The Sports & Outdoors category has 1,991 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 11,712 ratings. The most-rated is Burke's Law.
Late to the Ball
Summary
Being a man or a woman in your early 60s is different than it was a generation or two ago, at least for the more fortunate of us. We aren't old...yet. But we sense it coming: Careers are winding down, kids are gone, parents are dying (friends, too), and our bodies are no longer youthful or even middle-aged. Learning to play tennis in your 50s is no small feat, but becoming a serious, competitive tennis player at the age of 60 is a whole other matter. It requires training the body to defy age and to methodically build one's game - the strokework, footwork, strategy, and mental toughness. Gerald Marzorati started playing the game seriously in his mid-50s. He had the strong desire to lead an examined physical life, to push his body into the "encore" of middle age. In Late to the Ball, Marzorati writes vividly about the difficulties, frustrations, and triumphs of his becoming a seriously good tennis player. He takes on his quest with complete vigor and absolute determination to see it through, providing a rich, vicarious experience involving the science of aging, his existential battle with time, and the beautiful, mysterious game of tennis.
©2016 Gerald Marzorati (P)2016 Tantor
Devenir champion
Summary
La différence entre les champions et les espoirs : le mental. Les sportifs donnent souvent l'impression d'être des rocs impénétrables et incassables. Dans l'imaginaire collectif, l'exigence liée aux compétitions, à l'entraînement quotidien suppose un mental d'acier, une force morale surhumaine qui ne peut se permettre de plier à la moindre difficulté rencontrée. Ce n'est pas faux : supporter l'intensité du très haut niveau n'est pas à la portée de tous, il faut une sacrée dose d'égo, de volonté, de courage pour y prétendre. Mais les athlètes sont des femmes et des hommes comme les autres : ils doivent dépasser, surmonter des épreuves et ont tout à gagner à mieux se connaître. Devenir champion propose précisément de plonger au cœur des obstacles auxquels se trouvent confrontés nos sportifs. Qu'ils soient basketteurs, gymnastes, footballeurs, tous ont au moins une fois dans leur carrière jeté l'éponge, après une défaite humiliante ou une blessure. Cédric Quignon-Fleuret, Psychologue clinicien et responsable de l'Unité de Psychologie du Sport de l'INSEP, partage la sphère intime de nos plus grandes personnalités sportives et pourvoyeurs de médailles depuis de longues années. Fort de cette expérience unique, il partage dans cet ouvrage une analyse sans détours des principaux maux ou épreuves auxquels les champions sont confrontés, depuis leur enfance jusqu'à leur consécration sur le podium. Son propos s'appuie sur des interviews et des témoignages exclusifs qui, chaque fois, servent de socle à la présentation de l'auteur. Riche et instructif, vision inédite du monde des sportifs de haut niveau, Devenir champion montre comment psychologie et performance sont les meilleures alliées d'une carrière sportive.
©2016 Edi8 (P)2020 Audible Studios
Self Defense Tips Everyone Should Know
Summary
Do you want real self-defense tips that are based on what works in the real world? Then look no further. This audiobook is as real as it gets! In this audiobook, you will learn: How to properly take responsibility for your personal safety How to formulate a self-defense game plan that works How to sharpen your awareness skills and stay "switched on" How to conquer fear and adrenaline How to really hit hard and hit first when necessary How to instill panic in your attacker and force them to capitulate And much more By the time you finish listening to this audiobook, you will have a complete self-defense game plan in place, and you will know more about how to protect yourself than most people out there - even the ones who train in self-defense already! This audiobook is based on a lifetime's experience from martial arts/self-defense training and real-world experience from the street and working doors as a bouncer. No one else will come to your rescue if you get in trouble. Only you can protect yourself when needed. Let this audiobook show you how.
©2013 Neal Martin (P)2014 Neal Martin and Paul Holbrook
The Agony of Victory
Summary
What makes some men drive themselves to succeed in their chosen sport, no matter how daunting the odds? And what are the struggles that victory almost inevitably brings? Meet the swiftest and saddest cyclist of his time, a man whose craving for speed was outstripped by a terrible urge toward self-annihilation. Try to understand the most accomplished high-school runner in American history, whose long-distance records still astound and who, a few years later, abruptly abandoned his wife and three small children. Learn about the briefly glorious life of the leading scorer in Division I college basketball, one of the inner city’s great success stories . . . while it lasted. This superbly narrated and insightful audiobook follows the paths of thirteen ravaged champions in solitary crafts such as cycling and running, bowling and boxing, hiking and golf. These men work at and master their sports, driven only by a burning need to prove themselves. Movingly detailed here are their painful journeys to grace, and their eventual realization that no victory brings lasting happiness. In short, here is the human experience, told in seconds and miles, scorecards and records.
©2013 Steve Friedman (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Eat and Run
Summary
For nearly two decades, Scott Jurek has been a dominant force - and darling - in the grueling and growing sport of ultrarunning. In 1999, as a complete unknown, he took the lead of the Western States Endurance Run, a 100-mile traverse over the old Gold Rush trails of the California Sierra Nevada. He won that race seven years in a row, setting a course record along the way. Twice he won the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile “jaunt” through Death Valley. Recently he set an American record of 165.7 miles in 24 hours - six and a half marathons in one day. And he was one of the elite runners who traveled to Mexico to run with the Tarahumara Indians, as profiled in the bestseller Born to Run. His accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary, but that he has achieved all of this on a plant-based diet makes his story all the more so. In Eat and Run, Scott Jurek opens up about his life and career - as an elite athlete and a vegan - and inspires runners at every level. From his Midwestern childhood hunting, fishing, and cooking for his meat-and-potatoes family, to his early beginnings in running (he hated it), to his slow transition to ultrarunning and veganism, to his world-spanning, record-breaking races, Scott’s story shows the power of an iron will and blows apart all the stereotypes of what athletes should eat to fuel optimal performance. Chock-full of incredible, on-the-brink stories of endurance and competition, fascinating science, and accessible practical advice - including his own favorite plant-based recipes - Eat and Run will motivate everyone to “go the distance”, whether that means getting out for that first run, expanding your food horizons, or simply exploring the limits of your own potential. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2012 Scott Jurek (P)2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
The Last Great Mountain
Summary
The Last Great Mountain tells the story of the first ascent of Kangchenjunga the third highest but reputedly the hardest mountain in the world. It was an astonishing achievement for a British team led by Everest veteran Charles Evans. Drawing on interviews, diaries and unpublished accounts, Mick Conefrey begins his story in 1905 with the disastrous first attempt on the mountain by a team led by Aleister Crowley, explores the three dramatic German expeditions of the the late 1920s and brings it all to a climax 50 years later with the first ascent by Joe Brown and George Band. The Last Great Mountain is the final instalment of Mick Conefrey's acclaimed high-altitude trilogy.
©2020 Mick Conefrey (P)2021 Audible, Ltd
Still Life with Brook Trout
Summary
Brilliant, witty, perceptive essays about fly-fishing, the natural world, and life in general by the acknowledged master of fishing writers In Still Life with Brook Trout, John Gierach demonstrates once again that fishing, when done right, is as much a philosophical pursuit as a sport. Gierach travels to Wyoming and Maine and points in between, searching out new fly-fishing adventures and savoring familiar waters with old friends. Along the way he meditates on the importance of good guides ("really, the only thing a psychiatrist can do that a good guide can't is write prescriptions"), the challenge of salmon fishing ("salmon prowl - if they're not here now, they could be here in half an hour...or tomorrow...or next month"), and the zen of fishing alone ("I also enjoy where my mind goes when I'm fishing alone, which is usually nowhere in particular and by a predictable route"). On a more serious note, he ponders the damaging effects of disasters both natural and man-made: drought, wildfires, and the politics of dam-building, among others. Reflecting on a trip to a small creek near his home, Gierach writes, "In my brightest moments, I think slowing down...has opened huge new vistas on my old home water. It's like a friendship that not only lasts, but gets better against the odds." Similarly, Still Life with Brook Trout proves that Gierach, like fly-fishing itself, becomes deeper and richer with time.
©2005 John Gierach (P)2018 Tantor
The Fastest Game in the World
Summary
Played on frozen ponds in cold northern lands, hockey seemed an especially unlikely game to gain a global following. But from its beginnings in the 19th century, the sport has drawn from different cultures and crossed boundaries - between Canada and the United States, across the Atlantic, and among different regions of Europe. It has been a political flashpoint within countries and internationally. And it has given rise to far-reaching cultural changes and firmly held traditions. The Fastest Game in the World is a global history of a global sport, drawing upon research conducted around the world in a variety of languages. From Canadian prairies to Swiss mountain resorts, Soviet housing blocks to American suburbs, Bruce Berglund takes listeners on an international tour, seamlessly weaving in hockey’s local, national, and international trends. Written in a lively style with wide-ranging breadth and attention to telling detail, The Fastest Game in the World will thrill both the lifelong fan and anyone who is curious about how games intertwine with politics, economics, and culture.
©2021 Bruce Berglund (P)2021 Audible, Inc.
Deep Blue
Summary
For those who dare, things often go wrong on the sea. Deep Blue offers some of literature's greatest stories about the ocean and the people who risk its wrath. Castaways, pirates, and victims of shipwreck all fight to survive in far-flung places and under harrowing circumstances. Together, these works offer a convincing reminder of the sea's dangers and mysteries.
©2001 by Nate Hardcastle (P)2002 Listen & Live Audio, Inc.
Marathon Mum
Summary
'It's the finish line, not the finish time.' In the late '80s, our Rachel was having a boss time as a podium dancer at the Pleasuredrome, Birkenhead. Fast forward several years, and she's married, with the kids she's always dreamed of, but the body she's always dreaded. To make things worse, her husband, Trevor, begins to show his true controlling colours and Rachel blames herself, spiralling into depression. Until she discovers running. Buzzing from her epiphany, the 'Forrest Gump of the Mersey' is derided by Trevor, but catches the attention of some local women, all struggling and vulnerable in their own ways. These disparate women persuade Rachel to lead them in a running club, to get a bit of whatever she's on, where they all discover more than the mere chance to shed a few pounds in this burgeoning sisterhood. Dealing with the dark and many faces of depression with a refreshing lightness of touch unique to this working-class woman from the Wirral, Marathon Mum is an uplifting story of the healing to be found in community, and the corners we can turn when we push ourselves across the line.
©2021 Rachel Brown and Warren FitzGerald (P)2021 Boldwood Books
Mud, Rocks, Blazes
Summary
Following her best-selling memoir, Thirst, here is the next step in Heather “Anish” Anderson’s adventurous life journey - one of deep emotion and self-discovery Despite her success setting a self-supported Fastest Known Time record on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013, Heather “Anish” Anderson still had such deep-seated insecurities that she became convinced her feat had been a fluke. So two years later she set out again, this time hiking through mud, rocks, and mountain blazes to crush her constant self-doubt and seek the true source of her strength and purpose. The 2,189 miles of the Appalachian Trail, from Maine to Georgia, did not make it easy. Anderson struggled with its infamous rain, humidity, insects, and steep grades for 54 days. But because she had to fight for every step, she knew when she reached the summit of Springer Mountain, the AT’s southern terminus, that she had fully earned the trail. Of greater value, she learned to love herself and her body, and to feel the depth of her power. Examining emotional scars as well as her relationship with her mother, Anderson’s deeply internal yet highly physical journey in Mud, Rocks, Blazes is an essential story.
©2021 Heather Anderson (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing