Practical, comprehensive but too hard for me
Daniels’ Running Formula by Jack Daniels gives practical advice on how to train for middle and long distance events up to the marathon. It’s a book by a practitioner and is full of insights and empirical evidence from years of coaching.
So you can believe that the methods and advice have been tried and tested.
However, I get the feeling there may be a bias towards younger or elite athletes in Daniels’ recommendations and plans.
I’ve tried to follow plans from the book a few times but have never got anywhere. I found them too demanding.
Most of the many plans in Daniels’ book ask for at least two interval workouts a week. That old familiar formula: short intervals, a tempo run and a long run each week — or some twist to it.
This is unfeasible for me. Even in my 20s I don’t think my body would have handled two hard sessions a week plus a long run for any length of time.
Perhaps if I’d understood this before trying his plans, I could have made them work for me.
But anyway, if you don’t know what a tempo run is or how to do intervals, Daniels’ Running Formula is a good starting point.
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