It's marathon season and you're dying to participate but you're not exactly sure how to train, what to eat, what shoes to get, and how to do it without getting hurt. No problem! Absolute Beginner's Guide to Half-Marathon Training will prepare you from start to finish so you can be a part of it this marathon season.

The guide starts out with a great discussion on goal setting and tracking so that you have a clear path to get you where you want to go and a way to stay accountable to yourself. This is then followed by a chapter on how to choose the appropriate program, as well as advice about training intensity, target heart rates, crosstraining, gps, and rate of perceived exertion. It's all explained in easy to understand terminology that is appealing to those who have never participated in marathons.

The chapters on safety and injury prevention are super practical and very informative with tips on wind chill, reflective gear, dog encounters, poor program design, and tables that list the most common running injuries along with symptoms, prevention, and treatment. For example: muscle strains and ligament sprains are two totally different injuries with similar symptoms but very different treatments. The section on over-training is also full of great tips that explain how more training isn't always better and how to get the right attitude and outlook so that you push yourself hard but not so hard that you end up with stress fractures. Other chapters cover strength training, running form, and stretching (including pilates and yoga advice). In addition diet is covered thoroughly and sample meal plans and logs are included in the back for tracking purposes. There is also a long section on motivation and race day strategies.

This is one of the best books written for beginners. It provides you with the most basic and useful information and it doesn't overwhelm you with a ton of technical training jargon that isn't necessary for those just getting started. Once you run your first race and you want to progress there are plenty of other guides out there to help you improve your form, times, etc.

Get the guide and run your first 1/2 Marathon.