Someone asked me a while back what books I had read recently that I particularly liked. I read a few in 2011. Some were sport-related and the others were just for fun. Here are the three from the sport category that stood out for me and which I’d highly recommend.
Iron War by Matt Fitzgerald. This is the best endurance-sport book I’ve read since Born to Run and Duel in the Sun. Fitzgerald takes you through the details of what happened on October 14, 1989 in Kailua-Kona. I was there as a spectator that day and was unaware of all that was going on (I looked for myself in the book’s pictures—but not there). Now I’ve found out some of the details of that day some 22 years later. He also offers insight into two of the best endurance athletes of the 20th century—Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Research for the book was incredible.
Tapering and Peaking for Optimal Performance by Inigo Mujika. Although this book has been out since 2009 I didn’t get around to it until 2011. Mujika has done considerable research on tapering and peaking and is considered one of the leading authorities on the topic. I use several of his concepts in the way I peak athletes for competition.
The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. It’s no secret that I’m an advocate of eating a modified Paleo diet, which is based on the biological concept of evolution. “Modified,” in this case, means adjusted for the unique challenges of high-workload endurance training (see The Paleo Diet for Athletes). Wolf takes a complex concept and makes it not only easily understood, but also funny. I chuckled my way through it rather quickly.
