Runner's World Big Book Of Marathon And Half-Marathon Training: Winning Strategies, Inpiring Stories, And The Ultimate Training Tools (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Runner's World prides itself on being the experts on training for running a marathon, half-marathon, or any kind of race that you are interested in. In this book, some of the experts at Runner's World, like Amby Burfoot and Bart Yasso, have pulled together all of their knowledge and experience along with a host of medical opinions from running doctors and nutritionists and inspirational stories from average people to write a definitive guide to preparing for your first or next marathon or half-marathon. Almost any question that you could think of is covered here: training schedules, meal plans, injury prevention, and race day etiquette. And despite it's "big" title, the book comes in just shy of 300 pages (granted, it has two columns of text per page). Where it falters though is in two things: First, they cite way too many experts. In one column they will mention what one doctor said and in the next column what another doctor says. They always agree or complement each other and every doctor cited seems qualified based on their degrees alone, but I feel the doctors' opinions would have been more authoritative if they had just stuck to a few doctors rather than many. Second, while this is a great read for runners inexperienced to marathons and half-marathons, experienced runners will probably get the most use out of this as a reference for things they might have forgotten. Not to mention if you're a long-time subscriber to Runner's World magazine, even if you've never run a marathon or half-marathon before, this book will hold nothing new for you. In short, this is a great book for new runner's trying to reach for the brass ring that is the marathon or half-marathon, but experienced runners could probably check it out from the library and thumb through it for reference during training. Generally I don’t like stuff that has a significant amount of content that has been previously published. This book is an exception to the rule. There is excellent advice from authorities on the topic interspersed with runner advice and testimonials. Unlike many running books the book is heavily weighted to common sense, practicality, science, and most importantly fun. I’ve been running for over 30 years and I am using the advice in this book to relearn running, and hopefully running for at least another 30 years. Recommended to beginner and intermediate runners, and dinosaurs like myself that have to reexamine what they’re doing.
What do You think about Runner's World Big Book Of Marathon And Half-Marathon Training: Winning Strategies, Inpiring Stories, And The Ultimate Training Tools (2012)?
Good for anyone training or considering to run. Lots of information and inspiration.
—Doritos357
Lots of info to get me ready for my first half marathon. This is a great reference!
—clsolomon
Good info for a beginning runner and nice reference to refer back to.
—sam
