(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best sports & outdoors books

As far as improving your headgame goes, leading easy but long runouts is super helpful, as well as falling onto (well-placed) gear. Alpine multipitch is an admirable goal, but it is a far cry from what most people think of as trad climbing. You should be confident on long runouts, with potential no-fall zones. There are a lot of skills that are important for alpine climbing that often are not learned in a typical trad climbing mentor relationship, such as self-rescue, alpine route finding, and depending on your goals, snow climbing skills. There are several ways to learn these skills such as books or hiring a guide. Ultimately, your safety is much more dependent on yourself when alpine climbing. I say this not to scare you away from alpine climbing, as it has been responsible for some of the most amazing memories I have, but it has also been responsible for some of the scariest.

Some books that you might find beneficial:

Climbing Self-Rescue - Just what it says in the title.

Vertical Mind - I found this book useful for improving my head space.

Training for the New Alpinism - Probably the best book to help a climber transition into the backcountry.

[Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills] (https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers/dp/1680510045/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=freedom+of+the+hills&qid=1562736585&s=gateway&sr=8-1) - This book is excellent, but probably isn't extremely helpful until you are climbing more serious alpine routes.

As far as advice, just get as much mileage on lead outdoors as you can, with 1-2 indoor bouldering sessions per week. If it doesn't impact your bouldering, you could add a couple strength sessions as well. If you want to get into alpine climbing, or even just multipitch climbing, practice your systems at the top of single pitch routes. Belay your partner from the top, practice building an anchor at the top off of the bolts, set up simple pulley systems. Just spending 15 minutes per session will help you get muscle memory down for when it really matters.

Edit: As you get into more alpine climbing, you should increase the strength training and cardio. Climbing efficiently after four hours walking with a pack full of gear and food is harder than it sounds. Increasing your physical strength will reduce the mental load a lot, allowing you to think more clearly and be more confident.

Websites (Most are not active):

• Inside the Pylon - Videos may not load embedded, but you can copy the url. Pretty good look at base plays, position responsibilities, and other terms you run into.
  
• Breakdown Sports another place for looking at the above, less available though covered deeply. See article on Cover 1 for example.
  
• Football Study Hall More on the statistics side of football (old stomping ground of Bill Connelly), a bit more all over the place.
  
• Dan Casey's Twitter If you want to see clips of fun and interesting plays past and present, he's a good'un.
  
• Playbooks - Historic coaches' playbooks. You can get a pretty good understanding of things like read progression and play goals from these, as well as what the purpose of each player on the field for each play by reading through some of these.
  
  ---
  Books: These are the books most people recommend starting from.
  
  

1. David Seigerman's Take Your Eye Off the Ball This is a really good book for understanding the game holistically. From positions to managing a season to how you can pay attention to a play, a drive, and a game.
   
2. Chris B. Brown's The Essential Smart Football and The Art of Smart Football (read in order of printing) Fantastic book set for anyone ready to dive a deeper into how the game has and could develop. Seeing everyone raving about the wildcat is always a chuckle though.
   

• Tim Layden's Blood, Sweat & Chalk. Definitely worth the the purchase. Would recommend the above first, but this is a great go for the stories behind the plays. How they came to be and why.

An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of work later / cure / whatever the saying is.

Note that I have no experience in this geographical region, but I've done quite a bit of hiking / camping in other places.

Most important: Research the hell out of the area you're going before you go. Does it rain there? What are average / extreme temps? You can find this all at park websites, NOAA, other organizations that track average / historical weather. What is the elevation profile of the hike? Sure its 26 miles, but 26 miles in the Alps is way different than 26 miles in Kansas. How high will you be going in elevation? above 3 - 3500 meters you might start thinking about how your body will react to the higher elevations. Plus, a huge elevation gain in short amount of time is, well, taxing, and you're all apparently pretty new.

On to gear: Sleeping bags are really the only place you get warmth. Three season tents don't really contribute to how warm you feel, especially if it is ventilated well so that condensation doesn't collect in the tent. It is all about your bag and whatever you're wearing. If it gets colder than 30 degrees (see why you should check the averages and extremes?) you're gonna have a bad time, especially because there is (AFAIK) no exact standard or science to how those numbers are derived. It also depends on personal preference, and women versus men. Men are comfortable colder than women when sleeping, apparently. EDIT: also, those numbers don't always indicate comfort, but just "survivability." You'll be up all night shivering your ass off, but you'll live... not all warm and toasty maybe...

Hiking that long brings up some other questions. What do you do about water and food? I don't know the trail, but you should know before you go out there, how easy is it to resupply water. How will you purify / filter it? Food: it gets heavy, and so does water, so you don't want to take too much, you also don't want to take too little. Beyond that, knowing how often you come upon streams, lakes, etc. to resupply your water will help you reduce weight. Why carry 5 liters when there's a stream 1 hour away where you can get some new water. Yea, it takes 5 minutes to stop and filter, but it drops weight.

Other thoughts: Critters and bears. Are there any there? You've got to worry about that then, to make sure they don't get into your food.

Leave no trace (LNT): We can go into some long discussions here about how to reduce impact on the wilderness. How and where you clean your dishes, wash, where to cook, where to shit, how to shit, etc. Where to put your tent, more importantly, where NOT to put it to reduce risks of problems...

Ok so all that aside, can you do it? why not, you've got a month to get ready, but you need to actively start researching both the area of your trip, and general camping /backpacking tips / guides. Its not rocket science, and the chances are high that if you go into the woods with some friends on a well known trail, you'll come back out alive. However, it would be good to think of what could go wrong, and then what you would do to fix it, and then learn any/all skills needed just in case.

i.e. Your friend falls, breaks ankle. Well that sucks. And now its snowing. also sucks. You're like 5 miles from the trailhead, but that's pretty far if your friend can't walk, or can just hobble with 2 people's assistance. What do you do now? It's super cold, can you make a fire? Did you leave a note (ALWAYS LEAVE A NOTE) telling someone where you'd be, so that if you don't come back on time, they know something's wrong? Do you send one friend out in the snow to find help (at risk of losing the trail maybe) and you wait with friend, or do you stay and hope that your Mom calls the Rangers (how embarrassing :-)

Far fetched? Maybe, but its not outside the realm of possibility. Now you don't have to turn into Survivorman and be able to start a fire with nothing, and build a shelter in any environment, but you should think about what can go wrong, and what you could do in that situation. And then go in your backyard and practice it, don't just read it. In the end, its about minimizing risk and preparing.

But most importantly, have fun! I have lit countless campfires, and I still love it, there's some satisfaction in seeing a flame take off (note: not an arsonist) and the best food you'll ever eat is whatever comes out of your pot after a long day of hiking. Getting out of all this terrible crap, internet, job, cities, and into some beautiful landscapes, is the best thing on Earth.

So, my thoughts? If you're gonna do it, all 3 of you need to get serious now with checking out resources and preparing yourselves, make a plan, research the trail a bit, think of what might happen and be ready for it, and know how to camp without leaving a trace! Oh, and tell someone responsible what the plan is, just in case.

EDIT: Sorry for wall of text...

Also, maybe check out a book like: http://www.amazon.com/Backpackers-Field-Manual-Revised-Updated/dp/1400053099/ref=cm_lmf_tit_5

This is all assuming you all have limited to no experience outside.. if this isn't the case, forgive me for stating things you probably already are aware of...

I think some of your questions are subjective and open to personal opinion. So take my response as such.

1. I think your bike is worth it to you and that's what matters most. (Honestly I think it was a good deal and a good bike.) What's more important, do you feel comfortable on it? Do you want to ride it? Than it's worth every penny. If you have a bike you don't want to ride, well, then the reverse is true.
   
2. YouTube is your friend for maintenance. There are some things you can check without tools, such as chain stretch, checking the cassette for wear, seeing if your cables stick or are frayed. Give the bike a good wash, clean the chain, cassette, frame. Make sure your brakes don't stick or don't grab properly, shift through all the gears, front and rear. If they stick you can put some oil into the cable housings or consider changing out cables. Bike maintenance isn't hard, it's just getting past some of the black magic of making things just right. That can be the difference that a bike shop can bring. But honestly, if you know how to do it yourself, I think you gain confidence in your skills and can easily tweak something without relying on a shop.
   
3. Anything is possible. It's a hard question to answer without knowing your current fitness level, but I'd say in a few months you can be ready for a century. Will you be breaking land speed records, probably not, but you will be able to do it. Just keep riding a bit longer or a bit harder each week. You don't need to do a century ride before actually doing one officially. You just have to find a pace you are comfortable with that you know you can ride for a long time. That's the pace you will need to finish a century. It's that "I could do this all day pace" that you are looking for in a long ride.
   
4. I can't answer this one as I've picked up most of what I do with a few books and fellow riders. One book I enjoy is Time Crunched Cyclist by Chris Carmichael. http://www.amazon.com/The-Time-Crunched-Cyclist-2nd-Ed/dp/193403083X
   It's great for those of us who may not have the time to train like a pro.
   
5. This is a subjective question again. A good cruising speed is what you are comfortable with. 32kph would be very respectable for a century and a good pace for any day to day ride. You'll need to get a feel for what you can handle however. Might have to build up to that, might find you can easily blow that speed out of the water.
   
   Good luck and have fun!

Some suggestions for things you can do in Toronto to prepare:

• Buy the book Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills which will give you a basic understanding of the skills, gear, and systems used in the mountains, including a lot of the lingo you'll hear.
  
  
• Buy the book Training for the Uphill Athlete which will give you a good understanding of how to train for the mountains. They also have an older book Training for the New Alpinism, but it has a slight bias towards technical climbing. Both are very similar and both would teach you what you need to know. The stick figure version is do a LOT of very easy trail running (slow enough to converse in full sentences) and work on general strength (lots of core work). Gradually increase the amount you are doing and then start to mix in things like carrying a heavy pack up a steep hike or stairs in the months leading up to your climb. Their website uphillathlete.com has a lot of good info, and premade training plans if you just want to drop $50 and be told what to do.
  
  
• Train lots based on the above.
  
  
• Get really good at backpacking. You'll want to be very comfortable doing an overnight trip with minimal gear. This isn't strictly necessary since some routes can be done car-to-car, but many mountains will involve at least one night camping on the mountain so being good at overnight backpacking trips will really open up a lot more options.
  
  Once you are "mountain fit" and have the basic book learning done, there are a couple of ways to actually get on to a mountain. One way is to take a multi-day course offered by a guiding company that includes an ascent of a mountain. This will cost in the ball park of $1000 for the course itself, plus travel to get to the mountain. This teaches you many of the skills you need and gets you onto big routes quickly, but costs more.
  
  The other way to is learn the basic skills of crampon usage, self belay, self arrest, camping in the snow, etc. by finding people willing to show you. A common source of those people are climbing clubs (the Mountaineers in Seattle, Mountain Ascent Association in California, I'm sure there are plenty in Canada). This also gives you a way to meet people to climb mountains with in the future. You could also take a 1-2 day skills course from a guide company, these will generally be cheaper (~$200-400) but probably won't involve a summit climb and you'll still have to figure out how to find people to climb mountains with in the future. Then once you have those basic skills you start small and easy and build up your skillset yourself over multiple trips to the mountains. This takes way longer to get to big impressive mountains, but many people get more satisfaction out of climbing a mountain if they aren't relying on a guide to get them there safely. You could probably do a lot of this early learning in the Whites as mentioned elsewhere in this thread before moving on to the ranges with bigger routes.
  
  One thing I like to do is pick a goal mountain that you really want to do. I personally love climbing climbing the Cascade volcanos so my first goal mountain was Mt. Rainier. Lots of stuff in the Rockies, both in the US and Canada, the Sierra in California, Coastal range in Canada. Just find a mountain that inspires you. Hard to give recommendations since there are just so many options if you include all of the US and Canada and its largely personal preference of what you are looking for.
  
  If going with the first option of taking a mountaineering course, often you can find one that includes your goal mountain and you are done, move on to a bigger goal mountain. :)
  
  If going the second route, research the common/easiest route up that mountain and see what skills you need to climb it. Then find some routes that teach you the skills you need but don't have but are still within your comfort level and go climb them. Rinse and repeat. I think the hardest part here is finding people that are just a little more advanced than you are to do these routes with and learn from them. As you do more climbs your network of people to climb with will grow.

Welcome to the sub. Wow lots of questions here.

First off the part you're going to most want to change is the lack of runs during the week. The more time on your feet, the easier a marathon will be. That said xtraining is very helpful (especially if you're injury prone) but just not as useful as actual running.

Hanson's is a solid plan, especially if you know the time you'd like to run the marathon in, and it's a reasonable goal. Other common plans that people have a lot of success with are:

• Hal Higdon (variety) -- these are mostly used for just finishing, rather than really racing or excelling at the marathon distance. If you're past that point I prefer the other available plans to his advanced stuff
  
• Fitzgerald 80-20 -- This is based on the latest science and training that elites are using but has 3 levels of plans based on how much time you want to run per week. It also encourages the use of a heart rate monitor for some runs.
  
• Pfitzinger Advanced Marathoning People get results on these, but they are hard and the lowest mileage plan runs 5 days a week and peaks with a 55 mile week (88km). This is probably not for you but does a good job explaining the physiological reasons for various training.
  
• Jack Daniel's Running Formula -- a great book for all distances and all plans can be scaled based on how much you run per week.
  
• FIRST aka runn less, run faster. This is a controversial plan but the crux of it is you run 3 quality runs per week (1 speed day, 1 long day, 1 LT day) and you crosstrain hard the other days. I haven't heard of people really improving from a good result to a great result with this, but among beginning runners it certainly seems to yield good results and it seems tailor made for triathletes.
  
  
  
  The most generic Best practices are:
  
• Consistent training over time trumps everything else (i.e. deal with those injuries early).
  
• More miles > less miles up until an absurd point or when it gets you injured
  
• Long runs are important
  
• do some speed work but not too much (80% easy miles, 20% hard)
  
  Also try reading the Order of Operations in the sidebar.

Hey y'all! Some folks have posted good fb groups, but I thought I'd post a few resources for where to start, in case you've never toured the backcountry in New England. David Goodman's book, Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast might be considered our Bible. There is one major, brand-new asterisk, and that is that many of the newly gladed areas have been developed since the most recent release of the book. So as a result, places like Brandon Gap (VT), Maple Villa (NH), and Ascutney Outdoors (VT) never had a chance to be in the book.

My starter recommendation: begin by getting (or at least reading, you can probably find much of the contents online, but David Goodman seems like a good man so buy the book) the Goodman book, and deciding how much you want to get into the sport.

For example, most steep tours require (or seriously recommend) skins and a touring setup, while some can be done on classic skis with metal edges (sometimes called 'touring skis' but they are distinctly XC skis), and still others (like Tuckerman late season) can be done by bootpacking alone.

For gear: This question is frequently posed, so I'll provide a suggestion: I would not recommend relying on bootpacking for backcountry access (except for the steepest terrain, >35 degrees and narrow, like Tuckerman late season), since bootpacking is at best exhausting and extremely inefficient as a means of travel. We've all awkwardly stumbled through 16 inches of fresh in driveways or whatever to get to our cars; imagine doing that for several miles rather than a few dozen feet! At the bare minimum, snowshoes (and skis/ski boots on your back) are useful. Skins and a touring setup are ideal. If you do choose to brave the bootpack method, then congratulations on being in phenomenal shape! Please don't boot in the skin track (this is a big faux pas).

For avalanche awareness: Please do be aware that avalanches can and do occur frequently in the Northeast. The biggest defense we have is an awareness of context: for example, avalanches don't frequently sweep slopes less steep than 25 degrees, and that covers most of the backcountry glade skiing you'll do (for context, Killington's Outer Limits trail is ~32 degrees, and 25 degrees is roughly the steepness of lower East Fall, Royal Flush, or Highline, at Killington. Roughly. The point is, 25 degrees won't bore you). It's worth noting that even relatively shallow slopes can slide (including slopes as low as 15 degrees) in extreme circumstances. Furthermore, it's imperative that travel into avalanche terrain not happen at all before avalanche awareness is learned (via course, ideally), and avvy gear is acquired.

For risk: Another aspect of backcountry skiing that too frequently gets ignored (everywhere, in the west, as well) is risk awareness beyond avalanche issues, and with that, an understanding of how much risk each individual is willing to take on. Backcountry skiing, by its widest definition, is any skiing that takes place away from or outside the boundaries of a resort or ski area. It follows that, for example, if you go XC skiing on a flat farmfield by yourself in western mass, and twist your ankle, well, hopefully you can walk back to your car. Point being, injuries due to the sport itself are massively risky when you are far from help, even if those injuries are unlikely to happen. Consider who you are traveling with, where you are traveling, your means of traveling, the conditions, and whether all these factors combine to an acceptable level of risk for you. It's a good thing to keep in mind when you ski away from resorts.

I hope all this is helpful! I'll also remind y'all that backcountry skiing is, predominantly, fun and aerobically tiring. So those two factors (the fun and the aerobics) will be a huge factor as you start to abandon the chairlifts. Come join! It's great!

I ran a 4:36 as a high school athlete. I'm training to run a sub 5:00 minute mile again as a 40 year old. I'm not an expert by any means, but I am attempting to do what you're doing (and have done it in the past.) Here's my take:

> would love opinions on the estimation of time from 6 to 5 based on my situation

A 6:00 minute mile is roughly a VDOT of 48. A sub 5:00 mile is roughly a VDOT 60. A rough rule of thumb is a VDOT point every 6 weeks. So you're looking at committing to this goal for a little less than a year and a half, if you're average. More if your train suboptimally, you are older, or not particularly gifted at running. Less if the opposite of those things are true. Understand that this is a rule of thumb, and it will vary wildly from person to person.

Understand also: a 5:00 mile is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than a 6:00 mile. The difference between a 9:00 and a 6:00 is pretty big too - however, progress from 9:00->6:00 is not uncommon -- 6:00 is just a hair beyond a truly novice time for a healthy male. Perhaps you had prior conditioning that came back quickly, like if you were a soccer/football player, but had spent a few months being sedentary. If that's the case, you may find 6:00->5:00 substantially harder. Or, perhaps not, and running is just your thing - if it's the later you may get to sub 5:00 quicker with really hard work.

If you look at male high school runners, most athletes probably won't break 5:00 until the end of their second year of both cross country and track. However, it's not uncommon for a really gifted freshmen to break 5:00 after only a few months of quality training.

> But if I keep it up improving with runs 3 times a week, how long would you estimate that I hit 5 min?

Here's a blunt answer: possibly never. Not while running 3x and a few km a week, and not with a home grown training method.

I'd suggest if you want to achieve your goal you need to be following a real mile training program. That will involve at least 30 MPW (~50km), with a frequency of at least 6 days. There are a number of problems with what you have planned, but the biggest I see is the lack of lots of easy mileage. That lack of the base mileage has two issues: 1) you won't be doing enough for your aerobic conditioning (and racing the mile still relies predominantly on your aerobic capacity), and 2) the lack of a base in conjunction with a lot of higher intensity running is a recipe for injury. No matter how talented or hard working you are, you won't hit your goal if you are constantly fighting off stress fractures and tendinitis.

I won't say it's impossible to hit your goal the way you're approaching it, again, maybe you're a gifted runner with terrific balance who can train like that, avoid injury, and make progress. Of this I'm certain though: no matter how gifted you are, you will make much quicker progress following a mile training program than you will with your home grown plan.

My recommendation would be that you get yourself a copy of Jack Daniel's running formula. It's pretty much the bible for middle distance training as far as most HS and college coaches are concerned, and there is several great mile training programs in there. If you want to get an idea for what the program looks like I'd be happy to rip you a few pages of the 30 MPW program, though either way the entire book is worth reading.

I hope that helps, good luck!

I'm mostly a basketball guy so...


You don't need to have ever seen a basketball game to appreciate these first two books.

Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam which it probably the best NBA book. It follows the 1978 Portland Trail Blazers and gets way more access than anyone could get now. Plus Halberstam was a great writer so he gets the most out of excellent material.

The Last Shot by Darcy Frey this is probably my favorite basketball book. It follows high school basketball players and it works as biography as well as an exploration of sports culture, race, class, and youth. The Hoop Dreams of books. Great journalism on a great subject.

Freedarko's The Undisputed Guide to Basketball History Captures the visceral and intellectual thrill of watching basketball better than any other book. Manages to capture big picture and little picture.

Seven Seconds or Less Lifelong basketball writer follows one of the funnest teams in NBA history for a year


Pistol Biography of Pistol Pete and his insanely driven father. Manages the rare feat for a sports biography of not slipping into hagiography.


Baseball

Moneyball How baseball teams were run a decade ago. Really well written and somehow manages to make baseball and business really entertaining. Great for fans and non-fans.

I'm a (relatively) newer, American (assumed that because you said soccer) fan as well (right before the 2014/2015 season, did the same as you then saw right after I chose CFC that club was title favorites... honestly it spoiled it just a tad and a part of me was almost relieved the club did so poorly last year because it proved to myself I wasn't just glory hunting), so I figured I could give you that perspective on the last two! (1. and 2. I'm sure have been answered sufficiently and aren't changed by me being newer)

Kits: you're absolutely correct to go the club legend route. I've found classicfootballshirts.co.uk to be simply superb, they ship internationally and since they're shirts from the past, they're all cheaper. That includes the Hazard 2014/2015 shirt I bought in the middle of last season (hell yeah I believed he was bouncing back with us- but this was a risk I do not recommend you take with your first kits, I was fortunate), which I paid less than half for than if I'd bought it from the official team store only a few months earlier. But that's the only current player I plan to buy for a while (although Dave and Kante are certainly testing my mettle, haha), and I've already got Drogba and Lampard shirts and plan to add more. I'm specifically recommending those two because they're fairly recent but absolutely undeniably two of the greatest to play at the club, and gentlemen who enjoy a continued relationship with the club. You get the best of both worlds- they're still fairly connected to the club but also firmly part of our past as well, and short of some horrible and shocking off-field situation, are assuredly club legends.

History: If you don't mind spending a few dollars, I found the Glanvill official club biography to be a fantastic read, and was most happy to get a perspective of the club pre-modern era that's hard to just get from the Internet. Outside of that, wikipedia is underrated- I've learned a lot about history, rivalries, major games/seasons, etc. just from following links; the club website's history portal is really cool too.

Hope you become as hooked as I am! Like you, I passively followed the sport for a while and would keep an eye on the table and of course watch international tournaments (this really helped with learning the major players quickly), but knew I wouldn't really latch on unless I picked a club. I'm really happy I ended up choosing Chelsea, don't think I'd be as into it if I'd picked a different club!

to be clear, this is a reference to Cesar Azpilicueta, not David Luiz! It is, IIRC, a reference to some bit of British pop culture from years back that got applied to Cesar because his last name is so intimidating to pronounce and spell. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, long-term fans!)

The Complete Sailor, by Seidman & Mulford.

I'm reading the second edition of the Slight / DK manual at present, and IMO it's quite poor. It features an incorrect theory of aerofoils [more], and the layout is a bit cluttered, but most importantly it's badly written. Sentences are poorly phrased, with repeated and redundant words, whole descriptions are a messy clusterfuck, and the author uses nautical words which it doesn't explain or define (and I'm sure at least once wasn't in the index).

I was impressed by The Complete Sailor when I read it, my first sailing book, but having read two more in the intervening weeks, my opinion has only hardened.

It is a beautifully and elegantly constructed work, and I say that not just because of Mulford's illustrations - he does deserve as much credit as Seidman - but also for the layout and the way topics are handled. Each page or pair of facing pages covers a single topic, and there's something particularly impressive in how it's explained in a way that the reader can understand - the book starts by talking about the wind, and thereafter every term or concept that is used to explain the current topic is one that has been explained already, previously in the book.

I really think that the authors deserve a lot of credit for how they lay a foundation of information and then build upon it - they make everything simple and logical, and any time you think "what does that mean?" you know that it's already been covered, and it's easy to flip back to the right section. The authors have taken a lot of information about a complicated subject, and made it really accessible.

The Complete Sailor also focuses more on the core concepts of sailing and seamanship than the other books do - they make more digressions about types of life preserver, wood vs GRP, details of yacht vs dinghy, and key dates in yachting history.

I haven't read Sailing for Dummies, but Herreshoff's Sailor's Handbook is pretty good, and I'd recommend anyone pick up a secondhand or remaindered copy to set alongside Complete Sailor. There's probably some stuff in the former that the latter skips.

The Dorling Kindersley book, though, just feels a bit like marketing-orientated writing - it's a thick book, full of high quality glossy photos and clean modern illustrations; it probably looks commanding in the store, and it'll probably be bought as a present by mothers and grandmas for teenagers who have developed an interest in the sport. Nevertheless, it's cluttered, hard to read and factually wrong.

I know that I could have expressed this comparison with more clarity, but it's late here, so I can only apologise.

If I were hiring for this position and you had a strong resume, I would be nervous about your lack of domain knowledge -- but that's something that software engineers are expected to pick up! So I would go in with:

• I know my role (SWEng) and I'm excited to learn more about the sport ... that's normal in software engineering, and you can expect me to be up to speed by the start of the season.
  
  Now, you can also cram. Read this Wikipedia article to learn the names of the positions and formations. Make flash cards! Study hard! Then dive into any of the following books:
  
  
• Take Your Eye Off the Ball - how to watch the game to learn more than a casual fan does
  
• The Art of Smart Football - big-picture strategic writing about how coaches and QBs plan for games
  
  A reasonable bar for a non-casual fan would be to be able to answer questions like:
  
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) Discuss the recent history of the team you're visiting, and the recent strengths and weaknesses of their division rivals.
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) Explain the three choices that a coach has on fourth down, and discuss recent (>2005) changes in attitudes toward that decision.
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) Explain why a "nickel" or "dime" defense is a reasonable choice against a "two-minute" offense.
  
• (Casual / Bare minimum) There are five offensive linemen, usually divided into three position names. Name the positions and the differences between their skills. Explain why having a good offensive line is critical.
  
• (Moderate) Describe the set of games that makes up a team's schedule. Can you, as a SWEng, quantify which games have the most impact on a team's playoff chances?
  
• (Moderate) Outline rule changes over the last 15-20 years surrounding the concept of the "extra point" including the 2-point conversion.
  
• (Moderate) If you analyze the play-by-play data, you might notice that when a QB has many negative-yardage plays it correlates with losing, but when a QB has exactly three negative yardage plays, it correlates strongly with winning. Why? How could you adjust your software to remove this weird bias in the data?
  
• (Moderate) The Ravens have two victories in the last ten years that were both secured by deliberate late-game safeties -- that is, giving up two points to the other team. Explain how and why that strategy worked, and why it isn't viable anymore.
  
• (Moderate) Explain how player salaries are determined. Explain what someone means when they say "he's on his rookie deal" or "we can't cut him because of the dead money" or "they tagged him". Explain, using examples from around the league, what makes someone a "franchise QB" and what the reasonable market value is for a better-than-average QB.
  
• (Advanced) Read this three-part study and then discuss how you, as a SW engineer, can help me (the GM) select the best offensive line talent.
  
• (Advanced) A few years ago, in a NE@IND night game, everyone assumed New England would spend the evening passing the ball. Why? They ended up running the ball instead, and winning. What unusual wrinkle did they add to their offense that made it effective?
  
  Also... if the team you're applying to is the Ravens, I'll be happy to help you get up to speed.

The book Andy Roddick Beat With a Frying Pan has a chapter called "How big is the gap between male and female athletes?"

IT's much larger than anyone thinks. Here's the author's answer in an interview:

> GM: Why do you think there's this misconception that women are almost at men's level when it comes to sports? And why do you think there's the disparity you've found? Is it possible this isn't a physiological inevitability, but instead a reflection of the disparate financial and other incentives sporting men and women face?

> TG: The misconception is almost entirely attributable to members of the press wanting to show social concern and not doing even the slightest bit of research. Oh, and that people are nuts in this country and don't allow for open dialogues of conversation about certain topics. Just ask Lawrence Summers how venturing into this territory turned out for him, and you can pretty quickly understand why the press is hesitant to touch the subject in a real way.
In my own life, a good friend of mine said I was being misogynistic when I said to him that the top female athletes are on par with 15-year-old boys. He's really into a lot of women's issues, and it was a very visceral reaction. Eventually he calmed down and ended up thinking the chapter was well-done, but still added: "Why even do a chapter like that?" So it's easy to imagine what kind of a reaction I'd get from people more invested in women's rights. Thankfully, my publisher has shielded me from any kind of negative reaction by making sure no one hears about the book. Personally, I think the whole thing is ridiculous because sports are so incredibly inane. Of all the things to worry about the implications of us being equal in…
It's possible that the reasons for the disparity aren't physiological, but I seriously doubt it. Maybe the balance in sports like darts would be closer if it weren't for some of the other factors, but given how consistently the women's best times in any size, speed, and strength events come in the range of 14- to 15-year-old boys, it's hard to fathom that it could be anything but puberty that causes the major separation. That consistency of range, and listening to the US women's soccer team and other female athletes talk about how boys of that age just get too big and fast to compete with, is pretty convincing to me.

I agree with his conclusion, a 14 to 15 year old boy at the same weight would be a fair fight physically. Once boys start puberty the advantage grows so large. I'd guess it's probably 40-50 lbs before the strength gets comparable, but maybe not even then.

Kirwan's book is an excellent introduction to the finer details of the game, but for broader strokes about scheme and particularly their history and how they came into fashion I have a pair of other recommendations -

Sports Illustrated's Blood, Sweat & Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook: How the Great Coaches Built Today's Game

and

Chris B Brown's The Essential Smart Football, and really everything on his website http://smartfootball.com/

I thoroughly enjoyed both, they were as much entertaining as educational and easy reads. I've been waiting for Brown's new book to come out on the e-readers, and if doesn't soon I'll probably buy a hard copy.

Also a shout out to /r/footballstrategy - there are some smart cats on that sub who are always happy to answer questions

edit: If you're interested in web articles instead also check out Matt Bowen's Football 101 series that he wrote for Bleacher Report (I wish he'd come back, most of his content is behind ESPN's paywall now...), he broke down a lot of broad principles with some nice diagrams http://bleacherreport.com/users/2822152-matt-bowen/archives/newest?rel=nofollow

I appreciate that you want to get into it and you're asking how to start taking the first steps. But the backcountry community often reacts quite prickly to people who might seem a bit cavalier. Ultimately it's to persuade you to really start figuring out how much you don't know about whats involved, so you can start gaining the knowledge and skills that you need. Everybody has to start somewhere, but if your baseline is one defined by respect for the mountains and backcountry, and how much you can knowingly control out there, then you're going to be much more ready to learn what you need to stay safe and alive.

Buy Tremper's Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrian. Learn about the specifics of the equipment people use in the backcountry - What is a tech binding? What is an AT Frame binding? What is special about touring specific boots? Are yo going to need ski crampons? This is stuff you can figure out as you gain experience, but start building that base of knowledge so when you get the chance to apply it you're ready to gain from it.

I was in a similar position four years ago. For some things I regretted not going lighter, for other things I regretted not getting something more durable and functional. But for the most part I was and am happy with my gear.

Some random tips I wish I knew 4 years ago.

• Get a quilt slightly warmer and wider than you think you'll need. It's better to have a quilt too warm than a mummy that's too warm. Mummy's don't ventilate well and are really meant for Winter use.
  
• Get a good sleeping pad to go with that with atleast an R-value or 2-3. Heavy and reliable is better than light but fragile for this one.
  
  
• Get a Tarptent with bug netting and side entry. Their Products Page is super useful in helping you find what you need.
  
  
• Get some MSR groundhog knock-offs and extra long guy-line. You can pound groundhogs in with a rock or use the extra long guy-lines to tie off to trees or boulders.
  
  
• Get some cheap but light carbon fiber trekking poles. Lots of recommendations in this Sub.
  
  
• Dig some water bottles out of the recycling bin to re-use. Aquamira Droplets are what I use, but Sawyer & Katadyne water filters have gained a lot of popularity.
  
  
• Comfort is king for trail runners. Durability, tread, and other features are secondary.
  
  
• Goldtoe 100% nylon dress socks are cheaper,more breatable, and more durable than wool socks. I wear them doubled up.
  
  
• Follow Andrew Skurka's Core 13 Clothing List. And while you're at it, buy his book as a resource.
  
  
• Get a backpack that can carry it all. The backpack is what you buy last. Make sure it's fitted well and set-up correctly. I used my Ohm 2.0 for years before realizing that I hadn't set-up the straps properly. It made a night and day difference once I followed ULA's video on backpack fit.
  
  
• Get out there!

I've kind of amassed a library. I'm a rank amateur, but here's what I've found helpful in at least orienting myself so far (I'm still working my way through these on a "total readthrough" basis, but I've flipped through and skimmed all of them) in the order that you should probably read them. Also, I've spent the last six months skulking around every sailing forum on the Internet.

I've found the greatest barrier of sailing for someone trying to get into it for the first time is understanding the language, and the second greatest is understanding the mechanical workings of the rig and how it physically interacts with the wind. These books have been super helpful in that respect. I can't speak to how much in the way of practical skill they may have imparted, but I know infinitely more about the subject than I did a few months ago.

• The Complete Sailor, Second Edition (mentioned already)
  
• The Sailing Handbook
  
• Don Casey's Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual
  
• The Sailmaker's Apprentice
  
• The Complete Rigger's Apprentice
  
• The Gaff Rig Handbook
  
• Hand, Reef, and Steer
  
  Those last two are because I despearately want a Gaff rig. If you're not planning on ever dealing with a Gaffer, you don't need them at all. If you only want to buy one of the books on the list, make it The Complete Sailor.
  
  There's also a bunch of online resources, such as about.com's "how to sail a small sailboat" article and ESPECIALLY the boating section of Animated Knots which can teach you a ton of knots.
  
  Hope that helps!

A few pointers:

• Buy once, cry once. This is gear that your life literally depends upon. Do NOT cheap out here.
  
  
• Do some light reading followed by some heavier reading followed by some heaviest reading. FOTH in particular has a lot of good supplemental information on camp, clothing systems, reading terrain, etc.
  
  
• Read a little more if you end up getting more serious than toprope/bouldering/sport climbing. No one makes you go out there, and no one is required to risk themselves to bring you home. Personal responsibility is big here.
  
  
• Last but not least: Find out what YOU like. Do not buy cam brand X or rope brand Y or shoe brand Z because they look cool or your friend loves them. Try them yourself. There are pieces of gear I treasure that my partners hate and vice versa. Your gear needs will also vary by region. I use a completely different rack in the South West compared to the East Coast.
  
  
  Feel free to PM me with specific questions...I have over a decade of climbing/mountaineering and outdoor experience on everything outside of the Himalaya. Snowfields, Rock, Ice, Bouldering, Backpacking, summer, winter, poor weather, perfect weather...I've been there.
  
  As for costs:
  REI credit card may actually be worth looking into, and an REI membership is a one-time $20 fee that will pay literal dividends for life. Other than that, the standard online comparison shopping methods are your best friend.
  
  DO NOT purchase used life-critical equipment. Let me repeat that DO NOT purchase used life-critical equipment. You do not know how it has been stored, cared for, maintained and thus do not know if it will do it's job when you really really need it to.

I won't go quite as high as /u/george_i, but I think a person is prepared to start training for a marathon:

• Run 35 mpw for 4 weeks
  
• Run at least 4 days a week
  
• Can run without stopping for 90 minutes
  
  There are plans that get people to start on less, but chances of someone bonking on the final third increase. Just scan through the race reports. I'm not saying person X will or won't start regretting their life choices but if you want to decrease your chances of bonking out- A run more, and B run more often.
  
  Also I don't like how many "novice plans" place too much mileage on the long run. People cite Hal Higdon as a running prophet, but 50% of your weekly mileage for a single run session is too much, especially when that run can last over 3 1/2 hours. The distribution of mileage, the weekday runs are more about active recovery than building aerobic capacity. Personally, I wish more first time marathoners read Daniels, appreciate the flexibility he offers as far as scheduling, and structure plans around his 2Q or 4 week cycle plans. These plans aren't designed around people who finish slower than 1 standard deviation of a courses' average finish, but part of the point of having a better base is to prepare you to finish closer to or higher than the mean.
  
  Take a few more months in preparation, build up a better base, run more, enjoy running more.

Bona fides: I'm running 15 marathons in 12 months this year, including Chicago and NYC myself (with MCM in-between). But I also run 63-100 miles/week. I ran my marathon PR in Feb (3:08, previous PR was a 3:12). The vast majority of my training miles have been recovery pace, for me that's 9:05/mi. The second bulk of my miles are general aerobic, typically 8:20/mi. If it's enough time between marathons and I'm feeling recovered, I'll do an 8 x 1K session @ 8K race pace w/600M RI. I occasionally do some marathon pace running as part of my medium and long runs. I'm doing very few tempo runs.

My approach for each race has been a game-day decision. I generally go out aiming for 3:25'ish (7:49) and if I'm feeling good a couple miles in, pick up the pace. Most of my races I've finished 3:15 +- 2 minutes. One race it was exceptionally warm, so I ended up pacing another runner to a 3:42 finish. Another race I blew up and ended up at 3:32.

So anyway, I'd recommend that she prepare for Chicago using her choice of marathon training schedule, including full taper, as if it will be her only marathon. If everything feels great that day, weather is good, etc, then she should go for a PR at Chicago. Then she should use a multiple-marathon schedule to prepare for NYC, and just run NYC for fun. Advanced Marathoning has a bunch of multiple-marathon schedules depending upon weekly mileage and time between races. I can post one later today for 4 weeks.

edit: 4 weeks between marathons schedule - scale mileage as appropriate. Or she could just run all recovery mileage, getting in one 15 miler if possible if her only goal for NYC is to complete it after a successful Chicago.

OTOH, if things aren't right for a PR at Chicago, say it's warm, or she missed a week or two of training, etc, then she should use Chicago as a long-run. She should run well below her marathon pace, possibly using a walk-run scheme. For example, in the past I've set my watch to kilometers, then run ~ 9:00/mi for 1K, walk for 30-60s, repeat. You'll still end up below 10:00/mi doing this, which is around a 4:20 marathon.

Then, she should go for a PR at NYC. There's 4 weeks between the races, so she could run all easy/recovery the first week after Chicago, then follow the last 3 weeks of her schedule again to prepare for NYC. I did something like this in 2013, using Grandfather Mountain in early July as a long-run, finishing around 4:20, then getting my first BQ in early September (3:12, prior PR was a 3:22). I realize that's 8 weeks instead of 4, but it's a similar idea.

BTW, sub-4 is ~ 9:09/mi. You write that she running most of her miles at that pace. Easy miles should be 15-25% slower than MP, so she should really be running her easy miles at 10:25-11:20/mi. Her volume is also low for a marathon that's 13 weeks away. And she likes to cross train. You might look at the Run Less Run Faster schedule which is 16 weeks, using NYC as the target marathon, and just fitting in Chicago as an over-distance long-run, going easy there as I described, then possibly skipping the speed work the first week after Chicago and just doing equivalent easy mileage.

• http://www.furman.edu/sites/first/Documents/The%20Less%20is%20More%20Marathon%20Plan.pdf
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Runners-World-Faster-3-Run-Week/dp/1609618025/
  
  (I've used RLRF + Crossfit successfully. That's what I ran my 3:22 off of. But I think I padded the mileage by about 10-15 miles a week with additional recovery miles.)
  
  $0.02.

The easiest would be to just go to a local bike shop, ask them what needs to be done, and have them do it.

It sounds like you are interested in getting your hands dirty and doing the work yourself. In that case, the usual advice would be to get to your nearest bike coop, take one of their bike maintenance classes or rent space in their shop and have someone help you out figuring out what you need to do and how to do it. But it looks like your closest bike coop might be in Sacramento, which is a bit of a hike. There is apparently a guy in Chico who is in the process of starting a bike coop, so you might want to try contacting him.

Beyond that, you can try striking out on your own. A few good resources for learning about bike maintenance are Sheldon Brown's website (ignore the crappy 90's style design, he has tons of good information on his site) and the Park Tool website (they have lots of good repair info, and they will sell you all of the tools you might need). If paper is more your thing, then good beginning books would include Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance, Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, or the Park Tool book. And I know you've already been redirected to /r/bicycling from AskReddit, but for bike repair questions, /r/bikewrench might be more helpful (check out the sidebar here on /r/bicycling for links to FAQs and other relevant subreddits).

As far as not riding like a douchebag, if you ask 10 cyclists you'll probably get 11 different answers (and if you ask non-cyclists, you will probably get a lot of dangerous advice). There will be endless debates as to whether it's OK to run red lights, whether you should pass on the right or split lanes, whether bike lanes are a good thing or not, whether you should wear a helmet, etc. Some of the more universal tips: ride with lights at night. Don't ride on the sidewalk. Don't be a bike salmon (riding the wrong way in traffic). Be predictable. I find that BicycleSafe.com has some practical tips on safety without getting too much into the endlessly debatable points.

And finally, welcome to cycling! I hope you enjoy it; it can be a lot of fun, get you some exercise without even really trying, and is so much cheaper and less hassle to deal with than driving a car.

Can you cross-train at home at all? Having a stationary bike at home and riding it for 30 minutes while watching TV can actually be kind of fun. Other strength exercises, like circuits of push-ups, planks, squats/lunges, can also help your running a lot.

Are you running the same distance every time? You can gain fitness running 3 times a week (see this book, which actually advocates only 3 days a week of running, along with 2 days of cross-training). The trick is to have a purpose for each of those 3 workouts. For example, your Wednesday run could be a tempo/interval/fartlek run, your Saturday run would be a very easy 2-3 mile run, and your Sunday run would be your "long slow distance" (LSD) run. Start with your LSD run at 4 miles, and increase it every week by a half-mile or full mile, if you feel comfortable doing so. Go slow on your LSD run. Really slow. Time on your feet is what's important.

You can become a better runner on 3 runs a week if you are smart, and patient. Every time you go out for a run, ask yourself, "what is the purpose of this run"? Is it to work on speed (Wednesday intervals/fartleks)? Is it to loosen up (Saturday shrot run)? Is it to work on overall endurance (LSD run)? You'll progress faster this way, and you'll likely feel more of a sense of accomplishment at the end of each run too, since you'll have had a specific goal and met it.

Good luck. Don't add miles or speed to quickly; the most-important secret to being a runner is to keep from getting hurt!

Ones I have read and recommend:

Jack Daniels
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F0X7U2S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Pfitz
https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Marathoning-2nd-Pete-Pfitzinger/dp/0736074600/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510544635&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Pfitinger

Yessis
https://www.amazon.com/Explosive-Running-Science-Kinesiology-Performance/dp/0809298996/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510544911&sr=1-1&keywords=explosive+running

Noakes
https://www.amazon.com/Lore-Running-4th-Timothy-Noakes/dp/0873229592/ref=pd_sim_14_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3QK52ZDHZVX4K6QW383Q

Fitzgerald (one of several)
https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Training-Runners-Revolutionary-Endurance-ebook/dp/B000VMHHBW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510544985&sr=1-1&keywords=brain+training+for+runners

Ones I have not read but have heard good things about:

Hansons
https://www.amazon.com/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Your-Fastest-ebook/dp/B01C6FBGHW/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510544663&sr=1-3&keywords=hansons+running&dpID=51L6b5-M7OL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch


Bill Squires
https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Endurance-Bill-Squires/dp/0977250504

Peter Coe
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Running-Successful-Racing-Training/dp/1852239972/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510544703&sr=1-1&keywords=peter+coe&dpID=51lmDYFDyLL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

There is also an out of print (I think) book by Arthur Lydiard that is really good. And for that matter, I am not sure I linked the correct Bill Squires book. One is really good, while the other is an awful, watered-down version.

I have a pretty similar background. I ran in high school, then DIII in college, quit running for many years, got back to it as a pre-masters/masters runner. People kept asking me questions, so I started coaching for free. Then on a spare weekend, I got certified as a USATF level 1 coach, which is really fun. I really recommend it, since you're a T&F fan.

I bought an old 12 speed racing Peugeot 3 months ago and I am delighted with it.

Since I live on a steep hill and had not done any kind of exercise in years, I asked a LBS for a solution and they put a mountain freewheel on it. I changed the tires (got bigger tires, good quality) and brake pads, cables and housing myself (some googling and checking my new knowledge at the LBS did the trick).

In other words, I went for the second hand, vintage (but a good make) bike because I was not sure I would stick to biking. With the tires I have, my road bike can handle gravel but certainly not trails with rocks and the likes.

Maybe the friend you borrowed the bike from could help you with a second-hand purchase.

If money is not an issue, put the money into a decent cyclocross bike but go to a reliable shop and discuss your options with them.

Oh... and I bought this book, it has got everything on bike maintenance (it is no rocket science... what is hard is to figure out components compatibility when you want to upgrade an old bike. If you are just maintaining your bike, it is pretty basic).

Unless you live in a very hilly area, basic biking is not that hard: the bike carries your weight. Essentially, you have to keep in mind that you should strive to pedal at a regular cadence and use your gears astutely. Increasing the length of your rides is probably what you are aiming for, if you enjoy the touristy aspect of riding. If you are more into fitness/cardio, well... I don't know (pedal faster, probably).

The only problem I encountered is finding a good saddle (it seems my last purchase might do) and finding raingear that does not make you feel like you are sitting in a hot bath.

You may want to check out the "Dummies" or "Idiot's" books. Not to say you are either, just that they really are good books... it's unfortunate that there's a stigma attached to them. You might want to go to B&N or your local library and just read through them rather than ask someone to buy them.

Camping for Dummies

https://www.amazon.com/Camping-Dummies-Michael-Hodgson/dp/076455221X

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Backpacking and Hiking

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Backpacking-Lifestyle-Paperback/dp/1592579604

The Backpacker's Handbook has been recommended, but I haven't read it myself.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/007175489X

The Complete Walker; I read this 30 years ago(?) A great reference.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Walker-IV-Colin-Fletcher/dp/0375703233

And of course Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills

https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers/dp/1680510045

M:FotH is a comprehensive tome, which may be a bit advanced for someone who is starting out with some car camping. As the name implies, it's aimed towards mountaineers, with sections on rock climbing, belaying, first aid, mountain safety... as a beginner you might pick up some invaluable information, but most of it may be far beyond what you need, it might be a bit overwhelming. Though you may be the type that just loves to soak up everything you, in which case it's a great reference.

If you want to check it out, the Kindle version of the 8th edition has a "Look Inside" which lists the sections and chapters, and has a bit of the first chapter. The latest 9th ed doesn't have the "Look Inside" yet.

https://www.amazon.com/Mountaineering-Freedom-Hills-Mountaineers-ebook/dp/B0049P1ZTC

I'd recommend picking up a few books. Ultralight Backpackin' Tips by Mike Clelland, and Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide by Andrew Skurka for starters. These will help you a ton.

Then, what was just said, ask yourself with each item, "Am I packing my fears?" "Do I really need this?" and "What would realistically happen if I left this at home?" I'm seeing a ton of unnecessary and/or redundant stuff, not to mention all the heavy stuff.

For example, paracord, multitool, lantern, lots of heavy stuff sacks, an ultra-heavy water reservoir, full bottle of soap (you only need a few drops of that stuff), 3 heavy knives (a tiny swiss army classic or even a razor blade would do the trick), tons of excessive, heavy and redundant clothing (use a simple, versatile layering system with no redundancy), etc. Your first aid kit weighs almost 13oz! You can easily make a good one for under 3. You have a space blanket and two redundant fire starters (emergency only items) when you are carrying a gas stove and a sleeping bag (actual versions of the things your survival kit is supposed to improvise). The list is quite long.

Also, I'd take a serious look at some of the UL/SUL hammock guys on YouTube and get some ideas from their videos on how to dramatically simplify and lighten your hammock system. It seems incredibly complicated and heavy to me, esp. based on what I've seen online from other Hammock guys. For instance, a +6oz gear pouch? A suspension system that weighs more than your actual hammock? Yikes. Definitely take a look at lots of the lighterpack links you see in people's flairs on here too and just get some ideas for how to simplify, reduce, and eliminate items in your gear list. YouTube is your friend. There are tons of UL and SUL guys on there who camp in Hammocks. Learn from their experience and save yourself from having to re-live their mistakes.

Good luck and have fun! I know it probably seems overwhelming now, but just whittle down one thing at a time and you'll get there. You're already off to a good start with having all your gear in a list online to create accountability and show you the true weights of everything. It's fun to see how light you can go with your gear list and your back will thank you for it!

First, look on YouTube for basic info. You can find videos about positions and plays and even schemes like the spread pretty easily.

Second, I recommend looking up some film breakdowns. Bill Belichick does them weekly (I think it's weekly) on a local Boston channel, but you can find some of them on YouTube by searching for Belichick Breakdown.

Third, try to find some guides for how to watch football and how to breakdown a game. Articles like this can provide you with a greater understanding of what everyone is doing during a play.

Fourth, do some reading.

I highly recommend Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look to help you while watching the game, but be sure to get the paperback version so you get all the diagrams. It will teach you the progression of the reads, the route running, the blocking and everything that happens on defense as well.

To help you cut through some of the jargon announcers use, I recomment Blood, Sweat and Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook.

If you want to learn more about strategies, try The Essential Smart Football.

To learn more about evaluating players, Football Scouting Methods is a must read. It will take you to the football of another era, but with the foundation from all the other info I've provided you will be able to start putting the pyramid together and learn how the game became what it was today.

There are drills in The Self-Coached Climber that are excellent for improving technique.

I also think The Rock Warriors Way is excellent for mental training and pushing your limits.

9 Out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes has a wealth of information to improve.

Training for Climbing is excellent for ideas on training. The author's 10 year old son climbed a 5.14a at Maple Canyon, Utah (one of my favorite places to climb!).

Those should be a good start. Just go into the gym and have fun!

Smart Football is pretty good for small bite-sized articles on topics- even comes in book form too, though I'm guessing that the book is just a compilation of the blog posts.


Some other books that I liked were mainly ones on Belichick- so War Room was pretty good, easy to read, albeit more about drafting, less technical game-time discussion.



Steve Belichick's Football Scouting Methods is pretty good too, but written in the 50's / 60's and more leaning towards scouting.


Grantland does occasionally have some good articles.


Football Outsiders is also similarly great at smaller analysis articles.

/r/footballstrategy has a few good links, but it's a quiet(er) subreddit and doesn't get much traffic. Some of the articles that I liked from there came from x and o labs.

This is an eternal one. There is no guaranteed "good way" as it is a still a matter of discussion how to approach a "matter of football" to be able to fully (or at least as good as possible) understand it.

For day to day performances, you can always follow services that even scouts use (like Opta, even FM and stuff) or free online sites like Squawka. However, I highly recommend to apporach them critically and with hindsight. It never tells a full story. Full story is watching the match, several times in a best way, not that almost anyone who is not paid for it, does.

Even though, you need to see what you are looking at. I think it is ideal, as in any research, to collect all sources. There is a great literature about a history and development of tactics (eg. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inverting-Pyramid-History-Football-Tactics/dp/1409128644) or you can just follow some websities dedicated to it like http://www.zonalmarking.net.

It depends on what you want and what you are trying to accomplish really:

-Guidance on structuring and running a practice, then the USA Hockey and Hockey Canada materials recommended by others are helpful.

-How to teach specific skills or focus on skills, then youtube channel "itrain hockey" and "hockeyshare" (m2m hockey) are excellent. Especially the itrain "train the trainer" series.

-Overall team play and learning the game - I've used this one for my inline teams, modified slightly for 4v4:

http://www.amazon.com/Hockey-Plays-Strategies-Ryan-Walter/dp/0736076344/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1462802162&sr=8-5&keywords=hockey+drills

-One of the most overlooked elements of coaching is learning how to communicate with athletes, manage parents, and run the team itself. A really helpful tip a coach gave me was to "Put Jim's and Joe's before X's and O's". Get registered with AAU and take the Positive Coaching Alliance certification courses. It's some of the best instruction I've received.

Good luck!

Tim Layden's Blood, Sweat, and Chalk does a fantastic job of marrying scheme innovations with the stories behind them.

Same goes for Chris Brown's The Essential Smart Football and The Art of Smart Football. I really like his writing.

If you're into the college game, Mark Schofield's 17 Drives does a great job recounting pivotal drives from the last season. He does a great job describing the plays and you can basically imagine it playing out in your head.

I've also read Steve Belichick's Football Scouting Methods. It's pretty straightforward and dry but there's a lot of good information in there if you're looking to scout opponents. It's pretty amazing how much of the process from 60 years ago translates to today.

For a complete beginner I usually recommend you pick up a book. There's so much information that it's hard to get anything from Reddit replies.
The top 3
The Ultimate Hikers Guide

The Backpackers Field Manual

The Complete Walker IV

The first one is probably the most easily digestible. The 3rd is my favorite but that's just because I enjoy the writing style.
I'd suggest grab one or more of those books and start getting an understanding of all the gear. You could start with some easy overnight trip. A quick overnight on the PCT is easily accomplished from Portland.

Also if you're in Portland, head over to the REI in the Pearl district. The have all the Portland Green Trails maps. They are the greatest maps around IMO.

I was in a similar situation as you a few years ago. In an unpopular locale for backpacking (north TX) and had zero friends that were into it.

There's endless resources online but I wanted an all encompassing guide in my hands to start. The Backpackers Field Manual was really helpful. It was originally used as a textbook for a backpacking class at Princeton until it was published. It's organized really nicely with everything from equipment to weather and navigation.

I started with this book and then began sifting through websites like www.backpackinglight.com, Erik the Black's blog, Section Hiker and various other websites.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck.

I'd recommend hockey plays and strategies and coaching hockey successfully yes they are coaching books, but essentially you're just reading what a coach would read, and then coach to you. The first book is pretty high level stuff, a lot of systems and stuff you might not use but it does contain some fundamentals in there as well. The second book is much more x's and o's and basics with good teaching points thrown in.

You may also like simply the best and simply the best players: players performance

> In short, any rep range will build some strength, hypertrophy and endurance.

I think this is an incredibly important statement. As a runner for over 30-years now I've had many people tell me things like "yeah but that's just building endurance" which is totally false. As I got in to better running shape my speed and strength naturally increased as well. No, running 5-milers isn't the most efficient way to train for the 100m but yes your speed at the 100m will increase (up to a point) as you get in to better distance shape.

Citation: https://www.amazon.com/Daniels-Running-Formula-Jack-ebook/dp/B00F0X7U2S

Because hockey has so many random things happening quickly, I find it's useful to first start to try and understand the very general "game situation" of any individual point in time during the course of a game.

It's about pattern recognition. "Okay, the defending team recovered the puck and the defenseman has it behind his net, the attacking team is changing lines. This is a breakout play". Then you go research breakout strategies and will begin to recognize the different types.

"Okay, the attacking team has made the breakout to centre ice and now they are trying to cross the blueline. This is a zone entry play."

"The attacking team is on the powerplay. Looks like they only have one player at the top of the zone, the only powerplay setup I know that has one guy up there is the Umbrella."

Also keep in mind that modern hockey relies less on position (F, LW, RW, LD, RD) and much more on relative things. A lot of it comes down to where players are in relation to the puck.

"Okay, the team recovered the puck and is setting up to break out of their zone on attack. The defending team is sending one guy to chase the puck carrier, this is F1 (closest to the puck). Looks like the second closest player on the defending team, F2, is doing such and such."

This is a great book and a must-buy. Recommended by broadcaster and student of the game, Jeff Marek: https://www.amazon.com/Hockey-Plays-Strategies-Ryan-Walter/dp/0736076344

Also find things that Jeff Marek talks in (podcasts) and subscribe to them all. I also recommend Hockey Central at Noon podcast for keeping up with general hockey discussion. Very homerish Canadians, enjoyable banter.

Hockey is a lot like futbol, actually, but faster. You have to recognize the game situation at a very low-level of detail, and that then can be built on with more detailed knowledge you acquire about each game situation.

Let me know if I can describe this a bit better.

There are a lot of comments here advising you to learn about the current league players and such, and that's okay. However, you'll acquire more knowledge if you focus more on watching games for the sake of watching them and reading about different situations and plays. When I was getting into football, it was nice that I knew who Diego Costa was and where he was at all times on the pitch, but it was MORE useful to know that he was a striker, how a well-placed through ball might reach him for a chance, what formation Chelsea played and why, etc.

Much (belated) thanks for this informative response. It sounds like my best bet is to go with a whole new setup for touring, with lighter skis, touring bindings and new boots. I'm only dimly aware of the specialized Dynafit/tech setups... is this something I should be looking into now, since I'm getting a dedicated setup for touring anyway (and keeping my existing ones for resort skiing)? Or is there a good reason to stay away from these until I'm more experienced out back?

Is there any particular model or type of ski you would recommend, or even just a suggested waist width? Do I want a really wide powder ski, something more rounded in the 98mm area, or something else entirely? (Unrelated to touring per se, I had been considering getting something like a Katana or even Shiro for a while. Should I consider something like that for touring specifically?)

If you know any shops in the US you'd particularly recommend for touring skis and boots, please let me know! I'm keenly aware of the importance of a bootfitter in general, but not so sure where to find one that specializes in touring.

Also appreciate the safety tip. While I have yet to take even the basic avalanche course (looking to take the level 1 first thing next season and go from there), I've been reading enough to get some idea of just how much I have to learn about this (e.g., this). Given that, I intend to go out only with pro guides for the time being.

Some questions in regards to the no stretch and no cool down: how are your performances? How much have you improved since you started running? Do you have any justifications for not? Also there is some research on the less is more theory. There is actually a whole book on it.. called [Run Less. Run Faster](
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1609618025/ref=mp_sim_p_dp_3?pi=SL500_SY125&qid=1347257908&sr=8-1)


I think this article is great. The author asks a lot of interesting questions. Then he postulates some theories around what is known and what is practiced. I'd love to see some research on the cool down effect planned over a periodized season. I would think the people who put in cool downs after intervals, tempos, races, etc will be more prepared for end-season tapers and championships than their non-cooling down counter part.

One really great place to start is the FreeDarko books--the first one is a history of the sport, which is a hell of a lot more interesting than you'd expect. The other book is a look at some of the greatest players of all time. Both these books are beautifully illustrated and have a totally unique take on basketball you won't find anywhere else.

As for being a Wolves fan, the SBNation blog is Canis Hoopus, which has a ton of really bright fans who keep up an active community and great game threads. Some other Wolves blogs:

http://www.awolfamongwolves.com/
http://www.thedailywolf.com/
www.punchdrunkwolves.com

Awesome you'll do great! The two books I used to get an idea of my custom training plan were https://www.amazon.com/80-20-Running-Stronger-Training-ebook/dp/B00IIVFAEY , Runner's World Run Less, Run Faster: Become a Faster, Stronger Runner with the Revolutionary 3-Run-a-Week Training Program https://www.amazon.com/dp/1609618025/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_tgoNybD4BWG66 and you could use the running chapters from Be Iron Fit: Time-Efficient Training Secrets For Ultimate Fitness https://www.amazon.com/dp/1599218577/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_AhoNybMDF2E54. I'd recommend reading and then blending to make a plan that works for you. I didn't agree with all the run fast tips so blended with others. Also try and get these in paperback as there are charts and such that are hard to read via ebook version.

Good luck!

the bible

Your mileage may vary with that.

Perhaps a better option, I've always liked the idea of hanging topo-maps on my walls when they aren't in use, just never got around to buying an actual map (so much more convenient to print it from caltopo).

Most of the stuff you mentioned will depend on the hiker's personality and what they like - I don't have a use for keychains - even if they are cool, they will end up in a drawer and I won't feel bad about that. On the other hand, I would adore a book thats simply pictures of various trails around my area, doesn't even have to have words (though a rough idea of the area they were taken at sure helps for when I see those amazing views and want to go inspect up close). Still, my hiking buddy is the exact opposite.

^^You ^^seriously ^^can ^^never ^^go ^^wrong ^^with ^^park ^^passes ^^though

The best $10 you’ll ever spend on gear is https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hikers-Gear-Guide-Second/dp/1426217846/

Mostly because it’ll teach you how little gear you really need, how common things can suffice, where to put your $$ when you do buy, and avoid making poor purchases.

Buying the latest is always expensive but the last model or two is often 95% as good and 70% less, if patient and you hunt across the entire Web.

Sometimes the super cheap AliExpress is the way to go, other times it’s best to save up for that Katadyn. With the book, plus seeking specifics in r/ you’ll know

If you haven't completed your Avy 1 course, that's your number one priority right now. Get the safety gear and learn how to use all the pieces before you attempt to venture out in the backcountry. Make friends, never go out alone.




Wasatch Backcountry Map <-- Buy the paper version and keep it in your pack.

Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain <-- This is your bible. Read it often. The man who wrote it is our state avalanche forecaster.

Utah Avalanche Center <-- Read every single page on this site.

Daily Advisory <-- Read the local advisory every. single. day.

Weather Forecast <-- Check the weather forecast every day, or very often. Watch what the winds are doing.

Snotel Stations <-- Check the Snotel stations during and after storms.


And please don't bootpack in the skin track. Nobody likes that guy.

Just be safe, use common sense, and take it slow at first. Don't jump in and try to bag Superior's south face until you're ready. Lastly, praise Ullr and do your snow dances.

Please don't get so defensive. I'm trying to help you be safer. If this is how you accept advice related to your safety, I honestly hope you don't do much more backcountry riding.

I also suggest you read this book, it's a great reference: http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844

Max Pass is good if you live in Connecticut. Plenty of stuff on there good for day trips or weekends. This year Whiteface, Gore, Windham and Bellayre have been added, giving even more options. Then you can also do trips out west with it if you want.

There loads of backcountry, much of it focused on the White Mountains in NH. If you're into backcountry this book is a good place to start. Tucks is awesome.

there's a training program in Training for climbing by Horst,

the self coached climber

and The rock climber's training manual

I like the 2nd and 3rd the best, the 2nd I'd recommend for newer climbers (the footwork drills are very thorough), and the 3rd I'd recommend because it has a chapter that focuses on bouldering.

I don't really think you absolutely need a book, there are plenty of resources online to put together a solid plan, but a book is nice too :)

The best plan for fontainebleau is to throw yourself at slopers. Just watch your wrists.

i've heard that coaching really helps you improve, but it sounds kind of like a book would be sufficient for your needs.

I have made great improvements using http://www.amazon.com/The-Time-Crunched-Cyclist-2nd-Ed/dp/193403083X

perfect for me because i don't have lots of time, and that book aims for about 7 hours a week max except for the endurance mtb program. and, this book has a cyclocross specific workout plan. i have gone from finishing bottom 25% of 4/5 to being competitive 3/4. i have also learned what my strengths and weaknesses are and am focusing on those before getting back into mtb season.

I think they should be allowed to, but they wouldn't be competitive enough to participate in the top professional leagues. In the book Andy Roddick Beat Me with a Frying Pan, the author dedicates a chapter to the gap between men and women in sports.

He concludes that the top women in the world compete at about the level of 15-year-old boys. For example, the world records in track and field for women are right around the records of 15-16 year-old boys. Also, the US Women's National soccer team regularly scrimmages 14-16 year-old men's club soccer teams. They can beat the 14-year-old squads pretty easily but once they play against the 15-year-old teams, they start having trouble. They start getting beat regularly playing against the 16-year-old teams. It's the same in basketball.

Even in non-physical sports, the top women aren't really close to the top men. The author interviewed the top women's pool player in the world, Jeanette Lee, and she said that if she played in the men's tour, she would be ranked around 200.

Two great books with excellent marathon training plans are:

• Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas
  
• Hansons Marathon Method
  
  Both have good intermediate plans in the ~50-55 mpw range that take 12-18 weeks. They also both contains tons of good info for a new marathoner.
  
  Good luck!

Here's a couple of books that i found useful when learning. For the cost of your class, you could buy some gear. I bought my rack and went out and started leading the easiest things i could find. I asked my partners to look at my placements and didn't climb anything where i wasn't at ease fiddling with my placements. After a season of this, i spent a day with a small group climbing with a guide and a pro climber. It was really useful then to have someone evaluate my placements and look at my technique. In short, spend the money on a rack. Get out and play with it.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Rock-Climb-5th-Series/dp/0762755342/ref=pd_sim_b_2/191-6286848-7768056

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0762782072/ref=pd_sim_b_1

These two will get you started. Once you're comfortable with your gear and are starting to think about multi-pitch climbing, it's a really good idea to read this one as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Climbing-Self-Rescue-Improvising-Mountaineers/dp/089886772X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395103810&sr=1-3&keywords=self+rescue+for+climbers

There are many books out there on these topics. I've read the three above and can vouch for their quality. When looking for the Jon Long books, be sure to get the latest edition.

> and a woman occasionally gets to the level where she may be drafted,

I'm not aware of this ever legitimately happening. I am a fan of some women's sports, and I've actually coached some fairly high level women's sports teams, but to be honest, most people (even most sexist people) often UNDERestimate the athletic gulf between men and women.

The USA women's NATIONAL ice hockey team (so the best women from the entire US) sometimes scrimmages boys HIGH SCHOOL teams (using women rules so no body checking), and AFAIK loses a decent amount of them. The US women's national soccer team (the best in the world) scrimmages guys youth travel teams (i think ones at a fairly high level, but not even like the u-17 men's national or whatever), and IIRC starts to struggle around 16, and starts getting dominated around 17. (source: http://www.amazon.com/Andy-Roddick-Beat-Frying-Pan/dp/0307352803)

Honestly, other than as a football kicker (of which a few have played, although I don't think one has ever started for a d1 team), I can't see a women realistically playing any men's college team sport. MAYBE as a baseball knuckle-ball pitcher? You'd have to ask somebody who knows more about baseball.

Copy pasta of a comment from another thread about intervals:

> If you're really interested in doing intervals check out the Time Crunched Cyclist. It's meant to get you race ready only using different types of intervals three times a week. There are plans for newbies and advanced riders, as well as for specific types of riding like long distance or for cross.

> I've been riding for three years and just did the beginner block over the winter and spring. I definitely got faster from it...which is expected as I've never followed a strict plan before.

I'd really recommend starting with the beginner plan and swap in at least 30 mins of dedicated skills work on the Sunday easy miles ride. Most peoplebeginners don't/haven't put a lot of time in practicing barriers, dismounts, and run ups and you can really put the hurt on them if you're even halfway decent.

As I said above, I started with the beginner block and I felt like I started noticing results at about 7 to 8 weeks in to the plan...which fits with the planned 'peak' the training block is supposed to provide. So figure out what your important races might be and plan to start training 8 weeks out.

Races count as workouts, just make sure you're getting enough saddle time though. Eg, if your race is 30 mins and the day calls for 90 mins total, make sure you're getting that extra 60 between warmups, pre-riding, etc...go for a short ride when you get home if you have to.

What age are you? Officially masters start at 30 or 31, I forget. If you're going to a bigger race with a masters category you're going to get destroyed. You'll find lots of racers that used to be hard core Cat1s in there who are just looking for a win, along with a few people in the same situation you're in. I'd really recommend staying in the beginner category this season. If you haven't made the podium in the beginner category you're in no way ready for the masters. (Even if you had, I still wouldn't suggest it)

I was pretty much you last summer. Land locked state, no sailing club close by, no relatives or friends who sail, and a burning desire to get out on the water.

I was able to learn to sail in four steps:

1. Read a beginners book on how to sail. The book I chose to read was The Complete Sailor by David Seidman. http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Sailor-Second-Edition/dp/0071749578 This was a fantastic book that was only $10 bucks for the pdf version. It is well written and contains some fantastic illustrations. Talks about everything from keeping a sailors eye on the wind and weather, to docking and anchoring, and even has a chapter on trailering your sailboat if I recall correctly. Also Inspecting the Aging Sailboat by Don Casey was a fantastic read to help a brand new buyer have some idea of what to watch out for and what questions to ask when buying a used boat. http://www.amazon.com/Inspecting-Sailboat-International-Marine-Library/dp/0071445455/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449298309&sr=1-1&keywords=inspecting+the+aging+sailboat
   
   
2. Buy a small, cheap boat. I decided to start small and limited myself to getting a dinghy sailboat that was under a thousand dollars. I have heard that starting on a dinghy is ideal. Learning sailing theory in small, responsive craft will help you when/if you move up to larger keel boats where it isn't as obvious that you are making small mistakes. A thousand dollars is easy to make at a summer job. The repairs on small boats are really cheap and if things break your not usually out much money. You will learn the fundamentals in an environment where mistakes like bumping into the dock are not overly disastrous.
   
   
3. Watch YouTube videos. I ended up purchasing a Hobie 16 after reading the books. I had the gentleman I purchased it from help me step the mast and raise the main before I finally bought the boat. No test sail, just did it right there in his front yard. Most people will be more than happy to help you rig it up the first time if you just ask. Afterwards I hit Youtube and watched videos on how to rig the boat to make sure I had it right. Searched for more videos about "How to sail a Hobie 16" and watched all the videos I could find.
   
   
4. Practice, practice, practice. After I had watched several videos, read the books, and set the sails up in the yard it was time to get out on the water. I literally just picked a day with 2-3 mph of wind, put the boat in the water and went for it. Once I was actually out and sailing, the details worked themselves out. I watched even more videos and asked Reddit the occasional question.
   
   I was able to go from no sailing experience to flying hulls in 20~ mph wind inside of a summer with this method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c105II-L8OA Far from perfect, but we are having a blast. I think a teenager would be able to pull of a similar feat with no problems. You will find fumbling around on the water is far better than dreaming from the shore.
   
   
   
   
   

As a newb, and with slightly different goals (more interested in motocamping, than backpacking, personally), I may be mistaken, but I don't think there is a list. Identify your goals and your needs, and that will inform your gear decisions.

I'd recommend checking out Andrew Skurka's book. It's well-written, and informative. https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Hikers-Gear-Guide-Second/dp/1426217846/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1505101910&sr=8-1

There's also some good info on his website if you want to save a few dollars (I haven't looked too much into the site, so I don't know how much the site and the book differ).

The sidebar here has some links that look really promising, and there are plenty of shake-down requests you can read to get an idea of what you might want.

Hi!

I am new to this as well. I've found a few different websites that have been very helpful for me.

Andrew Skurka's blog - Has a lot of great information in it. If you have some extra cash I highly recommend his book The Ultimate Hiker’s Gear Guide

Paul's blog - Gives a different perspective on things. Has budget friendly lists to work with.

I also have really liked the reviews from Man Makes Fire it has helped me tremendously with my gear selection.

Sweet, so running laps will be a great tool as other people have pointed out.

I was going to spit some workout ideas to you... but ultimately, everything I would be saying is from this book: Training for Climbing. It is the shit. It gives clear workout plans, exercises, etc depending on your experience level and area of focus. It also goes into the science and history of climbing. It's 100% worth buying- it's an incredible reference tool for training.

Make an effort to get to know the people in your class, find people that have the same interests as you in the backcountry. Get their emails or whatever before the class is over so you can ski with them!

Do the reading and the homework they want you to, participate when they ask questions - normal classroom stuff. Make sure you're wearing warm and comfortable clothes when you're outdoors so you can focus on what they're teaching rather than staying warm.

Then, just supplement the material they provide. Get some books like Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain and Snow Sense, go through some youtube channels [1] [2], there's even an avalanche podcast (Slide) now.

If you're looking for a book on systems and the basics of things like breakouts, forechecks, etc. you cannot go wrong with Hockey Plays and Strategies. It's a great resource to have for sure! The Hockey Coaching Bible is also a good one!

>Find a mentor.

A mentor will be the single best resource for you to grow as a climber and learn new skills. You can probably meet people at the local climbing areas. There are many skills that are very difficult to learn unless someone is there with you in person teaching you.

I recommend posting on partner finder and writing your name down at the closest gym even if its far, there might be someone there who also travels from your town every now and again.

Best of luck and until then enjoy bouldering and read The Single Pitch Manual and How to Rock Climb. Oh and listen to The Enormocast.

> formations are largely the same

Year to year this is mostly true (varying between countries and even divisions based on skills of players) but over a longer period it has changed quite a lot. If you're interested in this sort of thing I really recommend Inverting the Pyramid which is an amazing overview of how the "standard" formation has changed

This would be a good resource. David is a well respected skier and writer in the Stowe/Waterbury area. The back and side country in Stowe really picks up later in the season, but keep an eye on the depth at the stake and you might get lucky. I wouldn't sleep on spruce peak either, there is a lot of really fun and accessible glades to ride off the top of the old Big Spruce lift.

Read a book about marathon training. My favorites are:

Advanced Marathoning

Daniels Running Formula

Hansons Marathon Method

Even if you don't ultimately decide to use the plans from these books, you will gain a much better understanding of the principles behind proper marathon training, which will help you to make good choices when picking a plan.

I'm a runner who lifts, though I still haven't found my optimal balance between the two. I tend to focus on lifting in the winter, and running in the warmer months.

For lifting, I've had good success building a base with SL followed by Texas Method, though I've found my upper body numbers tend to stall quickly. I think I need more volume to keep making progress. When it comes time to up the number of running days I'm considering making a switch to 5/3/1 or another 4 day split because last summer I found my legs couldn't handle rep maxes on Friday, followed by long runs on Saturday. I just wasn't recovering fast enough.

When it comes to running, everyone always plugs Higdon and his plans. I agree they're good for beginners, but once I had a couple of races under my belt I really learned a lot from Daniels and Hudson & Fitzgerald. I think both books are really worth it it you're looking to become a better runner.

In terms of getting the gear to actually make the anchor, go to Sports Basement, REI or basically any outdoors shop and ask them for like 30 feet of 8-10mm cordilette and 30 feet of 1" tubular webbing. It's super cheap having that much material to work with will help keep you from making ridiculous anchors like the one you posted above.

It also seems like buying How to Rock Climb and reading the anchor section would be extremely helpful for you.

Don't waste your money on a course. First thing I would do get a book or two for about $15 each. This and this look like two good books. I'm Swedish so the books I use wouldn't be much use to you.

Next is to get a backpack and some gear. Once you have the gear pack it up in the backpack and go car camping for a couple of weekends. Only use what you have in the backpack.

Then you can progress to going on overnight trips. You should be able to find organized groups that go on backpacking trips. Start with simple overnights and progress from there. Or you can just go with friends.

I've always watched a lot of CFB and have a particular affinity for defensive players and the defensive side of the ball.


Last year I just kind of went off the games I had watched, combine, rumors and how Mayock felt about guys.



This year I am actually watching these guys snaps on youtube - usually 3-4 games per prospect. I've worked through the defnsive side of the ball over the past month top 7-8 guys at each position. It's pretty hard to see the cb snaps and deep safety play though.

March I am going to be watching a lot of the offensive players. It'll be interesting to see how my opinions on guys will actually pan out in the draft. I am hoping to watch 20-23 minutes of snaps for 4-5 rounds worth of players come draft day.

HAve also been reading Steve Belichik's Scouting Methods

Hey, I'm 43 and just got into running last year. It's been an amazing journey and the benefits in my life are innumerable. I have done a couple of half marathons with the same mentality as you... not fast or anything, just get through it. But I really caught the bug and now want to see how much I can improve but without going full on Pro athlete regimen.

I picked up the book Run Faster, Run Less

What appealed to me was the idea of only running 3 times a week. I found when I was trying to do a lot of KM's I was getting some niggling injuries because my legs still weren't up to it and let's face it, I'm getting older. This book has given me a bit of focus and I know I can trust the speeds I run at won't injure me (hopefully) and the rest between runs gives my body time to recover nicely.

It has plans for 5k,10k, half and marathon distances and explains the necessity for Speed work, Tempo runs and slower long runs. There's a ton of stuff out there and it can be quite mind boggling but this one has some science and real world experience behind it that appealed to me.

See a doctor, yes!

I could give you more advice but it is not going to do any good now that you have a injury. Climbers should try to avoid injury as a number one rule, especially tendon injuries. Tendon injuries take a long time to heal and even longer before they return to full strength.

3-4 evenings a week? How long have you been climbing. How are those days broken up. Most training guides I have read say that three days in a row is the absolute most you should climb if you are an elite level climber. Less if you are not. Make sure you getting rest.

If you feel a twinge in your tendons your best bet is to stop. For some reason if you can not make yourself stop then tape is a good option. Seek resources that show you how to sport tape your tendons. The information is readily out there if you look.

Repeatedly I tell people to find this book Training for Climbing . He has done the hard work for you and breaks it down in a concise manner.

I would stress the fact to seek medical professional if possible. Especially if you have insurance. The type of shooting pain, while typing nonetheless, is not something you want to wait around on to get better. In the mean time I would buddy tape the hell out of those fingers (immobilizing them).

This is where the heated debate starts as many people will tell you many many many different things. I love ice. Lots of ice. In addition I love ibuprofen. Many people will tell you that neither of those items are effective after the initial injury and will even slow down healing. If you have swelling in your fingers I find those two items to be a matter of do not forget. ever. I would ask your doctor and do your own research to find out what works for you.

As far as future prevention. I would try not to hang off holds by two fingers! lol. Climbing on plastic is also very hard on the tendons. Put those two things together and you have trouble. Try to save your massive efforts for outdoor climbing if possible, if you are into that type of thing.

Otherwise I would say warming up is extremely important. EXTERMELY. Warm tendons are more lastic than cold ones. Also make sure you are exercising antagonistic muscles in your forearm (hammer curls, reverse wrist curls). You have no muscles in your hand (well, you do have some below your thumb) so when you are holding on it is the mainly the forearm muscle that is supplying the muscle. An unbalanced muscle structure will put stress unevenly on the rest of your body (tendons for example). Also remember your tape.

David Halberstam is probably the most well-known NBA author in long-form content. "The Breaks of the Game" is an incredible account of the Blazers 79-80 season. "Playing for Keeps" is a narrative about MJ's career and impact. These are older works though.

As far as newer stuff, the Bill Simmons "Book of Basketball" is a monstrosity that has amazing in-depth content, provided you like Simmons.

The "FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History" is from 2010 and has amazing artwork and a unique perspective. I would highly recommend it.

Finally, something I can answer:

I have two books in my repertoire:

Bike Science 3rd Ed. - This breaks down the physics of what's happening. It goes in depth about materials, history, really everything bike related. It doesn't go into detail about makes and models though.

Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance - Where Bike Science is the why, Zinn gets down to brass tacks and gives you useful information on how to fix a bike (note that there is also a Zinn book for Mt. Bikes and triathlon bikes which I haven't read yet...). This is my go-to reference when something goes wrong with my bike.

BikeForums.net - So I don't know everything about anything but this is the place to do research. SRAM vs Ultegra? Trek vs Cannondale? Someone has already asked the question and it's on BikeForums somewhere. I trust people who've actually ridden/owned a bike I have a question about far more than some online review that was vetted by the manufacturer.

Hope it helps.

This book is a good start.

But figure out first if you want to turn your fun hobby into something you have to work for.

I try to break up the training and the just have fun aspect of climbing.

I use 2-3 months before season to train. After that I go to the gym to hang out and just have fun.

I break my training up into three phases

1. Endurance (3-4 weeks):
   
   Up-down-ups, Laps
   
   
2. Power (3-4 weeks):
   
   Bouldering
   
   
3. Power endurance (2-3 weeks):
   
   4x4's
   

The Hansons Method is great if you have time to run up to six days per week. Even if you don't follow their plan exactly, the book is an excellent resource (Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning is also a great book.)

I know you said books are not right because of time, but I still want to highly recommend The Complete Sailor, Second Edition.

Amazing intro book on sailing. Amazon Prime in just a few days if you can wait that long!

> decided to change that and after doing some research, settled on Chelsea and now I have some questions about the blues

Hmm, must have been a terribly difficult decision...https://www.premierleague.com/tables

Most people have covered the basics but there's a great and colourful history that goes beyond the last decade that people keep talking about, and for that reason you won't find a better resource than this:

https://www.amazon.com/Chelsea-FC-Biography-Rick-Glanvill/dp/0755314662/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1482160513&sr=8-2&keywords=rick+glanvill

I'll leave you with the following advice: one cannot pick his club. You may want to follow Chelsea now and think it's for you, but it's not for everyone and forcing support for a club doesn't work.

I suggest you continue to watch football and find out what more you like about it, and whenever that moment happens that makes a club yours, you will know it - and that could be any club, including us, and I hope you find that, no matter what club you end up on.

If you're regularly running a sub-30 5k, you'll be fine to step up the distance. I'd recommend Run Less, Run Faster; with paces programmed from your best 5k time, 3 x runs per week (fartlek, tempo, long) and 3 x cross training days, I found it the perfect way to train for longer distances.

This is great advice I don't have much to add here other than some additional reading. Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast: 50 Classic Ski Tours in New England and New York is also a great resource for information. There is an entire section devoted to Tucks that you should photocopy and stuff in your pack the first time you head up.

FreeDarko Presents: The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game

FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History

Both were forerunners to the type of books Shea and Goldsberry wrote. Long form essays, an attempt to apply a taxonomy to great players, and awesome art. Also some irreverent humor.

The usual rule of thumb for marathon training is 50 miles per week at the height of your training. If you can't reach that during the week because of commute times and such, I would just run like you do for your half marathons during the week and make sure you really utilize the long run over the weekend.

Long runs are the most important training run for a marathon. During your training if you can hit between 20-24 miles consistently for a few weeks then you should be fine for a marathon.

I hesitate to say you should run to work because carrying too much stuff while running may change your gait too much and end up in an injury.

The hardest part of marathon training is reaching the starting line injury free.

You should also read the book run less run faster.
http://www.amazon.com/Runners-World-Faster-3-Run---Week/dp/1609618025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457113381&sr=8-1&keywords=run+less

It doesn't detail a marathon training plan, but it does cover interesting research where runners would only run 4 times a week and make improvements on their mid to long distance race times.

A quick summary is, the most important runs during your week are, the long run, and interval training/speed work.

Roughly 25% of skier deaths are in tree wells.
Great book on avalanche terrain and safety.


Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain Brand: Mountaineers Books
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594850844/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdo_t1_JJaBCbG4EKVXR

I've got some semi-local rides that I can check that out on.

Will definitely check out Joe Friel's books. Thanks for the beta! :)

The books that helped me the most this year are listed below. What books, or training programs, do you recommend for someone who can get on 2-3 rides a week?



http://www.amazon.com/The-Time-Crunched-Cyclist-2nd-Ed/dp/193403083X

http://www.amazon.com/The-Feed-Zone-Cookbook-Flavorful/dp/1934030767

I know this isn't online, but Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain is regarded as one of the best books that really gets into the nitty gritty of avalanches, but remains understandable.

The Cyclist's Training Bible is the go-to introduction to training concepts. It's probably information overload if you're just getting into the sport, but there's a ton of good information.

The Time-Crunched Cyclist is a really good introduction to interval training. You'd need at least an HR monitor to do the workouts. I don't follow Carmichael's plans in that book, but I did adapt it a little to fit my needs last summer.

I've been reading this one recently. It's pretty helpful with a lot of techniques.

This one is great, too for just learning everything about the sport in general.

I have a book, written by my sister's friend and the guy who played Andy, called, "Andy Roddick beat me with a Frying Pan."

It's hilarious. I highly recommend it.

Running three days a week and cross-training at least two is the basis behind the book Run Less, Run Faster. The authors have you doing speed work on a track instead of the hills you're running, but you're fairly close to the "FIRST 3-plus-2" programme already. The book is not well-regarded by others on /r/running (in spite of the fact that the authors did studies which show it's effective) but I'm about twelve weeks into their "novice marathon" programme and it's treating my injury-prone legs very well.

You don't need to buy the book, the high points is that the two days a week of intense cardio will pretty much compensate for the aerobic base you normally achieve with extra miles at an easy pace.

Oh, and be sure not to do your long runs too fast. Run Less, Run Faster has them faster than most plans, it usually has you running them at only 9 to 28 seconds per kilometre slower than your marathon pace. But 6:30/km is only 7 seconds slower than your marathon pace for a 4:30 finish.

Don't go on /r/soccer. Chelsea fans are not welcome there, North American Chelsea fans even less so.

That being said, when I became a fan I read Chelsea FC The Official Biography which really helped with the history.

Also, weaintgotnohistory is a great site for transfer rumours and match discussions, and the Daily Hilario is always great.

These are some books I bought a few months back as a recommendation from someone on this sub and they're fantastic.

[Take Your Eye off the Ball 2.0] (http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-4&keywords=smart+football)

[The Art of Smart Football] (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/069244825X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-1&keywords=smart+football)

[The Essential Smart Football] (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/1470125595/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453326704&sr=8-2&keywords=smart+football)

Former 400: 52, 800: 156, 1609: 427 runner here.

I'm guessing your season starts in about March so I wouldn't make any big changes. Running miles in the morning can be useful if you're prepared for it. I'd be interested in what your mileage is before recommending doing morning runs.

Calisthenics is a great idea, getting more speed is always a plus. Coach jay johnson is great for strength training for running. http://coachjayjohnson.com/

I'd make the calisthenics apart of your weight lifting routine. Also be careful with the weight lifting if you are inexperienced. Lifts that are good for the 800 are important to do properly. Squats, cleans etc. I'd stick to box jumps, weighted step ups, calf raises, air squats, lunges (weighted or not weighted), push ups/pull ups.

Sleep, i'm sure you've heard it but this is pivotal.

Stretching is another one that can get overlooked.

I wouldn't do anything to crazy 2 months out. But after your season is over I'd take a look at some different training books. Jack Daniels book or peter coe's book and take some advice from those.

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Running-Successful-Racing-Training/dp/1852239972
https://www.amazon.com/Daniels-Running-Formula-3rd-Jack-ebook/dp/B00F0X7U2S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485570976&sr=1-1&keywords=daniels+running+formula

You've gotten links to Sheldon Brown's website. His site is an incredible resource.

Past that, I like Zinn and the Art. He has some great illustrations that really see you through some situations.

Also useful is Park tools webpage. It is basically the BBB (Big Blue Book) in electronic form.
Don't be afraid to spend on tools - they are invaluable. Just use your mechanical intuition, and think things through before doing them.

Boston here too. Not sure if anyone does backcountry group trips, but let me know if you find one! There's some decent side/back country terrain at Bolton Valley and Sugarloaf should have a whole bunch of new sidecountry stuff this year. If you're looking for an easy day trip, the Thunderbolt trail can be fun. There's also a few hut to hut routes you can do in the Whites and up near Katahdin in Baxter State Park. Tons more too in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Backcountry-Skiing-Northeast-Classic/dp/1934028142

If you want to start right at the bottom, Inverting the pyramid by Jonathan Wilson is a great book on the history of tactics from the 1900's all the way up to now. A lot of good stuff in there to make you think about why certain positions and tactics exist. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1409128644/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_L3NXDbSMFSTCP

I don't know too much about this myself, but I found "The Art of Smart Football" by Chris B. Brown (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Smart-Football-Chris-Brown/dp/069244825X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2/258-9038664-6346904?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4YW2R5VT4YR69EQDD7Y4) very enlightening.

The other one is great too, love the art and diagrams.

FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History
http://amzn.com/1608190838

To improve in climbing you need sport specific training and weight loss.

The loss of ten pounds even when I am out of shape can drastically improve my climbing.

I highly recommend:
Training for Climbing

How to Climb 5.12
The Rock Warriors Way

I have heard that Dave Macleod's book
and Self Coached Climber
are also really good.

This is also super in-depth and a great reference. Too much to take in in one sitting, you'll keep going back over time. https://www.amazon.com/Hockey-Plays-Strategies-Ryan-Walter/dp/0736076344

Start with The Art of a Beautiful Game by SI's Chris Ballard. It will make you fall in love.

I also recommend both the books from FreeDarko collective (buy them in hardcover for the fantastic artwork).

• Undisputed guide to pro basketball history
  
• The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac
  
  I started with The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam because literally everyone recommends it, but I found it dry like a boring history textbook or a Wikipedia entry on the Blazers.

If you're going on a week long vacation with family, unless you're hiring a guide or have a friend/family member who really wants to get into backcountry -- you'd be better off finding a mountain with tons of great terrain and snow. Snowbird, Alta, Telluride, Jackson (if you're flying from TX), or Taos would top the list.

If you have a partner or are willing to hire a guide ($$$) then the first step should be buying this book, reading it cover to cover, and deciding if backcountry skiing is right for you.

A really fun book you can get is Andy Roddick Beat Me with a Frying Pan. The author gets pro athletes to compete is basically bar bets, like playing tennis against Roddick where Roddick has to use a frying pan. The book shows how insanely seriously the pro athletes take competition no matter how silly. It's a really fun read.

https://www.amazon.com/Andy-Roddick-Beat-Frying-Pan/dp/0307352803

How to Rock Climb! by John Long
http://www.amazon.com/How-Rock-Climb/dp/0762755342/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420510588&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+rock+climb

He also has a good book on anchors.

While a book is cool to get you excited about climbing, theres no better way to learn than to go to your local gym and learn. If you live in an area where "climbing is atcually a thing" it shouldnt be too hard to find someone willing to teach you a thing or two.

For more a bit more insight into the defensive principles described in the article, I found the first chapter of Chris B. Brown's The Art of Smart Football a great read!

Goes into why Carroll prefers a one-gap defense. Also describes the reasoning behind his 4-3 Under and Cover 3 schemes.

The Complete Sailor is an awesome book - use the Look Inside feature to check out the illustrations - they give the book a lot of character so it's great for a coffee table or for casual reading. Might be a little too novice for a 1-year sailor, unless your dad hasn't had much formal instruction.

As mentioned already, Chapman's is good - it's the bible for any waterman. However, it has so much stuff there's very little on sailing (only 40 pages on the topic). It won't tell you much about sail trim, for example. But it covers a lot - I read it cover to cover last year and if I retained anything (I didn't) I'd be a damn genius.

I can't wait for The Annapolis Book of Seamanship to come out with it's much needed 4th edition in January. I hear this is the bible for sailors, but I haven't picked it up since I'm waiting for that new edition. But only because it has more electronics/GPS mentions - I'm sure all the actual sailing stuff is the same between the two.

I would suggest that you use a plan, it will help you not overdo, something quite common when you start running.

I've used Hanson marathon program (https://www.amazon.fr/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Renegade-Fastest/dp/1934030856). There's plenty of others

It has good info and the programs are achievable. In my case, I shaved off 30 minutes from my usual time on marathon. The biginner plan is good too

when you train for a marathon, the fact that you're fine to do more one day doesn't mean you should. It's a construction, you build up capacities, speed, strengh, endurance... Rest and easy days are part of your training.

For example, If you do an interval run, something that improve your maximum speed, the next day, you shouldn't do a long run, otherwise, you'll just hurt yourself. But instead, do an easy slow run

Also, if you have knee problems, check if your shoes are right for the job or if they're dead.

When I did my first race, I was 110kilos, my shoes were for some guy weighting 70... It didn't end well

Book 1 is good.
Try these as well

Book3

Book 4

Book 5 - I have not read this book but I trust the author

> can you clarify? (new to this). Thanks!

You may want to check this book and this book out from your local library. There is a "new competitor" plan in the first book that focuses on the goals you outlined in your post. But, even the "time crunched" plans require 6+ hours on the bike per week over 3 to 4 days. Is she able to hop on a trainer once or twice a week in addition to heading out with you and the groups? Those books with the included plans may help.

Have you considered riding with your wife outside of the group setting for a bit? You'd be able to train with her and get her endurance up so she'd be able to hang with the groups you both would rather ride with.

In the end, the shortest answer to help her is "ride more" but that's more of an /r/bicycling response than an /r/velo response.

Edit: And in case anyone is curious, it seems OP is in Florida. Around my parts, 30 mile routes at 18-20mph is no joke, let alone 22 or 24mph. But, rated climbs are about 5 miles from my driveway ;)

I keep The Backpackers Field Manual by Rick Curtis in my EDC bag and on take it on all my adventures. It has some very helpful information and is easy to navigate.

Keep your eye off the ball NFL edition is good

Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look https://www.amazon.com/dp/1629371696/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i.vWAbRA5EMJN

Also the art of smart football

The Art of Smart Football https://www.amazon.com/dp/069244825X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qawWAb8X0RP9W

Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance and youtube were my best friends when I built up my road bike from a frameset and components (new and used).

Highly highly recommend The Complete Sailor by David Seidman. Not sure why but I find myself reading and re-reading this one more than Chapman (which is another must have). Happy hunting!

Identifying break-outs is probably one of the easier places to start. Here's a short article on some.

The idea of dumping the puck in, is getting through all the defenders that clog up the neutral zone. Just skating the puck in is pretty hard to do at times, so toss it in and use the built up speed to get past defenders, then setup down low.

I think this book, Hockey Plays and Strategies is pretty awesome. There used to be an EA NHL site that had many excerpts but I can't find it. It has 'look inside' on amazon so you can check some of it out that way.

For mountaineering a good start would be to pick up a used copy of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills. Here's a link to the current 9th edition. I have the 7th edition from when I started climbing. Used copies of the 7th are going for under $2.

The Complete Sailor, Second Edition, by David Seidman is the best beginner book I have found. It covers a lot of ground and is very clear in what it covers.

Most of these are analytical:

Take your eyes of the ball by Pat Kirwan.


The Games That Changed the Game: The Evolution of the NFL in Seven Sundays by Ron Jaworski

War Room: The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team by Michael Holley


The Art of Smart Football by Chris B. Brown

the abilities of top female athletes are generally equivalent to top male athletes at age ~14. This book has a whole really entertaining chapter on it.

Awesome, I'll give it a whirl!

So far my knowledge comes solely from Climbing Anchors and How to Rock Climb, but I am definitely planning on taking a course!

Take a class from a certified mountain guide.

No, seriously. Take a class.

Failing that, find a partner who has 1) many many years of mountain experience. Offer to belay them anywhere and everywhere. Learn from them. 2) REALLY has many years of experience. There are quite a few folks who present themselves as experts but know fuck-all - it's terrifying.

Read read read and practice practice practice. Some good books are:

Moutaineering: Freedom of the Hills

How to Rock Climb! - John Long

Climbing Anchors - John Long

More Climbing Anchors - John Long

Training for Climbing - Eric Horst

Climbing Self Rescue - Tyson and Loomis


It is very important to realize that these skills should be second nature to you. When you are tired, cold, or frightened you should not be trying to remember how to rig a clove hitch on an equalette or set up a 3-to-1 to haul your partner over the crux of the 2nd pitch, in the dark. Buy gear, watch videos, read books and practice at home. Be confident without being over-confident.

Mountaineering (in all its forms) is a long slow progression of skill and judgement.

I haven't read it, or really pursued training programs at all, but I see "The Time-Crunched Cyclist" recommended pretty frequently, including by the amateur racers in my club.

Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain is considered a go-to print resource for avy education. http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Alive-Avalanche-Terrain-Tremper/dp/1594850844

You can read as much as you'd like, but nothing replaces field experience. Get out with some guides, dig some pits, and ask questions. If you plan on spending a good amount of time in the backcountry, look into getting avy certified.

High school coach here. Coaching Team Defense by Fritz Shurmur is considered the "Bible" of defense by many in the coaching profession. This book, along with Bill Walsh's Finding the Winning Edge and Steve Belichick's Football Scouting Methods, are on every list of coaching "canon." I don't know if you're looking for something this technical, but reading Shurmur's book will change the way you watch teams play defense forever.

I can recommend Chelsea FC: The definitive story of the first 100 years by Rick Glanville, it is an excellent read

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0755314662/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_i30avb150AZ4Q

Maybe check out Run Less, Run Faster 3+2 plans? I had to wrestle with the same sort of question as my main race this year will be age group nationals (olympic distance) in August.

However, I still wanted to PR in the marathon this April. Last year I followed a similar schedule but dropped biking and swimming completely with around 7 weeks left before the marathon. This year I've just boosted the volume significantly. With six weeks left I'm just over where I was last year for running mileage, but my overall training volume is significantly higher (137.25 hours compared to 94.25 hours over the first 13 weeks of training). This equates to an approximate increase of 3.25 (7.25 to 10.5) hours per week. I've also dropped intensity significantly, adopting a more polarized approach.

We'll see how it goes.

I used the Hanson Marathon Method (HMM) for my second marathon. I did a much longer breakdown of how it went and my previous training here: http://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/nb53z/44_minute_marathon_pr_after_following_the_hansons/c37q09f

TL;DR that long post: I didn't bonk at 16 and finished feeling as good as could be expected. After I found out there offered custom training schedule and such I started using their online coaching service. But, they've also published a book that I highly recommend.

http://www.amazon.com/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Renegade-Fastest/dp/1934030856

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0736076344/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2IV0CFIBC6CNM&coliid=I3IX11FOZWQD69

is supposedly pretty good. however that is more of a book for coaching.

I haven't actually read it myself so not a recommendation, but Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid is supposed to be an excellent book on tactics: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inverting-Pyramid-History-Football-Tactics/dp/1409128644

it all just depends what you are working on, and its important to alternate exercises. these are all good, but there are so many different combos that you cant really go too wrong. the 'hang 10, rest 5' is based on a time ratio that is proven to show results in all sports. I read about it in an Eric Hoorst book. This not only has great exercises for gym and hangboarding, but explains why they are good and how they should be utilized. it even helps you design workout schedules to target your weaknesses. great stuff

Here’s the book on Amazon:

The Time-Crunched Cyclist, 2nd Ed.: Fit, Fast, Powerful in 6 Hours a Week (The Time-Crunched Athlete) https://www.amazon.com/dp/193403083X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_WtA6Bb2X4FP21

I used Hanson's to train for my first marathon. I thought it was a good plan and would recommend it. You can find the basic plan outlines online but I'd recommend reading the entire book as they go into the individual workouts in more detail.

http://smile.amazon.com/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Renegade-Fastest/dp/1934030856/

I haven't read it myself (planning too though), but I've heard a lot of praise about inverting the pyramid:The History of Football Tactics.

I follow the Hanson Running Method for Marathon based off http://www.amazon.com/Hansons-Marathon-Method-Renegade-Fastest/dp/1934030856

If anyone is interested to run a Marathon in less than 4:15:00 in April, can follow https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/0p8c4ojstad9eqqllqa7gln4f4%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=0p8c4ojstad9eqqllqa7gln4f4%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York

The calendar is still WIP and will update with pace info in sometime, so downloading the iCal after a week will be more useful

C denotes a style of aid climbing know as "clean aid". Basically it means that you can ascend the route without a hammer (i.e. you're not going to need pitons, bashies, etc.). In fact, a lot of routes, like the one your asking about, is technically C0. Seriously though, two books that are worth the time for any aspiring aid climber:

Freedom of the Hills

Big Walls