Running Sports

I've never had many friends. The only one I thought I could count on ended up stealing my scholarship—and then my boyfriend. Now, instead of spending my fall semester abroad, I'm stuck here in Iowa, with zero funds and even less hope that I'll get to study abroad at all before I graduate this spring. Even worse? My mentor asked me to take on the impossible—tutoring arrogant running back Logan Ford and helping him finally pass Chem 101. I'm about to give up before I start. But then I get a crazy idea. What if I can get Logan to be my date for the winter science ball?

Ultramarathons are races that go beyond the lengths of a common marathon. They can go for several hours or even days. If you are a newbie in this sport, you have the right audiobook in your hands. We will guide you to the dos and don’ts of ultra-running, give valuable tips, and offer encouragement so you can get started in this fascinating sport.

Hansons Marathon Method lays out the smartest marathon training program available from one of the most accomplished running groups in the world. Using their innovative approach, runners will mold real marathon muscles, train their body to never hit the wall, and prepare to run their fastest marathon.

In It for the Long Run is ultrarunner Damian Hall’s story of running a first marathon aged 36, dressed as a toilet, and representing Great Britain four years later. His midlife-crisis running problem escalated to 100-mile ultramarathons and record-breaking bimbles, culminating in his 261-mile Pennine Way run in July 2020.

Learn how to run your best marathon and get the most out of your training. There’s no shortage of advice out there on how to train for a marathon and yet it can be hard to know what will work best for you. Run Your Best Marathon is here to change all that with the expertise of running coach Sam Murphy. Whether you’re looking to step up to the marathon for the first time or to better previous performances over the distance, Sam’s runner-centred approach will help you prepare for and race your chosen marathon to the best of your ability.

When Bernd Heinrich decided to write a memoir of his ultramarathon running experience, he realized that the preparation for the race was as important, if not more so, than the race itself. In Why We Run, Heinrich considers the flight endurance of birds, the antelope's running prowess and limitations, and the ultra-endurance of camels to understand how human physiology can or cannot replicate these adaptations. Heinrich offers an original and provocative work combining the rigors of science with the passion of running.

Along the path to any goal - completing a marathon or a thesis paper, winning a medal or a contract - familiar mental hurdles arise: We may fixate on the odds of failure or find our interest flags two-thirds of the way through. That’s when elite endurance athletes - top performers in running, cycling, and swimming - turn to their rich arsenal of cognitive strategies to overcome self-doubt and unlock peak performance.

David Clark went from the rock bottom of bankruptcy, addiction, and obesity to becoming an accomplished athlete. In this compelling story of his life, he not only shares his journey with complete honesty, but he also lays out a blueprint for change that anyone can use to redefine what is possible.

Champions, as the familiar adage preaches, are not born—they're made. Reaching the top of any sport, or any aspect of life, takes years upon years of dedication and proper preparation. But if there's a huge pool of individuals who have undertaken the same commitment and steps towards becoming the best, what truly separates the winners from everyone else? Joanna Zeiger believes proper mental preparation is the answer. The Champion Mindset is a much-needed and long overdue look into how to program a competitor's mind to achieve optimal success.

As recently as 1966, women were forbidden to run in the marathon. Professionals - including doctors - believed it was physically impossible and dangerous for women to run more than a mile and a half. But as with many other barriers women have faced over time, we fought our way in. Today, women make up almost half of the marathoning population. Yet most marathon training manuals are written by men. And while these men are experts when it comes to how men can and should train, women need training programs tailored to our bodies....

Running is a popular pastime for millions of us and the natural progression is turning a hobby into something that challenges you and makes you chase ever greater goals. From running around your neighborhood you may move on to running a 5k and from there you may want to try something even bigger, like your first half marathon. In Your First Half Marathon, One Step at a Time: Motivational Tools to Help You Run Your Best, you will find a motivational approach to running that is second to none and will prepare you for what lies ahead

The benefits of mindfulness for general well-being have been discussed extensively, but little has been written about how mindfulness can be applied to running. In this book, leading health and fitness journalist Mackenzie L. Havey explores how combining mindfulness with running can not only improve sporting performance but can also enhance overall health.

When Emily Halnon lost her beloved mother to a rare uterine cancer at just sixty-six years old, she wanted to do something monumental to honor the person her mother had been. Emily's mom had taken up running in her late forties; she ran her first marathon at fifty. She even went skydiving to celebrate her sixtieth birthday. Emily, already an accomplished ultrarunner, decided to try to break the record for the Fastest Known Time by a woman on the Pacific Crest Trail's 460 miles across Oregon.

This incredible story of how an ordinary mum ran her way into the record books will inspire beginner runners and die-hard marathon devotees alike, proving that, no matter where life takes you, it’s never too late to achieve your dreams and do the impossible. When Mimi first started jogging on a treadmill as an unfit 36-year-old mother of three, she never imagined she would go on to become a world-record-breaking ultrarunner.

Featured in the best-selling book Born to Run, coach and performance guru Eric Orton has spent a lifetime learning and thinking about running and about the limitless possibilities of the human body and mind. In The Cool Impossible, Orton shares his wealth of knowledge in an inspiring step-by-step guide that will open up a new world of achievement for runners of all levels of ability and experience. The truth is: Athleticism is awareness. That simple phrase is at the core of The Cool Impossible.

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.

To take Arne Haase as a role model: Germany's oldest marathon runner is still doing 20 kilometers twice a week at the age of 90. And it doesn't have to be that sporty. But wouldn't the Haase model be a nice vision of you in your old days, being "trapped" in the body of a 45-year-old? For millions of people, regular exercise is part of their lives. But almost all of us run the wrong way. To stay mobile from now until old age, we can make up our minds for a fundamental change. E.g. we mostly, unconsciously run as if we were training for a competition.

Predictably Irrational meets Moneyball in ESPN veteran writer and statistical analyst Keith Law's iconoclastic look at the numbers game of baseball, proving why some of the most trusted stats are surprisingly wrong, explaining what numbers actually work, and exploring what the rise of Big Data means for the future of the sport.

Twenty-six point two miles isn’t enough anymore. Obstacle course racing, which combines the endurance challenges of a marathon with the mind-bending rigors of overcoming obstacles along the way, is taking the world by storm. At the center of this phenomenon is Joe De Sena, the driving force behind the enormously popular Spartan Race. De Sena offers a simple philosophy: commit to a goal, put in the work, and get it done.

Toby Brandt would rather be hitting jump shots than doing chores on his Grandpa’s farm. But he’s about to learn a new appreciation for the great outdoors. His cousin Chloe and her friends soon convince Toby to join them on their nature runs. Before long, he learns to enjoy running with them through the woods and navigating their homemade obstacle course. However, when they tell Toby about the upcoming Wild Run, he doesn’t want to risk getting hurt and letting down his friends.