Peter Ackerman and Trudi Kehle were youngsters in 1945 when the Russians occupied the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland. Peter escaped as a boy and structured his life to enable a return to find his parents and evidence of horrific ethnic German expulsions. In 1958 Peter returned as a US Army Special Forces sergeant. When he found Trudi, quite accidentally, on her temporary pass in West Germany, they plotted her family escape from behind the east-west border. In his young life, Peter has the unique experience of life under Nazi control in the Sudetenland, the American military in West Germany, as a refugee boy on a post-war West German hops farm and as a displaced person in America. All before he returns to his homeland. His observations about rights to land, oppressed people and Nazism that he gained through that experience is enlightening. Trudi’s life, under Russian and Czech control, has been depressing. When her mother’s Czech husband died, they were hopelessly stranded as second-class citizens. Only Trudi’s athletic ability and her administrative assistant job with a Russian Colonel made her life bearable. Finding Peter changed everything for her. Peter’s entry into, and their dual escape from Czechoslovakia were both lucky and the result of their determination and ingenuity.

This book by the "Triathlete" columnist and member of the USA Triathlon 2004 Olympic Team Selection Committee contains all the basics that new triathletes need in order to successfully complete a sprint or an Olympic distance triathlon.

A breakthrough program for triathletes -- beginner, intermediate, and advanced -- showing how to balance training intensity to maximize performance -- from a fitness expert and elite coach. Cutting-edge research has proven that triathletes and other endurance athletes experience their greatest performance when they do 80 percent of their training at low intensity and the remaining 20 percent at moderate to high intensity. But the vast majority of recreational triathletes are caught in the so-called "moderate-intensity rut," spending almost half of their time training too hard--harder than the pros. Training harder isn't smarter; it actually results in low-grade chronic fatigue that prevents recreational athletes from getting the best results. In 80/20 Triathlon, Matt Fitzgerald and David Warden lay out the real-world and scientific evidence, offering concrete tips and strategies, along with complete training plans for every distance--Sprint, Olympic, Half-Ironman, and Ironman--to help athletes implement the 80/20 rule of intensity balance. Benefits include reduced fatigue and injury risk, improved fitness, increased motivation, and better race results.

Recommended by "Runner's World" magazine as "the best training book" by "the world's greatest coach," "Daniels' Running Formula" provides an expert training and racing blueprint for dedicated runners of all abilities.

Why is the Half Iron-Distance the most popular triathlon distance? Because it is the perfect length for busy athletes with demanding career and family responsibilities. Full Iron-Distance races require such painstaking planning and sacrifice that it’s difficult to keep life in balance. The Half Iron-Distance is accessible, while remaining challenging. Also known as the “70.3” for the sum of its 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run, the half-iron triathlon is not simply a race for which an athlete can use a full-iron training regimen chopped in half. Doing so would in no way approach maximizing an athlete’s performance. The races are performed at completely different intensity levels, with completely different approaches. As a result, the training is completely different. IronFit Secrets to Half Iron-Distance Triathlon Success does for the half-iron what Be IronFit has done for the full-iron. It provides three sixteen-week training programs—Competitive, Intermediate, and “Just Finish”—and details everything an athlete needs to know to successfully prepare for and maximize performance at this racing distance. In as little as four months, any athlete can be physically and mentally ready for the world’s most popular triathlon challenge.

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."