A transformational quest for the secrets of happy, healthy, whole-life running that will change the way you think about growing older.
Colourful, informative and inspiring, The Race Against Time is a story of cold science and heart-warming resilience; of champions and also-rans; of sprinting centenarians and forty-something super-athletes barely touched by age. Its heroes are experts and enthusiasts - scientists, coaches, runners - from many countries, each with a different story to tell.
This is a book for anyone who has ever felt the healing power of running - or simply wondered about the effects of ageing. It is both a very personal account of one man's journey from despair to hope, and an exhilarating guide, explaining how timely adjustments to lifestyle and training can slow the progress of physiological decay, while sheer human spirit can, if you are lucky, keep you running happily and healthily, all the way into extreme old age.
Autorentext
Richard Askwith
Klappentext
Never before have so many people run so many miles, or set themselves such ambitious targets, in pursuit of self-fulfillment: marathons, ultra-marathons, extreme adventures. And never before have people had such high hopes of remaining vigorous and active - young in all but name - long after retiring from the work-place. Yet that last goal, perhaps more precious than any of the others, remains elusive.
It can be done, but only a few succeed. Most runners succumb to injury or illness in middle age; others are defeated by dwindling energy levels, or by the gradual falling-off of their peers. They can only envy the charmed few who continue to enjoy the life-enhancing joys of running well into what used to be considered extreme old age.
Horrified by the thought of breaking off his life-long love-affair with running, Richard Askwith began to think seriously about a question with profound implications for every enthusiastic runner: how can you keep running, happily and well, for the rest of your life - ideally, well into your nineties and beyond?
Askwith's quest for the secrets of running longevity takes him on a long, mystifying journey: to laboratories and running tracks, cities and remote mountain villages, on several continents. He meets scientists and coaches, gurus and cranks, ninety-year-old sprinters and hundred-year-old marathon runners - and with each passing month his quest grows more urgent.