Publisher's Synopsis
"A book crammed full of practical ideas and solutions to fast effective, ultramarathon running. Stuffed with cutting edge medically accurate fine physiological detail, this will inspire your training and help you achieve your very best when you run around in the scorching Saharan sands next April. Written with good humor and a no-nonsense style, Dr Harley really delivers in what is probably the best MdS book on the market today."Do you want to go faster?Are you after an elite place?Do you simply want not to be last?Would you like to avoid injuries on the way around?This book is crammed with tips. Tips for training. Tips for racing. Tips for how much toilet paper to pack. Things you've thought of, things you've not thought of and things you thought that no one in their right mind would consider. If you want to run the Marathon des Sables the very fastest you are able and get the very best possible finish position you can achieve, then this is the book for you.So you want to run a faster MdS? That sounds hard. Just how does one go about that?Faster than whom? Faster than your last go? Faster than everyone else with a podium finish? Faster than anyone in a chicken suit? Ok, I've not actually seen anyone in a chicken-suit but there was a Japanese competitor who came dressed as a cow one year. Complete with giant furry head. When asked if this was in support of a local hospital children's unit or similar charity. He replied: "I just like cows".- some people run a marathon a day for fifty days and more- many do- they are not immortal- they aren't even the best runners on the planet- some are quite ordinary- that's great, take nothing awayThe point is, you can too. Maybe not at PB pace, but you can get around. So good so far. Now we're just arguing about speed. And that is where preparation and training come in. Do you want to do the multi-day thing, but fast? Really fast?Do you want to finish one of the self-proclaimed world's toughest footraces the very quickest you can manage? Do you want to push yourself to the lung-bursting, blood in the mouth, shaky legs, crying-with-the-sheer-emotion-of-it limits that test the very fibers of your soul?Me too. That's what this book is about. About all of this and much more. You will learn about the magic behind biomechanics, the mysteries behind adaptations at an individual cell level which increase your VO2 max and much much more. Your body understanding will improve and thus you will train smarter. Although probably you'll wish you'd not read the all-too-much fine detail about the gastro-colic reflex which can trigger a bowel action mid-race. Read on.
