Customer Reviews

Half-Marathon: You Can Do It

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book while in the middle of following another taining plan for my first half marathon. The other, simpler plan was based on just grinding out the miles though it did include a few longish runs (8-10 miles) split into 2 halves with a short walk in the middle. I kind of liked a short walk in the middle (100m or so), it seemed to rejuvenate my legs. But ultimately the plan I was on eliminated them in favor of pure running.

Galloway recommends many more walk breaks and, at first, this seemed to me like cheating. But I figured I'd give it a try. I started running my 8-12K runs 1000m "on", 100m "off" (walk) and I saw something amazing happen: my split times came down and I could run longer and more enjoyably. My run/walk ratio of 10:1 is actually a lot higher run than he recommends, but it works great for me.

I just used the technique in the San Jose Half Marathon and the results were great. I beat my baseline goal by 10 minutes and even beat my stretch goal by 3. I beat my last 13 mile time trial time by a whopping 20 minutes and, more importantly, I felt great coming across the finish line (I was *crawling* on my last time trial where I ran 3 x 7K with only very short walks). My pace actually sped up throughout the race and my last 2 miles were my fastest.

So, for me, the system works. I am doing another half in January and will follow the entire program this time.

I really wanted to give this 3 1/2 stars, but since all other reviews are four or five stars, I went for the low side since it has severe technical problems that need to be addressed. Nonetheless, the program is outstanding and I DO recommend the book.

First the good news:
It works! Seven days ago, I finished my first half-marathon. This was an accomplishment! When I started the program I was 48, obese with a BMI of 32, and coming out of a extremely sedentary lifestyle. I had spent a couple of months before on a different program: The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer, with disastrous results, which cause me to spend two months recovering from a Achilles' tendon injury. I needed something that was suitable for a REAL non-runner like me.

Galloway's run-walk-run approach rose to the challenge. The basic rule is to never overdo training, and he gives excellent advice on how to learn your limits, respect your limits, and when appropriate, push them. The heart of the method is two-fold.

First, is developing a training pace based on your ability to run a carefully-controlled test mile. This pace is further adjusted for heat and other factors, and for some new runners it might seem almost impossibly slow, but Galloway is guiding you to realize that training your body is *not* the same as racing. Taking it slow as Galloway urges, works!

Second, Galloway promotes regularly-timed walk breaks, his "run-walk-run" method. For a slow novice runner, these might be timed 30 sec running, 30 sec walking. For someone running 7-min miles, he suggests 7 min running, 30 sec walking. Throughout, you're encouraged to be flexible, experiment, and find the ratio that works for you. (In my half-marathon, I choose a ratio of 100 / 80 seconds).

This not only serves as a control against overexertion, but also as a form of interval training. It's certainly a different beast from HIIT (high-intensity interval training), but I found that that can be incorporated judiciously into some workouts as well.

Other valuable pointers are on keeping a running journal, tips for mental motivation, troubleshooting aches and injuries, and diet.

The bad news is strictly with the editing and presentation of the book, but those problems really hurt its readability with needless confusion and backtracking. There are typos in almost every chapter. For example, after a paragraph that says "For long run training pace, add 3 minutes per mile," the table that follows says "(add 2 min/mi) Long Run Training Pace." On another occasion, an entire paragraph is repeated within a chapter. Metric equivalents are seriously off throughout--even as much as sixteen degrees (-20C isn't -20F; it's -4F. p.181) At best, non-American readers will waste time having to calculate the correct values they need; at worst, they'll use advice for the wrong temperature or pace and suffer the consequences. I don't blame Galloway for all these errors; this woeful lack of editorship is endemic in the publishing industry, but I would've loved for this to be a polished guide.

The layout is a disaster. The over-the-top use of two-page photos, background color blocks, repeated photos in the margin of *every* page, and GIANT TYPE might have been useful to get people to buy the book, but it hurts when reading it. It's a train wreck of distractions. Sure, many of the photos are excellent, and I love good pictures, but the excessive illustration makes it feel like an awkward coffee table book, rather than a runner's essential manual. Nearly a third of the pictures advertise Polar Electro heart-rate monitors, though there's not a word on heart-rate training. Lists that should fit on a single page are split over several pages, as are reversed-out color blocks. It is almost impossible to read linearly. There are no sidebars; supplementary information is in the main flow, constantly disrupting it. Every chapter feels scattered and disjointed, and it's virtually a nightmare for anyone with ADD (or a background in design). Despite having it for more than six months, and reading it very often, I still don't know if I've read the whole thing or not. Yes, getting through is *that* bad.

Don't let that stop you from getting it, though. There is still *much* more information here than on his website, and the book is nicely priced. Most important of all, this method works, and took me from injured couch potato, to half-marathoner.

It's quick & easy with lots of color & specific tips. It's particularly good if you feel like you're too old or out of shape to run a half-marathon. While there are great tips for training for more competent & experienced half marathoners, as a runner moving into the "masters" category, I really appreciated some of his insight into prioritizing workouts and pacing so I could avoid injury and enjoy myself longer. Took his advice on walk break and set a personal record at my next Half Marathon, despite the aging knees!!

I am basing this review on simply reading the book for about 15 minutes while killing some time at one of the big chain bookstores. From what I see, this book is wonderfully written and broken down perfectly, even for "older" novices like me (over 50, run a 9-10 minute mile, have run in about a half-dozen 5Ks' and looking to do more).

The presentation is colorful, motivational, and detailed enough for runners of all levels to get something out of it. I am currently reading the MARATHON YOU CAN DO IT book and that too is written in a breezy fun style yet there is a lot of text. HALF MARATHON seems almost like an outline with easy to view points and notes.

I also own the ABSOLUTE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO HALF MARATHON but if you only want one guide, Galloway's book appears to be the better and handier guide to own.

This book is awesome!!!!!!!!!! Gaslloway's sense of humor is reassuring and his down to earth honesty is calming. He states early on in the book that the 3 goals of any first time half-marathoner should be 1. finish in the upright position; 2. with a smile on your face; 3. wanting to do it again. Later in the book Galloway talks about the week's of recovery following the first half-marathon. He states that you should wait a week to begin running again or to decide you'll never run again. This book really helped to put things into perspective for me. I've been worrying about my finishing time and about if I'm going to be "wrong" for jogging 2 minutes and walking 2 minutes - he totally supports the concept of "just finishing" and alternating walking with running throughout the entire race! If you are a super star athlete than this book isn't for you - but if you are just getting into running or if you don't have many races (or any) under your belt - you MUST read this book at the earliest part of your training. Good luck with your race!

The run/walk methods taught in this book are usually used by runners who simply want to finish and can't make the distance without walking. In my case, I had a time goal. I used the methods in this book to finish my half marathon in 1:47:49. Not super fast, but not slow either. And the fact is that I ran faster with the run/walk than I could ever do running continuously.

You can use Galloway's run/walk method to finish comfortably or you can use them to improve your existing time. The main reason is the speed work. Galloway builds you up to 14 800 meter intervals two weeks before the race. That is a lot more speed work at one time than most training plans. The problem is that speed work often leads to injuries. Galloway's solution to this is to have you do speed work on even weekends and long runs on odd weekends. I.e., you never do speed work and long runs in the same week as you do in most plans. This allows you to do super long runs (building up to 19 miles) and extremely intense interval sessions without getting injured. Another feature of the program is hill work, which is necessary for hilly half marathons.

I found Galloway's recommendations with respect to run/walk ratios fairly accurate. During my second half marathon I ran 1/2 mile, walk 30 seconds. Then when I started doing close to 8 minute miles I switched to Galloway's suggested run 5 minutes and walk 30 seconds. You can either get Galloway's timer or you can simply use your Garmin GPS watch on interval setting. Psychologically this has a very nice effect - instead of thinking about the whole 13.1 miles you have to cover, you just walk when the Garmin beeps and then start running again when it beeps again.

Imagine running along and seeing this guy walking. You think - what a wimp. Then the guy starts running and passes you up. But then when he starts walking again you pass him again. This leap-frogging continues until at some point the guy ends his walk break while still ahead of you. After that, he gets farther and farther away until you don't see him again. What's even more demoralizing is that you know the guy is going to be fresh and sprinting at the end.

I bought this book to help me train for my first half marathon. But, I have loaned it to two friends who have done numerous half marathons as well as Iron Girls, triathalons, etc. and both have then gone out and bought the book as well. It is a great book for every runner interested in half marathons. The training plans and explainations are detailed and very helpful. Many of the running magazines use terminology that, as a beginner, I could not understand. Galloway does a great job spelling everything out and has made it easy to take the proper steps to ramp up for this longer race and to do so safely with less risk of injury. I have been running for 28 years and would do the occasional 5K or 10K, but usually with friends and just for fun. The half is the first "race" that I knew I would really need to train for due to the distance. This book has been a valuable tool. The only thing I wish it had a bit more of is dietary suggestions. There are definitely some in way of drinks or foods to eat while running the race, and a bit of a suggestion for what to eat the day before, morning of, and after, but I would like to know a bit more about what "runners" eat on a day-to-day basis. One more mention about the injury free part...his method has allowed me to go further than I ever hoped to. I have had two knee surgeries and most recently, broke a toe that then led to achilles and peroneal tendon issues (boot and PT, etc.). Using Galloway's methods, I have felt great and have not had ANY twinge of pain or concern. This is a great book by a great runner.

This book is terrific and has really helped me with my half-marathon training! The training program works and I am already running 9 miles and plan to reach the goal of 1/2 marathon soon. It is a good book for beginners, intermediate and advanced.

Jeff Galloway's book helped me finish my first marathon. It continues to be a great reference for topics like nutrition and training schedules. I highly recommend this book for beginners.

This book and its advice helped me go from struggling to finish a 4 mile run to running 8 and the 10 miles without any issues. Jeff Gallow's run-walk-run method really works. I also recommend that you buy one of the timers that he talks about in the book.... it makes all the difference in the world