Marathon Training Resources

18 weeks until Chicago and I'm fully thinking about the marathon.  I was just asked about marathon resources - you can see how my training is taking shape on my training blog, but here's a list of resources I've used, and some that others might find helpful.

My Favorites:

http://www.halhigdon.com/ - Hal Higdon, a renown coach who as of 2006 had run 111 marathons and longest termed writer for Runner's World, has training schedules for every level of runner.  Lots of free information, I used his advanced schedule as the basis for my marathon training, though I thought some of his speed work was a little weak and I wanted a little longer than 20 mile long run in my schedule.  Great site.

http://mcmillanrunning.com/ - Greg McMillan, an "exercise scientist" and coach who has been involved with olympic athletes since 1996, coaching runners in the 2008 games, started McMillan Running company to provide online resources to runners.  Lots of great information including a running calculator to help figure your training speeds, there is also personalized coaching / plans available for a fee.  I used this site heavily to figure training times and what types of training I need to incorporate to round out my training.  Terrific site.

Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon: How to Be Your Own Best Coach - A book by Brad Hudson, a great former runner who now coaches some big name US runners (Ritzenhein, James Carney, Jason Hartmann, Casey Burchill, Stephanie Rothstein, Megan Lewis, Tera Moody, and Lucinda Hull and previously Shayne Culpepper, Steve Slattery, and Jorge and Ed Torres, among others.)  A good book that covers training programs from the 5k to the marathon with lots of great tips and training programs.

Running Formula - Book by Jack Daniels, a running scientist and coach.  This book is basically the early running bible.  Any decent coach will have read it.  While I (and several other runners & coaches I've talked to) don't agree with everything set for in the book (it's a little dated) there is tons of great scientific information. There are also a few basic training programs and training times & zones are referenced by many other sites and books.

Some others:

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/ - Jeff Galloway, a former US Olympian, and a master's runner who ran a 2:16 at the age of 35, shares his thoughts on training.  His "run to finish" program is free, but other programs require a subscription   He seems to target beginners / non-serious runners with his run/walk method of marathoning.  Me?  Not that impressed.

http://marathon-training-guides.com/ - I just found this site so I haven't had time to really look through it.  It looks like it has some good info though the advanced sections are incomplete.  Might be worth looking through.

http://www.coolrunning.com/index.shtml - Not just for marathoning, but there are some plans as well as other good information for runners on diet, cross training and motivation.

http://www.runnersworld.com/ - The online companion of the Runner's World magazine.  I tend to think of this as more a jogging resource, I did find some interesting marathon information that I utilized in my marathon planning.


This is not even close to an exhaustive list of online & book resources (obviously) and I have read and used a number of other resources for my training, but this list should offer a solid foundation to your running knowledge and marathon training.