Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review relates specifically to using this book for marathon training. I am making no statement on its effectiveness for running faster at shorter distances, such as a 5k. And that is my first complaint about the book. The majority of the discussion is framed in relation to your 5k time. This is the equivalent of trying to teach someone about oranges by talking about apples. I guess you're supposed to go out and measure your 5k time. Then you can grind your numbers through different conversion tables to arrive at marathon times. How does a 5k really equate to a marathon? The same way an apple equals an orange. Here's the important part: Three quality runs per week sounds great. Speed run, tempo run and long run (with cross training in between). The simple reality for me was that I gained speed in short distances at the expense of losing my stamina for the long runs. How many times have we heard if you want to be able to run a lot of miles you have to train by running a lot of miles? Three runs per week just wasn't enough. Yes, I gained speed on short runs - I even ran a half marathon at a personal best time - but week after week my long runs got tougher and tougher until I couldn't do them anymore. It's the same problem of the apples and oranges. Cross training (i.e. biking or swimming) is great, but biking and swimming unfortunately do not improve your running. My stamina came back when I reverted to my proven training methods. One last word of caution. Everyone's body responds differently to different stressors, so for this you really have to know thyself... All of the hard pounding from the speed repeats that is the core of this program caused me to sustain more pains and injuries than I ever did running 6-8 miles every day through the week with a long run on the weekends. The idea that you will get injured less because you are running less did not hold true for me. Good luck and keep running.