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Fast and Slow: Discovering Strength Beyond Speed: A Memoir
Not yet published
Expected 30 Mar 27The most decorated athlete in track and field history reveals how her journey to becoming a mother turned into the fight of her life—and pushed her to find her voice as an advocate and champion, on and off the track
I’m really, really fast. But there’s no such thing as “fast” inside a delivery room.
Allyson Felix, one of the fastest women in the world, meticulously planned out her life according to the rigid training and competition schedule expected of all top female runners. From a young age she witnessed older teammates wrestle with the decision to have a child. Motherhood, Allyson learned, was a high-stakes game that for too many women meant the end of everything they worked so hard for.
But at thirty-three, the sports icon knew she was ready to become a mother herself. She gave birth to a baby girl, Camryn, delivered prematurely after Allyson was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia, a condition that, she learned, disproportionately impacts Black mothers like her. The experience left both mother and daughter fighting for their lives, and Allyson emerged from the traumatic ordeal forever changed. In the months after her daughter’s birth, Allyson’s contract negotiations with Nike, her long-time endorsement sponsor, stalled when they refused to put language in her agreement that allowed sufficient recovery time without financial penalty. This, after they had also reduced her pay by 60%. Emboldened by her own harrowing motherhood journey, Allyson resolved to fight back. Her brave campaign to create change within Nike reverberated throughout the world of sports and the country at-large, paving the way for the real transformation for female athletes that she still fights for today. Yet, until now, she has never shared her full truth.
In Fast and Slow Allyson Felix chronicles with raw honesty the key milestones that shaped her as a person, mother, businesswoman, groundbreaking change-agent, and the most decorated track and field athlete of all time. In the process she shows readers what it looks like to boldly step into your power—one decision, one act, one bold commitment to yourself at a time.
I’m really, really fast. But there’s no such thing as “fast” inside a delivery room.
Allyson Felix, one of the fastest women in the world, meticulously planned out her life according to the rigid training and competition schedule expected of all top female runners. From a young age she witnessed older teammates wrestle with the decision to have a child. Motherhood, Allyson learned, was a high-stakes game that for too many women meant the end of everything they worked so hard for.
But at thirty-three, the sports icon knew she was ready to become a mother herself. She gave birth to a baby girl, Camryn, delivered prematurely after Allyson was diagnosed with severe pre-eclampsia, a condition that, she learned, disproportionately impacts Black mothers like her. The experience left both mother and daughter fighting for their lives, and Allyson emerged from the traumatic ordeal forever changed. In the months after her daughter’s birth, Allyson’s contract negotiations with Nike, her long-time endorsement sponsor, stalled when they refused to put language in her agreement that allowed sufficient recovery time without financial penalty. This, after they had also reduced her pay by 60%. Emboldened by her own harrowing motherhood journey, Allyson resolved to fight back. Her brave campaign to create change within Nike reverberated throughout the world of sports and the country at-large, paving the way for the real transformation for female athletes that she still fights for today. Yet, until now, she has never shared her full truth.
In Fast and Slow Allyson Felix chronicles with raw honesty the key milestones that shaped her as a person, mother, businesswoman, groundbreaking change-agent, and the most decorated track and field athlete of all time. In the process she shows readers what it looks like to boldly step into your power—one decision, one act, one bold commitment to yourself at a time.
368 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 30, 2027
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 12, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
Felix is the GOAT and I feel lucky to say I grew up in the Felix era of track & field. Not only did Allyson dominate the sport, she fought for all women in her sport and female athletes to be protected. I never knew the full story between her and Nike; what a WILD ride. I commend Allyson for staying strong not only for herself and other females in her sport, but for Black women. A lot of her story talks about the struggles that Black women experience during pregnancy.
An inspiring read from an incredible female! We need more Allysons.
Felix is the GOAT and I feel lucky to say I grew up in the Felix era of track & field. Not only did Allyson dominate the sport, she fought for all women in her sport and female athletes to be protected. I never knew the full story between her and Nike; what a WILD ride. I commend Allyson for staying strong not only for herself and other females in her sport, but for Black women. A lot of her story talks about the struggles that Black women experience during pregnancy.
An inspiring read from an incredible female! We need more Allysons.
August 29, 2026
I received this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley - wow did I enjoy it. Allyson was authentically herself throughout the book and her voice shone throughout each chapter. Having just read Mary Cain’s memoir about professional running and Nike’s abuse, I was not surprised about the way Nike treated Allyson with her contract negotiations. Reading about Allyson’s experience, including the additional aspects with Nike’s views (or lack thereof) on motherhood and sport was equally fascinating and frustrating. I really enjoyed reading about her journey through motherhood, training at an elite level as a mom, and also addressing the gaps in prenatal and postnatal care for black women in the United States. Her point that socioeconomic status and peak athleticism are not enough for numerous female and black professional athletes to experience complications or death in pregnancy and labor are disturbing to say the least. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone interested in sports, motherhood, women’s healthcare, or business. Allyson has achieved so many things and this book is yet another remarkable achievement to add to her list.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Allyson Felix opens her memoir not on a track but in a delivery room — an emergency, "complicated" birth that is urgent yet somehow not fast. It's a striking choice, and it sets up the book's central tension: a woman built for speed forced to slow down, to notice, to survive. She describes how, at the limits of pressure, the world goes muted — an image she carries from racing, but repurposed here for the terror of nearly losing her daughter and herself. This time she isn't racing toward something. She's racing against it.
That framing device gives the memoir its shape and its title. Felix moves fluidly between the sprint — decisive, explosive, public — and the slow accumulation of a life: a childhood spent introduced as "Wes's sister," a Baptist upbringing that taught her duty before glory. She's seven when Los Angeles burns after the officers who beat Rodney King are acquitted, and her family relocates to Colorado, only for her to find herself, still a child, processing the Columbine shooting alongside classmates the same age as the shooters. One line from this stretch of the book lands with quiet weight: "we each had a duty to do what we could to help alleviate other people's suffering, even if all we could do in the moment was pray." It's less a thesis statement than a habit of mind, one she returns to again and again.
The most wrenching material comes when the family moves back to LA and Felix, in ninth grade, falls into a secret relationship with a 21-year-old coach. She's fourteen. The truth surfaces only when she contracts mono — grimly nicknamed "the kissing disease" — and her parents report the crime. The coach takes a plea deal, and Felix, still a teenager, turns to track almost as penance, a way of metabolizing something she didn't yet have language for. It's to the book's credit that it doesn't dwell in melodrama here; instead, it lets the running itself become the recovery, guided by Coach Patton, whose steady mentorship of the relay team gives the narrative some of its warmest, most human passages.
From there the book accelerates into familiar territory — an international meet in Jamaica where she meets her future husband Kenny, the shadow of Marion Jones as both inspiration and cautionary tale, an unorthodox coach who pushes her to an Olympic silver she comes to see as a beginning rather than a ceiling. The three gold medals in London arrive almost anticlimactically, which is the point: Felix is more interested in what the years of discipline built in her than in what hung around her neck.
The book's real turn, though, is the pregnancy — the Nike negotiations conducted while she was quietly pregnant, and the medical emergency that nearly killed her and her daughter. Felix doesn't treat this as a detour from her athletic story but as its next chapter, reframing her public voice around the Black maternal health crisis. The final pages, with Felix eyeing an LA Olympics, feel less like a comeback narrative than a continuation of the same instinct that's driven the whole book: when something threatens the people around her, she runs toward it. This is a must read.
That framing device gives the memoir its shape and its title. Felix moves fluidly between the sprint — decisive, explosive, public — and the slow accumulation of a life: a childhood spent introduced as "Wes's sister," a Baptist upbringing that taught her duty before glory. She's seven when Los Angeles burns after the officers who beat Rodney King are acquitted, and her family relocates to Colorado, only for her to find herself, still a child, processing the Columbine shooting alongside classmates the same age as the shooters. One line from this stretch of the book lands with quiet weight: "we each had a duty to do what we could to help alleviate other people's suffering, even if all we could do in the moment was pray." It's less a thesis statement than a habit of mind, one she returns to again and again.
The most wrenching material comes when the family moves back to LA and Felix, in ninth grade, falls into a secret relationship with a 21-year-old coach. She's fourteen. The truth surfaces only when she contracts mono — grimly nicknamed "the kissing disease" — and her parents report the crime. The coach takes a plea deal, and Felix, still a teenager, turns to track almost as penance, a way of metabolizing something she didn't yet have language for. It's to the book's credit that it doesn't dwell in melodrama here; instead, it lets the running itself become the recovery, guided by Coach Patton, whose steady mentorship of the relay team gives the narrative some of its warmest, most human passages.
From there the book accelerates into familiar territory — an international meet in Jamaica where she meets her future husband Kenny, the shadow of Marion Jones as both inspiration and cautionary tale, an unorthodox coach who pushes her to an Olympic silver she comes to see as a beginning rather than a ceiling. The three gold medals in London arrive almost anticlimactically, which is the point: Felix is more interested in what the years of discipline built in her than in what hung around her neck.
The book's real turn, though, is the pregnancy — the Nike negotiations conducted while she was quietly pregnant, and the medical emergency that nearly killed her and her daughter. Felix doesn't treat this as a detour from her athletic story but as its next chapter, reframing her public voice around the Black maternal health crisis. The final pages, with Felix eyeing an LA Olympics, feel less like a comeback narrative than a continuation of the same instinct that's driven the whole book: when something threatens the people around her, she runs toward it. This is a must read.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I’m a big fan of Allyson Felix and, also, of track and field, so I was thrilled to be offered an early copy of Fast and Slow. If you don’t know Felix, she is the most decorated medalist in the history of track and field, but just as well known for her advocacy related to maternal health protections for athletes, founding a women’s-first sneaker brand (Saysh), and her overall powerhouse approach to elevating issues in women’s sports. Between her dominance in her athletic career and in the business of sports, Felix is a true icon.
In Fast and Slow, Felix takes us back to the high school days when she first discovered running. She shares early memories of vulnerability and being groomed by her high school coach for far more than running. And then takes us to her time at University of Southern California and her professional career. I loved reading about her evolution, including the many, many hours of work she put into greatness.
And while I knew it was coming, I was nonetheless devastated when Felix, pregnant in the latter part of her career received a contract from Nike to reduce her pay 70% with no maternal leave protections. Nike has been in the news again for poor protection of its female athletes and it’s disappointing how little has changed with the behemoth company.
And while I also knew Felix’s high-risk birth that nearly killed her and her daughter was coming, I was still saddened and demoralized by how the US healthcare system treats black women and the startlingly high death and complication rates they experience.
All of this makes me grateful women like Allyson Felix exist. The book is great. It’s easy reading and while on the longer side, I found it a fast read. The writing is probably 4 stars, but I’ll round it up to 5 for how much I liked it and Felix’s true story.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In Fast and Slow, Felix takes us back to the high school days when she first discovered running. She shares early memories of vulnerability and being groomed by her high school coach for far more than running. And then takes us to her time at University of Southern California and her professional career. I loved reading about her evolution, including the many, many hours of work she put into greatness.
And while I knew it was coming, I was nonetheless devastated when Felix, pregnant in the latter part of her career received a contract from Nike to reduce her pay 70% with no maternal leave protections. Nike has been in the news again for poor protection of its female athletes and it’s disappointing how little has changed with the behemoth company.
And while I also knew Felix’s high-risk birth that nearly killed her and her daughter was coming, I was still saddened and demoralized by how the US healthcare system treats black women and the startlingly high death and complication rates they experience.
All of this makes me grateful women like Allyson Felix exist. The book is great. It’s easy reading and while on the longer side, I found it a fast read. The writing is probably 4 stars, but I’ll round it up to 5 for how much I liked it and Felix’s true story.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was a wonderful memoir! I've been a huge fan of Allyson for years, so I was very excited to receive this. It reminded me a lot of Katie Ledecky's book in terms of writing style, balancing personal stories with reflections on her career and life beyond sport. I will say, it slowed down a bit during Allyson's retelling of her races, so those sections felt a little repetitive at times, but her vulnerability and passion when speaking about her experiences with pregnancy, motherhood, severe pre-eclampsia, and advocating for change for female athletes made this book especially powerful.
I also appreciated how Allyson shared not only her journey as an Olympic athlete, but also the challenges she faced behind the scenes, including navigating motherhood, recovering after a traumatic birth experience, and speaking out for women in sports. Her honesty and resilience made this memoir incredibly inspiring.
Overall, great read - 4 stars! I'm looking forward to seeing this book on the shelves and, as Allyson alluded to at the end of her book, hopefully seeing her on the Olympic team in 2028!
Thank you to Allyson Felix, Random House | The Dial Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
#FastandSlow #NetGalley
I also appreciated how Allyson shared not only her journey as an Olympic athlete, but also the challenges she faced behind the scenes, including navigating motherhood, recovering after a traumatic birth experience, and speaking out for women in sports. Her honesty and resilience made this memoir incredibly inspiring.
Overall, great read - 4 stars! I'm looking forward to seeing this book on the shelves and, as Allyson alluded to at the end of her book, hopefully seeing her on the Olympic team in 2028!
Thank you to Allyson Felix, Random House | The Dial Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
#FastandSlow #NetGalley
October 10, 2026
I have even more respect and admiration for Allyson Felix after reading this book. I came into this thinking it would be like others that just talk about their life and success thus far and plans for the future. This was so much more than that.
Allyson details everything it took to get her to the champion we know today. All the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices. From her and her support system. I loved learning how close she is with her brother Wes and the role he takes in her career. Her support system is so solid, and I’m glad they could get her through the lows and celebrate the highs.
She advocates for female and mother athletes, and it was heartbreaking that she had to join a movement to enact change for her sport. Now that I know her journey, I look forward to seeing what she does now that she’s coming out of retirement.
Thank you to Allyson Felix, NetGalley, and Random House publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.
Allyson details everything it took to get her to the champion we know today. All the blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifices. From her and her support system. I loved learning how close she is with her brother Wes and the role he takes in her career. Her support system is so solid, and I’m glad they could get her through the lows and celebrate the highs.
She advocates for female and mother athletes, and it was heartbreaking that she had to join a movement to enact change for her sport. Now that I know her journey, I look forward to seeing what she does now that she’s coming out of retirement.
Thank you to Allyson Felix, NetGalley, and Random House publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A big thanks to Net Galley, Random House and The Dial Press for the Arc of this wonderful book.
Allyson Felix is a legend in her own right and in many ways. She won seven Olympic gold medals and 14 world championship gold medals, fought for fair pay for female athletes when they were out on maternity leave and even a business woman who started her own company to get back at the one that wouldn’t support her. However, we don’t know how she got there.
In her book Fast and Slow, Felix details her life before, during and after the Olympics. Felix doesn’t shy away from anything and tells the reader everything. From her nicknames to how often she moved as a kid and even how she got into running in the first place.
While at times the book moves a little slow and things could have been left out, over all it’s a fine book for an athlete that isn’t a baseball or football player and is an eye opening experience on how Felix got where she was today.
Allyson Felix is a legend in her own right and in many ways. She won seven Olympic gold medals and 14 world championship gold medals, fought for fair pay for female athletes when they were out on maternity leave and even a business woman who started her own company to get back at the one that wouldn’t support her. However, we don’t know how she got there.
In her book Fast and Slow, Felix details her life before, during and after the Olympics. Felix doesn’t shy away from anything and tells the reader everything. From her nicknames to how often she moved as a kid and even how she got into running in the first place.
While at times the book moves a little slow and things could have been left out, over all it’s a fine book for an athlete that isn’t a baseball or football player and is an eye opening experience on how Felix got where she was today.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This memoir was so VERY vulnerable, evoking the whole gambit of emotions, from joy, fear, anger, grief, surprise, relief, pain, pride, love, and excitement.
She shares so much about her life, history and upbringing that shaped her into the fierce athlete, mother and advocate, bringing to light the some of the inequalities in her sport for pregnant athletes and medicine for black pregnancies.
Trigger warnings for this book: CSA and death.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.
She shares so much about her life, history and upbringing that shaped her into the fierce athlete, mother and advocate, bringing to light the some of the inequalities in her sport for pregnant athletes and medicine for black pregnancies.
Trigger warnings for this book: CSA and death.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! Allyson Felix is the GOAT of GOATs 🐐. I am endlessly inspired by her and I cannot wait to see what she accomplishes next. What a role model, what a source of inspiration and quiet determination she is.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews