Rating: 
Summary: A good, but far too brief book
Review: 4 Months to A 4 Hour Marathon is a good, but far too brief book on preparing for a marathon.While the back page of the book states that it is also for a recreational runner, the book is not truly made for beginners, as it assumes that the runners can easily 8 miles. The training regimen the book suggests is likely to be too hard for a lot of runners. While the book has a very easy to read style and has a lot of helpful hints, most readers preparing for their first marathon will find the book lacking in depth in many areas.
Rating:
Summary: Just Short of 4 Hours
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Just Short of 4 Hours
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: media reviews of 4 Months to 4 Hour Marathon
Review: Cincinnati Inquirer: "...a solid training program for beginners in a breezy, reader-friendly format. His philosophy: If talk show queen Oprah Winfrey can run a four-hour marathon, anybody can." New York Newsday: "Bright and witty, it's based on a solid, sensible program, and chock-full of interesting tidbits -- including details on how to prepare for (and survive) your long runs, a dress code based on temperature and humidity, plus a list of the 36 fastest marathons in North America." Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Makes running a marathon sound like a wonderful idea."
Rating: 
Summary: Many thanks from a thankful reader.
Review: Easy to follow common sense guide. Gives you all the training schedules and methodology that you need to enjoy and complete your first marathon. If Dave Kuehls' guide could do it for me, it could do it for you. Buy this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Informative and necessary for the novice.
Review: Fun reading and full of beneficial tips, this book enabled me to complete my first marathon (Pittsburgh, 5/2/99). Has also served as my inspiration to run a second marathon. A few mistakes in pace calculations did not detract.
Rating:
Summary: Helped me win my race
Review: I always wanted to try a marathon and this short, concise book was all I needed to run 4:27 in my first marathon. If you're thinking of running a marathon this is the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so realistic
Review: I am a 12 year running vet and a second time marathon trainee. I was looking to improve my time from my prior marathon from 4:30 to 4:00. The training schedule in this book is a bit far reaching. If you are going to do a training run of 24 miles, you might as well run the extra 2.2 miles and get the marathon over with right there. Seems a bit extreme.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent companion to a complete running book
Review: I found this book to be very disappointing, and quite frankly, a waste of money. As a 5+ hour marathoner, I bought this book hoping to gain insight into how to run faster. Instead, the author basically assumes that you're already running fast enough and enough miles to run a 4 hour marathon, so he simply provides a standard training plan that would allow you to run a 4-hour marathon. Therefore, I found this book to not be very helpful!
Rating:
Summary: Not Very Helpful!
Review: I found this book to be very disappointing, and quite frankly, a waste of money. As a 5+ hour marathoner, I bought this book hoping to gain insight into how to run faster. Instead, the author basically assumes that you're already running fast enough and enough miles to run a 4 hour marathon, so he simply provides a standard training plan that would allow you to run a 4-hour marathon. Therefore, I found this book to not be very helpful!
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