Personal Best Running: Coach Coogan’s Strategies for the Mile to the Marathon

by Mark Coogan, Scott Douglas, Elle St. Pierre (Foreword)

Good racing doesn’t just happen. It’s a skill that must be honed with training and hard work. In Personal Best Running , Coach Mark Coogan shares his successful formula for running fast—while staying healthy and happy—without running taking over your life.

Coach Coogan has excelled in running as both an athlete and coach, producing numerous Olympic and champion runners. His success is founded in his belief that long-term running success is impossible if you’re not training and racing in the right environment and that running should never come at the expense of your overall physical or mental health. In addition to training strategies that will shave minutes off your time, Coach Coogan will also show you how to sleep and eat properly, surround yourself with supportive people, psychologically navigate setbacks and challenges, lower your injury risk, and have a life outside of running.

Get the physical and psychological strategies needed to build an aerobic base, balance hard work and recovery, achieve good running form, and turn adversity into an advantage. Learn the importance of strengthening and warm-up exercises, and master running drills that will make you a stronger runner. Plus, access the 30 online video clips that showcase the exercises and drills in action.

Coogan provides numerous training schedules for the mile, 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon as well as schedules for running multiple races in a short period of time. For each distance, choose the length of training (from 6 weeks to 16 weeks) and weekly mileage range. The plans are supplemented with training and racing tips to help you better understand how to apply the concepts to your own running strategy.

You’ll also get a personal look at what successful runners do as Coach Coogan shares some of his own experiences as a runner and coach. And you’ll draw plenty of motivation and inspiration from the athlete profiles of eight of his accomplished runners, including Drew Piazza, Alexi Pappas, and Elle St. Pierre.

If you want to run better and race faster, now is your chance to train with Coach Coogan and Personal Best Running .

Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.

A code for accessing online videos is included with all print books.

Genres: Sports, Fitness, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

Published February 3, 2023

Reviews

[Jakob]

Probably the best one-stop collection of training plans currently available for the semi-serious hobby jogger (i.e., runs most days, no doubles) looking to race various distances. The text itself is nothing fancy; the book contains sensible training advice sprinkled with common sense and has the advantage of jumping straight into the practical aspects of it all instead of some half-baked introductory section on exercise science or physiology à la Pfitz or Daniels. The tone is casual throughout; Coogan is obviously a great coach and seems like a nice enough feller. Recommended.

Final note: As a Europoor, trying to decipher workouts such as “4-5 miles continuous starting at 35 seconds slower than 10K pace, increasing pace 5-10 seconds per mile after each mile” makes me go postal.

[Tristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most comprehensive and useful book I have read on running. Mark Coogan’s vast experience as a runner and long-time coach have given him a common sense and easy to understand approach to the sport. I enjoyed his running pillars, the layout of the book, and look forward to using his workouts for different distances. This book has re-energized my desire to pursue PRs in several different distances, and I’m very grateful.

[Bruce Ingersoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some good thoughts on coaching and the training plans offer lots of options to work through and adapt.

[Emilee Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is really neat to read a book by a coach who has worked with a lot of athletes over the years. I found that a lot of the running advice in this book resonated with my personal running experience, and it also gave me a lot to think about in my running going forward. The training plans in it also look spectacular- I'm looking forward to trying one soon!

[adrienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book with great stories (personal anecdotes and profiles of his athletes), but the plans, even the lower mileage ones, are fairly advanced. As an aging runner, I cannot really pull off two workouts and a long run for too long. BUT the examples of how to run races well and how to run them not so well are super useful.

[Alecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful resource. Includes training plans for the mile, 5k, 10k, 15k to half marathon, and marathon; clear definitions of the types of runs (e.g., long, tempo); warm up drills and mobility; and mental performance tips.

[Stephen Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid programming and tips for all parts of taking running seriously. Looking forward to incorporating some of the ancillary parts to my running routine and will likely try one of the 5K schedules to see how it prepares me for a race.

[peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most comprehensive training books I’ve read so far! Lots of great tips. I will stress that the training plans are for more advanced runners (50-120 km weekly mileage), so I’ll have to circle back to this book when I’m at that level. But for now… 🙌?

[Greg Snier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark does a great job of simplifying training theory in a way that is approachable and applicable for all athletes. I find myself going back to the book often to refresh myself on some of his main principles.

[Joshua Sack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically, why you shouldn’t design your training based on old Alberto Salazar clips

[Cody Symonds · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Kate Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned a lot. Love Mark's work and Boston team!

[Ivan P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical handbook, minimal theory, ready-made solutions, practical advice and descriptions. Can be used as a handbook when needed.

[Paul Arredondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for the recreational runner but if you are elite/semi- elite it is pretty basic and more anecdotal than scientific. The themes are great though and sounds like Coogan really cares for his athletes and I like the idea of B workouts instead of A workouts. If you want a more detailed book that has a little bit of everything I'd recommend how to build your running body by Pete Magill