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Marathon Runner's Handbook
Marathon Runner's Handbook gives you everything you need to compete at the marathon distance and beyond. Read about selecting the right running shoe, eating for training and racing, preventing and treating injuries, measuring progress with pacing tables, and practical training programs to lead you from 10K through 26.2 miles.
- GenresSports
160 pages, Paperback
First published March 4, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 29, 2008
This book has lots of pictures! I liked that, even though it's a painful reminder that most running costumes are unconscionably dorky. But when you have zero body fat and can run continuously for 26.2 miles, no one's supposed to notice your ill-cut spandex leggings. Right?
This was fine, but the upbeat c'mon-you-can-do-it exercise book tone does grate on me a little. I've been waiting for the distance running book for people like me. As it is, I get the feeling there're three basic running profiles: the super driven type-a doctor/lawyer/go-getter who excels at everything, the healthy and committed athlete, and the sedentary beginner who wants to lose a few pounds and develop a healthier lifestyle....
None of these describes me! I love distance running because I'm physically uncoordinated and am not a team player (I find the idea of letting teammates down unbearably stressful). I'm secretly a grotesquely competitive person, but I can't handle real competition against other people who may well be better than me, and would rather just compete against that cherished lifelong nemesis, myself.
My favorite thing about distance running, though, is that it's similar enough to a vice that I can fool my ravenous and degenerate Id into doing something that will actually make me feel better, instead of worse. Distance running is simultaneously easy and difficult, pleasurable and punishing. As a quasi-self-abusive activity that's actually healthy, it's the perfect thing for obsessive people who need to burn off stress and who are used to doing that in arguably excessive ways. Plus, it makes me way less crazy than I would be otherwise: this stuff has to come out somewhere, be it mileage, book reports, or wild nights out. If I don't want to smoke 26.2 cigarettes every weekend, I have to have another activity as an outlet. And for me, that's running!
If I manage to quit smoking and conquer my other various vices (such as this site) while training for this November marathon, maybe I'll write that book myself. There're some good studies out there on exercise and addiction (I'm always trying to get my clients to work out), though I'm not just talking about addiction here, but lifestyle and temperament more generally. Basically, I run because it sort of feels like it's bad for me in this special way that I love and am used to. And I think there's a book there, maybe...? Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), The Marathon Runner's Handbook is not it. This book's got pictures, though! And the nutrition section is not bad. Actually, you could do much worse than this if you're looking for a beginning runner's book. I did find the title misleading, since the focus didn't seem to be so much on the marathon but on getting into the habit of running, but still, it was a pretty decent book, though not terribly inspiring or exciting.
This was fine, but the upbeat c'mon-you-can-do-it exercise book tone does grate on me a little. I've been waiting for the distance running book for people like me. As it is, I get the feeling there're three basic running profiles: the super driven type-a doctor/lawyer/go-getter who excels at everything, the healthy and committed athlete, and the sedentary beginner who wants to lose a few pounds and develop a healthier lifestyle....
None of these describes me! I love distance running because I'm physically uncoordinated and am not a team player (I find the idea of letting teammates down unbearably stressful). I'm secretly a grotesquely competitive person, but I can't handle real competition against other people who may well be better than me, and would rather just compete against that cherished lifelong nemesis, myself.
My favorite thing about distance running, though, is that it's similar enough to a vice that I can fool my ravenous and degenerate Id into doing something that will actually make me feel better, instead of worse. Distance running is simultaneously easy and difficult, pleasurable and punishing. As a quasi-self-abusive activity that's actually healthy, it's the perfect thing for obsessive people who need to burn off stress and who are used to doing that in arguably excessive ways. Plus, it makes me way less crazy than I would be otherwise: this stuff has to come out somewhere, be it mileage, book reports, or wild nights out. If I don't want to smoke 26.2 cigarettes every weekend, I have to have another activity as an outlet. And for me, that's running!
If I manage to quit smoking and conquer my other various vices (such as this site) while training for this November marathon, maybe I'll write that book myself. There're some good studies out there on exercise and addiction (I'm always trying to get my clients to work out), though I'm not just talking about addiction here, but lifestyle and temperament more generally. Basically, I run because it sort of feels like it's bad for me in this special way that I love and am used to. And I think there's a book there, maybe...? Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), The Marathon Runner's Handbook is not it. This book's got pictures, though! And the nutrition section is not bad. Actually, you could do much worse than this if you're looking for a beginning runner's book. I did find the title misleading, since the focus didn't seem to be so much on the marathon but on getting into the habit of running, but still, it was a pretty decent book, though not terribly inspiring or exciting.
September 17, 2023
Very informative. Especially in regards to injury prevention and proper fueling.
June 14, 2011
A very general marathon book, I can't say I learned anything new. This would be a suitable reference for a beginner runner. The version was dated, which was agreeable with some of the information provided. A reference to avoid coconut oil showed the informations age. I can't remember the dietary reasons for making coconut oil a super food, but my buddy Brendan Brazier can and does in his fabulous book The Thrive Diet.
March 7, 2009
A great, general book on long-distance running, from nutrition to training. I would say, though, it's more appropriate for runners that are training for a marathon for the first time. Experienced marathoners should already know this stuff.
April 19, 2010
Yhis was published in 2002 so it seems really old and VERY basic... like here is a water bottle, you should drink water when you run. So, unless you are brand new to running (much less marathoning) this is probablt not the book for you.
May 31, 2015
Liked this one a lot. Very simple, loads of pictures to the point that this could be a coffee table book for runners. Enough information to get someone to get out and run a marathon without the wankiness and/or excess information often found in other publications.
February 22, 2010
Helpful. Pretty straight forward. Good advice on everything about running from how to lace your shoes, nutrition, how to stretch and avoid injury.
April 19, 2012
As a beginner runner I found this super helpful! Although I seemed to have managed to ignore some of the advice and hurt myself anyway.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews