A guide for endurance athletes, featuring information on planning and executing a training program, maintaining proper nutrition, and preparing mentally for competition. Includes specific techniques for swimming, cycling, and running.

Gain an edge in sports and life by going gluten-free Since the advent of sport, athletes have worked to gain an edge on their competition—to look, feel, and perform their best—through both training and nutrition. Today, science is increasingly showing the negative impact that gluten, a protein in wheat, barley, and rye, can have on health. For the estimated 30 million Americans with forms of gluten intolerance, such as celiac disease, this all-too-common protein can cause gastrointestinal trouble, inflammation, muscle fatigue, and mental fog that hinder an active lifestyle and negatively impact athletic performance. The solution: a whole-foods, nutrient-dense gluten-free diet. Others who voluntarily eat gluten-free can also discover an edge they never knew was missing: faster recovery, reduced inflammation, improved digestion, and increased athletic performance. The Gluten-Free Edge is the first comprehensive resource that includes: • What gluten is and how it negatively impacts health and athletic performance • The myriad benefits of adopting a gluten-free nutrition plan • What to eat during training, competition, and recovery • How to deal with group meals, eating on the road, and getting “glutened” • Insights from prominent athletes already living the gluten-free edge • And 50 simple, high-octane recipes to fuel your performance Whether you’ve been diagnosed with gluten intolerance or simply want to get ahead of the competition, this book is for you. Your own gluten-free edge is waiting.

Triathlon coaching pioneer Marc Evans has trained pros and age-group triathletes for over 20 years, and he knows what it takes to be successful. His system is divided into phases that can be customized to fit various training seasons and racing objectives. The base preparation phase sets training goals and develops endurance, strength, flexibility, and technique. Base transition adds new workouts, introduces transitions, and increases the volume and intensity of your training. The third phase, race preparation, includes specific swim, bike, and run workouts tailored to your fitness level that will condition your body to put it all together in the approaching competition. The final phase, peak transition, prepares you physiologically and psychologically in a taper that will sharpen your body to peak on race day. Triathlete's Edge contains much more than training programs. Complete assessment tools allow you to evaluate mobility, posture, gait, strength, and flexibility to make improvements through event-specific exercise drills. Swim instruction covers stroke improvement and hand entry techniques and offers tips on mass starts and exits. You'll improve your position on the bike, perfect your posture, and study cadence and gearing on the bike. The running section will sharpen your efficiency with drills for arm movement, foot strike, and running stride. Evans reveals the professional training secrets that have defined him as the triathlon training authority. Mark Allen, Karen Smyers, Mike Pigg, and Sue Latshaw are just a few of the legendary triathletes who have benefited from Evans' mentoring. Now you can incorporate his knowledge in your own training program to give yourself the triathlete's edge

Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes makes high-performance nutrition simple for running, cycling, triathlon, and swimming. Weighing in at 432 pages, this newly updated third edition is the most comprehensive resource on nutrition from the most experienced and highly qualified nutritionist in endurance sports. Ryan offers clear answers to the most fundamental questions in endurance sports nutrition--what should I eat, how much, and when--based on the latest research and experience from her 30-year career advising elite and age-group athletes and pro sports teams. She offers fine-tuning strategies for training and racing, optimal recovery, weight loss, and boosting strength-to-weight ratio. Citing rigorous and reputable studies, Ryan busts myths about ergogenic aids and supplements and offers a dose of reality to practices like fat loading and glycogen-depleted workouts. Since endurance sports are too different for a "one size fits all" food plan, Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes reveals how runners, cyclists, triathletes, and swimmers should fuel differently to gain real performance advantages in their sports. Even within each sport, optimal nutrition varies with the type and duration of events, so Ryan explains nutrition for short- and long-course triathlon; road, criterium, and mountain bike racing; 10K, half-marathon, and marathon; and sprint and distance swimming. This complete guide addresses a wide variety of special nutrition considerations for younger and older athletes, diabetics, vegetarians, pregnant women, and those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes also offers six appendixes of reference material including glycemic index, vitamin and mineral glossary, an up-to-date comparison of sports nutrition products, and sample menus. Smart nutrition can make the difference between a personal record and a lackluster season. Committed athletes and newcomers to endurance sports will both find Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes to be a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to better performance in running, cycling, triathlon, and swimming.

The story of visionary American running coach Bob Larsen's mismatched team of elite California runners who would win championships and Olympic glory in a decades-long pursuit of "the epic run." In the dusty hills above San Diego, Bob Larsen became America's greatest running coach. Running to the Edge is a riveting account of Larsen's journey, and his quest to discover the unorthodox training secrets that would lead American runners to breakthroughs never imagined. Futterman interweaves the dramatic stories of Larsen's runners with a fascinating discourse on the science behind human running, as well as a personal running narrative that follows Futterman's own checkered love-affair with the sport. The result is a narrative that will speak to every runner, a story of Larsen's triumphs--from high school cross-country meets to the founding of the cult-favorite, 70's running group, the Jamul Toads; from his long tenure as head coach at UCLA to the secret training regimen of world champion athletes like Larsen's protégé, Meb Keflezighi. Running to the Edge is a page-turner . . . a relentless crusade to run faster, farther.

Mark Verstegen, the world-renowned performance coach who was at the forefront of the core training revolution, now applies his cutting-edge training system to the special needs of the endurance athlete with Core Performance Endurance. Verstegen's first two books—Core Performance and Core Performance Essentials—broke new ground in fitness with their intense focus on the muscles of the core: shoulders, hips, and midsection. That focus remains the key here as he not only helps endurance athletes train more effectively, but also gives them a potent regimen of core training that will help them move more efficiently, speed recovery, and stave off overuse injuries and long-term deterioration. His plan: -helps endurance athletes at all levels—from competitive swimmers and hard-driven triathletes to everyday joggers -delivers the desired combination of strength and stamina, balance and flexibility, athletic quickness and power—to which the endurance athlete strives -provides an endurance-oriented nutrition program complete with recommendations for pre- and post-race eating

Providing comprehensive discussion of this newly developing branch of sports medicine, this unique and up-to-date book focuses specifically on the treatment of athletes who train for and participate in endurance sporting events, including not only traditional endurance athletes such as runners, swimmers, bikers and triathletes, but also rowers, adventure racers, military personnel, and cross-fit athletes. Detailing strategies for not only treating and preventing injuries and conditions but also for optimizing an athlete’s performance, it is divided into three thematic sections. The first section covers common medical conditions faced by the endurance athlete, including cardiovascular conditions, asthma, and heat- and altitude-related illnesses, while also discussing gender differences, pregnancy and the pediatric endurance athlete. Section two focuses on the management of common musculoskeletal conditions, such as stress fractures, overuse injuries of the soft tissue, compartment syndrome, shoulder and hip injuries, and exercise and osteoarthritis. The last section presents special considerations for the endurance athlete, including gait and swim-stroke analysis, bike fitting, mental preparation, optimizing nutrition, and how to organize medical coverage for events, as well as decision-making for return to play. A timely topic and one which has not been written about extensively in one concise collection of chapters, Endurance Sports Medicine is a valuable guide for sports medicine physicians, orthopedists, athletic trainers, physical therapists, coaches, officials, and athletes in understanding the needs of the determined individuals who participate in endurance sports.