The Extra Mile: One Woman's Personal Journey to Ultrarunning Greatness
  THE STORY OF THE WOMAN WHO SHOCKED THE RUNNING WORLD IN 2002 when she won the sport's most grueling race—135 miles from Death Valley to Mount Whitney—beating her closest competitor by 5 hours!
One year after her astonishing victory at the Badwater Ultramarathon, Pam Reed again made distance-running history when she braved the hottest weather in years—125 degrees—to successfully defend her title.
How does this 100-pound mother and stepmother of five muster the endurance for the 28-hour climb from the hottest dessert floor on Earth to the shadow of the continental United States' highest point?
In The Extra Mile, we watch this ultramarathon champion seek balance in her life as a wife, mother, athlete, and entrepreneur. With astonishing candor, Reed tells of her 15-year battle with anorexia. And she helps us to understand her passion for ultrarunning—to discover how far the human body can be pushed.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Charlie Engle | Prologue: Boston or Bust
One: Where I Started
Why Write? Why Run? | Where I Come From | I Was Olga Korbut | My Brain, Part One: A Unique Disorder | High School | From Michigan to Tucson to Michigan to Tucson to Where?
Two: Where I Am
Jim: Seeing Eye-to-Eye and Butting Heads | I Don't Want to Be Sick | My Brain, Part Two: Of Mice and Me | Parenthood | The Tucson Marathon | Chuck Giles | Some Like it Hot: Badwater I | My Crew | Badwater Too | The Man from Ipanema | Running the World, a Day or Two at a Time | Runners I Admire | I Don't Like to Run Long Distances | My Brain, Part Three: I'm in Control | You Aren't What You Eat | Badwater 3: Really Bad | You're Only a Virgin Once | Forrest Gump of Picacho Peak: My 300-Miler | Badwater 4: Jogger-a-Go-Go | Leadville and Grand Teton | One Day in San Diego
Three: Where I'm Going
Goals | Desperate Housewife? | Friends and Family | Where Women Can Win
Conclusion: Accomplishments | Epilogue: A Week and a Half of Ridiculous | Ram Reed's Career Highlights and Records | Acknowledgments
From the book...
"Are you a junkie for endorphins? Is that what the problem is?"
—Talk-show host Tony Danza to Pam Reed after her 300-mile run
Ultrarunning is one of the few racing sports in which women can outperform men in the overall classification. In this first-ever account from a female ultramarathoner, Pam Reed tells her inspiring story with straightforward candor.
She revelas how she overcame a 15-year bout with anorexia. How she juggles marriage, directorship of a major U.S. city marathon, and the breakneck schedule of raising kids by turning her life's greatest source of solace and serenity—running—into her consuming passion and her mark of excellence.
How she is able to cast aside her own self-doubts and the severe discomfort of ultra events as she races to victory. Reed explores issues of control, love, and pain, and the ability to survive emotional and physical challenges. And she offers hard-won wisdom about discovering one's greatest potential.
Women and men, runners and armchair athletes—all will find Reed's story of endurance and athletic prowess to be a provocative and inspirational read.
|
