Forums >General Running>Yesteryear Training.
Don't "train" Just run.
And those that 'don't train and just run',, they run JV.
New Zealander Jack Foster ran a 2:11 marathon at age 40. He runs a lot, of course, but he doesn’t consider it “training.” “When I was asked about training and schedules last time,” he once said, “I told the guy ‘I don’t train. I just went for a run each day.’
E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com -----------------------------
If you don't like GPS devices, modern fueling and hydration options, or technical gear, then don't use them. But don't deny that some people don't use them with great success.
Has training changed in the last 35 years? For a calibration, see Training - 1970s Style.
Really? In the end its all a useless semantic argument anyway. The people being mocked for "simplifying" actually work harder than anybody else. The only difference is they focus on fundamentals. And like every sport and every human endeavor, its focusing on fundamentals that leads to success. That doesn't make it easy. And "don't train, just run" isn't meant to imply a jog around the block.
I don't get the obsession people have with simplifying things. If you don't want to follow a rigid plan, then don't follow a rigid plan. But don't deny that it doesn't work for some people. If you don't like GPS devices, modern fueling and hydration options, or technical gear, then don't use them. But don't deny that some people don't use them with great success. If you don't care to be bothered with VO2, LT paces, and running economy, then don't buy the books. But don't deny that these principles are a scientific reality and can be used as a training tool. Everyone wants everything to be simple and easy. You want to take running and reduce it to a glib slogan: "run lots; mostly easy; sometimes fast." Print it on a t-shirt and make bumper stickers. Run by "feel" not by a schedule. Pain isn't pain. Fast is easy. Oh, and ridicule anyone who takes a more structured, scientific approach. That's a load, in my opinion. Physiology is a science, and there are scientific methods to become faster, stronger, and better. Running is hard; its the hard that makes it great.
Runners run
Mitch & Pete's Mom
I find it fascinating reading this debate, since on one side is Lydiard and Bowerman and Nobby and Jim2 and Mikey and on and on ... and pretty much every truly experienced runner I've ever known or met or read. And on the other side ... not so much. 2:11 marathoner at 40. Might be worth listening to. Who knows?
But ' How is working harder than everyone else and focus on fundamentals, not training? I think it is training. Clealry our definitions of the word don't match.
Using a quote from a 40 yr old 2:11 marathoner as advice for the rest of us in the middle of the bell curve,,, trying to make a team,, or trying to reach a goal (don't train) seems silly.
But as you said,, you have all the experts on one side of the debate,,, and well for me I guess 'not much' on the other.
Training is not a laser-guided, surgical strike. It's a blunt instrument. I don't want to take running and reduce it to anything. I want to elevate it to what it is; the simplest and purest sport on earth.
Hall listened to some of them speak about their training and absorbed the ideas of famed coaches Percy Cerutty and Franz Stampfl. He was particularly taken by Cerutty's philosophy of what training should be about. "I kind of adopted Cerutty's thing about not wanting (training) to be so scientific that you take the beauty out of it and just make them boring workouts."
He still has meaningful advice and support, such as his recent: "sorry to hear you had a bad race, did you poop before?"
The answer was: run more. Mostly easy. Sometimes hard. Make it part of your life. Have fun. That answer is never going to change.
Does Ryan Hall work hard? Is he complex enough? Does he train for maximum performance?
How To Run a Marathon: Step 1 - start running. There is no Step 2.
The overwhelming current on this board is not toward simplifying but toward overcomplicating running. A few of us (not hard to see myself in the bulls eye since I actually HAVE the fast is easy quote in my sig line) offer up the alternative view that it really doesn't have to be that complicated. And it doesn't.
A GPS device is not a training tool. It's a data collection device. If you like collecting and analyzing data about your running, then yes you can use it with great success. If you just want to become a faster runner and more importantly a better racer, it's basically useless.
The same is true for VO2, LT and running economy. Interesting if your goal as a physiologist is to explain why a workout works, but not at all necessary if you just want to become a faster runner.
Training is not a laser-guided, surgical strike. It's a blunt instrument.
I've got a fever...
That's all I said in my first post: simple is fine, but complex is fine too.
On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.
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