Chasing Kona: From back of the pack smoker to racing the Ironman World Championships in Kona


Rob Cummins - 2017
    There was some sort of bike race on and I half watched while lighting another cigarette off the butt of my last one for a minute before switching channels again. Just as I hit the button on the remote the commentator mentioned something about the athletes swimming before and running afterwards as well as racing the bike. I thought he said something about the run being a marathon but that couldn't be right. This sparked my interest and I switched back, but he was talking about something else so I waited for him to get around to describing exactly what this race was. I didn't have long to wait as he said they first did a 2.5 mile swim, then 112 miles on the bike all topped of with running a marathon. I was stunned. I didn't think that would be physicially possible and as I lit another cigarette I wondered how many days did they have to do it. I guessed it would have to be three days. Swim the first day, bike the second and run the third but it still sounded like a crazy thing to do. Then he said that they did it all in the one day, one after another without stopping. I was completely incredulous. And hooked. I remained glued to the TV and learned that these bronzed, muscular Greek God looking athletes weren't all professionals either. There was an amateur or "age group" race as well Although I could hardly tell the difference between the pros and amateurs. They all looked unbelievably fit. As I sat there mesmerised I swore to myself that I'd race there someday. I'd stop smoking and drinking and somehow do "The Ironman" At the time I had no idea what that meant or how I would do it and after a while as things have a way of doing I got busy with life and I forgot all about The Ironman and Hawaii. I forgot until several years later when I had actually given up smoking and had taken up triathlon. It had taken me two years and sixteen races of swimming breast stroke before I learned to swim properly. I never once looked even remotely like Kona material but I wanted to have a go at doing an Ironman. It took another three years before I plucked up the courage and lined up for my first one in Nice, France. I finished in the last quarter of the field, hours behind the athletes racing for those precious Kona slots. Nothing I had done up to then had given any indication that I should have had a reason to believe I had a chance at qualifying, but three years later when I asked Aisling, my wife if she thought it was possible she immediately said yes and then she added let's do it. Aisling's belief in me started us on a journey that led to me treading water on the most iconic start line in triathlon, waiting for the cannon to fire at the start of the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. This is how we overcame all of the odds and discovered what it would take to get to the Ironman World Championships. This is our Kona story.

Jiu-Jitsu on the Brain


Mark Johnson - 2012
    It’s not a grab-the-lapel-with-your-left-hand kind of book. There are no techniques in it; it’s not an instructional text. Those books already exist, and some of the most brilliant masters of jiu-jitsu have written them. This is a book about the everyday jiu-jitsu, the lessons that we learn on and off the mat, lessons we absorb from not only our professors, but also our peers, lessons about BJJ and life.Section Titles include:Alligator Arms Cooking Your Opponent: A Recipe for Meathead Soup Jiu-Jitsu as Mistress If the Bone is Poking Through the Skin, it’s Broken Wipe your Bum Technique: The Great EqualizerAn Expensive Gi will not Improve your Jiu-Jitsu There is no Dim Mak Technique Freaks+23,000 words

How to Start a Blog - The Step-by-Step Process of How We Started Earning $10,000/Month: How We Made $103,457.98 in Our First Year Blogging!


Lauren McManus - 2018
    Together, we own and run TWO successful blogs! We went from $0 to over $103,457.98 in our first year of blogging, and we now make over $100,000 per month between both of our combined blogs, and we’re going to tell you EXACTLY how we got started in this eBook. It’s going to include the ups and the downs, the great successes and the complete and utter failures, and all of the steps in between.

The Eagle and the Dragon: A Story of Strength and Reinvention


Chris Duffin - 2019
    The story of his unconventional life will take you from gripping tales of murder, trauma, heartbreak, and survival deep in the Pacific Northwest wilderness all the way to an idealization of the self-made man--still flawed, but never broken.
In The Eagle and the Dragon, you'll follow one man's journey into the darkness of his own heart and witness the transformation of alcoholism, pain, and defeat into vision, character, and victory. Through Chris's powerful self-realization, you'll see how the human spirit can be either shackled by circumstance or freed from it.Strength and Reinvention: the Eagle and the Dragon. Are you ready to walk through the fire and make your vision a reality?This book will show you how.

Coleman's Laws: The Twelve Medical Truths You Must Know To Survive


Vernon Coleman - 2014
    Here's how Dr Coleman describes this book: `However good your doctor is, and however much you may trust him or her, you must share the responsibility for your own health, and you must know when to tell your doctor if you think that the treatment with which he or she is providing you, could be causing problems. After all, if things go wrong, your nice friendly doctor is more likely to kill you than is a burglar a deranged relative or a drunken motorist. Remember: one in six people in hospital are there because they have been made ill by a doctor. I have built this book around ther twelve basic laws of medicine which I have, over the years, formulated for my own benefit as a doctor, an observer and a patient. I have illustrated each of the 12 laws with clinical anecdotes and scientific data.' Here, for example, is Coleman's First Law of Medicine: `If you are receiving treatment for an existing disease and you develop new symptoms then, until proved otherwise, you should assume that the new symptoms are caused by the treatment you are receiving.' Dr Vernon Coleman is the author of over 100 books - many of them international bestsellers. His books have sold over two million copies in hardback and paperback in the UK alone and have been translated into 25 languages. Dr Coleman has written columns and articles for many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines and has presented numerous TV and radio programmes based on his books. In the mid 1980s he devised the world's first medical software for use on home computers. For more information about Dr Coleman's books please see the Vernon Coleman page on Amazon or visit www.vernoncoleman.com What the papers say: Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books - Good Book Guide The calmest voice of reason - The Observer A godsend - Daily Telegraph Brilliant - The People No thinking person can ignore him - The Ecologist Marvellously succinct, refreshingly sensible - The Spectator Probably one of the most brilliant men alive today - Irish Times King of the media docs - The Independent Britain's leading health care campaigner - The Sun Britain's leading medical author - The Star Perhaps the best known health writer for the general public in the world today - The Therapist The patient's champion - Birmingham Post A persuasive writer whose arguments, based on research and experience, are sound - Nursing Standard The doctor who dares to speak his mind - Oxford Mail He writes lucidly and wittily - Good Housekeeping The man is a national treasure - What doctors don't tell you Compulsive reading - The Guardian His message is important - The Economist Revered guru of medicine - Nursing Times His advice is optimistic and enthusiastic - British Medical Journal It's impossible not to be impressed - Western Daily Press Outspoken and alert - Sunday Express Hard hitting - inimitably forthright - Hull Daily Mail Refreshingly forthright - Liverpool Daily Post Dr Coleman made me think again - BBC World Service

VAN WARS: The real story of the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars


Teddy Rennoc - 2019
    In Glasgow, in the 1980s neither the Police nor the Public could understand why grown men were fighting over the rights to sell ice cream, the violence was extreme, and the streets of the housing estates were turned into war zones. Crowds of youths gathered on the street corners, while adults hung from their flat windows watching real-life scenes far more exciting than anything they could see on TV the smashing of Ice cream vans and cars, slashings and stabbings of rival Ice cream men were a nightly occurrence. And the reason behind the violence was that you could earn more money selling Ice cream than you could from selling drugs. The lack of shops in the vast run-down housing estates with thousands of families who had money to spend was a captured market providing an excellent living for the Italian families who controlled the Ice cream trade in Glasgow. Tam McGraw was building a reputation as an up and coming gangster who led a team that specialised in post office, factory, and cash and carry raids throughout Scotland. Tam McGraw realised that he could earn a lot more money a much easier way than robbing post offices, he could sell Ice cream. But first Tam had to test the strength of the Italians and the reaction of the police. McGraw went for the jugular right from the start. He knew Marchetti would not give in easily, and they would try to defend their territory. So he started with Carntyne one of Marchetti's most lucrative routes. Marchetti Brothers were about to suffer brutality and destruction of a kind they could never have imagined in their wildest nightmares. McGraw planned to be the Ice Cream King of Scotland, and Carntyne is where he would lay the foundations of his throne. Nothing or no one would stand in his way. This is the real story of the Glasgow Ice Cream Van Wars. The shocking violence mixed with a decent portion of Glaswegian humour will keep you turning the pages until the end. Written in a broad Glaswegian dialect with a lot of swearing, the author writes as he speaks. This book might not be suitable for those who prefer perfect grammar and proper English. But if you can see past that then I am sure you will find it an enjoyable read. Teddy Rennoc.

Taboo Secrets of Pregnancy


Michelle Smith - 2010
    Join this pregnant mom of two as she journeys yet again through the rough and tumble life of a pregger. Boldly proclaiming taboo truths on those touchy subjects that books gloss over and doctors 'forget' to mention.