"training plans for multisport athletes" has a lot of schedules to follow. a pure runners book won't be that applicable since he has at least two other sports. if he's training in multiple sports but doesn't compete then wouldn't he just do whatever he felt like doing that day. doesn't seem like he would need a book or a coach for that.

something like this: swim-bike-run-repeat

"a pure runners book won't be that applicable since he has at least two other sports. if he's training in multiple sports but doesn't compete then wouldn't he just do whatever he felt like doing that day. doesn't seem like he would need a book or a coach for that."

Thanks for replying but to clarify---

He's not COMPETING in multisport yet, but he's competing in running sports already. He's got a 2007 tri goal. He already swims and bikes "whatever he feels like that day"; he wants a running book to increase his running stamina and strength.

Lauren

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Lauren Muney
certified physical fitness trainer
certified health coach
wellcoach
http://www.physicalmind.com

There is no escape from your life... solve the problems and get on with it.

"Just tell her you love her and you think she kicks ass" ~AndrewinNH

"I'm moving [Lauren] to guru status" ~Last Tri in 83

Lots to choose from:



The Self-Coached Runner by Allan Lawrence (1956 Olympic Bronze medalist 10,000 meteres) & Mark Scheid. A bit dated and may be hard to find.



The New Competitive Runner's Handbook by Bob Glover and Peter Schuder. Updated every few years so not difficult to locate.



Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger (Top American finisher at the 1984 & 1988 Olympic Marathon) and Scott Douglas. 2001. Not to difficult to locate.



All good choices for the self coached runner.

Chi Running

Not as much schedule as technique and attitude.

"galloway's book on running " executive summary is 3-5 short runs during the week while increasing long run to 30 miles over many weeks.

"the lore of running" heard from others it's good

"daniels' running formula" may be too technical but you get a lot of good rules of thumb,formulae and explanations.

A book won't increase his stamina;) To increase strength run hills and trails, to increase stamina run longer and more often. first add frequency, then volume, then intensity. If he's running 3x a week add a 3mile run then another to get to 5x a week then start adding to the 3 mile runs. Then make add to long run to get to 15 miles or something over race distance. rule of thumb is add 1 mile to weekly total for each running session. so if you run 5x/week you can add 5 miles to your total. #1 rule is back off at the first sign of overuse/injury or when in doubt leave it out. one of the draw backs to following a schedule from a book is it may not fit very well with your life or your recovery abilities. most people make a lot of progress by keeping it simple. If he's already running 5-6x a week, is maxed out on time commitment and competing at the point end of races then he made need a coach.

I've never read Pfitzinger's marathon book, but his Road Racing for Serious Runners is very good and not too incredibly technical. He has schedules for varying abilities and distances.

I've heard nothing but bad things about Galloway's book. He was a great runner back in the day and he had a book out in the 80's that was pretty good, but he has changed his whole approach do getting Oprah Winfrey type people to *finish* marathons....but maybe that's what this person needs.

Either way, good luck.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

I used the earlier incarnation of Glover's Complete Runners Handbook about a decade (or maybe more - my some-zheimers is acting up) ago, and really enjoyed it. Galloway's books and website are very useful, but be careful, because he has a definite bias toward walk breaks every mile or so - they are ideal for the non-athlete just getting into the sport, but may be a bit strange for somebody entering multisport.

I second the Galloway book.

Triathlete's Guide to Run Training - part of the the Ultrafit/Velo series. It gives a great (and concise) description of the Evolution/Pose method of running at the beginning and the rest of the book is a good overview of racing triathlons in general.

Books are cool, but the problem is that it's easy to read too many books. In the end, all the knowledge glimpsed from the books count for very little. The knowledge that counts is that which is hard earned on the road, the trails, the hills, and the races.

Have him read enough to develop a straw man running philosophy (I would recommend The Lore of Running and Chi Running). Then let him loose to find his own way. What you can do for him is to guide him gently so he doesn't make major blunders.

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"Books are cool, but the problem is that it's easy to read too many books. In the end, all the knowledge glimpsed from the books count for very little."

No worry about that - he felt/feels the same way; just needed a program for training. I'm not a running coach so my advice would be more like an "educated guess".

Thanks for the reminder.

Lauren

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Lauren Muney
certified physical fitness trainer
certified health coach
wellcoach
http://www.physicalmind.com

There is no escape from your life... solve the problems and get on with it.

"Just tell her you love her and you think she kicks ass" ~AndrewinNH

"I'm moving [Lauren] to guru status" ~Last Tri in 83

You're welcome Lauren.

You may also want to remind him that this forum is an excellent resource - much better than the books in some ways.

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Ditto, The author is Ken Mierke ...also an STer.

Paul Tergat's Running to the Limit. Excellent book. His first language isn't obviously English, and his coach is Swiss I think, but their are lots of tips and plans in there - excellent book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1841261653/sr=8-1/qid=1144771433/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8704621-1293721?%5Fencoding=UTF8

"I liked Hal Hurst's marathon book as a good beginner to intermediate marathon specific book.[/reply]"

I did not find this book. Do you mean Hal HIGDON?

I too am looking for a good book. I'm eyeing the idea of running a marathon. Don't want the "total beginners" book but I also don't need the books for advanced people, the ones that tell you to run 5-6 days, 80 miles per week.

"Books are cool, but the problem is that it's easy to read too many books. In the end, all the knowledge glimpsed from the books count for very little."
*************

With regard to this, his best bet would be to find a local track club to meet with once a week and glean advice off of the fast experienced runners. This can be tricky because, though fast experienced runners are usualy willing to give advice, they don't go out of their way to do it.........because for some reason it tends to piss people off (I've had my own bad experiences).

What usualy happens with this approach, however, is that the new runner will latch on to other runners of similar ability and end up in a "blind leading the blind" kind of scenario.....often learning lots of old gym myths (ie...speed work once a week will make you faster (....not exactly)).

Anyway, I'm pretty active on a track forum and the general consensus is that there are three authors out there who have gained the highest respect from the running communtiy........Arthur Lydiard, Jack Daniels, and Peter Coe. I haven't read Lydiard yet, but I beleive he's not too technical. Daniels and Coe will likely be WAY over this guys head (very scientific).

Pfitzinger has been mentioned in the same breath with these names and is also very well respected. His books pretty much simplify what Daniels wrote.

Generaly speaking, "Gallowalk" and the "Pose" methods have not been well received. I have not read them myself so won't comment and I certainly appologize to anyone who feels differently. I'm just passing along the information.



*MY* reccomendation is Pfitzinger. At least give it a look at the book store.

.............................OK, I'll shut up now.

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-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485