With the 2021 Olympic Track and Field Trials just wrapping up, there's no better time to start to think about lacing up and seeking out a runner's high. All over the world, women of all ages and abilities are returning to running after a long break or taking up running for the very first time. Generally, female runners have distinct running styles, gear, and health considerations whether competing or casually jogging for pleasure. Sports bras, typically narrow feet, periods, pregnancy, children, personal safety, and aging are just a few of the things women runners take into consideration. Whether you are racing, jogging, or speed walking, running will give your heart and lungs a workout that matches your personal pace and goals. We hope these books by and about aging women, overweight women, working women, and world-class elite women who have come to love running will inspire you to hit the road with a friend this summer.
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Overcoming the challenges of running with an overweight body and giving individuals' self-esteem an enormous boost in the process. This isn't a guide to running for weight loss, or a simple running plan. It shows readers how a woman carrying a few (or many) extra pounds can successfully become a runner in the body she has right now. Jill Angie is a certified running coach and personal trainer who wants to live in a world where everyone is free to feel fit and fabulous at any size. She started the Not Your Average Runner movement in 2013 to show that runners come in all shapes, sizes and speeds, and, since then, has assembled a global community of revolutionaries that are taking the running world by storm. |
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Older, faster, stronger : what women runners can teach us all about living younger, longer
by Margaret Webb "One Part personal quest to discover running greatness after age 50, one part investigation into what the women's running boom can teach athletes about becoming fitter, stronger, and faster as we age, Older, Faster, Stronger is an engrossing narrative sure to inspire women of all ages. A former overweight smoker turned marathoner, Margaret Webb runs with elite older women, follows a high-performance training plan devised by experts, and examines research that shows ho endurance training can stall aging. She then tests herself against the world's best older runners at the World Masters Games in Torino, Italy. Millions of women have taken up running in recent decades--the first generation of women to train in great numbers. |
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Right on track : run, race, believe
by Sanya Richards-Ross Track and field champion Sanya Richards-Ross knows what it takes to achieve the impossible. With multiple Olympic gold medals and World Championship accolades, Sanya has long been a role model for young runners around the world. In her first-ever book for young adults, Sanya shares her advice and wisdom when it comes to chasing your dreams. Filled with hands-on success strategies and personal anecdotes, Right on Track: Run, Race, Believe will help readers face wins and losses with grace, strength, and faith. With chapters discussing setting goals, staying focused on the finish line, and being true to yourself, this book is perfect for teens and graduates. Empowering and inspiring, Right on Track encourages teens to dream big and take the ups and downs oflife in stride |
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Let your mind run : a memoir of thinking my way to victory
by Deena Kastor The record-holding Olympic medalist runner presents a vividly inspirational memoir on the beneficial role of positive psychology and brain science of athletic achievements, describing how she only became an elite runner after she set aside the views about her raw talent to conquer the mental aspects of her goals. |
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Bravey : chasing dreams, befriending pain, and other big ideas
by Alexi Pappas The award-winning writer, filmmaker and Olympic athlete describes her childhood embrace of female role models in the aftermath of her mother’s suicide, detailing the hard work, unrelenting resolve and private depression that challenged her own ambitions. Illustrations. |
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Can't nothing bring me down : chasing myself in the race against time
by Ida Keeling The 101-year-old runner describes the obstacles she has faced in her life, from growing up the child of immigrants during the Depression to the murder of her sons, which inspired her to start running at sixty-seven |
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A kind of grace : the autobiography of the world's greatest female athlete
by Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee The three-time Olympic gold-medalist chronicles her own determined journey to the heights of the sports world, describing her poverty-stricken youth, family tragedy, battle with life-threatening asthma, marriage, and new careers as a professional basketball player and motivational speaker. |
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Running like a girl : notes on learning to run
by Alexandra Heminsley "In her twenties, Alexandra Heminsley spent more time drinking white wine than she did in pursuit of athletic excellence. When she decided to take up running in her thirties, she had high hopes for a blissful runner's high and immediate physical transformation. After eating three slices of toast with honey and spending ninety minutes on iTunes creating the perfect playlist, she hit the streets--and failed miserably. The stories of her first runs turn the common notion that we are all "born to run" on itshead--and exposes the truth about starting to run: it can be brutal. Running Like a Girl tells the story of getting beyond the brutal part, how Alexandra makes running a part of her life, and reaps the rewards: not just the obvious things, like weight loss, health, and glowing skin, but self-confidence and immeasurable daily pleasure, along with a new closeness to her father--a marathon runner--and her brother, with whom she ultimately runs her first marathon" |
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Running home : a memoir
by Katie Arnold An outdoors writer chronicles her own journey as an ultrarunner after the paralyzing death of her father motivated her to begin a three-year quest running through hundreds of miles over torturous terrain. |
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Olympic pride, American prejudice : the untold story of 18 African Americans who defied Jim Crow and Adolf Hitler to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by Deborah Riley Draper Describes the inspiring story of 18 African American men and women who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics despite the racism at home and abroad in this companion to the documentary. |
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What makes Olga run? : the mystery of the 90-something track star and what she can teach us about living longer, happier lives
by Bruce Grierson This profile of the award-winning, record-holding 93-year-old track star aims to reveal some of the mysteries of the aging process by discussing her diet, sleep habits, personality traits and family history. 50,000 first printing. |
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Marathon woman : running the race to revolutionize women's sports
by Kathrine Switzer Shares the personal story of the author's triumphant efforts to break the gender barrier in the Boston Marathon by becoming the race's first woman participant in 1967, an effort for which she endured formidable resistance and became a force for social change, in an account that also traces the childhood events that spurred her athletic ambitions. |
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These funny, frank stories and tips for beginners and runners alike ... Will convince you that lacing up is one of the best things a mother can do for herself and her family in her daily race. |
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Passing the baton : black women track stars and American identity
by Cat M. Ariail "After World War II, the United States used international sport to promote democratic values and its image of an ideal citizen. But African American women excelling in track and field upset such notions. Cat M. Ariail examines how athletes such as Alice Coachman, Mae Faggs, and Wilma Rudolph forced American sport cultures-both white and Black-to reckon with the athleticism of African American women. Marginalized still further in a low-profile sport, young Black women nonetheless bypassed barriers to represent their country. |
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Mile markers : the 26.2 most important reasons why women run
by Kristin Armstrong Each of the book's chapters focuses on a virtue that the act of running helps nurture for the author and her sisterhood of fellow women runners. 30,000 first printing. |
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Tigerbelle : the Wyomia Tyus story
by Wyomia Tyus In 1968, Wyomia Tyus became the first person ever to win gold medals in the 100-meter sprint in two consecutive Olympic Games, a feat that would not be repeated for twenty years or exceeded for almost fifty. Tigerbelle chronicles Tyus's journey from her childhood as the daughter of a tenant dairy farmer through her Olympic triumphs to her post-competition struggles to make a way for herself and other female athletes. The Hidden Figures of sport, Tigerbelle helps to fill the gap currently occupying Black women's place in American history, providing insight not only on what it takes to be a champion but also on what it means to stake out an identity in an hostile world. Tyus's exciting and uplifting story offers inspiration to readers from all walks of life. |
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First ladies of running : 22 inspiring profiles of the rebels, rule breakers, and visionaries who changed the sport forever
by Amby Burfoot A Runner's World editor since 1978, who has been following the women's running movement for 50 years, profiles the women who—believing in their individual rights, personal goals and gender equality—have shaped the face of running for a new generation. Original. |