'Elite athletes aren't born. They're made.' Michael Johnson From a living icon of the Olympic Games - as both an athlete and now as a BBC broadcaster - Gold Rush is a compelling analysis of the fascinating combination of psychological and personal qualities, as well as internal and external factors, that go to create an Olympic champion. This exciting new book is based on Michael Johnson's own experiences as an iconic four-time Olympic champion, and on the knowledge he has gleaned as a top-class coach and motivational speaker. It also features, uniquely, more than a dozen exclusive and insightful interviews with Olympic legends from across several different sports who between them have claimed more than 50 gold medals over the past 30 years. In essence, Johnson has assembled his very own Olympic Hall of Fame in assessing the DNA of true champions. Gold Rush is themed around chapters in which Johnson will discuss each of the key qualities/factors. He expertly feeds in fascinating first-person testimonies from the Olympic legends. In the process he builds up a definitive knowledge bank of expertise and experience from athletes who have been on this fascinating journey, encountered the highs and the lows, but ultimately reached the summit - an Olympic gold medal. Johnson's interviewees include: Usain Bolt Carl Lewis Sally Gunnell Seb Coe Daley Thompson Cathy Freeman Ian Thorpe Michael Phelps Rebecca Adlington Chris Hoy Steve Redgrave Matthew Pinsent Lennox Lewis Michael Jordan

70 routes for the off-road runner, these tried and tested paths and tracks cover the whole of Scotland, including the islands. The selected routes come highly recommended by local runners and include many of Scotland's most enjoyable and runnable paths. This guide takes runners on a journey of discovery that starts in suburbia and crosses every kind of runnable terrain to reach remote glens and far-flung islands. Short, simple circuits close to town will suit beginners while ultra marathons through Scotland's wildest mountains will test even the most experienced runner. The runs are graded to help progressive development of the skills and confidence needed to tackle more challenging routes. Growing numbers of runners are turning to trail running; getting away from the traffic and knee pounding tarmac and enjoying the variety of rich experiences that can be gained on paths and tracks. Moving fast and light through scenic countryside is what trail running is all about. Leafy woodland, lazily meandering riverbanks, dramatic sea-cliffs, remote mountain passes: these are all more enjoyable places to run than crowded city pavements or suburban street mazes.

For those who have ever thought they were too old or too unfit to compete in a triathlon, From Couch Potato to Endurance Athlete will prove that it is never too late to compete! This is a story about overcoming life's obstacles-from injury and business trouble to grief and loss and everything in between. Hilary Topper was a 48-year-old working mother who once upon a time had practically failed high school gym class. She was working 60-plus hours a week, running a small business. Her focus was on others-her children, her aging parents, and her staff. In the meantime, her weight kept increasing, and she was unhappy with the way her life was going. She needed a change. To turn things around, she joined a gym for the first time in her life. This book will take the reader on Hilary's decade-long journey as she trains for and runs her first 5K, swims the aqua-blue waters of the Caribbean, cycles a hilly course in Milwaukee, learns how to run-walk her way through the New York City Marathon, and competes in her first triathlon in Sanibel, Florida. The reader will be right with Hilary as she narrates each experience-even a 5-mile swim in the murky waters of Long Island. Hilary's story will move, motivate, and inspire readers. They will laugh and cry as they follow her on her journey.

Why is the Half Iron-Distance the most popular triathlon distance? Because it is the perfect length for busy athletes with demanding career and family responsibilities. Full Iron-Distance races require such painstaking planning and sacrifice that it's difficult to keep life in balance. The Half Iron-Distance is accessible, while remaining challenging. Also known as the "70.3" for the sum of its 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run, the half-iron triathlon is not simply a race for which an athlete can use a full-iron training regimen chopped in half. Doing so would in no way approach maximizing an athlete's performance. The races are performed at completely different intensity levels, with completely different approaches. As a result, the training is completely different. "IronFit Secrets to Half Iron-Distance Triathlon Success "does for the half-iron what "Be IronFit" has done for the full-iron. It provides three sixteen-week training programs--Competitive, Intermediate, and "Just Finish"--and details everything an athlete needs to know to successfully prepare for and maximize performance at this racing distance. In as little as four months, any athlete can be physically and mentally ready for the world's most popular triathlon challenge.

Andrew Murray has been running since 2005 when he realised that it might be a good way to see a bit of the world. Since then he has been placed first overall in races in the Arctic, the Sahara, Outer Mongolia and the jungle, amongst others. But in 2010 he devised a challenge that put all his previous attempts in the shade - to run from Scotland to the Sahara in one continuous push with no rest days! It is 2,659 miles from John O'Groats at the northern tip of mainland Britain to Merzouga in Morocco and Andrew planned to complete the distance in 85 days. That's the equivalent of 100 marathons run end to end - and not a single day off to recover. With minimal support, and in the middle of winter, trying to run an ultra marathon every day was the challenge of a lifetime for Andrew. As a medic, Andrew knew exactly what that would do to his body...and it wasn't good news. Attempting to cram in a staggering 8,000 calories every day is extremely difficult and doesn't stop the body from beginning to break down. This book is the story of that run, interwoven between tales of extraordinary endurance events in some of the most extreme locations in the world. It answers the question, 'why do it?', and offers a gripping insight into what drives an extreme athlete to break new ground. Helped by family, friends, those he meets along the way, and a fiancee he's shortly to marry, this is the story of one man's determination to run in the history books. Andrew Murray's epic journey was the subject of a highly successful BBC documentary and this book is the inside story of what pushes one man to keep breaking the limits. Even a planned 85 days wasn't enough to satisfy Andrew - in the end he completed the distance in just 78 days. The book is introduced by Sir Ranulf Fiennes.

Hit the ground running with this easy, total-body training guide.

Whether you're a weekend runner looking to get in better shape or a road warrior aiming to tackle your first marathon, Easy Running Plans has something for you.

Throughout this book, you'll learn the most effective stretching routines, strength workouts, and technique drills for runners--culminating in seven, easy-to-follow running plans. Whatever your goal may be, these plans will help you get there. And with the total-body approach, you'll not only get the most out of your runs but acquire the skills necessary to keep injuries at bay.

Easy Running Plans contains the following:

• Lace up--Choose the training schedule that best suits your needs, whether you're looking to make steady gains or have your sights set on a 5k, 10k, half-marathon, or marathon.
• Study up--Learn the fundamentals of proper running form, stride, injury-prevention, and recovery.
• Speed up--Improve your speed, strength, and endurance with detailed illustrations depicting over 40 stretches, exercises, and drills--all of which can be performed at home, with little-to-no equipment.

With The Planted Runner, runners will learn to optimize training with plant-based nutrition, harness the power of their minds, and perform at their best while discovering the joy of running at any age. Plant-based nutrition is no longer a fad, but rather has been shown to optimize athletic performance and reduce recovery time. Fueling with the power of plants is not only a suitable eating plan for training, but it is also delicious and satisfying. Author Claire Bartholic breaks down the information to provide complete understanding of how to eat not only to fuel running, but also to enjoy eating. Readers will also find a chapter devoted to basic ingredients and building blocks of a plant-based diet, rounded out with runner-specific fueling recipes. Successful training requires more than just good plans and nutrition, however. With the proven mindset training techniques provided in this book, the runner will quiet that negative self-talk which can sabotage the best efforts to find his or her potential. Through her coaching, Claire Bartholic has found the best way to successfully integrate those three critical elements-physical training, plant-based fueling, and mindset techniques-to help hundreds of runners reach their personal bests, and she provides her wealth of knowledge in this book.

Designed specifically for young people, this manual contains a wide range of progressive practice drills to help them develop their fitness. Fun, educational and challenging, all drills are illustrated and cover the essential skills, including: agility speed peripheral vision body awareness strength and general fitness As well as easy-to-follow instructions, each drill contains information on the equipment needed, the space required, how to construct a safe and effective training session and how to organise the athletes.

The Triathlete Guide to Sprint and Olympic Triathlon Racing will help you discover the speed, thrill, and challenge of triathlon's most popular race distances. Not everyone has time to train for long-course triathlons. By pursuing triathlon's shorter distances, you can enjoy all the total body fitness benefits of the swim-bike-run sport and discover the unique challenges of short-course racing-all while enjoying a life outside of training. This complete guide from former pro triathletes Chris Foster and coach Ryan Bolton shares all the know-how you need to find speed and enjoy successful racing in sprint and Olympic-distance triathlons. Foster, now the Senior Editor of Triathlete magazine, shares his pro advice for how to set a smart race strategy, how to master triathlon pacing, how to execute fast transitions, how to train to improve your weakness and race to your strengths. Bolton offers smart, effective sprint and Olympic triathlon training plans so you can get started right away, no matter your background. Sprint and Olympic triathlons are triathlon's most popular distances for good reasons. Experienced triathletes returning to the short course will enjoy a break from long, slow hours of training and rediscover the joy of speed. Active people looking for a new challenge can jump right into triathlon's most beginner-friendly distances. The Triathlete Guide to Sprint and Olympic Triathlon Racing makes it simple to get back up to speed in the world's most rewarding endurance sport.

Updated and expanded, this new edition of Mount Marathon has the latest race details of the winners, their records, and profiles of the newest champion runners. America's third oldest footrace is a testament to extreme sports and endurance. Starting at sea level, competitors run up and down a 2,992-foot mountain in Seward, Alaska, and they have to do it in less than one hour. The challenge requires a daunting effort that takes runners up some 60-degree slopes on snow and rocks to the summit, and then back down again. The first race in 1909 did not beat the one-hour mark, but the course record set in 1981 still stands at 43 minutes and 21 seconds. The history of this frontier race, from the legend that started it to interviews with many of those who have taken the challenge, and the records set throughout the years by men, women, and age groups, including the race of 2012, makes fascinating reading for runners, spectators, and all who love to read about extreme sports.

Dean Karnazes has run 350 continuous miles through three sleepless nights, ordered pizza during long runs, and inspired fans the world over with his adventures. So what does a guy like this do when he wants to face the ultimate test of endurance? He runs 50 marathons in 50 states-- in 50 consecutive days.
With little more than a road map and a caravan packed with fellow runners and a dedicated crew, Dean set off on a tour that took him through a volcanic canyon in Maui in high humidity and 88-degree heat; to an elevation gain of almost 4,000 feet at the Tecumseh Trail Marathon in Bloomington, Indiana; to a severed moose leg found alongside an Anchorage, Alaska trail that compelled him to sprint for safety.
Now in this heart-pounding book, Dean reveals how he pulled off this unfathomable feat with a determination that defied all physical limitations. But Dean goes beyond the story of the Endurance 50 marathons to share his invaluable secrets and advice for athletes of all levels. These are the tips that kept Dean going during the 1,310 miles he covered and 160,000 calories he burned while averaging sub-four-hour marathons and often sleeping fewer than four hours each night. Learn how to:
- Recover more quickly
- Adapt to extreme conditions
- Prevent muscle cramps and overheating
- Pace yourself when you "hit the wall"
- Stay motivated
Packed with practical advice and including training regimens, 50/50 will inspire you no matter what your fitness goal is, whether it's simply walking around the block, running a 10K, or completing yet another Ironman.

Triathlon is more than the sum of its parts. You can swim, cycle, and run but you need more to become a triathlete. If you want to prepare for your first triathlon, this easy-to-understand introduction to the sport is what you need. Roch Frey and Paul Huddle, two of the most respected names in multisport coaching, cover all the bases to get you to the starting line and help you finish your first race. The book contains information on everything from weight training to flexibility up to nutrition. It also contains detailed workout schedules for the sprint and Olympic distances to guide you through your training period. Triathlon: Starting Out is an easy-to-use training book that will help you visualize the race and make it to the finish line. With Roch and Paul at your side, anyone can do a triathlon!

Shortlisted for the 2015 Thwaites Wainwright prize for nature writing Richard Askwith wanted more. Not convinced running had to be all about pounding pavements, buying fancy kit and racking up extreme challenges, he looked for ways to liberate himself. His solution: running through muddy fields and up rocky fells, running with his dog at dawn, running because he's being (voluntarily) chased by a pack of bloodhounds, running to get hopelessly, enjoyably lost, running fast for the sheer thrill of it. Running as nature intended. Part diary of a year running through the Northamptonshire countryside, part exploration of why we love to run without limits, Running Free is an eloquent and inspiring account of running in a forgotten, rural way, observing wildlife and celebrating the joys of nature. An opponent of the commercialisation of running, Askwith offers a welcome alternative, with practical tips (learned the hard way) on how to both start and keep running naturally - from thawing frozen toes to avoiding a stampede when crossing a field of cows. Running Free is about getting back to the basics of why we love to run.

In the 1960s, Bruce Kidd was one of Canada's most celebrated athletes. As a teenager, Kidd won races all over the globe, participated in the Olympics, and started a revolution in distance running and a revival in Canadian track and field. He quickly became a symbol of Canadian youth and the subject of endless media coverage. Although most athletes of his generation were cautioned to keep their opinions to themselves, Kidd took it upon himself to speak out on the problems and possibilities of Canadian sport. Encouraged by his parents and teammates, Kidd criticized the racism and sexism of amateur sport in Canada, the treatment of players in the National Hockey League, American control of the Canadian Football League, and the uneven coverage of sports by the media - and he continues to fight for equity to this day. After retiring from his career as an athlete, Kidd became a well-known advocate for gender and racial justice and an academic leader at the University of Toronto. Depicting a Canadian sport legend's journey of joy, discovery, and activism, this memoir bears witness to the remarkable changes Bruce Kidd has lived through in more than seventy years of participation in Canadian and international sports.

5 September, 1972. 4.30 a.m. The Munich Olympic Village. Black September, a group of Palestinian terrorists, break into the Israeli team's apartments. It is the beginning of the most tragic event in Olympic history and, after twenty hours, the day will end in a massacre, with the deaths of eleven Israelis, five Palestinians and a German policeman. This is the story of the race-walker Shaul Ladany: a survivor. But more than just a member of the Israeli team from those terrible events in Munich, Ladany was a survivor of the darkest period in twentieth century history, having been interred as a child at the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, the camp where Anne Frank died. For the second time in his life, Ladany has survived history. Ladany, the world record holder in the fifty-mile walk and a professor of industrial engineering, is one of Israel's most successful athletes, having won dozens of national championships and competed at both the 1968 and 1972 Olympics; he was a student at Columbia University in New York, a soldier in the Six Days War and the Yom Kippur War. From Eichmann to Sharon, from Bikila to All Blacks, from Nixon to Thatcher: they are all a part of Ladany's walk through the twentieth century. Award-winning author and journalist Andrea Schiavon tells Ladany's extraordinary life and, walking with him, chronicles a whole century of events in this astonishing, touching and epic biography.

Join 300,000 other runners in using the bestselling training diary from the world's leading running magazine. "Runner's World" provides the outline, with a useful format and generous space for charting an entire year's running. You fill in the facts about each day's run, such as your pace, the distance you ran, your pulse rate, and weather conditions. You'll also find charts to record racing results, best times, and a year's running at a glance, plus valuable running hints and more.

Do you think running sucks?

Do you think you're too fat to run?

Look no further, Not Your Average Runner is for everyone. With humor, compassion, and lots of love, Jill Angie delivers the goods: overcoming the challenges of running with an overweight body and giving individuals' self-esteem an enormous boost in the process. This isn't a guide to running for weight loss, or a simple running plan. It shows readers how a woman carrying a few (or many) extra pounds can successfully become a runner in the body she has right now. Jill Angie is a certified running coach and personal trainer who wants to live in a world where everyone is free to feel fit and fabulous at any size. She started the Not Your Average Runner movement in 2013 to show that runners come in all shapes, sizes and speeds, and, since then, has assembled a global community of revolutionaries that are taking the running world by storm.

If you would like to be part of the revolution, flip to the inside and find out more!

Probably the oldest sport of humankind, sprinting benefits from a wealth of scientific and experiential information. Appropriate for runners of all levels of ability, this book provides the reader with techniques to reach the next level in their sprinting development. Line drawings illustrate the techniques discussed. Throughout, the author concentrates on practical methods to improve the individual runner's performance, with remarkably detailed information on everything from warming up to the post-race routine, including the start, stride, how the foot meets the track, the arm/leg connection, angle of lean through the curve, and more.

It's Your Life. Rise Up and Run with It. From Sidelines to Start Lines is for former runners who are feeling frustrated and like frauds for sitting on the couch or behind the computer for far too many days (or years). If you want to get back into running to improve your health, your social life, and your sanity, this book is for you. When you clarify what has really been holding you back and keeping you from logging your miles, you will be free to train effectively for any race and victoriously cross any finish line. Drawing from her own experience as a runner who had to overcome a four-year hiatus and her work with run-ning clients, Sarah Richardson carefully explains what it takes to successfully re-create healthy running habits in your busy life. While training plans and books about running are easy to come by, From Sidelines to Start Lines takes it a step further. Rather than just telling you what you should do, what you should buy, and how far to run, Sarah Richardson helps frustrated runners deal with the Inner Game that often keeps people sidelined. She teaches you how to lay a solid running foundation with four supportive pillars that will create a joyful, personal, and sustainable running plan. With practical activities and real-life examples, this book will teach you how to commit to rather than resist your practice.

Dovetailing on the success of Training for the New Alpinism and Patagonia's own emphasis on all mountain use, Training for the Uphill Athlete translates theory into methodology to allow you to write your own training plans and coach yourself to endurance goals. Steve House, one of the best mountaineers, and his coach Scott Johnston, an Olympic-level cross country ski coach, along with Kilian Jornet, hands-down best endurance athlete at this time, present training principles for the multisport mountain athlete who regularly participates in a mix of distance running, ski mountaineering, and other endurance sports that require optimum fitness and customized strength. This is an authoritative but accessible training manual for athletes and coaches who feel most alive in the mountains or pushing the uphill ascent. Distance running, ski mountaineering, skimo, and skyrunning are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, and are often undertaken by the same person during a single year. This book collects the scientifically backed and athlete-tested wisdom and experience of three of the best uphill athletes and coaches and extrapolates both to educate outdoor athletes of all stripes to perform their best. The book includes the same mix of theory, application, and experiential essays from experts in the field, as well as instructional illustrations as in Training for the New Alpinism. Contributions by Kilian Jornet increase the worldwide appeal of the book.

Real Women Run is an innovative feminist ethnography that consists of a series of linked essays and presentations about women who run at the intersections of queer, feminist, and running identities. Faulkner uses feminist grounded theory, poetic inquiry, and qualitative content analysis to examine women's embodied stories of running: how they run, how running fits into the context of their lives and relationships, how they enact or challenge cultural scripts of women's activities and normative running bodies, and what running means for their lives and identities. During a two-and-a-half-year ethnography with women who run, Faulkner engaged in an intersectional qualitative content analysis of websites and blogs targeted to women runners, a grounded theory poetic analysis of 41 interviews with women who run, and participant observation at road races. Real Women Run speaks to the call for a more physical feminism. This ethnography sees women's physical and mental strength developed through running as a way to embrace the contradictions between a deconstructed focus on the mind/body split and the focus on individuals' actual material bodies and their everyday interactions with their bodies and through their bodies with the world around them.

Why am I always tired? Why can't I sleep at night? Why do I suffer from jetlag?

We all have a body clock, a biological structure that controls how we feel, our mental and physical performance, and whether we are active or asleep. This is nature's response to our rhythmic environment, dominated by day and night. Though the body clock normally adjusts us to daytime activity and night time sleep, it can go wrong or be tricked by lifestyle changes. This can result in jetlag, some forms of insomnia and even depression. Keeping in time with your body clock provides clear and accessible advice on how to live with, and not against, your body clock. In a clear and accessible style, it explains how the body clock works, how and why it can work against you, and the measures you can take to optimise your feeling of health and wellbeing. It also explains the role of the body clock in illness, and how an understanding of this can increase your feeling of health.

An essential book for anyone who wants to better understand their body and optimise their feeling of health and wellbeing.

The ultimate stretching guide, designed to help runners of all abilities run further, avoid injuries and achieve better times.

Stretching is an incredibly important aspect of running and yet it is frequently overlooked or poorly executed. This book details and explains all the stretches that can ease pain, build strength and enhance running performance.

Written by the globally respected physiotherapist, Paul Hobrough, who works with Olympic and World Champion athletes, The Runner's Expert Guide to Stretching will help runners to understand their bodies, identify weaknesses and develop a natural defence against injury.

With easy-to-understand explanations of anatomy and physiology, and a comprehensive directory of running stretches, runners of any age or ability will find an ideal range of stretches, clearly organised by body part, as well as a detailed strength and conditioning programme. With more than 2 million of us running at least once a week in the UK alone, this is the go-to guide for every runner.