Book Review: Brain Training for Runners

After breaking 3:10 for the marathon in June, I set my sights at the sub-3 marathon, a lifelong ambition of mine. Unsure if my present training was adequate for that level of running, I followed a recommendation from some other runners and purchased the book “Brain Training for Runners” by Matt Fitzgerald.

In case you are not familiar with the “brain training” concept, the very well known South African sports scientist Tom Noakes has developed a theory that it is mostly our brain that determines our level of running performance, not the muscles in our legs. Matt Fitzgerald claims that his training approach takes those insights into account.

The book is split into two parts. The first half gives the theories behind the concept and a lot of practical ideas on how to train. There is nothing really radical in this – I have come across all the basic ideas before, but some of the chapters I found outstanding. My favourite one is about core strengthening. Not only does the author explain very well why core training is important for runners, but he also describes four sets of exercises, and the accompanying photos make them perfectly clear. Other good chapters deal with recovery and injuries.

The second part of the book consists of a set of training plans for the distances of 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon, with three levels for each. Each plan is split into four phases, namely base, build 1, build 2 and peak (plus taper), and each phase has its own sets of workouts. Those training plans are solid. If you mange to follow them, you will definitely end up in good shape. Originally, my main gripe with them was a distinctive lack of distance variation. On most weeks there were 4 runs of the same length, and 3 of them consecutive, which I found less than ideal.

I did find some weakness as well. Many of the training ideas are similar to already well known plans, even if he comes at them from a different angle. For example, tempo runs are there to get the brain used to that exertion rather than pushing the lactate threshold, but in reality you are doing the exact same workout. I also never managed to get to grips with some of his ideas, for example the use of proprioceptive cues (falling forward, pulling the road, navel to spine, and so on).

The main problem I ran into was the amount of speedwork in the training plans. Even though I never managed to quite hit the prescribed training paces, my PRs in all the shorter distances dropped, some by spectacular amounts (over 1 minute in the 5k!), but halfway through the training I started to feel really tired and increasingly stale. I persevered for a while, but eventually felt I had no choice but to cut back a little bit.

In my goal marathon, I ended up with a new PR but missed the 3 hours mark after running into difficulties in the later miles. Will I use that training plan again? The answer is no. I ended up dreading the speed workouts and eventually decided that this was not the right way for me to train. However, others have reacted more positively, and the book is definitely worth checking out—the chapter about core training is worth the price of the book alone, and with that in mind, I’ll give it 4 stars out of 5.

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