TOYF vs MTWSA

The key to running a good marathon is building the stamina to run for three or more hours.  The training component that prepares us for that is the long run.  There are those who insist that what is important is time spent on one’s feet rather than miles or pace because the body doesn't know miles and pace.  This came to mind Friday night while I was officiating a high school swim meet.  The meet involved six schools and lasted four hours.  I spent virtually the entire time standing.  I recalled reading that Emil Zatopek, the most remarkable athlete in the history of long distance running, went on day long hikes as part of his training regimen.  If I’d been running, I would have probably covered 30 miles in that time. 

Here are the training methods of some of distance running’s greatest athletes. 

In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Zatopek won the magic distance triple-the 5000 meters, the 10,000 meters and the marathon, setting Olympic records in all three.  He would jog for hours on the same spot, reading a book or listening to the radio.  On wash days at home he piled all the dirty clothes in the bath and then ran on them for hours.  He would sprint from telephone pole to telephone pole holding his breath.  His common sense led him to interval training.  One component of a workout might be 50 x 100 meter sprints.  It was widely rumored that he could run 60 x 400 meters in 60 seconds.  For fun, he and his wife Dana (the gold medal winner of the javelin at the Helsinki Olympics) played javelin catch - seriously. 

Lasse Verin won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters events at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.  Four years later he defended his titles in both events at the Olympics in Montreal and finished fifth in the Marathon. 

Verin chose to utilize the varied methods and philosophies of many others to develop his training regimen.  From the famed Arthur Lydiard, he took the concept of high mileage and long aerobic runs, sometimes putting in 150 miles per week.  From Hungarian coach Mihaly Ingloi, he chose to utilize wind sprints, alternating 50 meters of hard running with 50 meters of easy for 2 or 3 miles on the track.  From distance great Paavo Nurmi, he elected to perform continuous runs at a steady pace.  And from American coach Bill Bowerman, he selected the option of the hard\easy approach to training by following his incredibly hard workout days with two or three days of easy runs in the forests of Finland.  Being Finish, there are no funny anecdotes about Verin. 

Bill Rogers is a four time winner of the Boston and New York City marathons.  I stumbled across Bill’s training log for 1975.  Other than intervals on the track, there is little mention of the pace he did his runs.  Here’s a typical entry – “In the upper 30° 's - ran 16 miles over easy hills course at OK pace at 11:15 am and 13 miles + over flat course at 3:30 pm.”  When he was thirsty, he drank pickle juice out of the jar - seriously. 

I think I’m onto something with my ‘Marathon Training While Standing Around’ method.  Next week I will be officiating an eight-team meet.  One hour of standing burns about 250 calories, so I’ll probably burn about 1,250 at that meet.  If I add the Tai Chi Standing pose, imagine how strong I’d get.  Of course I’d look pretty stupid on the pool deck, but when has that stopped me?