Road to the Top: A Systematic Approach to Training Distance Runners

by Joe I. Vigil

A Systematic approach to distance training that produced one of America's greatest running programs

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

251 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

U.S. Olympic distance coach, 1988–2008.

Reviews

[Peter Bergmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good chapters on training at altitude, heat adjustments, etc, and good ones on training philosophy and how to lead a team but some of the training ideas/philosophies are perhaps no longer as relevant or accurate based on recent data (especially nutrition for marathon). The highlights of the book are the scientific explanations of aerobic vs anaerobic and the early chapters around physiology, which were clear and useful. Still a worthwhile read but I prefer Daniels' Running Formula for its usefulness and applicability to training.

[Pat Melgares]

This should be on every distance running coach's bookshelf. It's the ultimate guide to training distance runners, from high school to the professional level. The guiding principles are all included and every coach can work from those to develop winning programs and winning runners -- just like Vigil has done since 1954 when he first coached high school middle distance and distance runners.

[Alstin Benton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for the beginner distance coach. Written by one of the US's all time great XC and track coaches. A lot to gain in this book even if there are some outdated concepts.

[James McGinness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Info, hard to follow

[Richard Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Vigil's notes on how to train distance runners. Really useful information for distance running coaches, but the writing flows like lecture notes.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Joe is a legend and should be met in person to be appreciated. The book is much better understood when read in his voice. He gets up at 4am every day and reads the latest in sports science, so he's up to date, but he's also very old school. The best parts of this book aren't the workouts, or charts, but the section on philosophy and values. I've heard Dr. Joe speak many times and this is the topic that he gets most passionate about (which is saying something!). The main thing is, you have to love running. And if you do, the rest, the physiology and the training, flows from that. If you love running, you can do a lot of it. You can suffer through the hard running.

There are some typos in the book that confuse at times, and some charts or table are inconsistent. But those are just details. The overall message of good living and hard work will serve any runner well.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

A glimpse into the training style of one of America's best distance coaches. Very thorough and comprehensive. Probably more than any high school or recreational runner can handle, but the information is extremely well-written and adaptable.

[Marklandman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good insights into different aspects of training (altitude, cold, hot/humid). Very scientific, lots of charts and tables with data.