounds: noticeable symptom reduction within 2 to 4 weeks of regular exercise, sustained improvements in attention and emotional regulation after 8 to 12 weeks of keeping it up.
None of that matches what running actually feels like from the inside when you’re the one doing it for the first time as an adult who’s never considered themselves a runner. The neuroscience explains why it works. It doesn’t explain what it’s like to notice, mid-run, that your head has gone quiet in a way it almost never does sitting still.
Learning to Run and Learning My Brain at the Same Time
This isn’t a training plan written by a coach. It’s a record of what actually worked, written by someone learning to run and learning his own brain at the same time — from elk pack-out training with weighted sandbags to grinding out six-mile trail runs that had nothing to do with any race and everything to do with figuring out what made a hard week feel manageable again.
Who This Book Is For
Adult beginners who’ve never thought of themselves as “a runner” and feel intimidated by anyone who is. People with ADHD looking for a non-medication way to take the edge off a restless brain. Hunters already doing physical work in the field who want to carry that into deliberate training. It’s not for readers wanting a structured coaching plan with paces and splits laid out for them — this is a record of what worked for one specific person, not a training program to follow verbatim.
What’s In the Book
The ADHD Runner covers the Ruck-Run-Rest cycle that structures the training, “emulator mode” treadmill work for building a running habit without needing perfect conditions, and the honest version of what changes — and what doesn’t — when movement becomes a real part of managing an ADHD brain instead of an occasional afterthought.
“Your ADHD brain wasn’t built for sitting still — it was built for the chase… Learn how ’emulator mode’ treadmill training builds mental discipline, why double-run days unlock creative breakthroughs, and how active rest rewires your recovery. Whether you’re gasping through your first mile or dreaming of 100-mile ultras, this book shows you exactly how to channel ADHD’s intensity into unstoppable forward motion.”
From the book’s official description
110 pages. Reading age 10-18. Published August 2025.
Free to read with Kindle Unlimited, or available to buy outright — check current pricing on Amazon.