Doing my first IM this year and have been reading nonstop about watts, pace, VO2, etc. I am looking for something lighter and motivational. What are some recommendations of motivational endurance athlete books you would recommend? Seem to be quite a few to choose from!
Thanks!
I just read (literally finished it yesterday) Matt Fitzgerald’s How Bad Do you Want It? Mastering the Psychology of Mind Over Muscle, it was really good.
Despite the dry title, its basically a collection of stories about endurance athletes, including several notable triathletes. Very well written with compelling story telling - I highly recommend it.
Iron War
Iron Will
.
100 bedtime stories for triathletes by Allan Pitman.
Its a really good and easy ebook to read and I found it to be a motivating book that keeps it real. It was written for the tired triathlete that reads 1 or 2 pages before falling asleep, admittedly I dropped everything and just sat there reading the lot over 2 days!
Do you have an author for the iron will book? When I search for that on Amazon I get some pretty questionable results.
Can’t Swim, Can’t Ride, Can’t Run by Andy Holgate, well written account by an ordinary guy getting to Ironman.
There’s also a couple on Kindle, Year of the Ironman and Operation Ironman, both written by first timers.
If you want to read something more extreme, there’s Tick Tock Ten by Gerry Duffy, an Irishman who completed the Decca, 10 Iron distances in 10 days. Very good this one.
“I’m Here to WIN” by Macca
“Ironwar” by Fitzgerald.
I found Maccas to be interesting too. I am too calm to talk smack but it was a good lesson about why some people talk smack.
For inspiration I also like Chrissie Wellingtons “A life without limits”.
The Brownlees book “swim bike and run” is basically about two brothers looking for who can push hardest without breaking down. But it is also worth it.
Doing my first IM this year and have been reading nonstop about watts, pace, VO2, etc. I am looking for something lighter and motivational. What are some recommendations of motivational endurance athlete books you would recommend? Seem to be quite a few to choose from!
Thanks!
The book started a little slow, but by the end I absolutely loved Chrissie Wellington’s book, Life without Limits. Maybe it was because I could really relate to her journey, I dunno, but I really loved it.
I purchased this book a few years ago & it has been passed around to family & friends. It follows 6 ordinary people who decide to do IM Arizona, from the day they register to the end of the race. They go though financial issues, job stress, injury, etc…
https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Ironman-Finishing-Triathlon/dp/014312207X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483629107&sr=1-1&keywords=you+are+an+ironman
Not specifically triathlon, but I’m looking forward to this one:
Rowdy Gaines had a very trying career, and rose above many times, plus he’s an awesome guy.
I just read (literally finished it yesterday) Matt Fitzgerald’s How Bad Do you Want It? Mastering the Psychology of Mind Over Muscle, it was really good.
Despite the dry title, its basically a collection of stories about endurance athletes, including several notable triathletes. Very well written with compelling story telling - I highly recommend it.
I agree with the recommendation on this book. I am about 2/3 of the way through it, but excellent read. I also, will give a vote for IronWar.
Thanks for all the recommendations! I will check these out.