Road Racing for Serious Runners provides an excellent, comprehensive look at training for competitive long-distance racing. It helps remove guesswork since it contains information on all variables affecting successful racing-from human physiology to actual nuts and bolts workouts.  Pfitzinger and Douglas believe for the serious runner, the runner who wants to run at his or her very best, training needs to focus on a small number of specific goal races. 

Keep it simple, stupid!

This book gives short, simple explanations to the key elements of a training program. We now know everything we need to know about VO2 max and lactate threshold training, their relative importance, how to improve them and how to incorporate them into your training program.

Topics that are covered are: 

• recovery
• pure endurance
• lactate threshold
• VO2 max
• and speed

In Road Racing for Serious Runners, Pete Pfitzinger-a world-class marathoner, distance running coach, and exercise physiologist-tells you how to get the most out of your limited training time. Pfitzinger teams up with former Running Times editor-in-chief Scott Douglas to present a training and racing plan that will help you excel in the full spectrum of road racing distances. You will learn how to:

• design a week-by-week training program,
• determine the right pace to run during speed workouts,
• get the most out of long runs,
• taper training before an important race,
• detect and avoid staleness and injury, 
• determine the best strategy for each race, and
• achieve the optimal mental state to train and race.

Pfitzinger points out how most of us are doing no lactate threshold training and doing all of our interval work to fast. Lactate threshold represents the speed at which you can run while still clearing most of the lactic acid from your cells. A high lactate threshold, on the other hand, allows sustained high speeds, and therefore high levels of performance in endurance events. 

Pfitzinger and Douglas emphasize the importance of minimal effective stress. For example, they provide the example of two runners trying to build VO2 max, the maximum oxygen your body can use. 

"In the past I've had a love/hate relationship with mile repeats, a very strong type of VO2 max workout -- I knew they had a great effect on my fitness but they were SO uncomfortable. I now know I was running them too fast. Last year I put Pfitzinger and Douglas' approach into effect in my training. 

Using a heart rate monitor, I ran long VO2 max sessions, half-mile and mile repeats, monitoring carefully to stay in my VO2 max training range. The effect was dramatic. Not that mile repeats became easy, but they were far more manageable than they had ever been before. As a result I was able to run more of them, recover better, and actually (sometimes) enjoy them. I also had my best racing season in years."
- George Williams

Included with each of five training schedules are racing tactics, mental tips, and lessons from world-class runners. Whatever distance you plan to race, Road Racing for Serious Runners will guide you to peak performance!


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Do you dream of running a marathon? But consider yourself too old or too out of shape to run a marathon? You can do this. By following the training advice of the experts from University of Northern Iowa, you will be crossing the finish line in no time! 

 The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer is based on the highly successful marathon class offered by the University of Northern Iowa. It is based on a marathon class offered over the years at the University of Northern Iowa that proclaims a high success rate for 1st time marathoners. In over 11 years, they have taught this course to approximately 200 students -- all first time marathoners and many with absolutely no running background. 

The promise of the book is to that you'll be able to run 26.2 miles training just 4 days a week with no runs over 18 miles.  The book accomplishes this goal in sixteen chapters, one for every week of training. What makes this program better than any other? It is the special emphasis on the mental aspects of endurance running. 

You don't have to love to run -- you don't even have to like it -- but you have to realize that you are capable of more than you have ever thought possible. One participant in the program explained it like this: 

"I'm doing this for me -- not for others or the time clock. I just feel better when I run, plus it helps me to cope with things in general. The skills we've learned in this class don't apply just to marathoning -- they apply to life! Just like you never know what the next step in a marathon will bring, so too, you never know what will happen next in life. But if you don't keep going, you're never going to find out. By staying relaxed, centered, and positive you handle just about anything that comes your way." 

Don't have tons of time to train? 

Don't worry. This book has been written for regular people like you and me. Those who have the desire to run and complete a marathon however also have responsibilities that take up their time - such as family, careers, school, and kids.  This is marathon running for real people.  The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer has proven successful for everyone, regardless of who they are and what they do. 

Easy to read

Each chapter is cleanly divided up into 3 sections. Part one deals with the mental aspects of marathon training (which in my opinion is just as important as physical preparation when it comes to marathons), part two lays out the actual training program for the week, and the third part of each chapter contains advice and suggestions from people who have done the course and the program. The last chapter gives advice on your recovery.  

This is a complete book covering everything you can imagine about training for a marathon. Easy to read and helpful information are included such as stretches, weight training exercises, nutritional advice, how to dress, and what shoes to wear. 


Get the Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer at Amazon.com.  
Get the Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer at AbeBooks.com.