THE RUNNER’S WORLD BIG BOOK OF MARATHON AND HALF-MARATHON TRAINING

Last July 30, I received from my US-based classmate and fave friend, Magen, a book which I dearly needed. This book is The Runner’s World Big Book of Marathon and Half-Marathon Training. It is written by four very accomplished runners who are connected with Runner’s World, the leading running magazine in the world.

A most welcome sight, a package from a friend

The Runner’s World Big Book

  

1.Amby Burfoot, who won the 1968 Boston Marathon, has run more than 75 marathons and has a personal best of 2:14.  He has been  at Runner’s World for 34 years, 18 years of which as editor. 

2.Bart Yasso, the “Mayor of Running”, is a veteran of more than 1,000 races and more than 100 marathons, with a personal best of 2:40.  Now, as Runner’s World’s chief running officer, Yasso is on the road 50 weekends a year, dispensing the wisdom and inspiration runners need.

3.Jennifer Van Allen has finished 36 marathons and ultras, with a 3:08 personal best at the 2009 Boston Marathon.  She is the special project director at Runner’s World, managing the RW Challenge Program.  

4.Pamela Nisevich Bede has a personal best of 3:09.  As a certified specialist in Sports Dietetics, she counsels athletes of all ages and abilities, developing meal plans and event-day nutrition strategies, and lecturing on acute and chronic diseases that affect different sports.

I have read the first 40 pages of the book thus far and I have learned already a few new things.  

For one, at page 14, there is a table entitled “How Fast You Can Go?” that shows how you can use the finishing time of shorter races to predict your pace for a longer distance.  For example, if your 5km finish time is 34 mins and 26 seconds, then more than likely, your 42-km finish time will be somewhere at 5 hours 30 mins. Hmmmmm.....Sounds interesting for me.  The fastest I have gone in a marathon is 5 hours 36 minutes. 

At page 36 is a guide on the various types of run.  For so long, I have been wondering what really is a tempo run.  This guide gave me a clear answer.  A tempo run is 20 to 40 seconds per mile slower than 5-km pace and 94 to 96% of max heart rate.  

And at page 40 is a discussion on the Yasso 800s.  Started by Bart Yasso in 1981, it is a track workout where he ran 800 meters and jogged 400 to recover and repeated this cycle for 10 times.  Yasso noticed that the average it took him to run 800 meters 10 times was equal to his marathon finishing time.  If he ran each 800 meters in 2 minutes and 40 seconds, he’d run a 2:40 marathon.  Interesting.  Maybe I can try this out with my fellow 83nean runners.

Page 40 How the Yasso 800s Were Born

The thirst for knowledge keeps running for me...................Who knows?  The Bicolano Penguin might get to improve on the marathon finish time of 5 hours & 36 minutes.  Hope springs eternal.