Hal Higdon - Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide: Advice, Plans, and Programs for Half and Full Marathons, 5th Revised and Updated Edition

Thanks to all who contributed to the success of this book.

Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide, now in its fifth edition, has grown in breadth and depth because of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people. If this is the textbook for the marathoning ageand I think it isI owe thanks to all of them, coaches and runners, too many to name.

The first edition, in 1993, owed its expertise to my own successful career as a runner and sometime coach, but also to more than fifty coaches who returned questionnaires sharing their ideas and training methods. You still will find quotes from many of those coaches scattered through this edition.

In the half-dozen years between the first and second editions, I became a training consultant to the Chicago Marathon, thanks to race director Carey Pinkowski. My duties included working with the Chicago Area Running Associations Marathon Training Class, which grew from several hundred to several thousand runners under the leadership of Brian Piper and Bill Fitzgerald and later Tom Moran. Working with the class unquestionably helped expand my knowledge.

For the third edition, I called on my Internet friends, the so-called V-Teamersthose who participated in my Virtual Training Bulletin Boards, asking me questions and helping me answer the questions of others. The fourth and now fifth editions continue my relationship with runners both online and in person. It can truly be said that we are all in this together, and I continue to be amazed at how readily runners support each other, providing advice and guidance. This book certainly celebrates the closeness of the community of runners.

Thanks also to my editors at Runners World and in the Rodale book division, beginning with David Willey and John Atwood at the magazine offices in Emmaus, Pennsylvania; also my editor, Shannon Welch, and Stephanie Knapp in the Rodale offices in New York City. While Stephanie and I were working togethersending emails back and forthmaking sure my writing and Shannons editing matched the very detailed Rodale style book, Stephanie was using one of my training programs to prepare for a half marathon in Brooklyn. Others involved in the production of this book include Chris Rhoads, Amy King, and Lois Hazel.

Between the fourth and fifth editions, Rodale sold its magazine division, including Runners World, to Hearst, and its book division to Penguin Random House, whose editor Michele Eniclerico inherited me as an author. Others working on this fifth edition were: designers Stephanie Huntwork and Meighan Cavanaugh, cover designer Sarah Horgan, production editor Patricia Shaw, and production manager Jessica Heim.

Angela Miller, my agent, also has endured through the first, second, third, and fourth editions of Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide, both negotiating contracts and offering advice. My continuing thanks to her.

A special thanks to Nancy Clark, RD, a Boston-area dietitian, the author of Nancy Clarks Sports Nutrition Guidebook, also a good friend and source over the years. So much quackery exists in the field of nutrition that I did not trust myself when it came to revising and updating two key chapters. Nancy worked with me to ensure that Chapter 18, The Distance Runners Diet, and Chapter 21, Drinking on the Run, met Rodales standards for being current and accurate.

If there is a single best source for this and many of my other books, it would be Runners Worlds Amby Burfootmore than an editor, also a very close friend, along with his wife, Cristina Negron. Amby and I first met in 1965 at a small race in Warren, Rhode Island. I was at the top of my game, while Amby (who three years later would win the Boston Marathon) was not yet ready for prime time. This was in the era before prize money; New England races often offered merchandise for prizes. Traveling with my wife, Rose, and our three children, Kevin, David, and Laura, we had no room in a midsize car for any of the larger prizes. Reluctantly, I settled on a Timex watch for my first-place prize. Amby, who had finished second, claimed the combination barbecue grill and rotisserie that Rose would have loved if we could have figured out a way to transport it home to Indiana. The watch and grill are long gone, but our friendship with Amby has endured. If I need a good quote or a lead to some expert, Amby Burfoot is the first person I contact.

Rose never got that grill, but our love has endured. In addition to being husband and wife for more than a half century, we also are business partners. Without her constant assistance, we might not have sold close to a quarter million copies of Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide, nor would there be this fifth edition. Rose also serves me as last read for all the articles and books I have submitted to various editors over the years.

Thanks to Rose and to all of you who have contributed to Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide, a book that has led so many runners to the start lines and (most important) finish lines of marathons all over the world.

PROGRAMS

To Reach Your Goals, Train Smart

Simplicity. That is a word that I like to associate with all of my programs: those that follow and the many more available online. And simplicity is not a word or concept that I chose; over the years many runners have approached me at races and expos to say what they liked most about my training programs was their simplicity. Theyre easy to understand and to follow.

For example, skip ahead a few pages in this chapter, and look at Marathon Novice 1: Monday, Rest. Tuesday, Run. Wednesday, Run a little longer. Thursday, Run. Friday, Rest. Saturday, Run still longer. Sunday, Cross-train. Add a mile or two each week, and you arrive at the marathon after 18 weeks of effort fully trained and ready to fly. Doesnt get much simpler than that.

Life gets slightly more complex as you move from the novice programs through the intermediate programs to the advanced programs. But runners who start at Novice 1 and end at Advanced 2 learn while doing: Keep it simple, dont overtrain, and success is guaranteed.

More than half a million runners have trained for marathons using the programs featured here and in the previous four editions of this book. Here are my most popular programs for both the marathon and the half marathon, which increasingly has become a good starter event for runners who hope to leapfrog from 13.1 to 26.2.

HALF MARATHON: NOVICE 1

The Novice 1 half marathon program is a good place to begin. This is one of my easiest programs because of the relatively low mileage and the gentle ramp upward. Can you handle 4 miles running and/or walking? The workouts in Week 1 certainly are doable, even for beginners. Monday and Friday are rest days. Short runs are featured midweek with cross-training (bike, swim, walk) as a variation. Saturday is a cross-training day30 to 60 minutesa prelude to the long run on Sunday, which peaks at 10 miles in Week 11. Consider doing a 5K or 10K en route to your goal to get a feel for the racing experience.

HALF MARATHON: NOVICE 2

The half marathon Novice 2 program provides only a slight step upward: a few more miles here, a few more miles there, but pretty much the same pattern as Novice 1. This program was designed for those who have been running more than a few months, individuals who have been accustomed to runs of a half-dozen miles or more. But it is also popular with experienced runners who have run half marathons before and do not want to overtrain before their next one. You dont necessarily have to take the leap between novice to intermediate.