Swim, Bike, Bonk

Author: Will McGough
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493036394
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
Just as George Plimpton had his proverbial cup of coffee in the NFL as the un-recruited and certainly unwanted fourth-string quarterback for the Detroit Lions, so, too, did Will McGough immerse himself in a sport he had no business trying. Like Plimpton, whose football folly turned into the bestselling Paper Lion, travel and outdoor writer McGough writes of his participation in, around, and over the course of one of the world's premier triathlons, the annual 140.6-mile Ironman in Tempe, Arizona. McGough chronicles the Ironman’s history, his unorthodox training, the pageantry of the race weekend, and his attempt to finish the epic event. The narrative follows not just his race but also explores the cult and habits of the triathlete community, beginning with the first Ironman competition in Hawaii in 1978. This is a light-hearted, self-deprecating, and at times hilarious look at one man's attempt to conquer the ultimate endurance sport, with a conclusion that will surprise and delight both dedicated triathletes as well as strangers to the sport.

Irondad Life

Author: Russell Newell
Publisher: Post Hill Press
ISBN: 1642937673
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 445

Book Description
Why do people race in Ironmans—a competition that was dreamed up by a U.S. Navy Officer after a beer-influenced debate over who were the fittest athletes—swimmers, cyclists, or runners? Only a person whose good sense was severely impaired would decide to do a race marked by such agony and suffering—a race that makes no sense to normal people. What type of person (lunatic) goes to bed at 9:00 p.m. and wakes up at 4:00 a.m. every day for twelve months, eliminates every fun thing to eat and drink, incurs thousands of death stares from an angry spouse, and spends a minimum of ten thousand dollars…all to put their body through a seventeen-hour torture chamber during which a potpourri of exciting, physiological wonders—such as dehydration, fuel supply shortages, oxidative stress, muscle damage, brain fatigue, and overheating—occur, causing the body to age by twenty years? Russell Newell would find out when he signed up for the second oldest Ironman in the country: Lake Placid, in the idyllic Upstate New York village nestled in the Adirondacks that twice hosted the Winter Olympics. Russell would then question his sanity and test his resolve as he attempted to finish the 2018 Ironman Lake Placid…despite almost drowning, crashing on his bike, and nearly shitting his pants eighteen times.

Accidental Ironman

Author: Martyn Brunt
Publisher: Constable
ISBN: 1472111095
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Book Description
Having spent 10 years scaling the lower echelons of the sport, the time has come for one of Britain's least successful athletes to reveal all about how he got involved in all this nonsense in the first place. Marvel as he reveals: His sporting history - how being last pick at school football in the 1970s set him on course for a lifetime of being rubbish at team games. How he took up triathlons in the first place (for a bet, and the cow who made it with him never paid up). How he overcame a crippling lack of talent and a chorus of complete indifference from his family to complete 10 Ironmans, all outside the top 500 finishers. The many triathlon adventures he has experienced over the past 10 years (cow pats, Ironmans, incontinence, driving bans, broken bones, public nudity, spending entire redundancy payments on a new bike, Belgian portaloos, German knocking shops, sunburnt arse cheeks, channel swimming, fights with chavs, obsessions with weather and the nutritional value of Jaffa Cakes, 3 hour marathons, chronic dehydration and so on). The many and varied idiots he's got to know as a result of taking up the sport (aka his mates). The typical training (hell) he goes through to take part in a race given he has absolutely no ability whatsoever. How triathlons ultimately caused him to sell his Mercedes, give away his expensive suit, chuck in his job in the City and become, as his father put it, a "god-damned hippy" (A cycle path designer who owns a camper van).

Ultramarathon Man

Author: Dean Karnazes
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440684936
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Book Description
In one of his most ambitious physical efforts to date, Dean Karnazes attempted to run 50 marathons, in 50 states, in 50 days to raise awareness of youth obesity and urge Americans of all fitness levels to "take that next step." "UltraMarathon Man: 50 Marathons - 50 States - 50 Days", a Journeyfilm documentary, follows Dean’s incredible step-by-step journey across the country. Ultrarunning legend Dean Karnazes has run 262 miles-the equivalent of ten marathons-without rest. He has run over mountains, across Death Valley, and to the South Pole-and is probably the first person to eat an entire pizza while running. With an insight, candor, and humor rarely seen in sports memoirs (and written without the aid of a ghostwriter or cowriter), Ultramarathon Man has inspired tens of thousands of people-nonrunners and runners alike-to push themselves beyond their comfort zones and be reminded of "what it feels like to be truly alive," says Sam Fussell, author of Muscle. Ultramarathon Man answers the questions Karnazes is continually asked: - Why do you do it? - How do you do it? - Are you insane? And in the new paperback edition, Karnazes answers the two questions he was most asked on his book tour: - What, exactly, do you eat? - How do you train to stay in such good shape?

Confessions of a Baseball Purist

Author: Jon Miller
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801863165
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Known as the "voice" of the San Francisco Giants, Miller takes readers on a journey into the heart of baseball as he's seen it from the best seat in the house--as a commentator for "ESPN Sunday Night Baseball." "Crammed with great stories, candid observations, and a genuine affection for the game."--"San Francisco Chronicle."

Confessions of a Born-Again Pagan

Author: Anthony T. Kronman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300224915
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1174

Book Description
In this passionate and searching book, Anthony Kronman offers a third way—beyond atheism and religion—to the God of the modern world We live in an age of disenchantment. The number of self-professed “atheists” continues to grow. Yet many still feel an intense spiritual longing for a connection to what Aristotle called the “eternal and divine.” For those who do, but demand a God that is compatible with their modern ideals, a new theology is required. This is what Anthony Kronman offers here, in a book that leads its readers away from the inscrutable Creator of the Abrahamic religions toward a God whose inexhaustible and everlasting presence is that of the world itself. Kronman defends an ancient conception of God, deepened and transformed by Christian belief—the born-again paganism on which modern science, art, and politics all vitally depend. Brilliantly surveying centuries of Western thought—from Plato to Augustine, Aquinas, and Kant, from Spinoza to Nietzsche, Darwin, and Freud—Kronman recovers and reclaims the God we need today.

The Iron Man & The Tin Woman: A Book of Little Sketches of To-Day and To-Morrow

Author: Stephen Butler Leacock
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 220

Book Description
DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Iron Man & The Tin Woman: A Book of Little Sketches of To-Day and To-Morrow" by Stephen Butler Leacock. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Stronger Than Iron

Author: Stefan Zetterström
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780991013289
Category : Endurance sports
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Development and organization of the Triple DECA took an unimaginable concept and made it imaginable. Representatives from The Guinness Book of Records attended the Triple DECA under the tagline: "The longest race in endurance sports history." It would be an attempt to succeed at the most consecutive Iron triathlons ever in human history. This race would raise a question: "What is the limit?" The Triple DECA Iron held in Italy would push the limit far beyond what men (and one woman) had done before. Read about this incredible experience. Get to know the faces, personalities, and experiences of the men and women who accomplished such an amazing mental and physical feat. What were the challenges? What were the lessons? What compelled these men and women to push the limits of mental and physical endurance. This story will rivet and awe you as you discover what it takes to not only participate but FINISH a Triple DECA event --a world-record breaking endurance race.

Confessions of a D-List Supervillain

Author: Jim Bernheimer
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781461084747
Category : Good and evil
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Follows the exploits of Mechani-Cal, a down on his luck armored villain.

Inventing Iron Man

Author: E. Paul Zehr
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421404885
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
Tony Stark has been battling bad guys and protecting innocent civilians since he first donned his mechanized armor in the 1963 debut of Iron Man in Marvel Comics. Over the years, Stark’s suit has allowed him to smash through walls, fly through the air like a human jet, control a bewildering array of weaponry by thought alone, and perform an uncountable number of other fantastic feats. The man who showed us all what it would take to become Batman probes whether science—and humankind—is up to the task of inventing a real-life Iron Man. E. Paul Zehr physically deconstructs Iron Man to find out how we could use modern-day technology to create a suit of armor similar to the one Stark made. Applying scientific principles and an incredibly creative mind to the question, Zehr looks at how Iron Man’s suit allows Stark to become a superhero. He discusses the mind-boggling and body-straining feats Iron Man performed to defeat villains like Crimson Dynamo, Iron Monger, and Whiplash and how such acts would play out in the real world. Zehr finds that science is nearing the point where a suit like Iron Man’s could be made. But superherodom is not just about technology. Zehr also discusses our own physical limitations and asks whether an extremely well-conditioned person could use Iron Man’s armor and do what he does. A scientifically sound look at brain-machine interfaces and the outer limits where neuroscience and neural plasticity meet, Inventing Iron Man is a fun comparison between comic book science fiction and modern science. If you’ve ever wondered whether you have what it takes to be the ultimate human-machine hero, then this book is for you.