80/20 Running:

Matt Ftizgerald

Fitzgerald is an ace at taking a basic idea about endurance sports and turning it into a useful, if a bit padded book. Racing weight is about, well, weight and racing, and 80/20 is about the very popular (some would say ubiquitous) running methodology of running eight percent of your miles easy and twenty percent hard.

 

Like racing weight, the concept at the center of 80/20 isn’t difficult to grasp, but Fitzgerald takes the time explain to us why, exactly, this training modality work, and why other modalities don’t work as well. As he is fond of saying, if you want to be good at running, do what the pro do. And the pros don’t do only HITT work outs, or crossfit endurance, or any of that other shenanigans. They run, a lot, mostly easy, sometimes hard.

 

It isn’t complex in theory, but in practice, its challenging. In addition to the science on offer here, Fitzgerald provides useful guidance on how to determine what is, really, easy, as well as helpful training plans for running preparing for races from 5k to marathon.

 

Do you need this book to utilize this training approach? No. Is it interesting if you’re obsessed with endurance sports? Yes. As a runner trying one more time to get into peak shape, I liked it. Your mileage may vary.

 

Recommended for the enthusiast.