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Duel in the Sun (Read 870 times)

    Just finished this one. As I was reading I was thinking, "These guys really wrecked themselves." I know part of it was the stuff they did before (Salazar) and after (Beardsley) the race. But it makes me wonder: Do some of us have one insanely hard marathon in us, after which we are never the same?

     

    I recommend this book highly. It was a great read. Oddly, it made me more interested in running the marathon. Maybe it's that marathons are stupid, and I'm more stupider?

    "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus


    Feeling the growl again

      It is an interesting idea...that you are somehow limited in the effort you have in you.  Noakes (blah!) goes as far as to claim you have X number in you, in Lore of Running.  But we all know what I think of him...

       

      I think it's more complex than that.  I think it's more that you can't race the marathon often, and most runners are only in their peak for a few years, so they have a relatively limited number of opportunities to run their best.  I can say that in the 2002-2004 timeframe I ran several marathons that beat me to hell and back...I went all-out and then some.  Yet I was in much better shape in 2006 and ran faster then despite being injured.  It was the intensity of the training trying to stay at that level that did me in, similar to what I read happened to Salazar.  For him, that Boston duel may have been the tipping point.  For me, I can pinpoint a couple different workouts or a specific non-marathon race which may have fulfilled that purpose.

       

      I think it's not too much to say we all have our limits.  I find it hard to believe, however, that one race, in and of itself, limits us and checks some box.

       

      The way I read that book, Beardsley had the race of his life.  Not hard to understand why he couldn't outdo that.  Salazar was riding dangerously on the razor's edge; not hard to believe he didn't push himself over.

      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

       

      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

       


      Bushrat Runner

        I don't know the answer to the question, but I read and enjoyed the book. Whether a single effort like that is damaging or the drive that makes it possible to do that leads to insufficient rest phases and easy effort days might be another possible issue.

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1UvxxYIv3U

           

          I suppose "whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" has it's limits. 

           

          It's not too hard to imagine that a single race may not have a limit on effort, so much as a point where you do more damage than good. 

           

           

           

           

            It's been a while since I read the book, but from what I remember, it was mentioned that Salazar was never the same after that race. 

              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1UvxxYIv3U

               

              I suppose "whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" has it's limits. 

               

              It's not too hard to imagine that a single race may not have a limit on effort, so much as a point where you do more damage than good. 

               

              I'm not sure I'd give that video the title "Very Funny Marathon Finish." Funny isn't the word that comes to mind, at all.


              Feeling the growl again

                It's been a while since I read the book, but from what I remember, it was mentioned that Salazar was never the same after that race. 

                 

                He wasn't.  However, there are other indicators that Boston was not the only factor involved in that.  One could argue that he'd already pushed himself over the top and the fact that he did not run away with the race was a signal that he was already on the way down.

                 

                My own personal experience with peaking and long-term performace-limiting issues have some parallels to what happened to Salazar.  I could also finger a single race...of unusual effort... where I was never the same after it.  But having all of the relevant information in hand, it's easy to see that the race itself was not what did me in.

                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                 

                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                 

                  Yeah, he seemed to make much of the fact that Salazar refused water during the race. At the same time, he highlights Salazar's win at Comrades, years later.  

                  "If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus

                  xor


                    He also keeled over dead some years later.  It is kind of interesting to ponder "....and he was never the same after Boston", but it is difficult to say.  However, as a meta-thing, there are all kinds of examples of  "...and he/she was never the same after X" (which isn't always a running X).

                     

                    Do you have something like that in your life?

                     

                    I know I do.

                     

                    Getting old is weird.

                     


                    Feeling the growl again

                      Someone should break the news to Salazar that he is dead.  I'm sure he will be shocked to learn that he is a zombie.

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       

                        Salazar was given his last rites when he collapsed with a 107F temperature after the 1978 Falmouth Road Race.  So really the Dual in the Sun wasn't even the first time he almost ran himself to death.

                        Runners run

                        xor


                          Someone should break the news to Salazar that he is dead.  I'm sure he will be shocked to learn that he is a zombie.

                           

                           

                          I'm pretty sure he knows that he was "dead".

                           

                          He even (co)wrote an autobiographical account of it (and other stuff).  14 Minutes.

                           

                          "14 Minutes is the memoir of Alberto Salazar, the most accomplished, charismatic, and controversial marathoner in history. The narrative is framed in the 14 minutes in which Salazar was clinically dead after his shocking heart attack in 2007. The story describes his tempestuous relationship with his father, Jose Salazar, who was a close ally of Fidel Castro during the Cuban revolution. The narrative follows Alberto’s boyhood in New England, his rise to stardom at the University of Oregon, his dramatic victories in the New York City and Boston Marathons, his long malaise due to injuries, which resulted in a near-suicidal depression; his resurgence due to intense spiritual experiences and discipline; his close alliance with Phil Knight and the Nike corporation; and describes his numerous near-death experiences."

                           

                          HermosaBoy


                            There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.

                            And you can quote me as saying I was mis-quoted. Groucho Marx

                             

                            Rob


                            Feeling the growl again

                              There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.

                               

                              Yes.  "Clinical death" is a precisely term that is not synonymous with the common usage of the term "death".  You can be clinically dead yet conscious for a brief period of time.  I don't think anyone would consider a conscious individual to be dead.

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               

                              xor


                                If you go through my clothes looking for loose change, I shall have to thrash you.

                                 

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