Description

Ultramarathon Man is the story of where it all began for Dean Karnazes: the mind-boggling adventures of his nonstop treks through the shoe-melting inferno of Death Valley, the lung-freezing ferocity of the South Pole, and the awe-inspiring beauty of the towering peaks and craggy canyons of the Sierra Nevada.

With an insight and candour rarely seen in sports memoirs, he uncovers how he merges the solitary, manic, self-absorbed life of hard-core ultrarunning with a full-time job, a wife and two children, and how running has made him who he is today: a man with an ironclad body, a teenager’s energy and a champion’s wisdom.

In this updated and revised edition of the sportswriting classic, Karnazes has added an afterword full of lessons learned. He gives personal details on the essential pillars of health – fitness, diet and sleep. What does he eat, what supplements does he take, what kind of mattress does he sleep on? Ageing well takes work and the man who hasn’t stopped for three decades is now sharing the tips and learnings that have helped him keep going, mile after gruelling mile.

Publisher Review

[Karnazes'] spirited memoir...can help mere mortals who want to push past their perceived limits or simply jump-start their sedentary lives. * Chicago Tribune * Heart-stopping stuff * The Economist * Full of euphoric highs...a journey into distance running that is much less about sweat than about the emotional terrain that unfolds at the frontier of endurance. * New York Times * An exhibition of unadulterated courage and mental and physical stamina [for] anyone who likes to read about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. * Boston Globe *