Two years ago I limped across the finish line of my first marathon. While I boast that I ran a sub-four hour marathon, I can’t boast by much. My time was 3:59:56. After a year off, I’ve decided to return to the scene of the crime and better my results. This is where Advanced Marathoning comes in.

Advanced Marathoning is a set of training plans for people who regularly run 50km, 88km, or 105km per week. (In case you’re curious, I’m in the first category!) These training plans are a third of the book. The rest is dedicated to no-nonsense sports science.

Every element of  training—nutrition, strength training, hydration, and even tapering—is discussed in detail. After finishing reading these chapters, the articles in my Runner’s World subscription read like a children’s book!

I don’t know how well I’ll run this fall, but I do know a lot more about training than my first time around.

—Pete Pfitzinger & Scott Douglas, Advanced Marathoning: Second Edition (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2009, 2001).