Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide: Advice, Plans, and Programs for Half and Full Marat Hons

This book is great! I followed Hal's advice and ran my first marathon without any trouble. He told me what to eat, when to eat, how far to run, what to wear, and I listened and finished Pittsburgh and it was fun. Then he told me what to do to recover. I'd recommend this book to EVERYONE! Thanks Hal!

I just ran the Chicago Marathon this past weekend - my first - and used this book as my primary reference along with Hal Higdon's virtual training program. Using this program I realized and exceeded all my goals for the race. The program works, the experiences related in the book accurately predicted my own and were an excellent guide for the training program and the pre-race preparation. If you are a first time marathoner and you follow this program, you will succeed.

This is a very well written book that inspires you from the start. It then backs up all that motivation with tried and true running techniques. It is easy to read and well structured. I have been using his basic training guide from this book to restart my running every spring for the last 7 years. If you are a new runner I think this book is helpful in making you feel secure in your abilities. It is also filled with enough information to help those experienced runners who are new to the marathon. I know that the book has been updated recently. If you buy it I am sure that it will serve you well for years to come.

This is a fantastic guide for anyone interested in distance running. To me, as a relatively slow runner, it was simply invaluable as part of my preparation for my first and second marathons. As I prepared for my last three marathons and for other long races I went back to check what good old Hal had to say.This book strikes a superb balance between the needs of speed demons and mid to end of the pack types. It gives you ideas about what to eat, how to train for a marathon and how to taper. To me, the most useful part was that on predictions. Higdon presented different models and theories for predicting one's marathon time based on performance in shorter distances.Another very useful part of the book is the pre and post marathon preparations. Most valuable part is the motivation the book will give you. We all go through ups and downs in the training phase, this book will remind you of that and guide you all the way to the finish line, recovery and sign up for the next marathon. You can't go wrong with $ 12 on this book. Also see Higdon's web site and check out Runner's World web site

I have read this book over and over during marathon training and post training recovery. It has given me a lot of insight from many experienced trainers. This is the best book I have found for beginning runners (I am now on to my 5th marathon) both short and long distance. There is not one chapter that did not provide helpful information.