Iron War: Two Incredible Athletes. One Epic Rivalry. The Greatest Race of All Time.

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The 1989 Ironman World Championship is widely considered the most epic race in Ironman history, if not all of endurance sport. One of Dave’s favorite swim workouts was a set of seven 500-yard intervals with a short rest period after each. I loved Secret Race (about doping in the cycling world) and I hoped this book would be fascinating too. Matt Fitzgerald has tried to capture the solution to the question of why human beings are willing to suffer.

While not a biography, the book hits its stride early in, as it begins with a recounting of Dave Scott's formative years. Iron War really is a book that should be on your bookshelf if you have even the slightest interest in the sport of triathlon, but it also is a great read for anyone looking for inspiration in general. Booklist (American Library Association) "For any triathlete or endurance athlete, or anyone who wonders what it takes to be the best in sport, Iron War is an excellent read…Readers will come away with a very strong understanding and appreciation for two of the true legends of our sport…as well as a very clear look at the greatest race ever run.Triathlete magazine (August, 2011) "Dave Scott and Mark Allen had one of the greatest battles in sport history during their epic 1989 Ironman® Hawaii matchup.

This is the moment when—7 hours, 58 minutes and 2 seconds into what may be the greatest race two men have ever run—one begins to prevail. The more Matt delved into their characters, however, the more I could see why they were bothered by the book and why they didn't collaborate with him. So intense was the drama, the race came to be known as 'Iron War' - the single most awe-inspiring sporting event ever witnessed. Their lack of cooperation with its author may have even improved Iron War, as neither man was there to mitigate any of the narrative that exposes the flaws and warts that conspired to make them the men that gave us that precious and seminal moment.Noakes (of Lore of Running fame) put forth the theory many years ago that the brain is the limiter of performance, not the muscles and body.

com "Fitzgerald eases readers into the nuances of the sport, capturing imaginations with a satisfying study of two exceptional athletes and what makes them tick. However, scientific testing of these techniques has consistently shown that making conscious changes to one’s natural stride actually reduces efficiency. Mark Allen claims the author made a lot of false claims about him and Scott, but if I'm being honest, I speculate that the claims are true, but claims that Mark didn't necessarily want to reveal due to the deep personal nature of them. It generated a level of interest far beyond the circle of diehard fans who followed this tiny niche sport back then: Scott and Allen weren’t just rivals on the race course.The book itself is a good read, the description of the race is excellent even though I started feeling the same fatigue the Iron Man athletes feel late in the book. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Allen’s finish time of 8:09:15 wasn’t just a new course record, it was also some 18 minutes faster than Scott had ever clocked. The book weaves an examination of the anatomy of mental toughness into a gripping tale of athletic adventure.

But it was interesting to read about some of the approaches to training and endurance racing that the book describes. Nothing against Seth Michael Donsky, but I don't think his narration style was the best for this book.Mark Allen's divorce was acceptable because Allen was a peyote smoking mystic, but Allen was a terrible father ergo the divorce because he made his kid ride a bike while he ran? com (October, 2011) "The 1989 Ironman® World Championship is widely considered the most epic race in Ironman history, if not all of endurance sport. Iron War ] captures the strength of character of both athletes better than any other publication to date.