Want to run a faster marathon? Commitment and hard work are essential but you also need to train smarter to run faster. Advanced Marathoning contains all the information you'll need to run faster, peak for multiple marathons without injury, and meet your marathon goal—whether it's running a personal best, qualifying for the Boston Marathon or winning your age division.
Extensive, day-to-day training schedules are targeted to your weekly mileage and length of training program (12, 18, or 24 weeks). These training schedules will have you racing at peak speed, whether you're targeting one race or several during the season.
The more you know about why and how the plan works, the more motivated you'll be to stick with the workouts. You'll also be better able to assess your progress as you get closer to the big race. You'll learn the scientific principles behind what makes you a faster marathoner and which workouts you need to improve.
Many factors can affect your marathon success. Advanced Marathoning gives you information on everything critical to your success, including
- which types of training are most important for success and which are a waste of time,
- eating and drinking for top performance in training and racing,
- which types of nonrunning training have the biggest impact on your marathon times,
- finding the time and energy to fit training into real life,
- tracking your progress, and
- planning and implementing your race-day strategy.
Author Pete Pfitzinger was the top American finisher in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Marathons. He won the 1984 Olympic Trials by outkicking former world record holder Alberto Salazar. Pfitzinger, now an exercise physiologist, won the San Francisco Marathon twice and finished third in the 1987 New York City Marathon. Co-author Scott Douglas is a well-known writer on running, a former editor of Running Times, and a competitive runner. The duo, co-authors of Road Racing for Serious Runners (Human Kinetics, 1999), have experience, credibility, and an ability to present scientific information in a readable manner.
Successful marathon running requires thorough, intelligent preparation. Advanced Marathoning is the only book you'll need to move beyond the basics and meet your goals—training smarter to run faster.
Pete Pfitzinger, the top American finisher at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Marathons, is a distance running coach and exercise physiologist. He established himself as one of the best marathoners in U.S. history by outkicking Alberto Salazar to win the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. That same year he received the DeCelle award for America's best distance runner and was named Runner of the Year by the Road Runners' Club of America. He is also a two-time winner of the San Francisco Marathon and he finished third in the 1987 New York City Marathon. As a coach, Pfitzinger has more than 20 years' experience, including working with distance runners at the University of Massachusetts, University of New Hampshire, and Mount Holyoke College.
In his current position as an exercise physiologist, Pfitzinger specializes in working with endurance athletes. He is a contributing editor for Running Times, which features his monthly column, “The Pfitzinger Lab Report.” His writing has also appeared in American Health, Runner's World, and New England Runner. A graduate of Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts with a master's in exercise science, Pfitzinger lives in Auckland, New Zealand. He is the general manager of the New Zealand Academy of Sport, where he provides sport science and sports medicine services to Olympic and national class athletes.
Scott Douglas is a former editor-in-chief of Running Times. He has published articles in Runner's World, The Washington Post, and Women Outside and has been a columnist for Running Times and Marathon and Beyond. He was also an editor of Running & FitNews, a publication of the American Running Association. Douglas has co-authored two books with Bill Rodgers: Bill Rodgers' Lifetime Running Plan and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jogging and Running.
Douglas has been a competitive runner since 1979, setting personal bests of 30:48 in the 10K, 51:01 in the 10-mile, and 1:08:40 in the half-marathon. Running competitively for almost 20 years, he has kept in tune with runners who have to fit training and racing around the demands of a career. Douglas resides in Bethesda, Maryland.
