Run for Life: The Anti-Aging, Anti-Injury, Super-Fitness Plan to Keep You Running to 100

by Roy M. Wallack

Overview

Over 35 and want to win your age group and run injury-free for the next 50 years or even longer? Run for Life lays out a plan to help you run to 100. Traveling the running world from Kenya to Tahiti and Boston to Badwater in search of the keys to super-fit running longevity, Wallack tests new running methods, products, and fitness regimens, and talks to the world's top coaches, athletes, and researchers as he develops a science-backed, time-efficient strategy for long-term running fitness. Featuring 10 extensive oral-history interviews with super-fit, all-time greats, such as Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, and Dr. Kenneth Cooper, Run for Life brims with ground-breaking innovations, including:· Soft Running: A bio-mechanical overhaul that reduces knee-shock by 50% · A Call to Arms: A cheap, simple handgrip that automatically perfects your form · HGH Strength Training: Fast, high-intensity resistance exercises that stop age-related muscle deflation and build speed, power, balance, and quick-reaction time by jacking up the natural release of human growth hormone · The Ultra Interval: Crazy-hard 20- and 30-second all-out sprints that leave you gasping and cue rapid strength increases that essentially make you younger · High-tech Water Running: New pool tools that are making champion runners faster and safer on land · Barefoot Running: How going shoeless strengthens feet, cuts shock, and adds running longevity · Yoga on the Run: A just-for-runners flexibility/warmup program designed by famed multisport yogi Steve Ilg · And much more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781602393448
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	02/24/2009
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Roy M. Wallack is a Los Angeles Times health and fitness columnist and former editor of Triathlete and Bicycle Guide magazines. A life-long runner and participant some of the world’s toughest running and multisport events, including the Boston Marathon and the Badwater UltraMarathon, the Eco-Challenge and Primal Quest adventure races, the Paris-Brest-Paris, TransAlp Challenge, and La Ruta de los Conquistadores road and mountain bike endurance races, and the TransRockies Run, he finished second in the World Fitness Championship in 2004. Wallack is a contributor to Outside, Men’s Journal, Runner’s World, Competitor, Bicycling, Mountain Bike, and many other publications, and the author of The Traveling Cyclist: 20 Worldwide Tours of Discovery (1991) and Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100 (2005), which lays out a plan for athletic longevity through cycling.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

The Cheat Sheet xvii

Section 1 Run soft 1

1 The Boston Revelation 5

What better way to learn to run soft than in the world's most famous race?

2 The 50% Revelation 13

Learn the form that can cut the shock to your knees by half-in 5 easy drills.

The Basic Rules of Good Form 14

The Kenyan Counterpoint 24

3 Secret Weapon in the Arms Race 26

If you can't keep your arms vertical, the e3 Grips do it for you.

4 The Barefoot Revolution 31

Olympic coaches and a barefoot guru agree: Going shoeless strengthens feet, cuts injuries, and instantly teaches Soft-Running form.

Barefoot Shoes Toe the Line 35

5 Romanov's Controlled Falling 37

You're a "lean" machine with the groundbreaking Pose Method.

Principles of the Pose 40

6 Head for the Hills 45

Trail running is the original Soft Running. Get the most out of it with these tips from top trail stars.

Section 2 Run Strong 59

7 The Fountain-of-Youth Power Workout 61

Rapid-contraction weight lifting ramps up human growth hormone release and armors you against aging.

The Cross Fit Future 66

Section 3 Run Balanced 91

8 When McCaskill Went Straight 93

Superrunner Dan McCaskill was desperate to stop his agonizing pain. Could postural therapy save his career?

9 Stand Tall like a Kindergartener 99

Feel young again with the Symmetry 8-step runners' posture plan.

Section 4 Run fast 115

10 The Ultra Interval 119

Going all-out for 20 or 30 seconds can melt fat, save your joints, stop your V02 max from declining, and increase muscle power and longevity. If you can handle it.

Why High-Intensity Intervals Build Running Longevity 124

11 The Radical "Primal Blueprint" 128

Evolution,says a former top Ironman, dictates that runners do two things that'll shock them: Throw out most carbs and all hard, steady-state running.

Section 5 Run Flexible 141

12 Runners' Stretches 143

Flexibility is the first stage of good form. Get it with these 11 warm-up stretches.

13 Yoga on the Run 149

Warm up with this exclusive High-Performance Yoga for Runners routine from fitness guru Steve Ilg.

Section 6 Run Less, Cross-Train More 167

14 Hop in the Pool with Lornah 169

A challenging, joint-friendly workout and cutting-edge resistance devices make water running perfect for world champs and centenarians alike.

Next: Aqua Power Training 175

15 Ultra Mountain Momma 177

Monster bike climbs + swimming = ultrarunning bliss?

A wild woman says yes.

Standing Bike Intervals 180

Section 7 Run Motivated 191

16 Motivation Case Study #1: Push the Envelope 192

The 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon was out of my league.

So I signed up.

17 Motivation Case Study #2: Get a Rival 201

How a fast-swimming nurse made a doctor a better runner.

18 Motivation Case Study #3: Shoot for Big Numbers 204

How John Strand became the 100-Marathon Man.

19 Motivation Case Study #4: Take a Running Vacation 210

Head for the exotic, 150-strong Tahiti Marathon.

Funky Races in Far-Out Places 213

20 Motivation Case Study #5: Run with a Purpose 214

Generations of kids become marathoners because of Students Run L.A.

21 Motivation Case Study #6: Join the Ole' Boys (and Girls) Club 217

Old folks roam with the New England 65-Plus Runners Club.

Section 8 Run Repaired 225

22 Quick Fixes for Running's "Big 6" Injuries 227

23 Bionic Body Parts 231

Resurfaced chrome hips are turning formerly debilitated runners back into ultramarathoners.

Metal, Metal, Everywhere 236

Section 9 Run Like a Kenyan 249

24 They've Been to the Mountaintop 250

Kenyans were already great runners. Then an Italian remade them into great marathoners.

25 How to run the Kenyan Way 263

Ten training secrets from the homeland of the world's best endurance runners.

Section 10 Run Trained 275

26 Periodization 276

The tried and true way to ramp up safely for competition.

Lose Weight and Fly 280

The Evil 5th Stage: Overtraining 283

Laszlo's "Second Wind" Race-Day Warm-Up 285

Oral-History Interviews

1 The Babe Ruth of the Marathon Bill Rodgers 48

2 Role Model of the Ages Helen Klein 81

3 The Leader of the Pack Frank Shorter 108

4 The Third Man to run the 4-Minute Mile Laszlo Tabori 132

5 The Philosophical Father of the Running Boom Dr. Kenneth Cooper 158

6 The Relentless Pioneer Sally Edwards 183

7 The Fastest Old Ponytailed Dude of All Time John Cahill 220

8 The First Woman to Run the Boston Marathon Bobbi Gibb 237

9 The Historian Tom Osler 267

10 Mr. Versatility Rod Dixon 286

Acknowledgments 295