Books about Breakaway from Amazon.com

John L. Parker, Jr.'s first novel, Once a Runner, is the cult novel for runners Self-published in the late 1970s, and for years sold out of the trunk of the author's car at running events, it went on to sell over 100,000 copies and achieve legendary status among runners

It perfectly captured the intensity, relentlessness, and sheer lunacy of a serious miler's life. Kenny Moore of Sports Illustrated-himself an Olympic runner-called it "by far the best fictional portrayal of the world of a serious runner . . . a marvelous description of the way it really is."

For over twenty-five years, fans of Once a Runner have wanted more. Parker has finally written the sequel, which begins in the early 1970s where the previous book left off. The protagonist of the first book, Quenton Cassidy, has lost his best friend and teammate from college, a helicopter gunship pilot who dies a horrific death after crashing in the jungle. Cassidy is plunged into a depressive spiral in which he is forced to re-examine his studiously carefree life as a young, single attorney.

Cassidy's return to the world of competitive running is dramatic and revelatory both to Cassidy himself and to the reader, as is his desperate, all-out attempt to make one last Olympic team.

John L. Parker, Jr. is the author of the highly acclaimed novel Once a Runner. He has written for Outside, Runner's World, Running Times, and numerous other publications. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, and Bar Harbor, Maine.

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Price: $13.92 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A book about running—written just for kids.

Kids Running tells you all you need to know about this wonderful sport: getting started, training, fun runs, races, proper footwear, good eating habits,  cross-training, safety, running games, after-school clubs, clothing, mileage tracking, and journal writing.  
    With a lively mix of pictures, information, vocabulary, and some entertaining asides, this book will help channel all that youthful energy toward excellent running, and a lifetime of good health.

Recommended for grades 1 through 6. 

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Price: $5.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Running to the limits of human -endurance.

For those who are not content to run merely 26.2 miles, there is ultramarathoning Some of the biggest ultras are 50 or 100 miles long, races in which people run all day, through the night and on into the next day. What makes them tick? What thoughts go through their minds at mile 93? How is the pain different from that of a marathon? How can you train for such a colossal undertaking? All these questions are answered in 35 interviews with ultramarathoners. Ultramarathoning is the logical next step for those who burn with a desire to achieve and explore their limits. Every kind of ultra runner is included here, and this book will be an indispensable volume for anyone dreaming of running long.

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Price: $7.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Fusion cooking broke the rules first––now Gower's breaking fusion's rules with THE BREAKWAY COOK. Despite the explosion of farmers' markets, ethnic grocers, and creative restaurants in America, lots of home cooks remain puzzled by the bewildering array of choices, and don't have the confidence to break away from tradition. Eric helps home cooks everywhere approach unfamiliar ingredients from different global regions and combine them for some amazing results of flavor.

"Breakaway" cooking pays homage to culinary traditions yet uses innovative techniques and ingredients to give home cooks a new approach to their dishes, marrying unintimidating flavors with the old standards. Sample his Miso Orange Pepper Roasted Chicken, or tease your tongue with his take on Fluffy Herby Eggs, and you'll be convinced. It's not fusion––it's fusion that makes sense. And the cardinal rule is to season with authority. Don't be afraid of the spice cabinet anymore, and use presentation to create a simple, appealing meal. Spend less time fussing about the preparation and clean–up, and more time enjoying food and its huge role in our daily lives. To further this quick and mindful approach to cooking, Eric will take us shopping in local and ethnic markets, teach the importance of table setting and presentation, and stress visual aesthetics, especially regarding pottery and ceramics.

Eric helps you reconstruct your approach to the kitchen, highlighting the seasonings and essential ingredients or "Global Flavor Blasts," such as tamarind, pomegranate molasses, miso, yuzu, green tea, Chinese plum sauce, mole, among many others, that will liberate your cooking and provide a lifetime of fantastic eating. Using Gower's recipes as broad outlines, you can be creative as you go, and within his framework you will discover your own genius in the kitchen. We feel better when we eat better, and it's easier to be productive, creative, and relaxed when the food part of life is under control. Enter THE BREAKAWAY COOK.

In addition to the recipes, THE BREAKAWAY COOK includes stunning, full–color photos by Annabelle Breakey throughout the text; a guide to using flavored salts in your dishes; sidebars on wine, tea and sake; and ideas for even shorter–cuts on Gower's easy–to–follow recipes.

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Price: $17.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Make your modern sailboat look (and work) like a salty classic

The Golden Age of Sail is long past, sadly, and much of its lore is nearly extinct Sailboats now almost uniformly use the Bermudan sloop rig-a triangular jib and a triangular mainsail. But that rig evolved mainly to meet esoteric yacht-racing measurement rules. It is not necessarily the most efficient or effective rig. This book lets sailors rediscover the practical advantages-and the aesthetic delights-of such configurations as the sprit sail, the gaff sail, the lug sail, and the gunter rig. It also includes valuable information on marlinspike work like rope-whipping and eye-splicing; and tips on converting your modern sailboat to a traditional rig.

David L. Nichols has been building boats and making sails for approximately fifteen years. When he isn't designing sails or building boats you'll find him in the boats he's designed and built. He feels that the only way to truly understand boats and sails is to use them. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, he has written for boating magazines like WoodenBoat and Boatbuilder, as well as writing and producing boat building videos. His designs may be viewed at www.arrowheadboats.com..
Price: $13.19 [Notify me when price goes down.]

John "The Penguin" Bingham's witty, honest, and inspirational "Chronicles" column in Runner's World has been the clarion call for a phenomenal surge of new runners He has been called "the Pied Piper of the second running boom." He and co-author Jenny Hadfield tirelessly promote the idea that any running is good running, and that just waddling along can save you-body, mind, and soul. Running brings joy and fitness and a better life.

Bingham and Hadfield's Marathoning for Mortals sells 30,000 copies a year. Now, Training for Mortals will join that book in the pantheon of indispensable books for runners. This logbook motivates runners of all levels and records their progress-both as athletes and in developing a more satisfying life through fitness. It is full of training tips and inspirational bits of running wisdom, with ample space and format to record the details of each day's workout(s). Designed with fifty-two weekly spreads, it can be started at any point in any year.

John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield live in Chicago and run a race management company in addition to doing their writing, speaking, and coaching.

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Price: $8.77 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Todd Crandell's drug use and drinking destroyed his life. In his 20s, he had gone from being a promising student to a homeless, starving, and drug-addicted ghost of himself After several brutal and harrowing encounters with rock-bottom, he decided to quit cold-turkey; then he took up triathlons, and found that athletic effort helped him overcome his addictions. He now competes regularly in full Ironman triathlons, works as a professional speaker and drug counselor, and runs a foundation (Racing for Recovery) helping others to use sports and positive endeavor to escape addiction. A mesmerizing, inspirational story of self-destruction and resurrection.

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Price: $8.36 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Most people bring their inner child on an epic adventure. Joe "Metal Cowboy" Kurmaskie actually took his two kids along. For a 4,000-mile bicycle ride across America, Joe's seven-year-old son, Quinn, rides a tagalong bike attached to his dad's; and behind that is five-year-old Enzo in a bike trailer.

Our hero the Metal Cowboy answers the question "What are you, crazy?" with a resounding and cheerful "Yes." Unassisted-with no support crew except his boys' comic relief and the periodic kindness of strangers-he pedals hundreds of pounds of gear and offspring over mountain passes, across the wide plains, through thunderstorms, and into the heart of what it means to be a dad.

Along the way they encounter everything that makes up America-small-town kindness and inner-city heart, wild horses and highway roadkill, a?bitter Vietnam vet and a hopeful young inventor, grizzly bears and bison roaming free, cyclists and monstrous RVs, a very peppy cheerleader and a visitation from the ghost of the author's father, horrible traffic and serene dirt roads, a monastery and a distillery, baseball, and yes, lots of pie.

By the time they reach Washington, DC, two months after leaving Portland, Oregon, they've bonded in a rare way. Kurmaskie
writes, "We share a secret, the three of us; one permanent summer in our hearts now, where we're never apart."

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Price: $11.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book takes the complete novice--armed only with a gleam in the eye, and a basic knowledge of hammer, saw, and screwdriver--and walks him or her through the process of building a boat. The only materials needed are easily available from any lumberyard: plywood, 2x4s, nails, and wood glue. The process is simple, the result is extraordinary--your own boat, ready to sail, in just a week or two, for a fraction of the cost of buying a factory-built (boring!) boat. And the sense of accomplishment is beyond compare.

The main focus of the book is on building the 14-foot sailing/rowing skiff called "Mayfly." Full plans and detailed step-by step instructions are given, with numerous line drawings and photographs. Those instructions can then be applied to the other full plans included: for a dinghy, a motorboat, a rowboat, a canoe, and two other sailboats.

The only other book to compare is Harold Payson's venerable Build the New Instant Boats. But where that book leaves off, this book goes beyond: with chapters on making your own oars, making kick-up rudders, pivoting leeboards, sails, flotation compartments, water ballast, hatches, and tips for cartopping and trailering your boat, and much more. It is an introductory book that will continue to be pored over as the beginner transforms himself or herself into an experienced boatbuilder.

Also included are a catalog of twenty other boat plans for dreaming over, a guide to boatbuilding sites on the web, a guide to materials suppliers, and a bibliography of further reading.

A great book for families, for scout groups, for school shop classes, for anyone who enjoys messing about in boats.

Jim Michalak is a former aerospace engineer who has become, in the last decade, one of the foremost designers of small boats in America. He lives in Lebanon, Illinois.

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Price: $15.27 [Notify me when price goes down.]