Whether you're an experienced runner or a complete beginner, this inspiring book will motivate you to train your body and mind to complete one of the hardest physical feats of all—an ultramarathon Ultra-races—distances longer than 26.2 miles—aren’t for “normal people.” Normal people have jobs, families, or a million other obligations that do not exist in the world of ultrarunning. Or that’s what Sid Garza-Hillman thought as he faced the starting line of his first 50K. But the more he learned about the sport, the more he realized that ultrarunning is for more than elite athletes: moms, dads, grandparents, young people, old people, people with full-time jobs, and others successfully cross the finish lines of ultra-races around the world every year. In this book, Sid distills the life lessons he's learned from the trails—as a ten-time ultramarathoner and Race Director of the Mendocino Coast 50K—to teach you how to: Move through the fear and mental blocks that prevent you from reaching your goals—on and off the trail Slow down and be present in a world full of endless distractions Test your mettle and prove you’re stronger than you ever knew Commit to a well-rounded—but realistic and adaptable—training plan Not your typical ultramarathon training guide with rigid schedules and prescribed workouts, this book powerfully outlines the invaluable struggles, benefits, and life lessons that await anyone who dares to dive into the world of ultrarunning.

Whether you're an experienced runner or a complete beginner, this inspiring book will motivate you to train your body and mind to complete one of the hardest physical feats of all—an ultramarathon Ultra-races—distances longer than 26.2 miles—aren’t for “normal people.” Normal people have jobs, families, or a million other obligations that do not exist in the world of ultrarunning. Or that’s what Sid Garza-Hillman thought as he faced the starting line of his first 50K. But the more he learned about the sport, the more he realized that ultrarunning is for more than elite athletes: moms, dads, grandparents, young people, old people, people with full-time jobs, and others successfully cross the finish lines of ultra-races around the world every year. In this book, Sid distills the life lessons he's learned from the trails—as a ten-time ultramarathoner and Race Director of the Mendocino Coast 50K—to teach you how to: Move through the fear and mental blocks that prevent you from reaching your goals—on and off the trail Slow down and be present in a world full of endless distractions Test your mettle and prove you’re stronger than you ever knew Commit to a well-rounded—but realistic and adaptable—training plan Not your typical ultramarathon training guide with rigid schedules and prescribed workouts, this book powerfully outlines the invaluable struggles, benefits, and life lessons that await anyone who dares to dive into the world of ultrarunning.

This book has a single purpose - to inspire you to run! Through sharing a detailed account of my first three years of pursuing running from the middle to back of the pack, it will hopefully show you you are capable of much more than you may think. After my father almost died of a heart attack, it was time for me to change everything. Little did I know how much I would learn after taking on some physical exercise. It's not clear to me why I chose running ultra marathons of all forms of exercise, since I was unable to run beyond one mile just a few years prior. But since that fateful day, I've never looked back.

An electrifying look inside the wild world of extreme distance running. Once the reserve of only the most hardcore enthusiasts, ultra running is now a thriving global industry, with hundreds of thousands of competitors each year. But is the rise of this most brutal and challenging sport—with races that extend into hundreds of miles, often in extreme environments—an antidote to modern life, or a symptom of a modern illness? In The Rise of the Ultra Runners, award-winning author Adharanand Finn travels to the heart of the sport to investigate the reasons behind its rise and discover what it takes to join the ranks of these ultra athletes. Through encounters with the extreme and colorful characters of the ultramarathon world, and his own experiences of running ultras everywhere from the deserts of Oman to the Rocky Mountains, Finn offers a fascinating account of people testing the boundaries of human endeavor.

117 marathons, 52 days, 32 pairs of shoes, 57 years old: A fascinating glimpse inside the mind of an ultramarathon runner and the inspirational saga of his phenomenal journey running across America. The ultimate endurance athlete, Marshall Ulrich has run more than 100 foot races averaging over 100 miles each, completed 12 expedition-length adventure races, and ascended the Seven Summits - including Mount Everest - all on his first attempt. Yet his run from California to New York- the equivalent of running two marathons and a 10K every day for nearly two months straight - proved to be his most challenging effort yet. Featured in the recent documentary film, Running America, Ulrich clocked the 3rd fastest transcontinental crossing to date and set new records in multiple divisions. In Running on Empty, he shares the gritty backstory, including brushes with death, run-ins with the police, and the excruciating punishments he endured at the mercy of his maxed-out body. Ulrich also reached back nearly 30 years to when the death of the woman he loved drove him to begin running - and his dawning realization that he felt truly alive only when pushed to the limits. Filled with mind-blowing stories from the road and his sensational career, Ulrich's memoir imbues an incredible read with a universal message for athletes and nonathletes alike: face the toughest challenges, overcome debilitating setbacks, and find deep fulfillment in something greater than achievement Watch a Video

When elite ultrarunners have a need for speed, they turn to coach Jason Koop. Now the sport’s leading coach makes his highly effective ultramarathon training methods available to ultrarunners of all abilities in his book Training Essentials for Ultrarunning. Ultramarathoners have traditionally piled on the miles or tried an approach that worked for a friend. Yet ultramarathons are not just longer marathons; simply running more will not prepare you for the race experience you want. Ultramarathon requires a new and specific approach to training. Training Essentials for Ultrarunning will revolutionize training for those who want to race an ultramarathon instead of just gutting it out to the finish line. Koop's race-proven ultramarathon program is based on sound science, the most current research, and years of experience coaching the sport’s star runners to podium performances. Packed with practical advice and vetted training methods, Training Essentials for Ultrarunning is the new, must-have resource for first-timers and ultramarathon veterans. Runners using Training Essentials for Ultrarunning will gain much more than Koop’s training approach: · The science behind ultramarathon performance. · Common ultramarathon failure points and how to solve them. · How to use interval training to focus workouts, make gains, reduce injuries, and race faster. · Simple, effective fueling and hydration strategies. · Koop’s A.D.A.P.T. method for making the right decisions to solve a race-day crisis. · How to plan your ultra season for better racing. · Course-by-course coaching guides to iconic U.S. ultramarathons including American River 50, Badwater 135, Hardrock 100, Javelina 100, JFK 50, Lake Sonoma 50, Leadville 100, Vermont 100, Wasatch 100, and Western States 100. · How to achieve your goal, whether it’s finishing or winning. A revolution is coming to ultrarunning as ultramarathoners shed old habits and embrace the smarter methods that science and experience show are better. Featuring stories and advice from ultrarunning stars Dakota Jones, Kaci Lickteig, Dylan Bowman, Timothy Olson, and others who work with Koop, Training Essentials for Ultrarunning is the go-to guide for first-time ultrarunners and competitive ultramarathoners.

In the tradition of Wild and H Is for Hawk, an Outside magazine writer tells her story—of fathers and daughters, grief and renewal, adventure and obsession, and the power of running to change your life. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE I’m running to forget, and to remember. For more than a decade, Katie Arnold chased adventure around the world, reporting on extreme athletes who performed outlandish feats—walking high lines a thousand feet off the ground without a harness, or running one hundred miles through the night. She wrote her stories by living them, until eventually life on the thin edge of risk began to seem normal. After she married, Katie and her husband vowed to raise their daughters to be adventurous, too, in the mountains and canyons of New Mexico. But when her father died of cancer, she was forced to confront her own mortality. His death was cataclysmic, unleashing a perfect storm of grief and anxiety. She and her father, an enigmatic photographer for National Geographic, had always been kindred spirits. He introduced her to the outdoors and took her camping and on bicycle trips and down rivers, and taught her to find solace and courage in the natural world. And it was he who encouraged her to run her first race when she was seven years old. Now nearly paralyzed by fear and terrified she was dying, too, she turned to the thing that had always made her feel most alive: running. Over the course of three tumultuous years, she ran alone through the wilderness, logging longer and longer distances, first a 50-kilometer ultramarathon, then 50 miles, then 100 kilometers. She ran to heal her grief, to outpace her worry that she wouldn’t live to raise her own daughters. She ran to find strength in her weakness. She ran to remember and to forget. She ran to live. Ultrarunning tests the limits of human endurance over seemingly inhuman distances, and as she clocked miles across mesas and mountains, Katie learned to tolerate pain and discomfort, and face her fears of uncertainty, vulnerability, and even death itself. As she ran, she found herself peeling back the layers of her relationship with her father, discovering that much of what she thought she knew about him, and her own past, was wrong. Running Home is a memoir about the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of our world—the stories that hold us back, and the ones that set us free. Mesmerizing, transcendent, and deeply exhilarating, it is a book for anyone who has been knocked over by life, or feels the pull of something bigger and wilder within themselves. “A beautiful work of searching remembrance and searing honesty . . . Katie Arnold is as gifted on the page as she is on the trail. Running Home will soon join such classics as Born to Run and Ultramarathon Man as quintessential reading of the genre.”—Hampton Sides, author of On Desperate Ground and Ghost Soldiers