NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The former middle distance Olympic runner and high-end escort speaks out for the first time about her battle with mental illness, and how mania controlled and compelled her in competition, but also in life. This is a heartbreakingly honest yet hopeful memoir reminiscent of Manic, Electroboy, and An Unquiet Mind. During the 1990s, three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton was the darling of American track and field. An outstanding runner, a major sports apparel spokesperson, and a happily married wife, she was the model for an active, healthy, and wholesome life. But her perfect facade masked a dark truth: manic depression and bipolar disorder that drove her obsession to perform and win. For years after leaving the track, Suzy wrestled with her condition, as well as the loss of a close friend, conflicted feelings about motherhood and her marriage, and lingering shame about her athletic career. After a misdiagnosis and a recommendation for medication that only exacerbated her mania and made her hypersexual, Suzy embarked on a new path, and assumed a new identity. Fueled by a newfound confidence, a feeling of strength and independence and a desire she couldn't tamp down, she became a high-priced escort in Las Vegas, working as "Kelly." But Suzy could not keep her double life a secret forever. When it was eventually exposed, it sent her into a reckless suicidal period where the only option seemed out. Finally, with the help of her devoted husband, Suzy finally got the proper medical help she needed. In this startling frank memoir, she recounts the journey to outrun her demons, revealing how a woman used to physically controlling her body learned to come to terms with her unstable mind. It is the story of a how a supreme competitor scored her most important victory of all-reclaiming her life from the ravages of an untreated mental illness. Today, thanks to diagnosis, therapy, Kelly has stepped into the shadows, but Suzy is building a better life, one day at a time. Sharing her story, Suzy is determined to raise awareness, provide understanding, and offer inspiration to others coping with their own challenges.

As she prepares for the 2004 Summer Olympics, our best hope for middle-distance gold tells young women runners where they go wrong--and shares the training and nutrition secrets that put her own career on the fast track
Suzy Favor-Hamilton is the premier female middle-distance runner in the United States, whose many honors include 6 U.S. National Championships, 9 NCAA Titles, and 4 Big Ten Athlete of the Year Awards (now called the Suzy Favor award). In this book, she teams up with Jose Antonio, Ph.D., one of the pre-eminent exercise and sports nutrition scientists in the country, to show young female runners how to improve at their favorite sport.
Currently there are 4.6 million women in the United States who run 100 days or more each year. In" Fast Track" they will discover:
- How much, how hard, and when to train (and rest)
- The pros and cons of strength training, cross-training, stretching, and other non-running exercises
- How to avoid the top ten mistakes runners usually make
- Why Suzy's diet program is very different than is generally recommended-and how this program has led to dramatic improvements in her running and in her life off the track
Suzy's real-world experience competing at the highest level in athletics combined with Dr. Antonio's in-depth knowledge of exercise and nutrition science will make this book a 'must read' for all female runners-both competitive and recreational-who want to go faster, play harder, and minimize the risk of injury.