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ISBN:0684855976
Bill McKibben Winter Sports English
Author: Bill McKibben
ISBN13: 978-0684855974
Title: Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously
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ePUB size: 1778 kb
FB2 size: 1287 kb
DJVU size: 1624 kb
Language: English
Category: Winter Sports
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 5, 2000)
Pages: 192

Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously by Bill McKibben



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Dewey Decimal Classification Number: 79. 3/2 21. Personal Name: McKibben, Bill. Publication, Distribution, et. New York On this site it is impossible to download the book, read the book online or get the contents of a book. The administration of the site is not responsible for the content of the site. The data of catalog based on open source database. All rights are reserved by their owners. Download book Long distance : a year of living strenuously, Bill McKibben.

Bill McKibben's Long Distance is an engaging, if uneven, blend of memoir, essay and reporting. It's not about sports or exercise, but the idea of endurance. This book documents one man's training to become a world-class long-distance cross-country skier. As he states, 'I came seeking sweat and found only enlightenment.

McKibben's year would culminate in a series of long-distance, grueling cross-country races as he experienced his body's rhythms and possibilities like never before. His next book, The Age of Missing Information, was published in 1992. This book has been widely used in colleges and high schools, and was reissued in 2006. McKibben's latest book is entitled, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.

Long Distance : A Year of Living Strenuously. Published by Thriftbooks. com User, 17 years ago. As a skiing enthusiast, I found that Bill McKibben's Long Distance revealed the world of physical and mental training that i never fully grasped existed. Even with all his training it was amazing to see that so much rested squarely on genetics, to see that after his many hours of training he could only become so much.

Bill McKibben is the author of more than a dozen books, including The End of Nature, Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age, and Deep Economy.

The literature on cross-country skiing is thin, something that McKibben addresses in Long Distance, and this book was everything I wished to find (while not even considering that it existed).

Publication date 2001. Topics McKibben, Bill, Cross-country ski racing, Skiers. Publisher New York : Plume. Collection inlibrary; printdisabled; ; americana. Digitizing sponsor Internet Archive. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books. Uploaded by Lotu Tii on February 13, 2013.

But the year also brought tragedy to McKibben and his family as his father developed a life-threatening illness. The author of such impassioned and groundbreaking books as The End of Nature and The Age of Missing Information, Bill McKibben is re-nowned as an original thinker.

At 37, the celebrated writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben took a break from the life of the mind to put himself to the ultimate test: devoting a year to train as a competitive cross-country skier. Consulting with personal trainers, coaches, and doctors at the US Olympic Center, he followed the rigorous training regimen of a world-class athlete. Along the way, he learned to cope with his physical limitations and, when his father was diagnosed with.

Become a member and join a community of people who care about skiing!

The author shares his observations on training to become a world-class skier as a man approaching middle age.
Reviews: 7
Negal
I enjoyed reading this book. It was helpful to read about another's voyage into serious endurance Cross Country Skiing and how much genetics as well as SERIOUS (see Serious Training for Endurance Athletes), systematic training do play in one's athleticism. If you buy this book, I suggest that you also buy Serious Training for Endurance Athletes, which was co-authored by Rob Sleamaker, McKibben's trainer in Long Distance. The only drawback of this book, which is why I only gave it five stars, is its diversion into McKibben's father's illness and passing, which I thought diverted from its original premise of, "TESTING THE LIMITS of BODY and SPIRIT in a YEAR of LIVING STRENOUSLY," which is why I purchased this book to read. One point McKibben made that really resonated with me is the vanity of endurance training. I cycle and I really enjoy getting away for those 2-3 hour rides plus the occassional 4-5 hour ride, but at the cost of spending quality time with my wife. It was a point well taken.
I do wish that McKibben's editors had suggested that he write a Tuesday's with Morrie type of book about his relationship with his father, what it meant to him and what life lessons he learned from it. That would be a book which I think would be very worthwhile and important to read. I liked the respect and love McKibben and his family exhibited towards his father's illness and passage, but I felt he didn't do it the justice it deserves, so that story could and should be told in another, more important, book. The three stars, therefore, was for the brevity of his narrative about his father's illness and passage. Otherwise, the training information and cross country skiing narrative and information I gave a rating of about four and a half stars.
Lynnak
A pretty quick read and not a terribly long book, but well written and interesting. I have no experience with cross country skiing, but I have spent some time as an amateur pursuing endurance sports, like the author, and like many other people. Perhaps this similarity is what made it such an easy read.

The book wasn't perfect (in fact, it had around 10 obvious misspellings, which is surprising for a reprint, though these didn't detract from the tale, but were curious nonetheless). But it was a strong read. I love to read autobiographical or biographical works about endurance athletics (running, cycling, apparently skiing, too) and this is a worthy spot in my library.

There was a strong slant toward the sickness and trials of the author's father and this made a somewhat strange dichotomy, but he drew everything together pretty well. Also went into greater depth than most books--but a depth deserved, I can say from personal experience--about just why the heck was he doing it? He was never going to medal, never be in the paper, so why was he spending two hours/day training for a race only with himself?

The author even references one of my favorites: Muscle: Confessions of an unlikely bodybuilder.
Preve
McKibben is one of those rare authors whose ideas touch both the heart and mind. There are really 2 subjects that McKibben writes about here--his experiment to train with the same intensity as an Olympic athlete, and the death of his father. Throughout this incredible book, McKibben questions his life, his motivation for conducting this fitness experiment, and his relationship with his father. There plenty of times when McKibben could have allowed this book to become a preachy, self-indulgent sermon on the emotional pain of watching his father die. Instead, McKibben keeps his story personal and in so doing, the lessons he learns become more meaningful. Just a warning though--this is a big time tear-jerker at places.
Orll
I'm no winter warrior. Three times a week in the gym is my idea of a challenge. But you don't have to care about sports or conditioning to cherish this book.
Simple reason: It's not really about skiing. It's a manual for life, an attempt to work out a philosophy that can be tested and applied.
What makes it work: McKibben is Everyman. Or that's his skill as a writer: He knows what's happening in his head, and, not surprisingly, a lot of what he's thinking is is your head too (mine, anyway).
I plan to give this book to any friend who's having trouble understanding that life is precious and effort matters.
Makaitist
This is a terrific book. The book is very well written, and in fact is so well written that I intentionally slowed down my reading speed so I could savor the writing. From a point of view of an amateur competitive athlete, Bill McKibben's insight, feelings, and emotions are right on the money. Having said that , the book is much more than just a book about physical training, it is also a book about providing care to a love one that is in the process of dying. Those who have been there from both a athletic training/racing perspective, and as a long term care giver, know that they are both draining yet rewarding life events. Well done Mr. McKibben.
Munigrinn
I love this book. It is an engaging read for an armchair athlete like myself but it so much more. I love the story of his dad. I love the lines he drew between endurance race training and life. Bill is a terrific writer and I absolutely loved this book. Buy it!
Vinainl
Many athletic memoirs leave out the self doubt and the grit needed to truly excel. McKibben calls himself a wimp and acknowledges how much of the athletic game is mental. He follows all his coaches directives for training and "bonks" in races. The story of his fathers failing health is poignant especially when he wishes for an end and his father seems to want to carry on and finish. An average joe's view of what it takes to be an endurance athlete.
I've read this book 3 times, once per decade since the late 1990s. Great read, honest life story, contagious enthusiasm for skiing, and antithetical to Loliness of a Long Distance Runner.
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