80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster by Training Slower

I've been running off and on for most of my life. Mostly because I had to be in shape for my occupation. I mostly trained for runs of 3 miles or less and my training was running a few miles a week as fast as I could. "No pain, no gain" was the only way I knew. I retired and no longer had any external motivation to continue running. It was such a drag that I didn't miss it at all. Then I got soft and flabby and started running again. I did it the same way I always have, short and fast. I made some progress and won my age group in a couple of 5k races. I tried to train for 10k and I couldn't. My legs were always wore out and joints were constantly sore. I started researching different training methods and came across Maffetone, polarized, and 80/20. All of them emphasizing mostly low intensity training. I'm currently a month into Maffetone training and just finished this book. I'm getting much more mileage without wearing myself out and my pace is slowly coming down while my heart rate stays the same. It is also rather enjoyable and almost relaxing to run without panting and having my heart pounding. I believe the method works. It's a slow process and it will require patience and discipline to keep plugging along at a very low intensity and slow pace. This book has some great information that I will incorporate for my next phase of training. I think any runner could benefit from this training concept but it would be especially beneficial to aging recreational runners who want to train in a way that is sustainable and less prone to cause injury.

TL;DR: Buy this book.I'm very happy with the book. I only recently bought it, but I had previously borrowed it from my library and liked it. I might have read some blogs by the author, but wasn't really familiar with him before getting the book. There are lots of parts of the book where the author is discussing the 80/20 philosophy, its history, research, other training approaches, and things like that. Those sections seem well written and are not boring. I am even re-reading it, as I feel like I want to really get a good grasp of this knowledge. A lot of the author's basic discussion applies to all areas of exercise fitness, not just running. The sections that discuss specific workouts and later training plans seem pretty well set up in tables with good discussions before them. I liked it so much I felt I needed to own the book and continue to return to it rather than just copying some of the information from the library book.I feel like the running philosophy the author is advocating is sound and works well for me. The author backs up his main premises with really solid research. I previously would run way too hard on what should have been easier runs, and it made it difficult to keep up a long-term fitness routine. Now I feel pretty refreshed after easier runs, and am able to improve on my long runs, short interval workouts, and tempo runs while not be drained at the end of a week.By the way, I'm basically an amateur runner. I'm 36, and I ran track and cross country all through high school, but was never at an elite level even when compared with my local conferences, let alone at larger region or state level. I've been running off and on since, sometimes with some pretty good stretches. I only ran my first Marathon when I was 35 (roughly 7 months prior to this review, roughly 2 months before I initially obtained this book), and prior to that had never completed a race of longer than 5 miles. I had a lot of trouble with training for the marathon, and after reading numerous blogs I feel like I have a better understanding of some proper ways to train. Even still, I don't think I had grasped the idea that more of my running needed to be at a lower effort. This book offers a consistent guide and seems to have all the information I need in one place.At the time of this review, I'm in the middle of the half-marathon level 2 training plan, and am pleased with the fact that I've made it this far and still feel good.I took off one star due to some issues with the physical book, not with the content. The paper seems super thin and cheap, and it tears easily. It is probably recycled paper and that makes me feel okay about it, but it still makes it a little annoying. Also, I think the book pages could be better labeled with chapter numbers at the tops and such for an easier time quickly finding something you're looking for. The titles of some chapters are not necessarily as helpful to me for quickly finding content. However, these are very minor issues not related to actual content. If I could only take off a half-star I would probably do that. The book itself is inexpensive, so some issues with the physical book are probably expected, anyway.

IMHO, this is THE book you need if you want to make huge jumps in your running performance.A little background: I just started running three years ago, at age 50. Until I got this book about six months ago, I just went out and ran with no plan. My runs were pretty much the same effort (heart rate zone), equating to what most folks would call tempo runs or a little bit faster. I did vary the mileage quite a bit, however. And sure, that method gradually got me a little faster over the years (more so at first) sometimes cutting off a few seconds from one 5K race to the next, though not always. I was kind of plateaued.I decided in May (2015) that I needed a REAL plan to prepare for my first marathon, later in the year (October). So, I started following the Marathon Level 1 plan in this book. Really, my goal for the training was to merely finish the marathon, with little expectation that it would allow me to perform better at an upcoming 5K (August) and a half marathon (Oct 10th). But, during the training I noticed I was running faster and faster at the same heart rate.So let's cut to the chase: following this marathon raining plan, I PR'd in the August 5K race by 35 seconds, finishing in 22:21. Then, two months later I shaved 10 MINUTES off the half marathon, finishing an extremely hilly course (Freedom's Run in the rolling hills of West Virginia) in 1:46:56 (compared to same race in 2014). There is NO WAY I could have run an 8:09 pace for the half - for almost two straight hours of running - without the unbelievable aerobic improvements this book has allowed me to attain. Further proof: my Strava suffer score for the 2014 Half was 333 ("epic suffer" rating) compared to a 243 for the same Half this past weekend. I ran about 50 seconds PER MILE faster BUT at a LOWER heart rate! That, to me, is unbelievable.So yeah, buy this book. It's concise, packed with scientific proof, and has training plans for 5K, 10K, Half's, and full Marathons. Even if you don't race, following his 80/20 rule will make your runs MUCH more enjoyable and productive, insofar as improving your aerobic fitness level.One more note: while I usually buy Kindle versions of books, I bought the paperback edition and was glad I did. I wound up going back and forth repeatedly between sections, particularly the tables with the myriad different runs (long, tempo, intervals, fast finish, etc.) and the tables with the prescribed runs for a particular training day. I even affixed colored tabs to make it easier.