Book Review: "A Race Like No Other"

This will probably be my first and last book review on here - I got it for Christmas and I thought it was decent. Here it is:

The book focuses on the 2007 New York Marathon - which, coincidentally I ran. The author Liz Robbins is sportswriter for the NY Times - a newspaper that doesn't always seem to cover running very seriously. But, I was pleasantly surprised with this book. There was a good balance of in depth reporting of the top runners - along with "regular" people who were running the marathon to overcome great odds (cancer survivor/recovering alcoholic).

Also, there were some decent chapters about the history of the marathon - how the huge event that we know today went through some difficult developmental years. Some of the most interesting sections were about the people who come out to support the runners year after year. There aren't many sports where "regular" people have fans. Having experienced 1st Ave in Manhattan - I can say that it's one of the most incredible experiences I've had as a runner.

So, if you are looking for a book to inspire you for the NYC marathon next fall - this is one to pick up.

The training plan

I'm going to use a combination of training plans from Pete Pfitzinger (Advanced Marathoning) and Jack Daniels (Daniels' Running Formula). They both have plans that have 4 phases. The Pfitzinger plan is a little simpler - but, I like some of the workouts in the Daniels book a little bit better.

I'm planning on writing extensively on what these books say about distance running training. I'll probably bring in some theory from a few other books I have laying around too.

The plan will run for 24 weeks. I'll get into the details in a later post.