Training Update; Reviews of Fitness Confidential and the Suunto Core Military Edition Watch

Not much to report on the "training" front. I'm running about 55 miles a week, much of it with my dog, Nick. I'm very motivated to run every day and I'm motivated to go hard now and then. But I don't seem to be motivated to do any races. That said, for a while I actually considered lining up for the Boulder 100-Mile next weekend, but family scheduling stuff won't allow it. I honestly don't know why I want to do the Boulder 100. I think running is just "what I do"; I'm hardwired to run and I love going the distance. Plus, while there's nothing better than an epic course like the Leadville 100, I'm also attracted to loop courses like what you'll find at the Boulder 100--fourteen laps of a 7.14-mile course that is pancake flat. I like that. I doubt I'll be lining up this year--maybe next year?

It's hard to say what the rest of the year may bring, except that I'm entering the Western States 100 lottery and hoping I get into the big dance. If I don't get into Western States, which I fully expect will be the case due to the sheer odds of being selected in the lottery, then I'll be back at Leadville next August. Leadville is just what I do. Speaking of Leadville, there's an awesome interview with Bill Finkbeiner, who's finished the race a record 30 years in a row (!), in the latest issue of Ultrarunning Magazine. Check it out!

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I recently got a new Suunto Core Military Edition watch, compliments of The Watch Company. I've always known Suunto makes great watches and this one delivers. In addition to all the standard features you'd find in watches for active people, the Core has an altimeter, barometer, digital thermometer, Weather Trend Indicator and digital compass. About the only thing it doesn't have is a GPS. Anyway, I love this watch and I'm still learning about all of its features. I know it's going to be great next summer when I'm back up in the mountains training, and I think it'll also be really useful this winter for snowy trail runs and ski outings. Highly recommended!

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Every so often, you come across a book that really speaks to you. That's the case with Vinnie Tortorich's new book, Fitness Confidential: Adventures in the Weight Loss Game. Tortorich, who was born and raised in Louisiana and went on to earn his physical education degree and play football at Tulane University, has been a Los Angeles-based personal trainer for decades, working with corporate executives, actors and other "notables." Now, he's come out with a book in which he tells the truth about losing weight and getting into great shape. Along the way, he reveals his own interesting story.

We all know people who have struggled with their weight for years. Like you, I've seen photos of former high school and college classmates who were healthy weight back in the day but are now obese. Hell, that almost happened to me! It's kind of sad, and Vinnie compellingly makes the case that it's because the Standard American Diet (SAD, as I like to call it) now revolves around grains and sugar. You can hardly find anything without sugar or grains in it. The USDA's "food pyramid," he says, is bullshit, which is really sad to me because it dictates things like school lunches. Making matters worse, we just sit on our asses too much--kids and adults alike. As a nation, we're fat, soft and unhealthy!

In his book, Vinnie reveals the surprising simplicity of losing weight and getting into shape. Avoid sugar and grains--yes, eat that steak!--and do a few simple exercises, like jump roping and some basic weight training. He also exposes the seedy underbelly of the American "fitness" industry and practices employed by the big gym companies. They're not in the business of getting you healthy, he says. They're in the business of making money off of your desperation. That said, he does concede that gyms can be beneficial to those who know how to use them properly.

Vinnie isn't just about promoting himself; he praises Joe Friel, Hal Higdon and other experts who actually know what they're doing and he refers the reader to these guys. He clearly doesn't have much love for snake oil salesmen like that clown on TV with the pony tail. Why? Because Vinnie tells the truth; you have to work hard in the gym. It's not going to come easy. That may not be a highly marketable message, but it's the truth!

Vinnie also goes into detail about his battle with leukemia and his multiple attempts to finish the grueling Furnace Creek 508, an epic bicycle race in Death Valley, California. Vinnie isn't just a personal trainer; he's also an accomplished ultra cyclist.

Despite the fact that there's much I don't have in common with Vinnie, he and I think very similarly when it comes to diet and fitness. Contrary to what the "experts" would have us think, getting lean and in good shape isn't rocket science. Eat the right foods and exercise several times a week and you'll get in shape. Avoid quick fixes because they don't work, and understand that you may have to make sacrifices to be healthy--a message you never hear from the snake oil salesmen. Keep it simple.

You can learn more about Vinnie at his website, and also be sure to check out his podcasts. Also, you don't have to read the actual book; it's available on iTunes (how I "read" it). Best of all, the audio book, which is just over seven hours in length, contains a lot of extras, including some stories Vinnie doesn't tell in the hardcopy book. Fitness Confidential is a great book and I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Fit2Fat2Fit, by Drew Manning

Drew Manning was a militant personal trainer who pushed his clients hard. Like many of us who have worked hard to achieve better health and fitness, the Salt Lake City fitness guru failed to really understand the plight of overweight, out of shape people, chalking up their lot in life to bad choices and lack of discipline.

I suspect Manning’s world view of obesity and poor fitness is quite common among our ilk—those of us who run every day because we enjoy it. Nothing will stop us from getting in the miles—not rain, not sleet, not snow, not even injury and illness. The same could probably be said of cyclists, triathletes, weight lifters, CrossFitters, etc. And yet, paradoxically, many of us, including me, have weight loss stories. Over time, the fat burned away and we developed lean bodies, big lungs, hard muscles...and militant attitudes. As we lace up our shoes for another 20-miler, we wonder why it’s so hard for others to also get it together when our lives prove that it can be done. Yeah, they must be lazy. Too much Judge Judy, too little blood, sweat and tears.

Some of us develop almost hostile feelings about obesity. We self-righteously dismiss people who are obese as lazy, weak and undisciplined. We stare at them, silently judging their appearance, behavior and decisions. While our commitment to health is almost militaristic, the obese, because of what we perceive as personal weakness, make bad choices—from living on the sofa to visiting the drive-thru daily. In a world of rising obesity (two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese), the disdain only intensifies, giving way to righteous indignation.

As told in Fit2Fat2Fit: The Unexpected Lessons from Gaining and Losing 75 Lbs. on Purpose, Drew Manning lived in that world daily. Sure, he had his fair share of client success stories—those who overcame their weight problem in discovering better health through lifestyle changes—but too often Manning’s clients didn’t make it. Takes James as an example.

For a few months Manning had been working with James, a family member who was struggling with his weight. James showed progress in the beginning, but soon he began skipping workouts, falling prey to old habits and putting weight back on. Manning was perplexed, unable to understand why James had fallen off the wagon when he had seen encouraging progress. Manning stewed over the situation, pushing James hard. Then came James’ decision to go it alone, effectively firing Manning.

Manning’s experience with James proved pivotal, caused him to question his entire approach with clients. Maybe he’d been doing something wrong all these years. Maybe clients didn’t need a drill sergeant; maybe they needed something more—someone who could truly connect with them in their journey to better health, someone who had been there themselves.

Manning was, he writes, on top of a mountain, and James was at the base, stifled by the fear of having to get to the summit by himself. Manning had failed to understand why James couldn’t get to the top. But then Manning realized it wasn’t the summit, per se, that hindered James; it was the journey through endlessly challenging terrain that overwhelmed him. James didn’t have the support he needed to navigate the pitfalls on the way to the top. “If the start of my trail was at the top of the mountain, enjoying the view,” he writes, “how could I understand what it was like for people to find their way from the bottom?”

That realization ultimately drove Manning to do something few of us could ever conceive. To the shock of his family and friends, he decided to stop working out, stop eating healthy, and put on 75 pounds over the next six months. Green smoothies would be replaced with big bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. He'd shop the junk food aisles, avoiding the produce section. Time spent at the gym would now be spent in front of the TV. He would document his journey via a blog that would soon attract legions of followers.

Not surprisingly, the weight came on fast, and soon Manning began experiencing what it was like to live with obesity—shortness of breath, judgmental stares from others, exhaustion, addiction to certain foods, chafing and even problems tying his own shoes. He had trouble keeping up with his daughter. Even his marriage was affected, despite his wife Lynn’s support of the experiment (his wife authors a chapter in the book).

But Manning’s journey to obesity is only half of the story. In his book, he also documents his return to fitness, which didn’t come as easily as he expected it would. A full 75 pounds heavier, he had developed addictions to certain foods, like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Mountain Dew. Overcoming these addictions and getting back in shape were a far greater struggle than he anticipated. Early on, he decided to correct his diet, and then eventually he got back in the gym, having to compensate for his weight as he worked out. This part of the story reveals the true plight of the obese in confronting the many daunting obstacles to achieving better health—and it’s what ultimately helped Manning become a better personal trainer and motivator for his clients.

At only 135 pages, not including sections with recipes, meal plans, exercises and workouts, Fit2Fat2Fit is an easy, fast read. In many ways, it’s a touch and go account of Manning’s extraordinary journey. He probes some significant issues related to obesity, like food addiction and troubling grocery store marketing practices, but I would have liked a far deeper dive into his experiences with getting fat and getting fit again, and into the environmental factors related to obesity (like food marketing).

Fit2Fat2Fit: The Unexpected Lessons from Gaining and Losing 75 Lbs. on Purpose, by Drew Manning with Brad Pierce, is recommended.

Book Review: Eat & Run, by Scott Jurek

Scott Jurek was, in his own words, “a shy kid with high blood pressure.” In school, he was spit on, called Pee-Wee and a target of bullies. Few could have ever imagined this scrawny boy would one day become a world-class endurance athlete and running legend.

 
Over the course of his nearly 20-year career, Jurek has won some of the world’s biggest and toughest ultramarathons, starting with seven consecutive victories at the Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile trail race in northern California he dominated from 1999-2005. He’s broken the tape in the mountainous Hardrock 100, twice won the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon, and found victory three consecutive years at the 152-mile Spartathlon. In 2010, the versatile Jurek, who many had incorrectly dismissed as washed up, set a new American record for 24 hours, covering 165.7 miles in the IAU-IAAF World Championships in France. He ran in his mother's memory.

And he did all of that and more while adhering to a vegan diet—a diet devoid of animal byproducts.

Now, the 38-year-old Jurek has come forward with his inspiring life story, Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness, written with Steve Friedman and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In this honest, deeply personal 231-page, 22-chapter autobiography, Jurek traces his evolution as a vegan, his spiritual growth and his unparalleled dominance as an ultrarunner.

Having met Jurek twice, he comes across as a guy with everything going for him. He has the looks, resume and persona, though one might also be struck by his humility—a virtue he likely developed as a child and through the travails of running super long distances in extreme conditions such as Death Valley in the dead of summer. Beneath it all, though, Jurek is a man who has suffered—and endured. Indeed, Runner’s World (in an unfortunate feature in 2010) once called him “The King of Pain.”

Born in 1973, Jurek grew up in a modest home near Proctor, Minnesota, eating “government cheese” (his own way of saying food bought with food stamps), while the “cake eaters” across town lived the high life. His mother, a caring woman and accomplished cook who dedicated herself to made-from-scratch meals, suffered from multiple sclerosis, while his disciplinarian father, who worked two jobs, pushed Scott and his younger brother and sister hard. They had little time for play. Indeed, Jurek recounts that one time he couldn’t play with a visiting friend because he still had a few more hours of wood-stacking. His father’s motto, “sometimes you just do things,” has, for better or worse, remained with Jurek his entire life—and is often repeated throughout Eat & Run.

Jurek grew up on a “meat and potatoes” diet, learning at a young age how to cook pot roast, tuna noodle casserole, fried fish (which he caught and cleaned himself), pies and the like. He tells stories of helping his mother in the kitchen and painful memories of her gradual decline because of MS, the first signs being her propensity to drop things in the kitchen.

A skinny adolescent who studied hard (he was high school valedictorian), Jurek avoided contact sports and instead gravitated to endurance activities such as cross-country skiing. Through his experience as one of Minnesota's top-ranked high school cross-country skiers, he took his first taste of a plant-based diet, discovering healthy dishes like brown rice and vegetarian chili, but remained a meat eater. In these formative years, he met a hell-raising, rebellious kid named Dusty Olson, who would become his lifelong friend and a key part of his success in ultrarunning. The two eventually turned to ultrarunning, perfectly complementing each other like yin and yang. Olson called his friend "Jurker," a nickname that has stuck over the years.

Olson, a very talented athlete, exposed the inexperienced Jurek to trail running. Even as he went to college full-time in Duluth and worked jobs to pay tuition, Jurek found time to run the trails in Minnesota, often fueling his recovery with greasy chicken sandwiches from McDonald’s since it was a cheap source of protein. He kept running and soon set his sights on the 50-mile Minnesota Voyager, which Olson had won in 1993.

Jurek won the 1996 and 1997 Minnesota Voyager and, fueled by ambition and competitive drive, later moved to Seattle with his new wife, Leah, a vegetarian he met in McDonald’s of all places, to work as a physical therapist and take his running to the next level (he did, however, return to Minnesota and win the Voyager many more times). Driven by a desire to win on the biggest stages, he logged hundreds of miles on the local peaks, transforming himself into a bona fide mountain runner. Now a plant-based eater, he thrived in the progressive Seattle and realized great benefits from conscientious eating and living.

After placing second at the challenging 1998 Angeles Crest 100-Mile Run, where he encountered a team of Tarahumara Indians, Jurek, ringing up debt to finance his goals, set his sights on his next challenge: the Western States 100. Of course, Jurek, with Olson by his side, won Western States in his first attempt, despite those who discounted him as a flatlander. Indeed, when he crossed the finish line, he yelled, “Minnesota!”

Jurek recounts many other races, as well, such as the 2007 Hardrock, which he won despite a sprained ankle. In that race, the in-your-face Olson had the audacity to taunt record-holder Karl Meltzer, the imposing, unflappable “King of Hardrock” and “Wasatch Speedgoat." Jurek eloquently writes of the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon, where he befriended a low-key guy named Micah True, a.k.a. Caballo Blanco, and was a central actor in what would become a best-selling book by Christopher McDougall. He shares stirring details of Spartathlon.

To his credit, Jurek also tells of the bad, such as when he paced Brian Morrison at the infamous 2006 Western States. Just 300 yards from glory, an exhausted, overheated Morrison, who was firmly in the lead but foundering, collapsed on the track and was later disqualified for being assisted by Jurek across the finish line (warning: that video is painful to watch).

Like many of the great ones at one point in their career, Jurek found himself lost (think Michael Jordan in a White Sox uniform). In 2008, his marriage to Leah crumbled. According to Jurek, she no longer found him fun or interesting and had developed feelings for other men. Having just gotten out of debt, Jurek now faced a nasty, expensive and embarrassing divorce. In the ultrarunning world, there are few secrets….

But things only got worse. In 2009, one of his closest friends, Dave Terry, an accomplished and beloved ultrarunner, took his own life, leaving many, including Jurek, devastated. Then his longtime friendship with Olson, who had paced and crewed Jurek in nearly every race, began foundering. Olson, in his own right an accomplished runner, was “tired of being Jurker’s bitch.” The two stopped talking.
 
In the face of crisis, a cynical, albeit heartbroken, Jurek retreated to the trail, hanging out with his pals, Ian Torrence, Hal Koerner, Anton Krupicka and Kyle Skaggs, and even considering “going off the grid” and working at an organic farm. In one touching moment, Jurek, still reeling from his failed marriage, writes of telling Krupicka that love wasn’t forever, to which the younger runner responded that love was everything (just makes me like Krupicka even more). At about this time, rumors that Jurek was washing dishes made the rounds. Critics said he had lost his edge.

Jurek also tells of a life-changing, redemptive experience in the Grand Canyon with his friend, Joe Grant. The two ran through the day and night, enduring harsh conditions and running out of food—and yet they reached their destination through sheer determination. There was, indeed, a light at the end of the tunnel. It was an experience that very much paralleled the state of Jurek’s life at the time—an experience that gave him hope.

Jurek soon rediscovered love when he met Jenny Uehisa, an employee at Patagonia. The two kindred spirits quickly bonded, and she was there with him when his mother passed away in 2010 after her long battle with MS.

The book’s final chapter recounts Jurek’s American 24-hour record attempt in France and what he endured as he ran countless loops and ultimately came to grips with his demons. Here we learn of his reconciliation with Olson, his visit with US troops in Afghanistan, and his feelings for his mom and dad. “This is what you came for,” he tells himself. His American 24-hour record still stands.

One miss I have to mention is the editing. Eat & Run, though a well-written and deeply personal self-portrait, could have used a more critical editing eye.

Eat & Run gets into the nitty-gritty of what it means to be an ultra racer, the sacrifices we must make to train, how to live and thrive on a plant-based diet, and how we ultrarunners do what we do. But it also explores what it means to be a human and to deal with pain and loss. In that respect, it’s a book for all audiences.

A few additional notes: I applaud Jurek for interspersing his favorite vegan recipes, providing reference notes in the end, and including a detailed index—something you wouldn’t expect in an athlete autobiography. Props also to Jurek for providing excellent photographs for the reader's enjoyment.

Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness, due out on June 5, is highly recommended.

Film Review: Unbreakable: The Western States 100

"Unbreakable: The Western States 100" tells the story of the 2010 "Super Bowl of Ultrarunning," following four elite ultrarunners in their quest for the coveted cougar trophy. Produced and distributed by Journeyfilm and directed by JB Benna, whose previous work includes "The Runner" and "Ultramarathon Man," "Unbreakable" was released in December, with private showings nationwide, and has captured great interest in the ultrarunning community (trailer below).



Having watched "Unbreakable" three times, I believe this is a very good film--just as good, if not better, than "Running on the Sun." In fact, "Unbreakable" seems to get better with each viewing. The main characters are Kilian Jornet of Spain, Hal Koerner of Ashland, Oregon, Anton Krupicka of Boulder, Colorado, and Geoff Roes of Juneau, Alaska and Nederland, Colorado, as well as the founder of the Western States Endurance Run, Gordy Ainsleigh.

Going into the 2010 race, Jornet, Koerner, Krupicka and Roes were the four men many predicted would duke it out for the win. And did they ever. We now know that Roes prevailed in dramatic, record-setting fashion, passing a still-strong Krupicka late in the race, while a dehydrated Jornet faded to third (only to win the 2011 race) and an injured Koerner dropped. Hardly could better drama have played out for Benna and his production team on that hot June day in the mountains and canyons of Northern California.

But "Unbreakable" is far more than a blow-by-blow of that epic 2010 Western States race. At various points throughout the film, we see the heroes living their daily lives. We see the ever-popular Koerner, a small-business owner working hard to grow his specialty running shop while training with his ultrarunner girlfriend, Carly, herself an accomplished athlete. Krupicka, when not running those spectacular, well-traveled Boulder peaks shirtless, is a graduate student who loves spending time with his girlfriend, Jocelyn. The somewhat camera-shy Roes, in the midst of a historically great stretch of wins at the time, works at a natural grocery store as a cook, loves hanging out with his girlfiend, Corle, and her daughter, and running with a small group of Juneau-area ultrarunners who call themselves "the geezers." We see the young Spanish-speaking Kilian, whose scenes are subtitled, doing the unimaginable on difficult mountain trails and telling of how his parents shaped who he is today--the best long-distance mountain runner in the world. Benna goes to great lengths to welcome us into these athletes' lives, providing critical context around the 2010 Western States race. Along the way, we are treated to unique contributions from the likes of Scott Jurek (seven-time winner of Western States), Tim Twietmeyer, Dave Horton, Ainsleigh and others. A shirtless Ainsleigh, standing on the course itself, tells us how the event evolved, emotionally recounting his struggles to finish a 1974 100-mile horse race on foot--marking the start of the Western States Endurance Run.

Benna deserves credit not only for the skill with which he tells and shows the runners' interesting stories, but also for the care he took in bringing the viewer right into the action. The dramatic cinematography, the on-trail footage, the on-the-fly interviews with crew and spectators along the course, and especially the music add rich flavor and greatly enhance the drama unfolding before your very eyes. The scene when Roes, having just taken the lead from the seemingly unbeatable Krupicka, explodes out of the woods and enters the Highway 49 aid station full of energy and determination, shocking onlookers, is perhaps the high point of the film's drama. What we see--what we experience, feel and hear--in this one moment in time is Benna at his very best.
 
I have but a few complaints about "Unbreakable." Most notable are the misuse of apostrophes in some of the subtitles in the Jornet scenes. For example, there are a few occasions when "its" should be "it's." (Follow-up note to reader: According to Benna, "Most of the Kilian footage already had subtitles burned in by the French production team, so not much we could do there.") I also think the text in the beginning looks a bit amateurish when compared to the professional-looking film itself. These are small issues--and they are quite inconsequential when compared to the great quality of this interesting, compelling, fascinating and endearing film. (I hereby offer my proofreading, editing and writing services to JB for future projects.)

To JB Benna and the Journeyfilm crew, I say, "Bravo!"

"Unbreakable: The Western States 100" is highly recommended for both ultrarunners and the general public and is on sale for $24.99 plus shipping at http://www.ws100film.com/.

Book Review: I'm Here to Win, by Chris McCormack

When I was asked by a promotional firm to review Chris McCormack's new book, I'm Here to Win: A World Champion's Advice for Peak Performance, I was immediately stoked. The reasons are threefold. First, though ultrarunning and racing 100-milers is my first love, I've always been interested in dipping my toes in the Ironman triathlon waters (and seeing what's harder--Ironmans or 100-milers). Second, I really admire "Macca," as he's affectionately known. Like all the great ones, his success is as much about hard work, sacrifice and mental toughness as it is about talent, and so I put a lot of stock in what the 37-year-old world champ says (I took up yoga on his advice via Runner's World). Third, Macca is probably the greatest triathlete of all time with apologies to the legendary Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Bonus: I LOVE to review books by endurance athletes!

Although I knew a little about Macca before reading his book, my knowledge of triathlon and his incredible resume was fairly limited. Probably like you, every year I watch the Kona, Hawaii World Championship race, which is aired by NBC on tape-delay and is significantly shortened (and rife with trite stories). Thanks to Macca's book, I now have a better understanding of the sport, tactics and strategies for success, and what it takes to complete a race like Kona, which is on my "bucket list."

Macca was born in Sydney, Australia in 1973 (he's two months older than I am). After a short stint in accounting after graduating from the University of New South Wales, he came to realize that triathlon was his passion and life's pursuit. Every day behind a desk was a day he was dying. So Macca quit his job, sold off all of his possessions and entered the European circuit with nothing but hopes and dreams. As a kid, he dreamed of future greatness in the sport with his best friend, Sean Maroney, who tragically died in an accident just as Macca's career was really taking off. Macca experienced another huge tragedy in his life with the death of his mother, perhaps his greatest supporter, to breast cancer (he's now a philanthropic champion of breast cancer research). Through it all, he's benefited from a strong support network consisting of his wife, Emma-Jane, and their daughters, his dad, his trainer, Mick, and others. These people are truly part of Team Macca and play an intimate role in his planning, training and racing.

In I'm Here to Win, Macca pulls no punches. This will come as no surprise to those who've followed him for years. Over the course of his very honest, fun and reader-friendly 261-page autobiography, which he co-authored with Tim Vandehey, Macca tells his life story, shares his secrets and in more than a few areas recounts "war" stories. A huge part of his book is devoted to the Ford Ironman World Championship held in Kona, Hawaii. It took Macca several years before he finally nailed Kona, breaking the tape in 2007 and again in 2010. Prior to 2007, Macca had failed six times at Kona despite winning just about every major triathlon in the world. His problem at hot, humid Kona had always been cramping.

Macca is quite cocky, extremely outspoken, passionate about his loves, an avid learner...and incredibly likable. What I most like about his book is his honesty. He's not mealy-mouthed or "awe-shucks" in telling his story; he allows you to get to know him for better or worse, what makes him tick and why he's so damned successful for a guy who's now not far from the big 4-0.

What is the key to Macca's success? Well, sure, he's incredibly talented and fit, but he's also a big guy, weighing in at around 178 pounds. I was astonished by his size. A guy that size would probably never be an elite ultrarunner (I'm 167 and pretty big compared to others). Macca's most dangerous weapon is his mind. He's truly a student of the sport (kind of like Peyton Manning in football), painstakingly studying his competitors and exploiting their strengths and weaknesses like his hero, Muhammad Ali, did back in the day.

Macca's also quite aware of his own strengths and weaknesses. It took a bodybuilder's advice for Macca to finally overcome his cramping problem at Kona, discovering a way to better-hydrate his muscles before a race (more on that below). The guy is a bit arrogant, yes, but, when you get down to it, Macca is humble enough to search out new insights, turn over as many rocks as he can and continually re-evaluate his results. Like all the great ones, he is driven to be the best and knows he can always improve.

The book is divided into 14 chapters, with a captivating foreword by six-time Ironman world champion Mark Allen. Each chapter is sub-divided into short sections, making I'm Here to Win a very easy read for those of us with only a few minutes to spare here and there.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book was the chapter about Macca's war with Normann Stadler and Faris Al-Sultan, both from Germany, following the 2006 Kona race. Macca had narrowly finished second behind Stadler in the race, with Al-Sultan coming in  third. Macca's comments in the post-race press conference, where he said, "I never realized that Norman Stadler was that good," set off a firestorm. Calling out Macca's "tactical bullshit," Al-Sultan dismissed the Australian as "a pussy." Nasty confrontations ensued. Ultimately, this all led to Macca devoting 2007 to embarrassing Al-Sultan and Stadler (he's now friends with Stadler) by showing up at every race they were in and winning. And that's just what Macca did in 2007, capping off the year with an impressive win at Kona--his first at Hawaii.

Incidentally, Macca says in his book that he's usually at his best when he's pissed off. So the Al-Sultan and Stadler melee only served to fuel the fire in his belly.

I also loved the chapter on Macca's 2010 Kona race, which he descibes as his "masterpiece" and which might have been his last hurrah at the Hawaii world championship (according to the book, Macca will not return to Kona in 2011). In the race, Macca battled it out with Andrea Raelert of Germany, with the two exchanging a famous handshake in the final few miles (watch the linked video--it's incredible when they share a sponge and shake hands). To that point, never had the winner broken away so close to the finish line--not even in the legendary "Iron War" in 1989 between Dave Scott and Mark Allen. But within a mile of the finish the ailing Raelert had to take Coke and water and it was here that Macca dropped the hammer and broke the tape for his second--and maybe the greatest-ever--Kona victory.

A few interesting nuggets I gleaned from Macca's book and am delighted to share with you:

• Despite what exercise physiologists say, Coca-Cola is an excellent souce of fuel during races, delivering a nice dose of sugar and caffeine. Macca "discovered" Coke on the advice of a fellow triathlete, and just about any endurance athlete will tell you the stuff works wonders. It's saved my ass on more than a few occasions when my stomach went south and I needed calories.
• The key to optimal raceday performance, especially in the heat, is hydrating the muscles in the weeks leading up to competition. As Macca learned from a successful French bodybuilder who he says did it the right way (read: no steroids), there are two types of hydration: muscular-skeletal hydration and blood plasma hydration. Most of us hydrate only at the blood plasma level. Before contests, bodybuilders consume huge amounts of water along with electrolytes, hydrating their muscles (and blood, too). This ultimately helps stave off cramps. As Macca learned, hydrating only a few days before Kona isn't enough and can lead to cramping and diminished performance in the heat. What he needed to do was heavily hydrate with water and electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium) in order to reach the muscles--a time-consuming process that takes a few weeks. Macca heeded the advice and the rest, as they say, is history.
• Adjust your training as you age. Recognizing his own age and the fact that he's competing with guys ten or more years his junior, Macca trains smartly, incorporating rest and recovery so he can stay fresh and keep the needle below the red. This comes from confidence in his own abilities and lots of discipline but especially from his psychological advantage over those who are younger and perhaps more talented.
• Learn to play the mental game. Like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, Macca is a master of psychological warfare. He has a knack for getting inside the heads of his opponents and creating doubts and insecurities deep within them that he can exploit in races to his own benefit. Macca is the first to tell you that he's beaten a good number of guys who were more talented but lacked the psychological advantage or were, in his words, "mental milkshakes." For example, before a race, Macca might say something like, "Well, Frank Smith is certainly one of the sport's top cyclists and a super strong swimmer, but in his last race he struggled a bit on the bike, especially late in the ride, and so we'll see what he does tomorrow." With that comment, Macca's served up a compliment along with some psychological warfare by creating doubt in his competitor's mind. It seems to work for him! Psychological warfare happens in ultrarunning, too. I read enough blogs by the elites to know it's a key part of success.

This is an outstanding book for professional, amateur and aspiring triathletes, age-groupers and endurance athletes in any sport--from ultrarunning and marathoning to cycling and swimming. Get your copy now!

I'm Here to Win: A World Champion's Advice for Peak Peformance, by Chris McCormack with Tim Vandehey, published by Center Street, is recommended.

Book Review: Running on Empty, by Marshall Ulrich

Marshall Ulrich makes even a hardcore ultrarunner look like a cotton tee-shirt-wearing hobby jogger out for a stroll through the 'burb. Look at what this ultrarunning and adventure racing legend, who also happens to be a highly accomplished mountaineer, has done and it makes finishing a 100-miler look like a few laps around your kid's soccer field.

• Quadruple Death Valley crossing, totaling 586 miles through 120-degree heat from a low point of 282 feet below sea level to the top of 14,500-foot Mount Whitney, to raise money for poor women and children
• (My personal favorite) Crossing Death Valley unassisted and self-contained while pulling a 200-pound cart full of water, ice, food and other life-saving necessities--again, for charity
• Conquering the Seven Summits (which include Everest) on his first attempt
• Winning the Badwater Ultramarathon four times

In case that's not enough, how about finishing the Leadville Trail 100-Mile Run and Pikes Peak Marathon in the same weekend? Yeah, he finished "The Race Across the Sky" and then drove 3 hours down to Manitou Springs, Colorado for a little run up and back down a 14,115-foot mountain. Just another day at the office for the dog-food magnet from Idaho Springs, Colorado.

This is the Marshall Ulrich I came to admire and respect as an ultrarunner and sometimes think about when the chips are down in a race. This photo is of Marshall pulling a 200-pound cart across Death Valley in 120 degree heat during a solo, unassisted crossing.

Born in Kersey, Colorado on the Fourth of July, Marshall has lived quite a life and shares his story in his long-awaited autobiography, Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner's Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America. On the surface, Running on Empty is about Marshall's greatest challenge yet--an attempt to break the speed record for running across the US (still held by Frank Giannino). But it's about so much more. Over 320 pages, Marshall humbly bares his soul and shares the good, the bad and the ugly of his dramatic 3,063-mile, 52-day run across America in the fall of 2008 at the tender age of 57. The book includes an entertaining, funny and downright awesome foreward by Christopher McDougall.

From page one, Running on Empty is a stirring, thought-provoking and deeply moving autobiography that is uniquely different than the Everybody's All-American MO of Dean Karnazes. Marshall tells of his profound sadness over the loss of his first wife and high school sweetheart, Jean, to invasive breast cancer. Their love was sweet and innocent. "I was completely taken with her, and by the time we were seventeen, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Jean," Marshall recalls. Such emotional honesty isn't what you'd expect to hear from a guy as tough as Marshall. I can't imagine what Marshall endured or the pain he felt not only as a widower, but as a dad, when Jean died at 30, leaving behind Marshall and their daughter.

The pain stemming from the loss of Jean was devastating. Marshall discovered running as a way to cope with his grief, reduce stress (and his high blood pressure) and keep a distance from loved ones, even his own children, out of fear of losing them, too. And he did lose many in his life--a dear friend he'd quickly bonded with, his dad, his father-in-law with whom he was particularly close, and a hero in the great Ted Corbitt.

Marshall never got beyond the pain of Jean's death (is that really possible when you lose a spouse?), and seems to have channeled his grief into achieving super-human feats as part of a bucket list of sorts, while keeping his family at arm's length. In the midst of his many daring adventures, he endured two divorces and had children before meeting his soulmate, Heather. Heather was faithfully with him on his trans-American run and, through the highs and lows, a source of support, comfort and affection. But the book's title is a dead giveaway as to what was going on deep inside Marshall for so many years. In many respects, Running on Empty is a book not only about an ultrarunner, but also a grieving spouse, distant dad, family in crisis and blossoming new marriage.

But the book has lots of great ultrarunning reflections, for sure. Recalling his famous 586-mile Badwater Quad, Marshall writes, "Well, sure, I was in a state of overuse, but that's where ultrarunners live, in that place where you feel as if nothing's left, no more energy, no more reason, no more sanity, no more will to go farther. Then you push forward anyway, step after step, even though every cell in your body tells you to stop. And you discover that you can go on." I loved his stories about Ted Corbitt and Yiannis Kouros, which really show a deep respect for the sport of ultrarunning and its great ones. Marshall is among those giants, too. And I loved the story of his Everest summit with a Russian team full of fun, colorful characters.

As I read his book, I kept wondering if this was a cautionary tale--not cautionary in terms of running in and of itself, but rather in terms of allowing a pursuit that requires extraordinary discipline, time, effort and energy to create distance between you and what really matters. Is Marshall telling us that ultrarunning can be an addictive endeavor that can fracture families? Were all those super-human feats, such as his Badwater Quad, the Everest ascent (which he did while still having young children in his care), and so many other epic runs, worth it? I'd like to think they were worth it, because Marshall's always inspired me. But let's allow Marshall to answer the question himself:

"The real sacrifices? Family relationships often suffer in the ultrarunning community; clearly, mine are no exception. The time away from home, solitariness, the stubborn self-reliance all took their toll. Marriages are ruined, children alienated."

He continues later in the book:

"I do, still, have intense feelings of inadequacy as a father. The times when I fell short, when I wasn't up to the task of parenting, all remain vivid in my mind."

It's that kind of brutal honesty that makes Marshall's book intimate, genuine, believable and truly helpful for other ultrarunners who constantly battle competing priorities.

The majority of the book is, of course, devoted to his epic trans-American run, which he completed faster than any other master's or grandmaster's runner...ever. The run started as a collaborative effort with Charlie Engle, co-star in the well-known "Running the Sahara" documentary put on by Matt Damon. Charlie has many connections to Hollywood that ultimately attracted a film crew to the trans-con run to put together a documentary called "Running America." But it's fair to say that Marshall would have done the run with or without cameras, though clearly he wanted the exposure or else he wouldn't have reached out to Charlie. It is worth noting that Marshall's run raised money for the fight again childhood obesity through the United Way.

Charlie had moments in "Sahara" where he really came across as somewhat of a me-first guy. In Marshall's book about the trans-con run, this impression is only reinforced. The two men, who started the run in San Francisco as friends, eventually suffered a terrible falling out after Charlie was forced to drop due to a leg injury. Marshall paints a picture of Charlie as an antagonist, jockeying to undermine and even destroy Marshall's charge to New York, even dragging Heather into the spat. It's only fair that Charlie should be entitled to his own defense, but this might be a difficult proposition since he's now behind bars in a Beckley, West Virginia federal prison, serving time for mortgage fraud. Despite life in the slammer, Charlie does keep a rather interesting blog that shows a likable guy (more on that below).

Getting beyond the book to the soap-opera story of Marshall and Charlie's deteriorating relationship, it's rather troubling that, while the former writes of awful confrontations with his antagonist (the latter), in "Running America" everything between the two looks peachy. I guess Marshall's willing to show the seedy underbelly of the run, while the documentary film producers want nothing more than apple pie and ice cream on a Sunday afternoon in Mayberry. Incidentally, on his blog Charlie promotes "Running America" but offers no endorsement of Marshall's book. I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to Marshall, but my guess is there's more than meets the eye, and I think eventually Charlie will tell his side of the story. Credibility certainly favors Marshall.

Ultimately, Marshall tells a wonderful story of his trans-American run, the people he met, the towns he passed through along the way and how it brought him closer to his wife, Heather. Through injury, drama and plenty of conflict, he did what he's always done: put one foot in front of the other and tough it out, never giving up no matter the pain.

Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner's Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America, published by the Penguin Group, is recommended.

Related: Read my recent review of Dean Karnazes' new book, Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss.

Book Review: Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss, by Dean Karnazes

There have been greater ultrarunners, but never has an endurance athlete come even remotely close to achieving the fame and fortune of Dean Karnazes.

His meteoric rise all started in 2005 with the release of a little memoir that Dean, in an awe-shucks kind of way, says he never envisioned as a New York Times Best Seller. But Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner sold big, catapulting the San Francisco working stiff, who until then lived in relative obscurity (except in the ultrarunning world) but had amassed an impressive record in races such as the Western States 100 and Badwater Ultramarathon, to worldwide fame. A fun read sprinkled with a fair amount of likable though somewhat nauseating immodesty (in the opening pages, he describes himself as "ripped like a prizefighter"), Ultramarathon Man told the personal story of the author's colorful entrance into super-distance running and amassed a legion of Dean followers, shining a bright light on a freakishly blood and guts sport that was quite happy to live in the darkness, thank you very much.

Just like that, Dean Karnazes became somewhat of a household name, and he followed up his first book with 50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!, which told the story of his infamous 50-marathons-in-50-days-in-50-states-challenge. Along the way, Dean, who is sponsored by The North Face and is a "yes-I-can" poster boy for fitness, garnered listing as one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People," attempted the 48-hour treadmill record, quit his day job to run full-time and motivate people, adopted children's health as his #1 cause and otherwise took his fame to unheard-of levels. This and more made many in the ultrarunning world feel uncomfortable, irritated and betrayed.

With his growing fame, Dean became a polarizing figure in a sport that had, nearly overnight, gone from underground to raging sensation. Many of the top races, such as the Western States 100, now sell out and are forced to offer lotteries as a result of so-called Dean-inspired yahoos flooding registrations. Many blame this boom on Dean, and it's no secret--or surprise--that Dean has as many haters as admirers. He was once wishfully viewed by many as a fad, but it's clear that Dean, like his idol, the late, great Jack Lalanne, is here to stay.

Well, Dean is back with a third book, Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss, published by Rodale Books (Rodale also publishes Runner's World magazine) that will once again land him on the best-sellers list, on "Letterman" and "Leno" and God-only-knows what else. Only this time Dean, who has clearly been hurt by the criticism of his own community, comes across as slightly more guarded than the guy with nothing to lose back in 2005. You see, Dean's hugely famous now. He views himself as a celebrity. As told in his book, people slam on their brakes when driving past Dean to meet the "Ultramarathon Man" himself. It's only folks like convenience store clerks who haven't a clue who he is, really. Again, this is all from the book!

Huge celebrities, like politicians, often get caught in a trap, which often leads to their own demise (think John Edwards). The trap is a perpetual concern about one's image and one's critics. This self-absorption, which I'm quite confident Dean would vehemently deny, is a close cousin of narcissism. And it often involves endless self-defenses. Indeed, Dean goes to great lengths to indirectly respond to his critics, shamelessly bolstering his defense with favorable testimony from his own family, which actually made me quite uncomfortable as the reader. I wanted to hear from Dean himself, not his family. He even goes so far as to publish soppy letters from adoring fans, really tugging at the heart-strings and setting a trap that, yes, I fell for (more on that below).

Like his first book, Run is a fun, thrilling, easy read full of profound reflections and stories of sophomoric antics, such as when Dean made an ass of himself (he admits this) in front of a US senator when jockeying for one last baby-back rib at a wedding reception. But this is Dean, for better or worse. And what hungry ultrarunner who'd just run 75 miles wouldn't throw elbows and shed blood for a juicy baby-back rib?

In Run, Dean goes into great detail in describing his relationship with his dad and his skinny-legged close friend, Topher Gaylord (a former North Face executive who now heads Mountain Hardwear). Stories of Dean and his dad, who crewed for him many times at Badwater, are heart-warming. Whereas stories of Dean and Topher are comical in a fraternity-house-full-of-beer-kegs-and-thirsty-party-boys sort of way. Dean tortured Topher like a little brother (the "vanduzzi" and toilet paper stories are Exhibits A and B), but over time the chicken-legged Topher evolved into a runner with the killer instrict. He finished Western States and eventually established himself as an accomplished endurance athlete and business executive who earned the respect and admiration of the "Ultramarathon Man" himself. I did very much enjoy the chapter authored by Topher--but, then again, I often enjoy just about any emotional, gripping retelling of a Western States finish.

Amid more than a few stories that go as deep as a shallow puddle (e.g., the rib and vanduzzi stories), Dean offers up some thoughtful reflections on the nature of ultrarunning, a sport that delivers both profound suffering and life-changing enlightenment...unless it kills you first. It is through the suffering, Dean says, that life is lived to its fullest. Amen to that!

On a personal note, I was quite intrigued by Dean's recounting of his multiple attempts at finishing the Leadville 100, which he calls "Dreadville." Only on the third attempt did Dean finish the "Race Across the Sky," having endured altitude sickness and other maladies that forced DNFs in previous years. Dean uses the Leadville stories to demonstrate that, yes, even he has failed...just as Michael Jordan, he says, sometimes came up short. Interesting admission and comparison.

Among the more enjoyable chapters are the sections devoted to Dean's 4 Deserts attempt, which culminated in an overall win. The multi-day 4 Deserts race series involves long, grueling efforts through the desolate Atacama desert, Gobi desert, Sahara desert and Antarctica. The stories are entertaining and captivating and, in my eyes, the most intriguing part of the book with the possible exception of Dean's reflections on his notorious 48-hour treadmill run in Manhattan--which was promoted by "Live with Regis & Kelly."

I have often been critical of Dean. And while there is much about Dean that rubs me the wrong way, there is much I also like and admire about him. Who among us wouldn't give our left arm for his North Face sponsorship, full-time running gig and millions he's earned as a best-selling author? (I wouldn't want his travel schedule, though.) When reading over some selected fan letters Dean published in Run, it dawned on me that disliking a man who has inspired thousands of people to be active and healthy really isn't a productive endeavor. How can one really dislike a man who has received a letter like this one from a Marine Corp Marathon aspirant:

"For the first time in my life I think I can accomplish a marathon, something I never dreamed possible. I've been a lawyer, founder of a successful law firm, recipient of many awards and honors, and benefactor of ungodly prosperity, but nothing is more important to me than finishing this marathon. You have had a profound influence on me, and I just wanted you to know."

Or how about this message from a troubled young fan who sat silently outside a Manhattan studio window while Dean--only a few feet away--ran for 48 hours on a treadmill:

"You are my hero. I am going home now. I am going to run again. Thank you."

These notes capture what's really going on in Dean's third book and what's really been going on since the release of his first memoir--appealing to so many people out there who are lost and searching for fulfillment, or maybe just inspiration and adventure. They find a cheerful, confident guide in Dean Karnazes. In this way, Dean has morphed into something of a motivational figure with legions of followers who credit the "Ultramarathon Man" himself for saving their life. Hey, it's in the letters.

Today, Dean is running across America to raise awareness of obesity--the #1 killer of Americans today regardless of what the experts say about cardiovascular disease, cancer and stroke. Good for Dean.

How can you hate a guy who's done all of that? I can't.

Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss , published by Rodale Books, is recommended.