Athletics Books

I had heard of Tarzan Brown when I was young. He seemed a mysterious character, with not much known about him. I enjoyed learning about him, what a really great runner he was in a time when 100 runners in a race was a lot. The author interviewed many of those who knew him, including his wife, and gives an idea what it must have been like to be a Narragansett Indian in those days.

For anyone who loves the freedom of running (which Tarzan did), and is interested in life in New England 70 years ago, this book is a real find. You will also learn more about Johnny Kelley (the elder), Clarence DeMar, Les Pawson, Bricklayer Kennedy, etc. This was a time when money was scarce, and runners had to be amateurs- Tarzan once won a refrigerator in a race, but he had no electricity so gave it away. At one point he won 17 races in a row; at his peak he was brilliant. He won consecutive marathons over a 2-day period, taking a night train from NY to NH to get to the 2nd one. Tarzan had quite a spirit, and I thank the author for his painstaking research.

The price was good and the book was brand new. I got the book within 5 business days! I saved both time and money purchasing this book through Amazon. Great Deal!

As a coach, it's very important to know what to do in the event an athlete gets hurt. Since there aren't enough Trainers to go around, I decided to learn as much as I could about acute athletic care. Several Physical Therapists and Athletic Trainers recommended this book to me, and I must say, it's every bit as helpful as they said it would be. It gives step-by-step instructions, excellent diagrams, and great prevention tips since it is, technically, a textbook. The only thing more helpful than this book on the sidelines or in the dugouts is MAYBE an ice-pack. Every coach should read this book, study this book, and keep this book close by during practice and game-time. I highly recommend it.

This book really opened my eyes to the damage that over training can produce on the body. Also learned lots about rest, recovery, and using speed work. I, like a lot of other runners, always heard that long slow runs are great for burning fat and getting in great shape- WRONG! The only thing the long slow run did for me was make my legs sore and I actually started gaining fat. Read this book to find out more about this. The book is written from a South African Point of view, however the concepts and principles are universal and apply to all runners across the world. I learned so much from this book. I'm a climber of some of the world's biggest mountains and I've always used running as a base training method. This is why I never took running seriously, but as soon as I started competing in some of the tougher mountain runs, I realized that I was not too far from being an elite runner. I was on the path to injury as I upped the mileage and elevation gain with little rest. I also had no idea about how to eat for distance running. This book has a great section on sports nutrition. The information in this book may have saved me from getting injured from over-training and eating the wrong proportions of Carbos to Protein to Fat. A also ate at the wrong times. This book covers everything about distance running that you'll need to know- very complete.

If you are a runner, adventure racer, ultrarunner, or interested in extreme events, Extreme Running is for you. I love this book. Extreme Running features sections on races on the seven continents. Twenty-four events are profiled in the chapters. Each event is shown with plenty of photos, race information, distance, time of year, field size, ascent and decent data, contact and Web information, and maps or an altitude profile. As you read the chapters, you get a feel for the event and its difficulty. The Marathon des Sables is featured in 16 pages, Badwater in 10, while others are covered in several pages. The photos are fantastic - making you feel in the race. While not inclusive of all extreme events on the seven continents, the book does a great job of showing you popular events and enough information to help you decide if you could do any one of them. This is a book that some might call a "coffee table" book - it is that beautiful. It appeals to me because I love the draw and challenge of these extreme events. As the author of Fixing Your Feet, I patch the feet of these athletes, and have been to several of them and can attest to the descriptions as accurate.

I highly recommend this book and LSU grad Chris Warner's "A Tailgater's Guide to SEC Football"

Both are must-haves for the die-hard LSU fan.

Roger Bannister competed only eight years in the sport of track and field, but what a legacy he left. Bannister builds up to his historic sub-4:00 minute mile run, the first man to break such a barrier. It's more than just a running book. Bannister writes poetically of his childhood and in great detail of his Oxford years.

Truly a renaisance man, Bannister is one who never puts running ahead of his medical studies and he maintains a balanced life, something most athletes today do not do.

It's really the fantastic writing that moves this book. One would think Bannister is a professional author, not a then-med student/runner. But he eloquently describes the build up to the Olympics and later the sub-4:00 minute mile, concluding with a marvelous recap of his showdown with Landy at the Empire Games in Vancouver.

It's been dubbed by some as the finest running book out there and I'd have to agree with that.

* Apparently the book's name has been changed to The Four-Minute Mile. I think this name is better, but it's still great writing.

Drop the latest "fad" diet. Stop stressing because you didn't get to the gym enough this week & get your money's worth of use. Come back down to earth and discover a common sense approach to your health and fitness. This author takes readers step by step through a realistic, uncomplicated program of balance in all areas of a person's well-being -- all the while addressing the myths, explaining the benefits of each activity, de-mystifying concepts such as yoga and meditation and making it all easy for the reader to understand. Intelligible and comprehensible, this concise little book makes "fad" books such as "The Zone" and "Protein Power" look like 3rd year medical student manuals. It's what I've been trying to tell friends and co-workers for some time. After 26 plus years of following the numerous money-grubbing instigators of the 'fitness revolution' (who can never seem to come to agreement) I sought to simplify, return to the basics and "de-stress" my health and fitness regimen. I believe this book accomplishes that and can help anyone establish a sensible program.

This book is real good for anyone who like to know how to stretching your body and develop yours muscles. All the exercises are well explained and you can make your own streching program for needs to all kind of sports.

A lot of research must have been completed to create such a comprehensive work about the topic. Keith Fossey has provided the highschool athlete with a concise work that answers many questions they might have in the scholarship process. A book that can truly pay for itself many, many times over