book review

Forum guidelines BT super discount
General Discussion Triathlon Talk » book review Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply
2007-02-16 5:49 AM

User image

Member
23

Subject: book review
Bought the book 'Ironman made easy' by Paul Van Den Bosch a couple of weeks ago.
I have to say that I feel cheated out of 19.10 euro (about 13stg, 22 us dollars). Badly punctuated and it's obvious that no proof read ever took place. It also contains a 24 week program which for a beginner like myself doesn't seem to make a lot of sense as it calls for your long swim to take place on the same day as your long cycle most weeks. It also has you down for a 5 hour cycle on the Saturday (8 days) before the race.
While it may be ok the amount of simple mistakes throughout the book would leave me very sceptical about the program.
would be interested to hear any other comments from people who may have read this.
I'm seriously considering writing to 'Ironman" who have put their name to this and asking for a refund.
If I'm being unfair please advise.

Regards

Gerry


2007-02-16 4:05 PM
in reply to: #692592

Member
70
2525
Subject: RE: book review
Haven't read it but you don't list anything that would keep me from buying it.

In todays publishing world of 'Nobody proofs anything beyond spell checker', what you describe sounds pretty typical. After all, it doesn't sound like the guy is trying to educate you up on grammer and syntax.

The 1/2 mary schedule that we are following this year has a 50 mile bike ride 8 days before the race. That is more than proportional to your 5 hour ride to the IM race distance. Seems to me that if you hope to do 112 miles and you have done all the training leading up to that 5 hour ride, it should be within your capability.

What do the long rides look like for the 22 weeks in front of that ride?

The thing I would really like to know about his schedule is what the first two to four weeks look like. Thats what tells me if I am 'in the game' or not. The last four weeks of a schedule for a new race distance are always pretty scary to me.

2007-02-16 4:47 PM
in reply to: #692592

Champion
8903
500020001000500100100100100
Subject: RE: book review

I am guessing the reasoning behind the choice of day for the long swim is because of time constrictions that most of us face.  You have to get in a long bike, a long run, and a long swim...and for most of the readers, that's over a 2-day weekend.  At least for me, a long bike takes a lot less out of me than a long run, so if I have to double up, I'd prefer the swim to be on a biking day.

Punctuation and grammar...well, Paul is from Belgium and that doesn't excuse things, but I tend to take stuff like that with a grain of salt.  I can imagine his laughter if I tried to write a training book in French.

And the program works for Marc Herremans...how bad can it be?

 

2007-02-16 4:57 PM
in reply to: #692592

User image

Master
2060
20002525
Northern California
Subject: RE: book review

Sorry you didn't like the book - I haven't read it. However, I recommend searching here before buying most things - there IS a thread about everything. Hindsight.

Anyway, buying a book that claims to make Ironman training "EASY" would have me skeptical from the get-go! I might suggest becoming a paying regular here and utilizing Mike Ricci's help.
 

2007-02-17 5:29 AM
in reply to: #692592

User image

Member
23

Subject: RE: book review
Fair enough guys, thanks for the feedback. I'm a novice hoping to complete my first IM in Austria in July. however, while i don't particularly agree with some of your sentiments I do take them on board. Everywhere I've read recommends breaking up your long workouts for each discipline into 3 separate days with restdays between where possible, now surely this is even more important to the novice.
Also while the punctuation is just an annoyance I feel that it shows an overall carelessness in the book and the fact that IM are putting their name to it is basically condoning the information within.
While I bow to many of your superior knowledge as a novice, a 5 hours bike ride 8 days prior does not sound like a taper to me.

Thank you again for the feedback, I must say I've really enjoyed 'Going Long' and 'Triathletes training bible' but what I really love are the race reports you pick up on the web.

Gerrymco

Edited by gerrymco 2007-02-17 5:31 AM
New Thread
General Discussion Triathlon Talk » book review Rss Feed