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Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character " superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails in a moment of weakness. What followed was a 4-year nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball. BEYOND BELIEF details the events that led up to the derailment. Josh explains how a young man destined for fame and wealth could allow his life to be taken over by drugs and alcohol. But it is also the memoir of a spiritual journey that breaks through pain and heartbreak and leads to the rebirth of his major-league career. Josh Hamilton makes no excuses and places no blame on anyone other than himself. He takes responsibility for his poor decisions and believes his story can help millions who battle the same demons. "I have been given a platform to tell my story" he says. "I pray every night I am a good messenger." |
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Over 500,000 hockey fans follow Bob McKenzie on Twitter and millions more on TSN—no one has the access or breadth and depth of experience when it comes to the hockey. Now in his very first book on the NHL, Bob goes behind the scenes, covering the inside stories, the lesser-known personalities and the events that shape Canada’s game. He talks to Bobby Orr about Connor McDavid (touted as “the next Crosby”), reveals the actual stats that NHL coaches and scouts use, and explores what it’s like to be Don Cherry’s son. Entertaining, insightful and a damn good read, Hockey Confidential is a must for every hockey fan. |
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***INTRODUCING MICHAEL MATTHEWS' #1 BESTSELLER WITH OVER 100,000 COPIES SOLD!*** If you want to be muscular, lean, and strong as quickly as possible without steroids, good genetics, or wasting ridiculous amounts of time in the gym and money on supplements...then you want to read this book. Here’s the deal: Getting into awesome shape isn’t nearly as complicated as the fitness industry wants you to believe. • You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars per month on the worthless supplements. • You don’t need to constantly change up your exercise routines to “confuse” your muscles. • You don’t need to toil away in the gym for a couple of hours per day, doing tons of sets, supersets, drop sets, giant sets, etc. • You don’t need to grind out hours and hours of boring cardio to shed ugly belly fat and get a shredded six-pack. • You don’t need to obsess over “eating clean” to get ripped, and you don’t need to completely abstain from ”cheat foods” while getting down to single-digit body fat percentages. Those are just a few of the harmful lies and myths that keep guys from ever achieving the lean, muscular, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire. And in this book you’re going to learn something most guys will never know... The exact methods of diet and training that make putting on 10 to 15 pounds of quality lean mass a breeze...and it only takes a few months. This book reveals things like... • The 7 biggest muscle building myths and mistakes that keep guys small, weak, and frustrated. • How to build muscle, lose fat, and get healthy eating foods you love and never feeling starved, deprived, or like you’re “on a diet.” • An all-in-one training system that delivers MAXIMUM results for your efforts, helping you build a big, full chest, a wide, tapered back, thick, powerful legs, and bulging arms...spending no more than 3 to 6 hours in the gym every week...doing workouts that energize you, not wipe you out. • A no-BS guide to supplements that will save you hundreds if not THOUSANDS of dollars each year on products that are nothing more than bunk science and marketing hype. • How to master the “inner game” of fitness and develop the self-discipline and willpower it takes to build the body of your dreams (and actually enjoy the process!). • The 3 simple laws of muscle growth that, when applied, literally force your body to grow bigger and stronger. • How to get shredded while still indulging in the “cheat” foods that you love every week like pasta, pizza, and ice cream. • And a whole lot more! Imagine...just 12 weeks from now...being constantly complimented on how you look and asked what the heck you’re doing to make such startling gains... Imagine enjoying the added benefits of high energy levels, no aches and pains, better spirits, and knowing that you’re getting healthier every day... The bottom line is you CAN achieve that “Hollywood hunk” body without having your life revolve around it. SPECIAL BONUS FOR READERS! With this book you’ll also get a free 119-page bonus report where you’ll not only find an entire year’s worth of workouts for the program but also Mike’s personal product and supplement recommendations and recipes from his bestselling cookbooks! Scroll up, click the "Buy" button now, and begin your journey to a bigger, leaner, and stronger you! |
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Professional Skateboarder Aaron Kyro breaks down the basics of skateboarding in this easy to follow book with clear video descriptions. The most detailed how to skateboard video ever made put into a book. All 50 minutes of the full "Skateboarding Made Simple Vol 1" video tutorial is included. The tricks are broken up into chapters and the step by step process for each trick is clearly laid out for you to follow. In this book you will learn the basics of riding your skateboard, Ollie, Frontside 180, Backside 180, Pop Shove-it, Frontside Pop Shove-it, Heelflip and Kickflip. Follow the steps in this book and progress super fast in your skateboarding now! |
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Filled with insightful stories about golf, Dr. Bob Rotella’s delightful book will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player. Dr. Bob Rotella is one of the hottest performance consultants in America today. Among his many professional clients are Nick Price (last year's Player of the Year), Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Pat Bradley, Brad Faxon, John Daly, and many others. Rotella, or "Doc," as most players refer to him, goes beyond just the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. What Rotella does here in this extraordinary book, and with his clients, is to create an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of a golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition. The most wonderful aspect of it all is that it is done in a conversational fashion, in a dynamic blend of anecdote and lesson. And, as some of the world's greatest golfers will attest, the results are spectacular. Golfers will improve their golf game and have more fun playing. Some of Rotella's maxims include: * On the first tee, a golfer must expect only two things of himself: to have fun, and to focus his mind properly on every shot. * Golfers must learn to love 'the challenge when they hit a ball into the rough, trees, or sand. The alternatives -- anger, fear, whining, and cheating -- do no good. * Confidence is crucial to good golf. Confidence is simply the aggregate of the thoughts you have about yourself. * It is more important to be decisive than to be correct when preparing to play any golf shot or putt. Filled with delightful and insightful stories about golf and the golfers Rotella works with, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player. |
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The fully revised and updated sixth edition of the best-selling guide to bike maintenance from the world's leading authority on cycling Whether they own the latest model or a classic with thousands of miles on it, beginner and experienced cyclists alike need a guide that will help them get their bikes out of the shop faster and keep them on the road longer. For more than 20 years, The Bicycling Guide to Bike Maintenance & Repair has done just that. With troubleshooting sections to quickly identify and correct common problems, 450 photographs and 40 drawings to clarify all the step-by-step directions so even the complete neophyte can get repairs right the first time, and Web sites and phone numbers of bicycle and parts manufacturers, this is truly the ultimate bicycle repair and maintenance manual. Now better than ever, the newest edition contains the latest information on component kits and carbon fork specifications. |
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From a two-time Olympic coach and creator of the Pose Method who has trained the running elite, an essential guide for all runners seeking to go faster and farther without injury Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run —and the wildly popular natural running trend it sparked—changed the way we think about running, but it has also prompted many questions: Have we been running the wrong way? And, have we been running in the wrong kind of shoe? What is the safest type of foot strike? How many types are there? And what is a foot strike anyway? No existing guide has clearly addressed these concerns—until now. The Running Revolutio n provides both beginning and experienced runners with everything they need to know in order to safely and efficiently transition to and master a safer and more biomechanically efficient way of running that is guaranteed to improve performance and minimize wear and tear on the body. More than a one-size-fits-all guide, The Running Revolutio n will provide readers with clear instructions that they can easily integrate into their unique running histories in order to run safely, intelligently, and efficiently for many years to come. |
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Bicycling Big Book of Training is an encouraging, focused training book that will speak to beginner and intermediate cyclists without making them feel like novices. It covers all the information the reader needs to begin an effective training regimen. The book is divided into five sections that are then broken into miniguides for various cycling training disciplines. Cyclists will learn about how the body becomes fit and how that fitness translates to on-the-bike performance, while discovering the components of a successful training plan, including nutrition. Furthermore, riding disciplines such as road racing, endurance events, cyclocross, mountain biking, and track are discussed at length so readers can figure out which activities are right for them. Bicycling Big Book of Training is an excellent guide for anyone who wants to learn more about cycling and take their performance to the next level. |
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“It’s hard to believe Fleury survived his own life.” — The Globe and Mail Theo Fleury, who had walked away from hockey in 2003, leaving millions of dollars on the table and thousands of fans asking why, was determined to redeem himself. But how? With a comeback. Six years after his last NHL game, at age 41, weighing 215 pounds and with 25 per cent body fat, he had only seven months to get ready for the Calgary Flames training camp. His chance for redemption came in a pre-season game against the New York Islanders. The score was 4–4 going into a shootout when his coach leaned over and told him, “You’re up next.” In this fully up-to-date edition of Playing with Fire, Fleury gives readers the inside story on how his life has changed since this book was first published. Along with the original, fearlessly honest tale that captivated the nation, he now chronicles his NHL comeback. In the same frank, fast-paced style that made his book a blockbuster, Fleury shares fascinating new stories about life as a 41-year-old rookie, as an author on the road, and as a man in the spotlight following the disturbing news that his former coach Graham James had been pardoned for his horrific crimes. Playing with Fire is Theo Fleury’s journey to hell and back, a book no one can put down or will ever forget. Finalist for the 2010 CBA Libris Award for Non-fiction Book of the Year Hockey Book of the Year (Denver Post) |
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The Big Miss is Hank Haney’s candid and surprisingly insightful account of his tumultuous six-year journey with Tiger Woods, during which the supremely gifted golfer collected six major championships and rewrote golf history. Hank was one of the very few people allowed behind the curtain. He was with Tiger 110 days a year, spoke to him over 200 days a year, and stayed at his home up to 30 days a year, observing him in nearly every circumstance: at tournaments, on the practice range, over meals, with his wife, Elin, and relaxing with friends. The relationship between the two men began in March 2004 when Hank received a call from Tiger in which the golf champion asked him to be his coach. It was a call that would change both men’s lives. Tiger—only 28 at the time—was by then already an icon, judged by the sporting press as not only one of the best golfers ever, but possibly the best athlete ever. Already he was among the world’s highest paid celebrities. There was an air of mystery surrounding him, an aura of invincibility. Unique among athletes, Tiger seemed to be able to shrug off any level of pressure and find a way to win. But Tiger was always looking to improve, and he wanted Hank’s help. What Hank soon came to appreciate was that Tiger was one of the most complicated individuals he’d ever met, let alone coached. Although Hank had worked with hundreds of elite golfers and was not easily impressed, there were days watching Tiger on the range when Hank couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. On those days, it was impossible to imagine another human playing golf so perfectly. And yet Tiger is human—and Hank’s expert eye was adept at spotting where Tiger’s perfection ended and an opportunity for improvement existed. Always haunting Tiger was his fear of “the big miss”—the wildly inaccurate golf shot that can ruin an otherwise solid round—and it was because that type of blunder was sometimes part of Tiger’s game that Hank carefully redesigned his swing mechanics. Hank’s most formidable coaching challenge, though, would be solving the riddle of Tiger’s personality. Wary of the emotional distractions that might diminish his game and put him further from his goals, Tiger had developed a variety of tactics to keep people from getting too close, and not even Hank—or Tiger’s family and friends, for that matter—was spared “the treatment.” Toward the end of Tiger and Hank’s time together, the champion’s laser-like focus began to blur and he became less willing to put in punishing hours practicing—a disappointment to Hank, who saw in Tiger’s behavior signs that his pupil had developed a conflicted relationship with the game. Hints that Tiger hungered to reinvent himself were present in his bizarre infatuation with elite military training, and—in a development Hank didn’t see coming—in the scandal that would make headlines in late 2009. It all added up to a big miss that Hank, try as he might, couldn’t save Tiger from. There’s never been a book about Tiger Woods that is as intimate and revealing—or one so wise about what it takes to coach a superstar athlete. |
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During a notorious career with the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks, Bob Probert racked up points, penalty minutes and bar bills, establishing himself as one of the most feared enforcers in the history of the NHL. On the ice, he was a fan favourite. He backed up his teammates one hundred percent, taking on the toughest guys of his era. Off the ice, Probert played hard too. Over his pro career he went through ten stays in rehab, two NHL suspensions, a jail sentence for carrying cocaine across the border and a near-fatal motorcycle crash. When he died unexpectedly of a heart attack on July 5, 2010, at the age of forty-five, he was hard at work on his memoir with Kirstie McLellan Day, co-author with Theo Fleury of the blockbuster Playing with Fire. Tough Guy is a gripping journey, full of jaw-dropping stories about the toughest bareknuckle fighter in the NHL. |
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Army Survival is the U.S. Army Field Manual 21-76, titled “Survival.” The U.S. Army knows how to train their personnel to survive. Their field manual is the most authoritative guide on survival. This book provides a complete reference guide on basic survival, evasion, first aid and recovery information. If you are an outdoor enthusiast, this book may be essential to your survival. Army Survival includes information on: Psychology of survival Basic survival medicine Shelters Water procurement Edible and medicinal plants Poisonous plants Dangerous animals, snakes, lizards, fish, insects and arachnids Field weapons, tools and equipment Desert survival Tropical survival Cold weather survival Sea survival Direction finding Signaling techniques Predicting weather Ropes and Knots As a lover of the outdoors you may be anywhere in the world. It may be a temperate, tropical, arctic, or sub arctic region. You expect to have all your personal equipment and or other members of your group with you wherever you go. There is, however, no guarantee that’s how your adventure will go. You could find yourself alone in a remote area— with little or no personal gear. This book provides information and describes basic techniques to enable you to survive and return alive should you find yourself in such a situation. |
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An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? Isolated by Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner Christopher McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. From the Trade Paperback edition. |
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The #1 New York Times –bestselling story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany For readers of Unbroken , out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant. It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest. |
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The miles you log are great for keeping you fit, healthy, and happy, and they help you to maintain your weight. But weight loss is a different story. Because you run, you may think you can eat whatever you want and still drop pounds. Unfortunately, thats not true. Running is only half the equation. You have to look hard at what and how you eat, too. Conventional dieting wisdom tends to leave runners hungry, tired, and overweight. Let Runner’s World Essential Guides: Weight Loss lead you through the minefield of dieting by showing you everything you need to know to shed pounds without losing steam on the run. The editors of Runner’s World , the foremost authorities on running on the planet, have collected the best information about weight loss on the run, answering questions such as: • What are the 8 Golden Rules of Weight Loss? • What should you eat to boost your metabolism? • What are the best foods to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner to optimize weight loss? • Weight-loss myths are debunked. And you’ll get simple ideas for pre- and post-workout snacks as well as delicious, ridiculously easy-to-make recipes like a healthy hamburger and Angel Cake so that you’ll have the fuel you need to run and the knowledge you need to shed pounds and keep them off once and for all! |
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Top Ten Things You’ll Learn When You Read This Book: 10) Jay was beaten up by an MMA fighter on live television 9) Interviewing Will Ferrell can be a harrowing experience 8) Jay once ruined a perfectly good pair of underwear on Christmas Eve 7) Failing as a stand-up comedian can lead to a job in broadcasting 6) Jay ran a marathon to get a ticket for the 2010 men’s Olympic gold-medal hockey game 5) Jay was sexually harassed at TSN by a senior citizen every day for ten years 4) Jay appeared as the Phantom of the Opera on national television 3) Jay was entertained nightly by free live sex shows throughout university 2) Jay was single-handedly responsible for Winnipeg’s second NHL team being called “The Jets” (he claims) 1) Running around in a full-body unitard at the London Olympics is a bad idea All this and more awaits you inside Anchorboy! |
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A Saturday night spent with Ron MacLean has been a tradition for twenty-five years. Known for his quick wit, arched eyebrows and encyclopedic hockey knowledge, MacLean is the skilled ringmaster of Canada’s most watched weekly program. He has interviewed the greatest players, coaches and personalities of an era and is a master at coaxing the best in substance and entertainment from his guests, as well as from his opinionated and often irascible co-host, Don Cherry, on Coach’s Corner. And he has never written a book—until now. Cornered is packed with inside accounts—some inspiring, many hilarious—from his early days as a part-time radio announcer and weather forecaster in Red Deer, Alberta, to his time hosting Hockey Night in Canada and the Olympics. Perhaps no other journalist has witnessed first-hand more Canadian sports milestones in the past quarter century. From Gretzky to Catriona, Mario to Salé and Pelletier, MacLean has been there with an eye for detail and an appreciation for what makes a great story. |
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Will 2013 be the season that brings Toronto’s Blue Jays back to glory and ignites the fevers of a sports-mad town that needs some heroes? Alex Anthopoulos and his team have brought some exciting new talent to town, adding to the strength already on the team. To coincide with the season opener, self-confessed sports addict and award-winning Star writer Rosie DiManno analyzes the key players and the management that make the Jays a popular choice to make the playoffs. Energetic, wry, full of new, exclusive interviews with the players, this is a book for both baseball junkies and the newly interested. Star Dispatches is a weekly series of quality journalism in ebook form from the newsroom of the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper. |
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Ben Hogan, author of The Modern Fundamentals of Golf , believed that golfers with average coordination could learn to break 80 if they applied themselves intelligently to learning his concepts. Author Mike Stair has created this companion piece from the position of an average golfer. He has benefited from Mr. Hogan's instruction and has applied more than thirty years of teaching and analysis to the clarification of Hogan's more obscure instructions. If you are eager to improve your game, and wish someone could explain it in terms you can make sense of, Ben Hogan's Five Lessons For The Rest of Us will help lower your score while raising your appreciation for Ben Hogan and the game he played so well. |
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Journey with the Bodle family and discover families who love to scuba dive together. Dive Into Your Imagination It's a Kids Sea Camp SeaLife Camera week at DiveTech Grand Cayman on the Cobalt Coast with Underwater Photographer Annie Crawley will take you on a family adventure. You will learn about PADI Seal Team Missions, Advanced Diving, and go scuba diving with sting rays, turtles, shipwrecks and more! This interactive book includes photo galleries, high definition video and a story of adventure with Kids Sea Camp in Grand Cayman. |
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“ Undisputed Truth is raw, powerful and disturbing—a head-spinning take on Mr. Tyson's life.” ( Wall Street Journal) Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon—Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most ferocious boxers of all time—and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior. Yet—even after hitting rock bottom—the man who once admitted being addicted “to everything” fought his way back, achieving triumphant success as an actor and newfound happiness and stability as a father and husband. Brutal, honest, raw, and often hilarious, Undisputed Truth is the singular journey of an inspiring American original. |
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This richly illustrated adventure book tells the gripping story of two Canadian climbing expeditions that captured the attention of the mountaineering world in 1982 and 1986 — written by two climbers who reached Everest’s summit in distinctly different ways. Combining a powerful yet intimately told story with 150 colour photos, maps, archival video and audio recordings, “Everest: High Expectations” sets a new standard for illustrated ebooks as it chronicles both Canadian expeditions’ quest to put a new route up the world’s highest peak. In 1982, a team of Canada’s best climbers confidently trekked to Everest through Nepal’s post monsoon rains. Within a month, four people were dead and half the climbers had returned home. The much-diminished team salvaged the expedition by putting six climbers on the summit via the traditional South Col route but its mission was incomplete. Four years later, a second team returned to make mountaineering history. Not only did the 1986 Canadian Everest Light Expedition establish a new route on Everest without Sherpa support, but it also put the first North American woman on top. Despite several subsequent attempts, that route (via Tibet) has never been repeated. This book, co-written by international adventure photojournalist Pat Morrow and alpine guide Sharon Wood, provides a fascinating insiders’ look at an era when climbing with style was more important than “peak bagging” and Everest was only approached after a long mountain-climbing apprenticeship. “High Expectations” delivers classic high-altitude drama — a near miss in a massive avalanche, speedy alpine-style ascents from the South Col to summit, a risky nighttime descent of the Hornbein Couloir, a fiery gas explosion in a tent and weeks battling jet stream winds in an atmosphere starved of oxygen. Both authors make candid observations on how their lives were affected by the Everest experience and offer frank assessments of the change in attitude today toward Everest and climbing standards. This multimedia Everest book marks the 30th anniversary of Morrow’s summit. It is truly a classic. |
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Whether he was scoring top-shelf goals or crushing an opponent into the boards, Jeremy Roenick—widely known as J.R.—was never shy about the way he played hockey. As much as he mixed it up in front of the net, J.R., an NHL veteran of twenty years with five different teams, often found himself in the middle of controversy off the ice as well. Above all else, J.R. was an entertainer, never afraid to dance on the blue line to liven up a game or to spend time with the fans. Now, as a hockey broadcaster and media personality, Roenick continues to inspire debate as he lights up call-in show phone lines with his rare mix of raw wit and cutting commentary. In J.R., Roenick reveals all, from his early hockey days commuting to games across the continent; to his time with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Philadelphia Flyers and his other teams; to skating with the American team in international competition; to acting as judge on Battle of the Blades. Elaborating on the events and opinions that he is known for, including his famous media battle with Patrick Roy, his claims of a bias against American players, his accusation that USA Hockey had “black-balled” him, and his thoughts on Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes, Roenick tells it as only he can, in his own words. |
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Vous avez envie de retrouver la forme? Après moult hésitations, çà y est! Vous avez résolu de faire de la course à pied. Vous êtes un coureur occasionnel et vous souhaitez faire votre premier demi-marathon? Vous êtes un fervent de la course à pied et vous cherchez un programme d'entraînement à votre mesure? COURIR AU BON RYTHME est pour vous. Les auteurs, un entraîneur et un passionné de course à pied, présentent un programme en 10 niveaux, adapté aux objectifs et aux besoins de chacun. Plus qu'un simple programme d'entraînement, COURIR AU BON RYTHME, c'est aussi une nouvelle façon de voir la mise en forme et la pratique de la course à pied. Nul besoin de s'épuise, il suffit de courir au bon rythme! Ce que vous trouverez dans ce livre: - Une philosophie de l'entraînement - Des outils de planification - Des programmes d'entraînement pour les coureurs de tous les niveaux |
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Finding Ultra is Rich Roll’s incredible-but-true account of achieving one of the most awe-inspiring midlife physical transformations ever. One cool evening in October 2006, the night before he was to turn forty, Rich experienced a chilling glimpse of his future. Nearly fifty pounds overweight at the time and unable to climb the stairs without stopping, he could see where his current sedentary lifestyle was taking him. Most of us, when granted such a moment of clarity, look the other way—but not Rich. Plunging into a new way of eating that made processed foods off-limits and that prioritized plant nutrition, and vowing to train daily, Rich morphed—in a matter of mere months —from out-of-shape midlifer to endurance machine . When one morning ninety days into his physical overhaul, Rich left the house to embark on a light jog and found himself running a near marathon, he knew he had to scale up his goals. How many of us take up a sport at age forty and compete for the title of the world’s best within two years? Finding Ultra recounts Rich’s remarkable journey to the starting line of the elite Ultraman competition, which pits the world’s fittest humans against each other in a 320-mile ordeal of swimming, biking, and running. And following that test, Rich conquered an even greater one: the Epic5—five Ironman-distance triathlons, each on a different Hawaiian island, all completed in less than a week. But Finding Ultra is much more than an edge-of-the-seat look at a series of jaw-dropping athletic feats—and much more than a practical training manual for those who would attempt a similar transformation. Yes, Rich’s account rivets—and, yes, it instructs, providing information that will be invaluable to anyone who wants to change their physique. But this book is most notable as a powerful testament to human resiliency, for as we learn early on, Rich’s childhood posed numerous physical and social challenges, and his early adulthood featured a fierce battle with alcoholism. Ultimately, Finding Ultra is a beautifully written portrait of what willpower can accomplish. It challenges all of us to rethink what we’re capable of and urges us, implicitly and explicitly, to “go for it.” |
