Swim, Bike, Run

Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Book!!
Review: A fantastic book and on the "top two" of my recommended reading list for beginning triathletes. If you are going for detail and want in-depth and technical information on how to develop a training plan, go with the Triathlete's Training Bible. If you want a solid overview of the sport of triathlon, this is the book for you.

Swim, Bike, Run is written in a very straight-forward style and gives sound, practical advice. I am an avid reader of "things triathlon," so I've read just about every book out there. The most telling insight into how much I value this book is that this is the book that I consistently return to and read the night before a race. I also look to it for a "refresher" when I want to improve form/technique and when I am evaluating how my training is going mid-season. The swimming section is particularly effective and the illustrations greatly helped me on technique issues.

A great read and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Book!!
Review: A fantastic book and on the "top two" of my recommended reading list for beginning triathletes. If you are going for detail and want in-depth and technical information on how to develop a training plan, go with the Triathlete's Training Bible. If you want a solid overview of the sport of triathlon, this is the book for you.

Swim, Bike, Run is written in a very straight-forward style and gives sound, practical advice. I am an avid reader of "things triathlon," so I've read just about every book out there. The most telling insight into how much I value this book is that this is the book that I consistently return to and read the night before a race. I also look to it for a "refresher" when I want to improve form/technique and when I am evaluating how my training is going mid-season. The swimming section is particularly effective and the illustrations greatly helped me on technique issues.

A great read and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent content, a little misguided
Review: I always find myself buying triathlon training books, then ending up being disappointed because I haven't learned anything new from it. This book falls prey to that sometimes (EVERY triathlon book has a chapter devoted to nutrition that goes over carbs, protein and fats), but it also contains a lot of really good information about technical aspects of each sport (like how to handle hills and cornering on your bike), really planning a good training program to meet your own needs (in terms I could follow), and lots of other stuff that I'd never seen in the dozen or so other books I've looked at. There is even a section on preparing for specific distances, during different seasons.
There are no references for any of the information given, so it is an easier read, but you don't know where the authors gathered the information from, which worries me a little. What concerned me even more was that some of the information that was given can actually be dangerous--the list of suggestions to make long runs more interesting included running with headphones and running at night--without any caveats.
This book was worth the money just for the new info I picked up, but make sure to use some common sense when it comes to using the advice. It might be better to use this book as a complement to other resources.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good, few problems.
Review: I found this book to be fairly helpful. I especially liked the descriptions of form drills for all 3 disciplines. The informaiton was useful. What I did not like is that since I am new to the sport of triathlon, there were phrases used that I did not understand. This was most evident in the workouts. The text would describe everything well, but then in a listing of a sample workout it would use terms not explained in the text. This made it hard to figure out what to do sometimes. Also the author says he'll show you how to have many peaks in a season, but then really doesn't ever give that information.

Rating:
Summary: An Average Overview of Triathlons
Review: This was the 1st triathlon book I bought. It gives an overview of the equipment, types of training in chapters on swimming, running and riding, time requirments, nutrition and sample training plans.
It is NOT a training book perse. It will give the reader an idea of what it takes to start triathloning without overwhelming him and her.
I think Triathlon 101 is better but it's a personal opinion.