The Running Ground

How much does our speed and our decline depend on our minds, not our bodies? In this thought-provoking and inspiring book, top 25 Master marathoner Nick Thompson invites readers to defy the inevitable decline that comes with age. After setting the American record in the 50km for the 45-49 age group, Thompson is on a mission to explore how pain, endurance and talent exist in the mind of a runner. Inspired to run by his father as a young child, Nick Thompson began setting school records in high school and has never looked back since. Running for your Life is the story of Thompson's ambition to break down the physiology of running and reveals how we can power through psychological barriers and get faster with age. Guaranteed to make you rethink what it means to get older , Running for your Life is an exploration of how and why we age and what putting one foot in front of another can teach us about ourselves.

How much does our speed and our decline depend on our minds, not our bodies? In this thought-provoking and inspiring book, top 25 Master marathoner Nick Thompson invites readers to defy the inevitable decline that comes with age. After setting the American record in the 50km for the 45-49 age group, Thompson is on a mission to explore how pain, endurance and talent exist in the mind of a runner. Inspired to run by his father as a young child, Nick Thompson began setting school records in high school and has never looked back since. Running for your Life is the story of Thompson's ambition to break down the physiology of running and reveals how we can power through psychological barriers and get faster with age. Guaranteed to make you rethink what it means to get older , Running for your Life is an exploration of how and why we age and what putting one foot in front of another can teach us about ourselves.

A profound meditation on what running can teach us about our limits and our lives by a record-setting distance runner who is now the CEO of The Atlantic . "This is not just an engaging memoir about running. It's a meditation on what it takes to marshal and maintain motivation."--ADAM GRANT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again "Endlessly surprising, revelatory, and heart-rending."--ANNA WINTOUR For Nicholas Thompson, running has always been about something more than putting one foot in front of another. He ran his first mile at age five, using it as a way to connect with his father as his family fell apart. As a young man, it was a sport that transformed, and then shook, his sense of self-worth. In his 30s, it was a way of coping with a profound medical scare. By his early 40s, Thompson had many accomplishments. He was the Editor in Chief of a major magazine; a devoted husband and father; and a passionate runner. But he was haunted by the recent death of his brilliant, complicated father and the crack-up that derailed his father's life. Had the intensity and ambition he'd inherited made a personal crisis inevitable for him as well? Then a chance offer gave him the opportunity to train for the Chicago Marathon with elite coaches. Giving himself over to the sport more fully than ever before, he discovered that aging didn't necessarily put you on an unbroken trajectory of decline. For seven years after his father died, Thompson transforms his body to perform at its highest capacity, and the profound discipline and awareness he builds along the way changes every aspect of his life. Throughout the narrative, he weaves in stories of remarkable men and women who have used the sport to transcend some of the hardest moments in life. The Running Ground is a story about fathers, sons, and the most basic and most beautiful of sports.

A profound meditation on what running can teach us about our limits and our lives by a record-setting distance runner who is now the CEO of The Atlantic . "This is not just an engaging memoir about running. It's a meditation on what it takes to marshal and maintain motivation."--ADAM GRANT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again "Endlessly surprising, revelatory, and heart-rending."--ANNA WINTOUR For Nicholas Thompson, running has always been about something more than putting one foot in front of another. He ran his first mile at age five, using it as a way to connect with his father as his family fell apart. As a young man, it was a sport that transformed, and then shook, his sense of self-worth. In his 30s, it was a way of coping with a profound medical scare. By his early 40s, Thompson had many accomplishments. He was the Editor in Chief of a major magazine; a devoted husband and father; and a passionate runner. But he was haunted by the recent death of his brilliant, complicated father and the crack-up that derailed his father's life. Had the intensity and ambition he'd inherited made a personal crisis inevitable for him as well? Then a chance offer gave him the opportunity to train for the Chicago Marathon with elite coaches. Giving himself over to the sport more fully than ever before, he discovered that aging didn't necessarily put you on an unbroken trajectory of decline. For seven years after his father died, Thompson transforms his body to perform at its highest capacity, and the profound discipline and awareness he builds along the way changes every aspect of his life. Throughout the narrative, he weaves in stories of remarkable men and women who have used the sport to transcend some of the hardest moments in life. The Running Ground is a story about fathers, sons, and the most basic and most beautiful of sports.