The Athlete's Bookstore
The Athlete's Bookstore __ _ _______________________________________ _ __
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__| | | | | THE ATHLETE'S BOOKSTORE BOOKNOTES | | | | |__
/ /| | | | | February 97 | | | | |\ \
/ / | | | | | | | | | | \ \
/ / | | | | | http://www.stevenscreek.com/books | | | | | \ \
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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o Pre! by Tom Jordan
o Stretching at Your Computer, by Bob Anderson
o Chasing the Bear, by Jeffrey Recker
o Runner's Yoga Book, by Jean Couch
o Body, Mind, and Sport, by John Douillard
o Mental Training for Peak Performance, by Steven Ungerleider
o A Practical Approach to Strength Training, by Matt Brzycki
PRE!
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Well, if you haven't seen "Prefontaine" yet at your local movie
theater, you may never get a chance; despite a "two thumbs up" rating
it doesn't seem to be lasting long in the theaters. In either case
you'll get a second chance later this year when "Pre! (the movie)"
hits the screen.
If you're like us, and enjoyed the movie, it may well have left you
asking for more. What *really* happened to Pre? The first movie gave
the appearance of a documentary, but like all docudramas, it
stretches the truth here and compresses it there.
There are two excellent sources of information about Steve
Prefontaine, a.k.a. Pre. Tom Jordan's PRE!, written in 1977, is
certainly the most complete, filled with dozens of black-and-white
photos and with the details of Pre's running career. Interestingly
enough, as far as we can tell this is the oldest book on running
continuously in print (for comparison, the ever-popular Galloway's
Book on Running was written in 1984). We have just sold our last copy
of the 1977 edition, but an updated edition is being released by
Rodale Press on February 28. If you order now, we'll ship it the day
it arrives. ($14.95)
A second book of interest is Kenny Moore's classic, BEST EFFORTS
($12.95). Moore was on the 1972 Olympic team along with Pre. Moore
finished fourth in the marathon, in a race won by Frank Shorter.
Three years later, Pre had just dropped Shorter off at Moore's house
just minutes before his death. So Moore, who went on to become a
well-respected writer (for Sports Illustrated and other magazines),
is very appropriate as a source of information on Pre. The first
hundred or so pages of BEST EFFORTS are stories from the 1972
Olympics, with chapters devoted to Pre, Bill Bowerman (Pre's coach),
and Lasse Viren (Pre's main opponent). The rest of the book, which
profiles runners including Bill Rodgers, Mary Decker, Grete Waitz,
Eamonn Coghlan, and Seb Coe, is equally worth reading.
HOT OFF THE PRESS
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STRETCHING AT YOUR COMPUTER by Bob Anderson ($12.95)
In 1980 Bob Anderson wrote (and his wife Jean illustrated) a book
which has become the classic on stretching, curiously enough entitled
STRETCHING. This book is still in print, and still selling well. Now
Anderson has recognized that many of us spend hours of each day
sitting in front of computers, and has written a new book entitled
(curiously enough!) STRETCHING AT YOUR COMPUTER. Every one of us
probably spends time watching Web browsers browse, files download,
talking on the phone, and so on, and Anderson wants to teach us how
to use that time productively for our bodies as well as our minds.
For more information on STRETCHING AT YOUR COMPUTER, you can view the
publisher's Web page:
http://www.shelterpub.com/_fitness/_stretching_at_computer_or_desk/
tcd_book.html
Not hot off the press, but new in our bookstore, is Jean Couch's
excellent RUNNER'S YOGA BOOK ($19.95). Couch sets up "stretching" (as
compared to Yoga) as a bit of a straw man, putting it down as "jerky
and forced," but in reality her suggested poses and advice bear a
great deal of similarity to what you'll find in Anderson's
STRETCHING. The books are by no means the same, however. Couch uses
photographs as opposed to line drawings - both have their advantages.
And while some of the stretches (poses) in the two books are
identical, it's amazing how little overlap there is. If you're
serious about stretching, you wouldn't go wrong to own both (or all
three, actually) books.
CHASING THE BEAR by Jeffrey Recker ($12.95)
Almost every novel about running is about milers, Olympians, or both.
CHASING THE BEAR is the exception, a novel about adult runners of
"normal" ability, doing the kind of things that many of the readers
of this newsletter do - early morning runs, once a week track workout
with the club, long runs on the weekend with their friends, and, of
course, constantly struggling to balance running and work. The main
female character, Jennifer Ledge, is a locally promising runner
contemplating "raising her running to another level." Her goal is not
the Olympics, though, but just qualifying for the Olympic trials. I
personally know two women just like that. The main male character,
her boyfriend, is good enough to finish races near the lead women,
but nowhere near good enough to place; his dreams are of qualifying
for Boston. Again I'm sure we all know runners like that.
CHASING THE BEAR isn't great literature, but it's fun. The book is so
filled with accurate details that it reads like an autobiography (and
may well be - the narrator is named Paul Jeffries). Races like the
Cherry Creek Sneak, the Bolder Boulder, and the Boston Marathon
figure prominently. The main characters race the California Intl.
Marathon (CIM) in 1994 and encounter Runner's World publisher George
Hirsch and Canadian marathoner Peter Maher (an Athlete's Diary user,
by the way!). It so happens we were at the CIM expo in 1994, met
George Hirsch, and sold a copy of "Boston Marathon" to Peter Maher,
so these are definitely accurate details! [True story: in 1994, Peter
Maher looked at The Athlete's Diary, but told us how important it was
to him to write everything down in his log, and how he just couldn't
see using a computer to keep a training log. In 1995, he returned and
bought a copy of the software, and immediately wanted to know how to
use it to track every detail of his running, down to wind strength
and direction! They always come around. ;-) ]
The one thing that doesn't really ring true in the book is the
relationship between Jennifer and her coach - one gets the idea that
the author made this relationship more strained than normal in order
to introduce some tension into the book. There are also quite a few
gaffes in the book which may cause you to wince: runners finishing
CIM are "exasperated" (hopefully they were just exhausted), Arturo
Barrios is a Mexican "Nationalist" (well, it's possible, but
"National" is more likely), figure skaters have "rogue" cheeks (well,
Tonya Harding, perhaps).
Despite these drawbacks, though, if you are looking to spend a
pleasant evening or three, CHASING THE BEAR will fill the bill. Any
book with "26.2" chapters, plus a chapter entitled Warming Up and
another entitled Cooling Down, is sure to bring a smile to any
runner.
NEW IN THE BOOKSTORE
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RUNNER'S YOGA BOOK by Jean Couch ($19.95)
See previous section
BODY, MIND, AND SPORT by John Douillard ($12.95)
John Douillard talks about living in "The Zone" (not to be confused
with "The Zone Diet"), and how to apply concepts of Tao, Zen, and
Veda to shape your breathing techniques, diet, and workout programs.
MENTAL TRAINING FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE by Steven Ungerleider ($12.95)
More "conventional" psychological advice than Douillard. The first
third of the book discusses things like building confidence, clearing
your mind, visualization, etc. The remainder of the book has
individual chapters on specific sports: cycling, downhill skiing,
golf, marathoning, mountain biking, road and track running, swimming
and diving, tennis, volleyball, and weight training, and discusses
specific athletes and the psychological techniques they use. Here are
the subheadings from the cycling chapter, for example: survey your
goals, stay tough, see the victory, study the course, mentally ride
the route, know the other competitors, see the other guy, time your
visualization right, watch yourself win, talk to yourself, be
prepared for variables, stay tuned to hazards, ration your energy,
watch the other guy, patience is key, react quickly, be ready for
pain, how to deal with setbacks, coping with injury, and the role of
the coach. Obviously most of these things apply to other sports as
well. The same is true for the marathoning chapter: get your head
ready, build your plan well in advance, review your past races, set
specific goals, learn the course thoroughly, prepare for the wall,
chill out before the race, pick a positive distraction, build your
confidence, visualize your opponents, see yourself winning,
anticipate the letdown, build a bubble for yourself, be prepared for
exhaustion, go easy on yourself, relax after you visualize, keep a
healthy perspective, make your imagery come true, give yourself some
time off, and the benefits of a good coach.
A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO STRENGTH TRAINING by Matt Brzycki ($17.95)
An excellent book on weight training, including lots of good general
advice, and specific advice on free weights, Nautilus, Universal Gym,
and manual resistance exercises.
BOOK REVIEWS WELCOME!
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During the next month we plan to add customer book reviews to our Web
site. We'll probably set up a Web-based submission form, but in the
meantime, if any of you has any opinions to share on any of the books
we carry, we welcome your email submissions to
bookstore@stevenscreek.com. If you really enjoyed a book, let
everyone know about it; likewise, if you think a book was a waste of
time, feel free to say that too. We sell a lot of different books,
and have no desire to carry titles which aren't worth the money
(we've dropped several books for just that reason).
We will publish your name with your review, because we don't believe
in anonymous criticism, but not your email address. Reviews can be
any length, from two words to two pages; needless to say we reserve
the right to edit them before publication (if we alter them in any
significant way, we'll ask for your approval).
Review away!
BEST SELLER LIST
----------------
1. Marathon!, by Jeff Galloway
2. Ultimate Guide to Marathons, by Dennis Craythorn & Rich Hanna
3. Once a Runner, by John L. Parker
4. Pre! by Tom Jordan
5. Serious Training for Endurance Athletes, by Sleamaker & Browning
6. How to Train for & Race Your Best Marathon, by Gordon Bloch
7. Total Immersion, by Terry Laughlin
