This book is good but not great, and appears to have lots of dated information. For example, the author cites Nike, Reebok, and Adidas as the brands to look for when buying technical running shoes, but the fact is that these three companies make a lot of "casual" and "retro" shoes, many of which are mixed into their line and sold as "technical" shoes to the unknowing. He also seems to suggest that cotton t-shirts and sweatshirts are fine to run in; if you are seriously training for a marathon, whether it's your first or your fifth, you would be better off with advice that encourages you to wear technical running tops made of technical fabrics (coolmax, dri-fit, etc.). They are much more comfortable, breathable, and moisture-wicking, therefore leaving your body to focus on running efficiently rather than struggling to cool you off.

It just seems like there's some not-so-great advice in here, which then made me wonder about the rest of the information he was presenting...

I've run many sub-four hour marathons and only discovered this book after the fact. I wish I'd had it while training for all those races, it might have helped. There's nothing fancy in here, and nothing you wouldn't find in various back issues of Runners World magazine. The standard, unvarying formular for running a marathon in under four hours is simple: run 20 miles a week for several months, then gradually increase your mileage to 40-50 miles a week. Start throwing in longer and longer runs one day of the week until you can run 20 miles at a stretch. Do this for 1 month, then taper off and run your marathon. I'm a firm believer in running 20 miles at least 3 times before marathon day.

I know... many have done marathons on less training, but I've run enough of them to know that many people suffer (and I mean *really suffer.*) The whole point of running a marathon is not to just survive it, but to hae fun doing it and finish tired, but not completely done in. If you train adequately, you can, and will, finish a marathon and it probably won't be your last. Few things in life offer such satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

One final word: the chapter on treadmill running was inadequate. Don't be put off by treadmill running, it replicates road running well enough if you put the treadmill at an incline of 3-4 percent. Good luck and happy running!

I have never run a marathon, but am planning on it. I found this small book to be full of good information. Whether you want to run a 4, 4.5, or longer marathon; this book will get you there with its various training plans. Because of its compact size, I've been carrying it in my pocketbook for the past month!! I'm really glad I bought it.

When I started training for my first marathon a few years ago, I had this book and also 'Galloway's Book on Running'. The interesting thing was that while Galloway's book had much more information, I was always carrying the '4 Months' book with me because it had all the basic necessary stuff in an easily accessible format.
Some people have complained that it is too brief and not very thorough but I found it to be the best trait of this book. Many other books have simply too much information and if you have to spend a week or two digesting hundreds of pages of technical information, your initial enthusiasm to train for a marathon has cooled somewhat. '4 Months' at the same time is very concise and to the point, giving simple, step-by-step instructions for everything from shoes to nutrition.
It also contains a very well-defined training program, which I followed to the letter. The program was relatively hard but once I had completed it all, I was able to beat the hour mark surprisingly easily, so I can say that it really works!

Therefore, if you are already an established runner, or if you're looking for more theoretical background, I suggest you get some "more advanced" book like the above-mentioned 'Galloway's Book on Running' or 'The Competitive Runner's Handbook', both are very good.
But if you are like me back when I didn't have too much running background then '4 Months to A 4 Hour Marathon' QUICKLY gives you all you need to get started. I owe it one of the greatest experiences in my life.

After running three marathons all in the 4:18-4:32 hour range, I wanted to try a marathon program that would get me to my 4 hour marathon goal. In the last three marathons, I followed Hal Higdon's 18 week Novice Marathon training program. This time I wanted to try a different program that included speed training.

4 months to a 4 hour marathon includes some speed training during the week, and longer weekend runs than the typical novice marathon training program. These long runs start out at 7 miles and gradually work there way to 23 miles within a 17 week training period. So, its very important for the runner to have a starting running base of about 16-20 miles a week with the ability of doing a 7 mile long run the first week of training.

This program recommends that you run faster during your shorter week day runs, and slow down on the weekend long runs to about 90 seconds slower than what your marathon pace will be. So, if your marathon pace will be just over 9 minutes per mile, your training long runs will be about 10 1/2 minutes per mile. You ask the question I asked. How am I going to run just over 9 minute miles in the marathon when I am training at 10 1/2 minute miles in my training long runs? In theory, the author believes that the week day speed runs, your adrenaline on marathon day, and the fact that your legs and body should be strong and injury free will allow you to run just over 9 minute miles thus achieving your 4 hour marathon goal. Sounds good on paper, but I did not acheive this goal. I ran a personal record of 4:11, but there was no way I was going to run a 4 hour marathon with this program. Granted, I felt healthy and strong, but my legs just did not have it in them to do anywhere near 9 minute miles for 26.2 miles. I believed that I needed to put in more miles during the week to achieve this goal.

So, if you are looking for a marathon training program that will help you to break 4:15, this is a pretty good program to follow. Anyone looking to run a 4 hour marathon or better, try Galloway's of Higdon's intermediate marathon training programs instead. Happy Running!