In Run Like a Champion, one of America's most versatile and accomplished runners, Alan Culpepper, reveals the best practices of the best runners. Over his 25-year racing career, Culpepper won national titles from 5K to marathon, a span of race distances so wide that just a few runners can claim the same impressive versatility. Culpepper sets out his approach--and the lessons he learned from his competitors--so that all runners can fully realize their potential. As a two-time Olympic competitor, Culpepper has a unique understanding of what it takes to compete at the highest level. His running career has put him on the start line alongside the world's best runners, and he has found that despite their many differences, talents, and approaches to training, among them they share a common understanding: the best athletes know that the secret to success in running lies in understanding a bigger picture of training. Not everyone has the physiology to run at the highest level, but everyone can benefit from implementing an Olympic approach to training. Run Like a Champion shares a big-picture view of running, looking at not only the essential training elements but also other key pieces of the puzzle: identifying motivation; finding a proper work/life/family balance; and understanding complementary aspects of training such as stretching, how much to drink, diet, and how to avoid and treat injuries. Run Like a Champion reveals all the guidelines, tips and tricks, workouts, mental training, and nutritional practices that Olympic runners use. By making this Olympic approach part of their running, runners of all levels will make their goals achievable from 5K to marathon.

Kicksology is your all-access pass into the fascinating, colorful world of running shoes-and what makes up a perfect pair of kicks. Sports journalist and veteran shoe tester Brian Metzler takes runners and kicksologists deep inside the $10 billion dollar running shoe industry with a behind-the-curtain look at what makes iconic running shoe brands tick. Kicksology follows a shoe from inspiration to store shelf to show how innovative ideas evolve into industry-wide trends and fads. Metzler tours shoe labs where scientists advance our understanding of shoes and running mechanics as well as the domestic and overseas shoe factories where the world's favorite kicks are assembled. A dedicated shoe nerd and running junkie, Metzler shares his love of great shoes in this fascinating look at the intersections of shoe culture and history, science and storytelling, intel from the innovators with on-the-ground insight from top runners. Kicksology is filled with information as entertaining as it is surprising, tapping into the passion runners have for their kicks and feeding their curiosity about what makes a great shoe.