Eric Orton - The Cool Impossible: The Coach from Born to Run Shows How to Get the Most from Your Miles - And From Yourself

New American Library

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First published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, May 2013

Copyright Train with Eric, LLC, 2013

Foreword copyright Chris McDougall, 2013

All photographs courtesy of the author. The author would like to thank Flo McCall for taking the photographs in chapter 3 and Addie Hare for taking the photographs in chapter 4.

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Ebook ISBN: 9781101594001

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Every effort as been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is complete and accurate. However, neither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. The opinions expressed in this book represent the personal views of the author and not of the publisher.

Outdoor recreational activities are by their very nature potentially hazardous. All participants in such activities must assume the responsibility for their own actions and safety. If you have any health problems or medical conditions, consult with your physician before undertaking any outdoor activities. The information contained in this guidebook cannot replace sound judgment and good decision making, which can help reduce risk exposure, nor does the scope of this book allow for disclosure of all the potential hazards and risks involved in such activities. Learn as much as possible about the outdoor recreational activities in which you participate, prepare for the unexpected, and be cautious. The reward will be a safer and more enjoyable experience.

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To Angel:

Climb on through life, pumpkin!

To Michelle:

Because of you, my passion came to life and anything became possible!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Where to begin but at the beginning: Thanks so much to my parents for their unconditional love and support and never asking, Why? Dad, thanks for teaching me that cant never did anything.

To all of my athletes, this book was really written by you, and without our partnership, it would not have been possible. A big kudos in particular to Terry Hong (my Speedy Dot connector), Margot Watters, Jenn Sparks, Annie Putnam, George Putnam, and Keith Peters for your long-term commitment and trust in my training, and for so greatly influencing my Cool Impossible.

Thanks, coaches Nugent, Havens, and Schlageter for the life lessons you taught on the gridiron all those years ago. Im still using themoften every day. And to all of my coacheswow, thereve been a lot of them over the yearswho taught me the importance of fundamentals, technique, repetition, and perfect practice.

Paul Knutson, I appreciate your showing me the wayrun in peace, my friend. Patrick Kelly, your five a.m. training wake-up calls are how Cool Impossibles are made. Thanks for all of our great training runs, swims, rides, and snowshoes.

Christopher McDougall, your relentless pursuit for truth is inspiring. Big thanks for your dedication and trust and never believing you shouldnt or you are not meant to. Sawing logs forever!

Neal Bascomb, timing is everything. Thanks for being the race director for my Cool Impossible ultramarathon. Your direction and guidance really made this all possible, and theres no way I would have run that fast and well without you! And, man, your book The Perfect Mile really inspired.

Scott Waxman, my agent, thanks for being my coach down the literary trail, providing direction and quick solutions when things got steep and rocky. Your encouragement to follow my true voice gave me the confidence I needed as a rookie author.

Claire Zion, my editor, thanks for guiding this project with a sure hand and showing me the right path to the finish line.

Micah True, aka Caballo Blancoyou showed us all how to live the Cool Impossible. Run free. And thanks, Mas Locos everywhere, for keeping Caballos dream alive.

And finally to you, my readers: Thanks for taking this journey with me. I wish you great success with your running and your own Cool Impossible. I would also like to ask for your help, to challenge and encourage you to be a part of my Cool Impossible by seeking out and helping beginning runners. See how many people you can inspire to start running. Share your knowledge with them. Offer to take them for runs on your easy recovery days. Let us create a world full of runners.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

by Christopher McDougall

ITS EMBARRASSING, BUT its taken me until now to really understand what Eric Orton has been telling me since the day we met. Its a classic case of missing the forest for the trees, except for me the forest was very strange and there was a naked woman running around in there, so you can understand how it could all get confusing.

I got to know the woman first. In the summer of 2005, a friend whod served as a forest ranger invited me to join him and four of his pals on a three-day, fifty-mile trail-running trip through Idahos River of No Return Wilderness. Our gear and food would be hauled by a mule packer, so all the six of us had to do was focus on running fifteen miles a day from campsite to campsite.

It was too sweet an offer to turn down, even though I wasnt much of a runner. Actually, I was close to being an ex-runner; Id been laid up by a string of injuries over the previous few years, and three separate doctors had warned me that impact breakdowns were inevitable for six-foot-four 240-pounders like me. Ironically, I was writing for Runners World at the time, so it wasnt as if I were lacking for injury-prevention and training advice. Id tried every tip youll find in a running magazinestretching, cross-training, replacing my $150 shoes every four months with a fresh pair, heat-molded custom insoles, even icy-cold postrun soaks in a creekbut no matter what, it was only a matter of months before fiery twinges began shooting out from my knees, or heels, or hamstrings, or Achilles tendons.