The Cool Impossible: The Coach from "Born to Run" Shows How to Get the Most from Your Miles - and from Yourself Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00HJCAPTS | Format: EPUB
The Cool Impossible: The Coach from "Born to Run" Shows How to Get the Most from Your Miles - and from Yourself Description
Featured in the best-selling book Born to Run, coach and performance guru Eric Orton has spent a lifetime learning and thinking about running and about the limitless possibilities of the human body and mind. In The Cool Impossible, Orton shares his wealth of knowledge in an inspiring step-by-step guide that will open up a new world of achievement for runners of all levels of ability and experience. The truth is: Athleticism is awareness. That simple phrase is at the core of The Cool Impossible. Athleticism requires awareness of form and technique, awareness of our effort level, and, most important, awareness of what we think (and don' t think). And with that awareness comes the possibility of endless potential and improvement, progress and mastery - and, ultimately, achievement that you never before would have thought possible. With a program focused on proper running form, strength development, and cardiovascular training, Orton will help first-step beginners, prime-time competitors, and enduring veterans reach " the cool impossible" - the belief that any achievement, athletic or otherwise, is within our reach.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 5 hours and 15 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Recorded Books
- Audible.com Release Date: December 26, 2013
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00HJCAPTS
This was the first book I ever pre-ordered through Amazon; I was really excited about it. When it came, I set aside the books I was reading and dug in. With that in mind, I feel like I should write a review, there are a few things I would like to say.
1. Eric Orton wrote the book as a narration of the experience of a week long one on one seminar with him. This is exceptionally irritating. There are phrases like, "We are driving out to my favorite trailhead, you see a bear cub off to your right. That's Grand Teton over there. Drink it in. This natural beauty is recharging your soul." This seems like a terrible format. Maybe it was chosen to fluff up the book due to lack of content. It was fine when he was talking about the mental states of running, but in the last few chapters when he gets into some New Age mantra/visualization talk, it's really annoying. Really annoying. It comes off like football coach jock speak.
2. The exercises in the book for foot strength look very good and I will be implementing them. However, he advocates you get a slant board, something he sells on his website for almost $80. On a break from reading the book, I made one out of wood scraps I had at home and some sandpaper, Took about 10 minutes. Don't buy one of those! Find a picture online and make one. For the wobble board, I'm going to cut a lacrosse ball in half and glue that to a board. For ski poles, I'm using 2 cross country skis my friend threw away. Free. That gear is free. Don't buy more gear.
2a. The layout for the exercises is kind of obtuse and it seems difficult to follow.
3. The training program for running is 5 months long. This is the focus of this book and it's a very regimented, watching your heart rate, keeping a journal kind of thing. Maybe someday, not now.
After reading Born to Run, many of us were left wondering: Just who is Eric Orton, and how do we find out more about his training methods? After all, if he could take an injured 6' 4" 240 lbs. guy like Chris McDougall and train him to run a 50 mile race in the Copper Canyons of Mexico, could he also help me run faster?
From the beginning, Eric challenges us to think big. He tells us that by following his methods we can take our running to a totally new level. This is The Cool Impossible. Eric asks us to imagine ourselves taking on big goals and achieving them. Not just in running, but in life. He encourages readers to go beyond what they thought possible.
Eric's program starts from the ground up by looking at the feet. He focuses heavily on activating muscle that most runners don't usually think of being used when running. His strength training isn't meant to build giant muscles, but to "bring more muscles to the running party". He says that if our muscles are used correctly we shouldn't have tightness, inflexibility or regular aches and pains that many consider part of running. The program features the use of stability disc, a slant board, and a stability ball. These can be found sold as a package at his website.
When it comes to nutrition, Eric tells us to steer clear of processed foods. This includes processed foods like: bread, and pasta. Also, no milk, no cheese, no sugar, no junk, no processed food. Is Eric a closet Paleo eater? Not really. He doesn't like labels because he likes to experiment with different foods to see how they make him feel. Some days he even eats all vegetarian.
Most of the time he includes lean pastured meat like wild game or buffalo with lunch and dinner time meals.
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