On Pace

Every runner knows pacing is critical. It can be the difference between a PR and a DNF. In On Pace, acclaimed running coach and author Matt Fitzgerald reveals how conventional training and device overdependence keep runners from accessing the full power of pacing.

With a mix of fascinating science and compelling stories from every corner of the sport, Fitzgerald shows that pacing is the art of finding your limit–running at a pace to finish the workout or cross the finish line completely out of gas. This quintessential running skill unlocks hidden potential and transforms your experience of the sport, enabling runners of all experience and ability levels to “run free.”

Training plans for 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon events will hone your pacing skill through improved body awareness, judgment, and toughness. Choose from four plans, novice to expert, for each distance. On Pace equips you mentally and physically to become a better runner, capable of knowing and executing your best effort on any given day.

Run Like a Pro, (Even If You’re Slow)

Cutting-edge advice on how to achieve your personal best, for everyone from casual runners to ultramarathoners.

In 80/20 Running, respected running and fitness expert Matt Fitzgerald introduced his revolutionary training program and explained why doing 80 percent of runs at a lower intensity and just 20 percent at a higher intensity is the best way for runners at all levels–as well as cyclists, triathletes, and even weight-loss seekers–to improve their performance.

Now, in this eye-opening follow-up, Fitzgerald teams with Olympic coach Ben Rosario to expand and update the 80/20 program to include ultramarathon training and such popular developments as the use of power meters.

New research has bolstered the case that the 80/20 method is in fact that most effective way to train for distance running and other endurance sports. Run Like a Pro (Even If You’re Slow) shows readers how to take the best practices in elite running and adopt them within the limits of their own ability, lifestyle, and budget.

“Fitzgerald and Rosario make a perfect team, distilling decades of in-the-trenches experience into clear and practical advice that any runner who wants to get better can (and should) apply.”
– Alex Hutchinson, author of Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

The Comeback Quotient

What’s the secret to a great comeback?

Everyone loves a great comeback. In The Comeback Quotient, bestselling sports journalist Matt Fitzgerald examines the science and stories behind some of the most astonishing comebacks in sport. Why are some athletes able to overcome overwhelming odds and rebound stronger than ever—are they superhuman? No, Fitzgerald argues, their power comes from “ultrarealism,” a mental fitness mindset that allows them to fully accept, embrace, and address reality. From triathletes like Mirinda Carfrae to ultrarunners like Rob Krar to rowers, skiers, and cyclists from across the globe, Fitzgerald delves into stories that are not just compelling but constructive, laying out the steps anyone can take to rebound from their own setbacks in sport and in life. Combining gripping tales with compelling research, The Comeback Quotient will change how you perceive the challenges you face, giving you the inspiration and tools to make the next great comeback you witness your own.

Running the Dream

The bestselling author of 80/20 Running and How Bad Do You Want It? reveals his inspiring and surprising journey to see just how fast he can go.

Matt Fitzgerald has been running (and writing about running) for most of his adult life. But, like many passionate amateur runners, he never felt he was quite fulfilling his potential. If he follows the training, nutrition, and lifestyle of an elite runner, just how fast could he go?

In his mid-forties, Matt at last has the freedom to do nothing but train, if only for the span of one summer. The time is now. He convinces the coach of Northern Arizona Elite, one of the country’s premier professional running teams, to let him train with a roster of national champions and Olympic hopefuls in the running mecca of Flagstaff, Arizona, leading up to the Chicago Marathon. The results will completely redefine Matt’s notion of what is possible, not only for himself but for any runner.

Filled with a vibrant cast of characters, rigorous and quad-torching training, and a large dose of self-deprecating humor, Matt’s gripping account of his “fake pro runner” experience allows us to partake in the dream of having a chance to go all the way. Yet for the gifted young runners Matt trains with, it’s not a dream but concrete reality, and their individual stories enrich this inspiring narrative.

Running the Dream pulls us into the rarified world of professional running in a way we can all relate to, regardless of speed, and to take away pieces of one man’s amazing journey to try to achieve our own potential.

Life Is a Marathon:  Memoir of Love and Endurance

Step after step for 26.2 miles, hundreds of thousands of people run marathons. But why–what compels people past pain, lost toenails, 5.30 am start times, The Wall? Sports writer Matt Fitzgerald set out to run eight marathons in eight weeks across the country to answer that question. At each race, he meets an array of runners, from first timers, to dad-daughter teams and spouses, to people who’d been running for decades, and asks them what keeps them running. But there is another deeply personal part to Matt’s journey: his own relationship to the sport–and how it helped him overcome his own struggles and cope with his wife Nataki’s severe bipolar disorder.

80/20 Triathlon

A breakthrough program for triathletes–beginner, intermediate, and advanced–showing how to balance training intensity to maximize performance–from a fitness expert and elite coach.  Cutting-edge research has proven that triathletes and other endurance athletes experience their greatest performance when they do 80 percent of their training at low intensity and the remaining 20 percent at moderate to high intensity.

The Endurance Diet

Matt Fitzgerald has spent nearly twenty years studying the diets of top professional endurance athletes, who are among the fittest and healthiest people in the world. As a result, he has identified five core habits that are essential to maximizing workout benefits. The Endurance Diet shares key strategies for optimal health and performance: eat everything, eat quality, eat carb-centered, eat enough, and eat individually. Whether you want to lose weight, win a race, or look a little more like an elite athlete, this plan is for you.

Diet Cults

The Surprising Fallacy at the Core of Nutrition Fads and a Guide to Healthy Eating for the Rest of Us

In his provocative book, bestselling author Matt Fitzgerald exposes the fallacy upon which nearly every popular diet is based–the mythical notion that there is only one right way to eat–and reveals how to develop rational, healthy eating habits for a lifetime.

How Bad Do You Want It?

Mastering the Psychology of Mind Over Muscle

The greatest athletic performances spring from the mind, not the body. Elite athletes have known this for decades and now science is learning why it’s true. In his fascinating new book. How Bad Do You Want It?, Matt Fitzgerald examines more than a dozen pivotal races to discover the surprising ways elite athletes strengthen their mental toughness.

The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition

A Cutting-Edge Plan to Fuel Your Body Beyond “The Wall”

It takes more than proper training and smart pacing to avoid the dreaded “wall” in a marathon or half marathon. You also need a cutting-edge nutrition plan to guide you from the first day of training through the last mile of the race. Who better to create such a plan than Matt Fitzgerald? This book is indispensable for all runners who participate in longer events.

80/20 Running

Run Stronger and Race Faster by Training Slower

New research proves that runners of all experience and ability levels improve most when they do 80 percent of their training at low intensity. Yet the typical recreational runner does less than half of his or her training in this intensity zone. In 80/20 Running, Matt Fitzgerald makes the case for slowing down to get faster and shows runners how to break out of the moderate-intensity rut.

Iron War

Dave Scott, Mark Allen, & the Greatest Race Ever Run

The gripping, untold story of the incredible 1989 showdown between legendary rivals Dave Scott and Mark Allen at the Ironman World Championship. Iron War is not only a page-turning sports thriller but also a fascinating portrait of two unique and polar-opposite champions.

Racing Weight Cookbook

Lean, Light Recipes for Athletes

Racing Weight Cookbook delivers more than 100 flavorful, easy recipes for athletes that will help you hit your ideal weight without compromising your performance. Whatever your training demands, Racing Weight meals make it simple to dial in the right mix of carbs, fat, and protein and satisfy your appetite. Put high-quality, well-balanced meals on your table in as little as 15 minutes with time-saving tips for food preparation and grocery shopping.

RUN

The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel

Each runner is unique. You can only get so far as a runner by following cookie-cutting training plans. To become the best runner you can be you must master the mind-body connection and learn what works best for you. RUN shows you how to do that through the examples of mind-body running masters such as Joan Benoit and Haile Gebrselassie, as well as fascinating new research on the role of the brain in exercise.

Racing Weight, 2nd Ed.

How to Get Lean for Peak Performance

This best-selling guide to performance weight management for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and other endurance athletes has been fully revised and update to provide more powerful results than ever. Achieve your optimal racing weight with Matt Fitzgerald’s exclusive six-point system.

50/50

Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days—and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance By Dean Karnazes with Matt Fitzgerald

The compelling story of “Ultramarathon Man” Dean Karnazes’ greatest feat. Not just an exciting narrative, 50/50 is full of practical wisdom for runners of all levels.

Racing Weight Quick Start Guide

A 4-Week Weight-Loss Plan for Endurance Athletes

You can’t maximize fat loss and fitness gains at the same time. As an endurance athlete, the best time to maximize fat loss is before the start of serious training for a big race. This book will guide you step by step through this critical “quick start” phase of the overall training process.

The Runner’s Body

How the Latest Exercise Science Can Help You Run Stronger, Longer, and Faster With Ross Tucker, PhD and Jonathan Dugas, PhD

The more you know about how your body works, the better you will run. The Runner’s Body provides an engaging education on how the body functions during running and adapts to running, from head to toe.

Racing Weight

How to Get Lean for Peak Performance

The first and only comprehensive guide to weight management for endurance athletes. Based on solid science and the real-world practices of the greatest endurance athletes, the Racing Weight plan will make you leaner and faster.

The Runner’s Diary

A Daily Running Log

Every runner needs a training log. Featured in The New York Times, The Runner’s Diary is the best training log you can find.

The Runner’s Edge

High-Tech Training for Peak Performance With Stephen McGregor, PhD

Learn how to get the most out of your speed and distance device or heart-rate monitor. If you’re a runner who likes gadgets, you will love this one-of-a-kind book.

Maximum Strength

Get Your Strongest Body in 16 Weeks with the Ultimate Weight-Training Program With Eric Cressey

Stop wasting your time trying to get big. Start trying to get strong! Maximum Strength presents the first weightlifting program designed specifically to maximize muscle strength. (It will make you bigger too!)

The Lean Look

Burn Fat, Tone Muscles and Transform Your Body in Twelve Weeks Using the Secrets of Professional Athletes With Paul Goldberg

Stop trying to lose weight. Start trying to lower your body fat percentage. The Lean Look presents the first diet and exercise program designed specifically to reduce body fat percentage.

Triathlete Magazine’s Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide

Plans, Scheduling Tips, and Workout Goals for Triathletes of All Levels

Thousands of triathletes of all levels call this book their Bible. It contains 42 complete training plans for triathlons of all distances and even the off season. Pick one that’s right for you and race better than you ever thought you could.

Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon

How to Be Your Own Best Coach With Brad Hudson

Successful training is one part planning and one part improvisation—because nothing ever goes as planned. In this book, elite running coach Brad Hudson, with help from Matt Fitzgerald, shows you how to master both sides of the equation.

The Cutting-Edge Runner

How to Use the Latest Science and Technology to Run Longer, Stronger, and Faster

Running is a simple sport, and runners like it that way. But as coaches like Alberto Salazar have shown, smart use of science and technology enables runners to perform better than they ever could if they ignored it. The Cutting-Edge Runner will show you how to get the most out of running-related science and technology without spoiling the simplicity of running.

Brain Training for Runners

A Revolutionary New Training System to Improve Endurance, Speed, Health, and Results

New research in exercise science has proven that the limits of running performance lie in the brain. Featured in The New York Times, Brain Training for Runners explains this amazing science in easy-to-understand terms and shows runners of all levels how to take advantage of the new brain-centered model of running performance to become better runners.

Runner’s World Guide to Cross-Training

Cross-training has become an integral component of the training of elite runners. Are you cross-training? If you are, are you cross-training with the methods that have been proven most effective by elite runners? If your answer to either of these questions is “no,” read this book!

Performance Nutrition for Runners

How to Fuel Your Body for Stronger Workouts, Faster Recovery, and Your Best Race Times Ever

Diet is the weak link for many runners. Is it your weak link? It won’t be after you read the first and most popular nutrition guide written specifically for runners.

Triathlete Magazine’s Complete Triathlon Book

The Training, Diet, Health, Equipment, and Safety Tips You Need to Do Your Best

This is the ultimate introduction to the sport of triathlon. The first book to bear the imprint of the world’s largest and most trusted triathlon magazine leaves no question unanswered for the beginner.