Faster Road Racing: 5K to Half Marathon Paperback – November 24, 2014

This is an excellent guide if your goal is to race as fast as possible in distances from 5K to Half Marathon. Here's what I like about it in no particular order.1. Depth. The authors take a deep dive into physiology and how the body reacts training in terms of speed and endurance. No stone is left unturned. The human body is incredibly complex and it's important to understand how different combinations of factors (effort and length of training, nutrition, sleep, etc.) all factor into performance. The authors do a really good job explaining this.2. Guardrails - The book is full of tables that provide guardrails while training. For example, the information about how much recovery time after racing masters level runners need based on the length of the race and their age is priceless. Just because the body feels good does not mean that you've recovered. This information alone makes the book worthwhile.3. Specific training plans - No matter your race distance, condition, etc. there's a plan here for you. Following these plans will lead to faster race times.4. Limited scope - this book doesn't try to be everything to everyone. The authors recognize that training for a marathon is different than training for shorter distances and they resisted the urge to expand the scope...a mistake many other authors make. In doing so, they provide a much higher level of value to the reader.I was uncertain about buying this book but decided to give it a try and could not be happier with it. A word of caution...it may be difficult to view the training plans and tables if you purchase the Kindle version. I tend to always buy hard copies of data intensive books with lots of tables, and in this case that turned out to be particularly wise.

I’m very happy I found this book. It breaks down the different strategies of road running to an easy to understand format that I haven’t seen in other running books. It covers all aspects of running. Then the different training plans bring it all together. There is so much relevant information that can be learned just from reviewing the recommended training plans: how often should I run, what types of run should I do, how many weekly miles are recommended, how aggressive does the plan recommend increasing mileage, how many miles are recommended in the peak weeks, what to do during taper week. This is very valuable information.These training plans are not recommended for beginners. It states this in the introduction. There is a difference between running in a race vs racing. This book is about racing at a high level. It is evident by the lowest volume 5K training plan has 4 runs at 10K and higher in week 1.It’s still beneficial to see how the plan is structured, what types of runs are recommended throughout the week. You could technically work backwards to structure the miles that fit where you currently are. The book also has base training schedules for working up to the mileage recommended.

Great training plans to set a PR!

I've read quite a few books on running and this one is an instant favorite. Easy to read and well thought out. Everything from nutrition, to stretching, to core, to weight training, to running intensities, is covered. I also really liked how the authors broke the book up so if you just want the running plans you only need read a chapter or two to get the information you need, but if you want to dive in deeper all the information is right there. Also really liked how the book has a glossary, not all running books take the extra step to do this and it sure saves time if I need to look something up.Armed with the knowledge in this book I have created my own personal heart rate zones (they also offer the option to go by time per race performance, but I think the heart rate provides a more customized workout) and began creating customized workouts in Garmin Connect based off of the plans in this book.I will follow up after the season and relate my experiences.

This book is by far the most informative book I’ve read. It is well written and gives the reader the knowledge of why running in certain zones is important to the body. It touches on things such heart rate zones, pace, recovery, nutrition, base training programs, and training programs. Highly recommended. You won’t be disappointed.

I've run a couple of half marathons using Hal Higdon's programs available online. The consensus seemed to be that Higdon's programs were good for getting you to the finish line but not for maximizing your performance. Pfitzinger was most commonly recommended as a guy whose programs would get your times down considerably, and when I tried to find his programs online, I instead found this book. I bought it almost entirely for the program, but the rest of the book was actually very good. I read it cover-to-cover in a single sitting and found helpful advice on diet, strength training, and recovery. As such, I got a lot more out of it than I really expected, making me a very satisfied customer. The real test, of course, will be seeing what I run in my next half.

This book is a very easy read. It does well to break down the various systems and how you might target them specifically for a particular distance. I have already found myself using this as a bit of a reference guide as I establish new goals for different distances.Something of particular note is the book's reference to downhill running. While the book doesn't dig very deep on running downhill, it does well to caution runners about dowhill running and injuries. This helped me to connect the dots on why some of my more downhill runs turned into a slugfest of exhaustion and at times, pain.