Rating: 
Summary: Well balanced
Review: A frustrating thing about a lot of training guides is their complete focus on the casual runner. With Runners World taking mainly a casual approach, there is quite a dirth of good information for competitive runners. This book, however, manages to give excellent guidelines for all runners who want to improve. If you want to walk/jog a marathon on 20 miles a week, this is not the book for you. However if you want to improve your PRs and just don't know how fast to do intervals/distance/reps, this is the best book out there by far.
Rating:
Summary: It all makes sence!
Review: After 10 years absence of training I've started again 2000. My personal best on 10 000m is 31:30 (-87) and I'm now at a level of 39 min and I've set an ambition to decrease my time by 2min per 10K per year.
During my "come-back" I sketched on a training program based on my previous experiences. But to get some external input to my training program I ordered Jack Daniel's "Daniel's Running Formula" and I found it very valuable. It explained things and I found especially the VDOT tables very usefult to base my training pace upon. I would like to say: -it's all about speed when it comes to training. Not as fast as possible, but the RIGHT speed. Jack Daniel's explain why and what the right speed is.
After reading this book I can clearly say that I know *why* I should perform the particular intervall and at what speed, etc. It all makes sence! /Lars
PS. I can also recommend "Road Racing for Serious Runners" by Pete Pfitzinger, Scott Douglas. DS.
Rating:
Summary: it doesn't get any better than this
Review: anyone interested in training for racing any distance from the mile to the marathon will benefit and thus run faster following this program. our cross country program just won the state championship using Jack Daniel's program. this program guarrantees improvement while limiting the chances of injury or overtraining.
Rating:
Summary: Plan and run with a purpose.
Review: Coach Daniels presents a clear guide to training with stated reasons for each type of run that I have not seen else where. He definately has a good track record as a coach. He allows the reader to prepare running schedules with a definate purpose for each week and each run. Not as simplistic as most books on running. Highly recommended among running books.
Rating:
Summary: The training bible for the serious runner !
Review: I consider Jack Daniels' Running Formula my running bible. I have read it 5 times and will likely read it again a couple more times. In addition, I refer to it on a weekly basis (VDOT's, time charts).
The good:
* He describes the types of running, the frequencies, the intensity that they should be ran at "immaculately".
* I love the pace charts and the predicted racing times, they are "dead-on".
* Book is packed with his extensive experience and knowledge (definitely not one of those books to make a quick buck !!!).
The bad:
* He is not the best writer (but the information is great)
Caveats:
* I would say his book is for serious runners (40++ miles a week)
* I would highly recommend using a heart rate monitor. Basing the
VDOT on easy, tempo and race pace can easily lead to injury since your intensity may creep up (the HR monitor does not lie !!!).
* I take his long run rule with a grain of salt (max 25% of weekly mileage). Maybe this applies to 80 mile+ runners, but if you are like me and train 50-60 miles a week and run marathons this seams not helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Superbly thought-out advice from a great coach
Review: I'm a 40-yr-old runner. Jack Daniels' book has been my training companion for the last 24 weeks. (My goal was to break 16:30 for 5K, and the book led me there.) What separates Daniels from even his finest competitors (e.g., Coe and Martin) is his peerless teaching ability. His presentation is direct, clear, concise, and logical. Daniels doesn't assume that the reader has access to any special support system. He thoroughly explains (i) the kinds of training a runner needs to do, (ii) the proportion to be done of each kind, and (iii) the timing of each within a given cycle. Daniels' "formula" is flexible and will meet various time constraints or levels of commitment. He shows one how to get the job done with the least amount of work and how to avoid "junk" quality. Besides the training formula, Daniels offers wonderful lessons on crucial topics such as cadence and breathing. There are limits to the book. Important topics such as nutrition, stretching, and strength training receive relatively little attention. Yet even this is for principled reasons. A distance runner must mainly run. And Daniels truly teaches one how to do that.
Rating: 
Summary: Good principles but difficult to implement for me
Review: I'm a 52 years old recreational runner who runs some 1/2 marathons and occasional 10K races. My times have deterioreted a lot since 1987 so I get the book to learn more. The training is based on vDOT and you need a track or a measured path to know exactly what time you need to run it. How about to run 400m repetitions 6 sek faster then VO2Max pace ? Or LT-runs 15 sek per km slower then 10k race pace ? Daniels is not a friend of HRM training. Watch is his tool. His training principles, utilising enviroment etc are very usefull though. His programs are best suited for competitive runners. There are only a few word mentioned for people like me for whom a 1/2 marathon takes the same time as full marathon for elite. So I'l stick to a HRM training. I'd just purchased "Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot" here. Good luck! Josef
Rating:
Summary: Incredible training guide!
Review: I've used this book to train for my last two marathons, and in one year I went from a 4:10 marathon to my PR of 3:40. The best part is that the training schedules can be modified to your individual peak mileage, pace, and time commitment.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for Plug 'n Play training programs
Review: If Better Training for Distance Runners is too technical for your tastes then this is the book for you. Daniel takes the guess work out of finding the training paces that you need to know for sound training with his VDOT method. I'm currently using the program and this works. You don't have to worry about over-training with this program because it is where you are and is adjustable as you improve -- unlike other running programs that you have to run the course of the training plan. Daniels' plain language approach should have great appeal. Excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: This Formula Works
Review: If you want to improve your running times, read this book, take hold of it and you can't help but improve. Easy to understand training formulas no matter if you are a ten minute or six minute miler. This book shows you the correct way to train and tells you why you are doing a particular workout.
| 
