One Track Mind By Michael Stocks Release date: 06th April, 2021 Publisher: Reed Peak List Price: £9.99 Our Price: £7.69 You Save: £2.3 (23%) Buy Now

Be honest. How many times have you taken a fact and moulded it into an often fatuous reason for failing to do something? Regrettably, this particular ability is an affliction from which all humans suffer, whether they?re in a working environment (?the copier wasn?t working, so I couldn?t finish the report.?), or considering embarking on physical activity. ?It?s cold and raining? is a fact of life should you live in northern Europe, but too often it becomes a justifiable reason / excuse for failing to exercise. In other words, our brains shape the factual evidence to ensure it fits with our bias. Our preparedness to give up on physical exercise, especially when it becomes ?too difficult?, almost always stems from the brain; the body, as Michael Stocks confirms in this incredible book, is capable of achieving significantly more than the mind is willing to acknowledge. Pushing fifty, Stocks was, in his own words, a "burned-out businessman living on wine, pizza, coffee and thirty cigarettes a day." He had enjoyed little affinity with running after finishing last in the 1,500m at school, yet with enviable determination, he pushes himself to break through the flimsy barriers erected by his brain to become an ultra-runner of the extreme variety. Stocks? aim is to run 150 miles, more than half a dozen marathons, back-to-back, inside 24 hours. Why would a middle-aged man even consider such a project? Among the reasons outlined by Stocks is the wonderfully patriotic resolve to represent his country. ?There are many reasons for the run,? he writes, ?but above all else is the possibility of being selected to run for Great Britain. Every step I take beyond 150 miles will give me a greater chance of being chosen to wear the GB vest at the 24- Hour World Championships? And when I stand on the start line, I?ll be forty-nine years old.? To say the odds are stacked against him is an understatement, yet he successfully motivates himself to over-ride the brain?s objections and train, irrespective of weather conditions, every day. One Track Mind is an inspirational narrative which offers readers an opportunity to consider the mental tools applied by Michael Stocks in his ultra-running attempt, many of which could be used to pierce the barriers erected by the mind when external conditions appear less than auspicious.