Older, Faster, Stronger: What Women Runners Can Teach Us All About Living Younger, Longer

by Margaret Webb

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623361693
Publisher:	Harmony/Rodale
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Margaret Webb is a long-distance runner, a volunteer running coach for underprivileged kids, and an author. Her features have been published in magazines and newspapers such as Sports Illustrated Women and the Globe and Mail.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Older, Faster, Stronger"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Margaret Webb.
Excerpted by permission of Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Super-Fit Me 1

Chapter 2 Training Smarter 19

Chapter 3 Eating Smarter 47

Chapter 4 Smart Things to Work On 73

Chapter 5 Motivate Me, Please 95

Chapter 6 Stronger 139

Chapter 7 Faster 173

Chapter 8 Older 201

Chapter 9 Legacy 227

Chapter 10 The Ultimate Test 263

Acknowledgments 285

Index 287

About the Author 296

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2014
Webb begins this stirring fitness memoir by telling the reader that she had an epiphany when she turned 50: “I wanted to enter the second act of my life in the best shape of my life, even fitter than I was as a 20-year-old varsity athlete.” Immersing herself in research, she soon discovered that many obstacles await an older female runner: reduced lung capacity, bone density, estrogen levels, and muscle mass and a heightened risk of injury. Webb soldiered on, hitting her age group’s qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon on her second try. Encouraged, she began training in earnest, despite entering the early stages of menopause in the meantime. She learned many lessons in the process—particularly that there are more ways to measure fitness than running times. Webb, inspired by many of the people she met (especially Olga Kotelko, a 94-year-old who took up running at age 77 and has since won over 700 gold medals), finished her journey with the World Masters Games in Turin, Italy. Those who may have put off exercise thinking they’re too old or out of shape will likely find themselves lacing up their running shoes after reading this informative and inspiring tale. Agent: Samantha Haywood, Transatlantic Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Where does the running life take you? In this compulsively readable and inspiring account of her own journey to get stronger, faster and happier after 50, Margaret Webb throws herself headlong into adventure, taking us on marvelous runs with trailblazing pioneers of women's running and deep into the science of how to live strong into our 80s and 90s. Older Faster Stronger is like that motivating running buddy you want by your side, for the long run of your life.” —Kathrine Switzer, first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon and author of Marathon Woman

“Facing 50, Margaret Webb wondered if she could get younger—or at least leaner, fitter, stronger, and healthier. She succeeded, thanks to a fierce will and visits with some of North America's top exercise scientists and runners. Her tale is absorbing, and the lessons she learned are useful to us all.” —Amby Burfoot, editor-at-large, Runner's World

From the Publisher

Where does the running life take you? In this compulsively readable and inspiring account of her own journey to get stronger, faster and happier after 50, Margaret Webb throws herself headlong into adventure, taking us on marvelous runs with trailblazing pioneers of women's running and deep into the science of how to live strong into our 80s and 90s. Older Faster Stronger is like that motivating running buddy you want by your side, for the long run of your life.

first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon Kathrine Switzer