Fast Track

by Suzy Favor Hamilton, José Antonio

As she prepares for the 2004 Summer Olympics, our best hope for middle-distance gold tells young women runners where they go wrong--and shares the training and nutrition secrets that put her own career on the fast track

Suzy Favor Hamilton is the premier female middle-distance runner in the United States, whose many honors include 6 U.S. National Championships, 9 NCAA Titles, and 4 Big Ten Athlete of the Year Awards (now called the Suzy Favor award). In this book, she teams up with Jose Antonio, Ph.D., one of the pre-eminent exercise and sports nutrition scientists in the country, to show young female runners how to improve at their favorite sport.

Currently there are 4.6 million women in the United States who run 100 days or more each year. In Fast Track they will discover:

- How much, how hard, and when to train (and rest)

- The pros and cons of strength training, cross-training, stretching, and other non-running exercises

- How to avoid the top ten mistakes runners usually make

- Why Suzy's diet program is very different than is generally recommended-and how this program has led to dramatic improvements in her running and in her life off the track

Suzy's real-world experience competing at the highest level in athletics combined with Dr. Antonio's in-depth knowledge of exercise and nutrition science will make this book a 'must read' for all female runners-both competitive and recreational-who want to go faster, play harder, and minimize the risk of injury.

Genres: Nonfiction

294 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2004

Reviews

[Cate Barrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in high school when I was preparing to run competitively in college. All I remember was Suzy talking about how before she got "serious" about her running she drank koolaid and ate pizza. After she got serious, she was on that protein shake grind. I think this was the first book that taught me that runners are super weird and disordered around eating (myself included, especially when I was in college).

I'm reading Fast Girl right now, her memoir, so I should probably come back to Fast Track and see how it holds up.

[Katie Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best running related books I’ve ever read.

[Karen]

Doc's classic!

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast Track with a nice change to my normal reading habits. The book was gifted to me by a coach and I was excited to read it. The book goes into the life of Suzy Hamilton, a famous short/middle distance runner, including what it was like for her to train and the pressures she went through when everyone expected so much for her. A large portion of the book speaks about nutrition as she stresses the sad reality of eating disorders among woman in the world of running. The book is written in a very down to earth manner and I felt as if she were speaking to me directly, something you don't always find with these sorts of books. I would recommend this book to any girl who wants to get into running but doesn't know much about it, but also experienced runners who want to add to their success. I learned so much information that I am planning on rereading portions of it in order to fully absorb it and I refer often to it. Great book, read it, and you'll be happy you did!

[Kathy Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book if you want to get technical. It offers some quality training advice, but where the book shines is in its nutrition content. A warning, though... unless you're a nerd about nutrition for runners/athletes, this is going to be a bit boring. I love learning about the intricate details of what your body needs during certain training cycles, so it worked for me. I'll probably read it again just to make sure I digest all of it.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little bit basic but did have some things re:charting and some training plans I really liked so it's more of a "grazer" than a thorough read but still helpful.

[Rebecca Stoen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read during my running season and really helped me out mentally with my running.