Runner's Edge, The

Elite runners have long relied on technology to analyze performance, maximize training, and challenge the competitive boundaries of the sport. Serious runners long sought the same advantages only to be confronted with a costly and complicated process. Not any longer. Now, The Runner's Edge is yours.

The Runner's Edge takes you inside tech-based training, from the assortment of speed and distance devices available to the advantages of tracking and analyzing your results with the latest software. With the most current research in sport and science, you'll learn to leverage technology for more productive workouts and faster times.

Written by scientist, coach, and training pioneer Stephen J. McGregor, PhD, and best-selling author and running expert Matt Fitzgerald, The Runner's Edge provides new insights into technology-based training. In this one-of-a-kind work, you'll learn these skills:

-Determine pace targets for all of your workouts.

-Define optimal weekly and long-term training loads.

-Identify and address strengths and weaknesses in your running fitness.

-Recognize periods of overreaching resulting in illness or overtraining.

-Identify plateaus to ensure progressive training.

-Taper your program to peak for optimal performance.
Complete with a consumer buying guide, sample programs from 5K to marathon, guidelines for using technology on race day, and triathlon-specific strategies, The Runner's Edge will revolutionize your running regimen. Experience the power of technology-based training, and step up to elite-level performance.

Stephen J. McGregor, PhD, is a pioneer in the development of training concepts and software designed to maximize the benefits of running with a speed and distance device. Most notably, Dr. McGregor created the normalized graded pace (NGP) algorithm and the run training stress score (rTSS). The NGP algorithm accounts for changes in grade that affect running speed and reports an adjusted pace that is more reflective of the actual effort exerted by the athlete and helps runners determine the true physiological stress level of each run. Dr. McGregor is the director of the Applied Physiology Laboratory at Eastern Michigan University and has published and presented numerous research papers examining muscle injury, nutritional supplements, performance modeling, and running physiology.

Dr. McGregor is a former intercollegiate soccer player, triathlete, and elite competitive cyclist. He has coached endurance athletes for almost 15 years and has a doctorate in exercise physiology. He is on the science and education faculty for USA Cycling and serves as a consultant to numerous international-caliber cyclists and runners, including Olympians.

Matt Fitzgerald is the author of numerous books on running, triathlon, nutrition, and weight loss. A prolific health and fitness journalist, Fitzgerald writes regularly for such national publications as Bicycling, Experience Life, Her Sports, Maxim, Men's Fitness, Men's Health, Outside, and Runner's World. He is currently a senior editor with Triathlete, is a featured running expert on Active.com, and contributes to the Active Runner e-mail newsletter. Fitzgerald has written extensively on performance-enhancing drugs and how to excel without them for publications including Muscle Media and Running Times.

Fitzgerald serves as a communications consultant to a number of sports nutrition companies. He is the editor of PoweringMuscles.com, an online nutrition information resource for athletes and exercisers. In 2006 he became a certified sports nutritionist licensed by the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Outside of writing, Fitzgerald is a featured coach with TrainingPeaks, the leader in providing online training services to endurance athletes and coaches. In this capacity, he creates interactive training plans for runners and triathletes.

"Stephen McGregor and Matt Fitzgerald are masters of the science and technology of training. By following their expert guidance in The Runner's Edge, you will become a better runner."

Joe Friel, MSc
Head Coach
Training Bible Coaching

“In The Runner's Edge, Matt and Stephen do a terrific job explaining technology and showing you how to incorporate it into your daily workouts and training. A must-read for those looking to improve their performance."

Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man

"Precise measurement is the silver bullet of training when running for peak fitness. The Runner's Edge helps even the most techno-phobic athlete learn how to use the tools available to secure this edge."

T.J. Murphy
Editor in Chief of Inside Triathlon