Older Faster Stronger

One part personal quest to discover running greatness after age 50, one part investigation into what the women's running boom can teach athletes about becoming fitter, stronger, and faster as we age, Older, Faster, Stronger is an engrossing narrative sure to inspire women of all ages. A former overweight smoker turned marathoner, Margaret Webb runs with elite older women, follows a high-performance training plan devised by experts, and examines research that shows how endurance training can stall aging. She then tests herself against the world's best older runners at the world masters games in Torino, Italy. Millions of women have taken up running in recent decades--the first generation of women to train in great numbers. Women are qualifying for the Olympic marathon in their 50s, running 100-mile ultra marathons in their 60s, completing Ironmans in their 80s, competing for world masters records in their 90s. What are the secrets of these ageless wonders? How do they get stronger and faster long after their "athletic prime"? Is there an evolutionary reason women can maintain endurance into advanced years? Webb immerses herself in these questions as she as she trains to see just how fast she can get after 50.

One part personal quest to discover running greatness after age 50, one part investigation into what the women's running boom can teach athletes about becoming fitter, stronger, and faster as we age, Older, Faster, Stronger is an engrossing narrative sure to inspire women of all ages. A former overweight smoker turned marathoner, Margaret Webb runs with elite older women, follows a high-performance training plan devised by experts, and examines research that shows how endurance training can stall aging. She then tests herself against the world's best older runners at the world masters games in Torino, Italy. Millions of women have taken up running in recent decades—the first generation of women to train in great numbers. Women are qualifying for the Olympic marathon in their 50s, running 100-mile ultra marathons in their 60s, completing Ironmans in their 80s, competing for world masters records in their 90s. What are the secrets of these ageless wonders? How do they get stronger and faster long after their "athletic prime"? Is there an evolutionary reason women can maintain endurance into advanced years? Webb immerses herself in these questions as she as she trains to see just how fast she can get after 50.

Finally, runners at all levels can improve their race times while training less, with the revolutionary Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST) program. Hailed by the Wall Street Journal and featured twice in six months in cover stories in Runner's World magazine, FIRST's unique training philosophy makes running easier and more accessible, limits overtraining and burnout, and substantially cuts the risk of injury, while producing faster race times. The key feature is the "3 plus 2" program, which each week consists of: -3 quality runs, including track repeats, the tempo run, and the long run, which are designed to work together to improve endurance, lactate-threshold running pace, and leg speed -2 aerobic cross-training workouts, such as swimming, rowing, or pedaling a stationary bike, which are designed to improve endurance while helping to avoid burnout With detailed training plans for 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon, plus tips for goal-setting, rest, recovery, injury rehab and prevention, strength training, and nutrition, this program will change the way runners think about and train for competitive races. Amby Burfoot, Runner's World executive editor and Boston Marathon winner, calls the FIRST training program "the most detailed, well-organized, and scientific training program for runners that I have ever seen."

"Adapts the practice of yoga by focusing on the poses that offer the greatest benefits to runners. The poses and sequences in this book are intended to enhance strength, stability, and mobility in order to reduce incidents of running injury and add longevity to your sport as you become a healthier and stronger runner"--

Older Yet Faster (English and French editions with illustrations and photos, and online lesson and exercise videos) is a manual for teaching runners how to transition to efficient running and to help them to avoid incurring almost all of the common running injuries as they do so. It is ideal for beginners to learn how to run well and for experienced runners to changeover to good technique. Coaches can also use this book as a reference on how to implement technique change for their clients, and we expect it to become the go-to manual for medical professionals, to help them deal with running related injuries caused by bad technique and footwear. After learning how injuries are caused and then gaining a good understanding of running technique in the early chapters you will be prepared to read about our technique-change system which we call "OYF Running". This consists of "Keith's Lessons" used in combination with "Heidi's Strengthening Exercises" and forms the main body of the book." Keith shows you how to run efficiently in a simple, step-by-step guide both in the book and with videos. Each Lesson provides exercises set out in a format which is both easy to understand and implement. The first three lessons teach you the basics of running correctly and the last three help you put these into practice and help you to refine your technique over the period of your transition. This program is set up so that runners can teach themselves in conjunction with the online videos and forum.Heidi's Strengthening Exercises consists of a well-ordered series of exercises which will help your body safely adjust to the redistribution of the workload and are essential to rebuild parts of the body which have been neglected due to poor technique. It should be started as soon as possible, in order to build strength and to deal with the resultant muscle and tendon soreness that you will start to experience. We identify specific injuries and how they are caused and we show how by improving running technique, and re-strengthening these injuries are quickly cured. Podiatrists will find Heidi's experiences and advice particularly interesting, especially as they will almost certainly, be in conflict with what is still taught in universities. Chapters Twelve and Thirteen, 'Managing the changes' and 'Rehabilitation', explain what should happen during the transition and what to do should you get injured, or if you are currently injured. Chapter Fourteen is very important as you must have suitable footwear to run with good technique. There is then a chapter on how your body shape will change as you adopt your new technique and a chapter on general tips and traps a list of commonly used terms, a glossary and an index.Finally, we have included three appendices: For Coaches, For Podiatrists and a detailed look at Heidi's strengthening program. In Appendix A, Keith discusses how to implement his Lessons from a coach's point of view, in Appendix B, Heidi explains how she treats her patients who are suffering with specific injuries and in Appendix C she explains her Strengthening program in greater detail for medical professionals and interested runners.

Draws on the latest scientific advice to provide an up-to-date nutrition reference specifically tailored to the needs of runners, covering such topics as proper hydration, customizing a diet for personal training needs, and speeding up recovery times. Original. 15,000 first printing.

Fast After 50 is for every endurance athlete who wants to stay fast for years to come. For runners, cyclists, triathletes, swimmers, and cross-country skiers, getting older doesn’t have to mean getting slower. Drawing from the most current research on aging and sports performance, Joe Friel--America’s leading endurance sports coach--shows how athletes can race strong and stay healthy well past age 50. In his groundbreaking book Fast After 50, Friel offers a smart approach for athletes to ward off the effects of age. Friel shows athletes how to extend their racing careers for decades--and race to win. Fast After 50 presents guidelines for high-intensity workouts, focused strength training, recovery, crosstraining, and nutrition for high performance: How the body’s response to training changes with age, how to adapt your training plan, and how to avoid overtraining How to shed body fat and regain muscle density How to create a progressive plan for training, rest, recovery, and competition Workout guidelines, field tests, and intensity measurement In Fast After 50, Joe Friel shows athletes that age is just a number--and race results are the only numbers that count. With contributions from: Mark Allen, Gale Bernhardt, Amby Burfoot, Dr. Larry Creswell, John Howard, Dr. Tim Noakes, Ned Overend, Dr. John Post, Dr. Andrew Pruitt, and Lisa Rainsberger.

FINALIST 2014 – City of Vancouver Book Award Part science book, part journey into the untapped potential of the human spirit, this is the remarkable story of a 94-year-old track and field champion (not retired). Olga Kotelko is most certainly a genetic outlier, one of those rare, blessed people whose bodies resist the degradations of age. More remarkably, she's not alone; there are men and women all over the world competing at ages at which most of us will be lucky even to be alive. But her secret, and theirs, isn't just the luck of the gene pool. It's in the stories of how they exploit their genetic good fortune where the lessons for the rest of us may be found. Author Bruce Grierson, whose much-read 2010 New York Times Magazine piece first brought attention to Olga's remarkable story, accompanies the nonagenarian Canadian to track meets to see her in action, and to research facilities around North America where he and medical researchers hope to learn the secrets of her thriving tissues and age-resistant DNA. And perhaps most importantly, she welcomes him and us into her world, where we learn that your life might benefit most of all from how you live it.