Bob Glover

The definitive book on trainign to compete.

Acclaimed coaches and authors of the bestseling Runner's Handbook and Runner's Training Diary, Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover have trained thousands of competitive runners over more than thrity years. In this completely revised and expanded edition of this must-have runner's reference, you'll find everything you need to train successfully:

The official training program for the New Yourk City Marathon and the New York Road Runners Club classes.
Specific training programs for all levels of runners.
How to write your own training schedules or to follow sample programs.
A speed-training section, incuding a 12-week program and detailed chapter on intervals, hill training, fartlek, and tempo training.
The menal aspects of competitive running: goal-setting, race-time prediction, motivation, race-day routines, race strategy and tactics.
A special secton that incudes chapters on weight training, stretching, cross-training, heart-rate-monitor training, and treadmill running.

All this and much more, written in a fun, lively style that will be sure to get you pumped up to run a great race!

Contents

Introduction: The clallenge of competitive running
Part I Basic training
1 Categories of competitive runners
2 Key ingredients to successful racing
3 Basic training principles
4 The warm-up and cool-down
5 Training pace
6 Training mileage
7 The runner's training diary
Part II Speed training
8 Introduction to speed training
9 A simplified 12-week speed training program
10 Interval training
11 Hill training
12 Fartlek training
13 Tempo training
Part III Planning your training
14 The training schedule
15 How to write your own training schedule
Part IV Specific training for racing
16 The novice competitor
17 5k training and racing
18 10k training and racing
19 Half-marathon training and racing
PartV Marathon training and racing
20 The first-time marathoner
21 Marathon build-up training
22 Marathon countdown
23 Marathon strategy
24 The aftermarathon
Part VI Mental aspects of competitive running
25 Goal-setting and race time prediction
26 Motivation
27 Mental traiing
28 Prerace logistics and day-of-race routine
29 Race strategy
30 Race tactics
Part VII Running form and shoes
31 Running form and economy
32 Running shoes
Part VIII Food and drink for health and peformance
33 Fuel and nutrition for running
34 Hydration and running
35 Performance weight
Part IX The running environment
36 Hot weather running
37 Cold weather running
Part X Specific competitors
38 The masters competitor
39 The female competitor
40 The young competitor
Part XI Illness and injury
41 Illness
42 Injury
Part XII Special training
43 Strength training
44 Stretching
45 Cross-training
46 Treadmill training
47 Heart rate monitor training
Part XIII Balance
48 Balancing running with life
Appendix
Index… (altro)

I've been a competitive runner in the past (not to any extent where I win medals, but considering how non-athletic I grew up, practically an Olympian). Several years ago I broke my ankle while figure skating and also in the middle of training for a half. Since then, every time I've started training in earnest again something bad has happened (getting hospitalized for a few days for a severe illness, suffering horrible insomnia, bad back spasms, and now a freaking pandemic). What I was looking for was a book on how to build a base, and then start competitive training again. Just like every other running book I've read, or training website I've perused, this book will not help you build a base. It will just give you a race training plan.

I've run races, I know what a fartlek is, so this book was not terribly useful. It probably won't be terribly useful to you if you are or have been well-established as a runner. It's also 20 years old (at least, the second edition is), so not all of the advice or "elite" times are terribly up-to-date. That said, I don't dislike the book, I just don't find it relevant to my needs.… (altro)