#000594
How to Train For and Run Your Best Marathon
Gordon Bakoulis Bloch
A no-nonsense marathon-training manual written by a national-class marathoner who qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Gordon Bakoulis lays out training programs for both first-timers and experienced runners, walking through workout schedules, the role of cross-training, nutrition, mental preparation, and the perennial dangers of injury and overtraining — then supplies logs to track it all. The voice is that of a coach who has actually done the miles, practical rather than gimmicky, focused on getting an ordinary runner to the finish line healthy. Published in 1993, it belongs to the wave of accessible running guides that helped turn the marathon from an elite pursuit into a mass participatory goal, and its core advice about consistent, sensible mileage has dated far less than its charts and race-day logistics.
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The author
Gordon Bakoulis (who published this book as Gordon Bakoulis Bloch) is an American distance runner and running journalist who competed at a national level and qualified for multiple U.S. Olympic marathon trials. She has long written and edited for the running press, which gives the book the credibility of lived competitive experience rather than armchair theory.
The book
Published in 1993 by Fireside (Simon & Schuster), it offers structured programs for novices through advanced runners, covering scheduling, cross-training, nutrition, mental preparation, and injury prevention, with training logs to follow.
How it has aged
The physiological fundamentals — build mileage gradually, respect recovery, don't race training runs — remain sound and are echoed by current coaching. What dates it is the surrounding context: GPS watches, heart-rate and power training, online plans, and evolving thinking on fueling and shoes have all arrived since. As a grounding in marathon principles it still holds up; for cutting-edge specifics, pair it with newer sources.
For more context
Contemporary running-science guides update the training and nutrition details.
Sources - How to Train For and Run Your Best Marathon — Goodreads - Publisher listing — Biblio
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Gordon Bakoulis Bloch
- Publisher
- Fireside / Simon & Schuster
- Year
- 1993
- ISBN
- None
- Shelf
- Craft & How-to
- Location
- Colorado