The Malmo Manifesto (Read 1282 times)

Malmo lead thread on another site. There are several pages but it is current. He does discuss building miles and doing what you can - not what you feel you have to. http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=2372073&page=0

I don't mean to get off on a rant... I have honestly never heard of this person, but his manifesto is strikingly similar to my own out of pure coincidence. When I started getting serious about distance running I read as many book as I could find on the subject, and there wasn't many. And sport's nutrition information...forget about it. Powerbars were in their infancy. But even before I started to take distance running seriously I dabbled in it: The first 'race' I did was in 1990 and it was the Oahu Perimeter Relay. Teams of 7 ran around the island of Oahu in legs of 3-5 miles. Each runner ran about 5 legs or about 17-20 miles. I was in the military then and knew nothing about long runs, speed work, etc. I just knew I had above average speed and above average endurance. For that race I took two salami sandwiches, a bag of skittles, and one 32oz bottle of gatorade. And I was smoking Marlboro lights between legs. I was young, dumb, and full of c*m as we military types always said. My team did well taking 3rd place in the open military division out of about 20 teams. I think I averaged about 6:00 per mile for all the miles I ran. By preparing for that race for a whole 4 weeks, the distance running seed was planted. I got out of the military in 1992 and didn't really start running again until 1996. I worked at a running specialty store for a couple of years and got to know lots of runners from collegiate runners to back of the packers. I started racing and training for a marathon and pretty much followed the outline set forth in Jeff Galloway's book. First marathon time was 3:09 in October 1996. I completely blew up at mile 20 as many have. From there I got into triathlon, did Ironman Florida in 1999 and then dropped out of all competition when I entered law school. This is my first year back running and racing seriously and I am amazed at how much advice there is out there and a lot of it is BAD. This sport of ours is not that complicated, but many seem to have an opinion or a plan that will work for you. The truth is, no one plan works for everyone. We all have different genetics, different goals, work and family requirements, etc. My point is, don't ruin something that is good for you and a lot of fun by trying to copy what is being pontificated by someone that doesn't know you and what you're in it for. Don't drown in minutia. All you need is a pair of shoes and desire. Buy a couple of books, learn the basics, and do what you feel is right for your body and your goals. Buy a book on the basics of nutrition. Learn it and live it. Crap in, crap out. Keep it simple. I have always been very hesitant about giving training advice and have been skeptical of following advice from 20 mile a week runners with 5K PRs of 20 minutes. Not that there's anything wrong with those stats, but professors should teach, not other students. And that comment was not aimed at anyone particular on this board because I don't read enough to know if it's going on here. Let's just say I have seen it in person and the internet is overall much worse. I have been fortunate enough to have known very talented runners and triathletes in my day but never felt I had to copy what they're doing. I am not an elite athlete. I have trained like and alongside elite athletes but could never race as fast as them. I am not genetically gifted. At 36 I am a top age grouper if anything. I am very serious but it's still a lot of fun. Just because you train like a Kenyan, doesn't make you a Kenyan. You will never be as fast as a Kenyan, and you will never run a 2:04 marathon. Accept it and get over it. But you can be as good as you can be and if that's not good enough then you need to look in the mirror and ask what you're in it for. Compete with yourself and impress yourself.

This sport of ours is not that complicated, but many seem to have an opinion or a plan that will work for you. The truth is, no one plan works for everyone. We all have different genetics, different goals, work and family requirements, etc. My point is, don't ruin something that is good for you and a lot of fun by trying to copy what is being pontificated by someone that doesn't know you and what you're in it for. Don't drown in minutia. All you need is a pair of shoes and desire. Buy a couple of books, learn the basics, and do what you feel is right for your body and your goals.

Also quote-worthy. Somebody should be collecting these. And sticking them at the top of every page, with the title "Read This First" attached.

I always loved the simplicity of Malmo.

The guy is abrasive and likes to be abrasive to get a rise out of people .

I noticed that as well. I avoid him as much as I can. Great ideas he has but I would be afraid to even compliment him on them.