The Athlete's Bookstore
The Athlete's Bookstore __ _ _______________________________________ _ __
| |_| |__| |__| |_| |
__| | | | | THE ATHLETE'S BOOKSTORE BOOKNOTES | | | | |__
/ /| | | | | November 96 | | | | |\ \
/ / | | | | | | | | | | \ \
/ / | | | | | http://www.stevenscreek.com/books | | | | | \ \
/_/ |__|_|_|__|_______________________________________|__|_|_|__| \_\
HOT OFF THE PRESS
-----------------
TOTAL IMMERSION by Terry Laughlin
Terry Laughlin is the director of the Total Immersion Adult Swim
Camps, the fitness editor of Swim magazine, a swimming columnist for
Inside Triathlon, and a senior editor for Fitness Swimmer. He has
helped more adults to swim faster and with less effort than any other
swimming coach in the country. If you want to swim faster - whether
you're a runner thinking about taking up swimming, a triathlete who
spends a lot of time working out in the pool without much improvement,
or even an elite swimmer who hasn't been exposed to Laughlin's
techniques - this is the book for you.
According to Laughlin, 70 percent of swim performance comes from
streamlining and stroke mechanics and only 30 percent from fitness (and
even more like 90/10 for non-elite swimmers), yet most swimmers (and
especially triathletes) don't spend anywhere near 70 percent of their
time practicing technique. To overcome this, Laughlin spends over 100
pages drilling into you the importance of streamlining and measuring it
via stroke length before he has you do a single drill in the water,
because he wants so much to impress on you that mere time spent in the
water will not make you significantly faster.
A dozen stroke drills, a variety of sample sets, and 18 complete
practice sessions complete the book as Laughlin shows you how to put
all his advice together in practice. This book teaches you his
techniques in a clear manner that's the next best thing to taking one
of the classes. ($12.95, 286 pp)
You can read more about the book at
http://www.stevenscreek.com/books/totalimmersion.html
CYCLISTS' TRAINING BIBLE by Joe Friel
Joe Friel is a cycling coach and respected columnist for Velo News.
This brand-new book contains the very latest in cycling advice for the
serious racing cyclist. In fact, it's so new we haven't even seen it
(it will be in stock in a few days), but the cyclists who frequent
r.b.r. (rec.bicycles.racing) have been raving about it. ($19.95, 266 pp)
CYCLO-CROSS: TECHNIQUE & TRAINING by Simon Burney
Cyclo-cross season is coming and just in time comes this book, long out
of print but just republished by VeloPress. Highly praised on Usenet as
the definitive work on the sport.($19.95, 168 pp)
NEW IN THE BOOKSTORE
--------------------
Here's an book we've recently added to the store that we think many
of you will really like:
HOW TO TRAIN FOR AND RACE YOUR BEST MARATHON by Gordon Bakoulis Bloch
This year, Jeff Galloway published Marathon! which has become a huge
best-seller. Back in 1993, Gordon Bloch wrote a book which is not
nearly as well known, but deserves to be. Bloch doesn't have the
running credentials Galloway does (she ran in the Olympic trials twice
but never made the team), nor the coaching credentials (she coached for
the New York Road Runners Club for six years), but most people will
judge her a better writer (she's the Health Editor of Women's Day
magazine and a contributing editor to Women's Sports and Fitness
magazine, and this is her third book). Her writing style is more
conventional than Galloway (not as much "motivational" writing, and no
plugs for Power Bars), as is her advice (no walking breaks or training
runs above 26 miles). Like her coach, Benji Durden, she does break from
convention in basing her training schedules on time rather than distance.
The one missing part of the program laid out by Bloch is hill training,
probably as a result of her living in New York City (she does briefly
discuss strength training with weights, which she recommends). Despite
what some people will see as an omission, however, this book is
excellent. Before we started carrying it, more than one person came up
to us and said "Don't you have that great Gordon Bloch book?", which
tells you that people who have read this book really liked it.
First-time and experienced marathoners alike will benefit from its
advice. ($12.95, 270 pp)
You can read more about the book at
http://www.stevenscreek.com/books/howtotrain.html
CHRISTMAS IS COMING!
--------------------
Christmas and Chanukah aren't that far off - time flies when you're out
running, cycling, and/or swimming all the time! Now's a good time to
order presents for your loved ones and yourself, and avoid all that
last-minute stress. Here are some of our recommendations:
Hardback books always make a nice gift. We carry several, all of
which are excellent:
o DIPSEA, THE GREATEST RACE: Barry Spitz's loving tribute to the
oldest trail race in North America.
o BOSTON, A CENTURY OF RUNNING: Hal Higdon's very well-written
tribute to the Boston Marathon and to the history of racing
in America.
o RUNNER'S LITERARY COMPANION: Dozens of short stories, poems, and
excerpts from novels about running.
o THE QUOTABLE RUNNER: A collection of hundreds of quotations
about running from sources as diverse as Shakespeare,
Chairman Mao, Oprah Winfrey, and Juma Ikangaa.
o DID I WIN?: Joe Henderson's loving portrait of George Sheehan,
focussing primarily on the last eight years of Sheehan's life
after he knew he was dying from cancer.
o THE NYC MARATHON COOKBOOK: Nancy Clark's collection of recipes
from famous runners (and from herself), mixed with nutrition advice.
[Note that Dipsea and Runner's Literary Companion are also both
available in paperback, so if you want the hardcover book, be sure
to specify that in your order]
Christmas means long winter nights (except for those of you in the
Antipodes!) - a perfect time to sit by the fire and read a novel. Here
are some choices:
o ONCE A RUNNER: John Parker's perennial best-seller.
o THE OTHER KINGDOM: A newly republished novel by Victor
Price about an Irish miler.
o THE LONG ROAD TO BOSTON: For those who relate more to the
marathon than the mile, Bruce Tuckman's fanciful but
quite enjoyable tale about the Boston Marathon.
o THE YELLOW JERSEY: Ralph Hurne's classic novel about a washed-up
cyclist who finds his last Tour de France turning into the chance
of a lifetime.
o TWO WHEELS: A CYCLING MURDER MYSTERY: Greg Moody's brand-new murder
mystery.
o HILLS, HAWGS, & HO CHI MINH: This isn't a novel, but Don Kardong has
had so many interesting experiences, and writes so well, it's as
much "pleasure reading" as any novel. This is our favorite book in
the store.
There are undoubtedly some people you'd like to give a low-cost
gift. We carry two inexpensive humor books which any of your athletic
friends will enjoy:
o STAY FIT & HEALTHY UNTIL YOU'RE DEAD. A lot of people (I'm one
of them) think Dave Barry is the funniest man in America. This
$8.95 book skewers aerobics, running, bodybuilding, nutrition,
dieting, and lots of other fitness topics.
o RUNNING is a book of cartoons by popular cartoonist Herb Kavet.
Any runner will enjoy them, and it's only $9.95.
And of course, the best gift of all: THE ATHLETE'S DIARY software
for Windows, Macintosh, or even DOS. If you're already a user of our
software, you get $10 off on any copies you'd like to give your
friends. Don't keep all the fun to yourself! If you're not already
a user, this is the perfect gift for yourself! Plus you'll join our
"family" and get a 10% discount on all future purchases from The
Athlete's Bookstore (as long as you have the most recent major release
of the software).
RECENT BEST SELLER LIST
-----------------------
1. SERIOUS Training for Serious Athletes
2. Marathon!
2. Total Immersion
3. Training for Endurance
4. Running Injury-Free
5. The Heart Rate Monitor Book
