Marathon Training: Get to the Start Line Strong and Injury-free

by Nikalas Cook

An experienced personal trainer describes how to go from non-running to marathon success in 28 weeks Every year, thousands of people are inspired to don their running shoes and take on the challenge of a marathon. On the road to the finish line, though, many marathon hopefuls fall by the wayside, struck down by injury. Plans that are too running-intensive or that don't prepare the body for running and ignore correct technique are largely to blame. Nikalas Cook adopts a cross-training approach to running. He incorporates functional strength training, complementary activities such as cycling and swimming, and only three focused running sessions per week into his plan to deliver runners to the finish line completely prepared and injury-free. In 28 weeks, readers can go from complete non-runners, through their first 5k, 10k, half-marathon, and finally to success in the full 26.2 miles of the marathon.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice simple straight forward book. No idea if Cook's preparation ideas are better or worse than that of others but the basics seem to be there.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book and could be used in several ways. The first way would be to closely follow it as a training guide for running. The second would be to skim through it for tips and good advice like I did.

It has a lot of great advice and focuses on the strengthening the basics and building up a good running fitness program. Some of the recommendations for gear, sports massages, or physical therapy could get expensive if you followed them closely, but the basic program of the book doesn't promote these as being strictly necessary.

As it is, it's a wide range of recommendations and tips for all levels of runners.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so obviously written for men and I felt completely disengaged by this book.

Save for a cursory paragraph on the need for a good sports bra saying, you know, don't get a badly fitted one as "your straps my fall down" which could only have been written by someone who has never worn a bra. I'm not a running expert but the dangers of not having a decent bra when you run is a bit more serious than that.

There's plenty on nipple chafing though, which only happens to men. There's a bit about needing to pee during the race but nothing on what if your race is during a tricky part of your menstrual cycle.

So yeah, nothing for me here. Pft.