How to run as hard as pre?

Be more physically gifted like he was.

Having an 80+ VO2 Max is a big part of it.

klitton_the_real_2 wrote:

Having an 80+ VO2 Max is a big part of it.

Most of it in his case.

How to run as hard as pre? wrote:

Prefontaine had an amazing will power to win in races, any advice on how to not give up and win? I train really hard but i need a bit more motivation in races

Just don't mind burning out midrace and feeling like you are dying.

Captain Oblivious wrote:

Be more physically gifted like he was.

Correct. Plenty of people can run themselves into the ground, and do on a regular basis. Doesn't mean they are going to run like he did. Same rule applies to him - even withh all his "pure guts" he would would have gotten waxed by Galen Rupp; it's just hard to beat a guy who runs 10000 at your 5000 pace.

Best racing advice I've ever received from a coach when we we're talking about lowering my first 400 split: "No, I said want you to go out faster. In fact if you can run faster without running harder that would be best."

Pre may have ran races to see who had the most guts, but the clock and the final results only care who is fastest.

In 1973 I was at the finish line of the PAC 8 XC Championship. Back then you could get very close to runners especially at the finishing chute.

Prefontaine came from behind to beat Ngeno over the last mile. Both runners were gasping at the end, unable to talk. It went on for some time before they were able to recover.

I turned to my friend and said, "If that's what it takes to run hard, I don't think I have it in me."

Four year later I ran my 5 mile PR. I ran balls to wall and lowered my best time by quite a bit. It took me 10 minutes before I felt that I wasn't going to puke my guts out.

I was in the best shape of my life.

My workouts all pointed toward a possible PR.

I went for it right from the beginning of the race. I had nothing left in the tank at the end.

Sometimes I have the will power but can't keep my form together, especially at the end of a mile race.

Keep this going I like this thread.

The "middle of the race" gets me- I guess it's guts. I've also noticed that as I get older (50's now) I don't have the will to race hard that I used to have.

I suspect your problem is that you train really hard when what you should be doing is RACING really hard. The key to being great is getting this balance right. Read Bowerman and the Men of Oregon and see what I mean.

A lot of it also is in genetics and just natural durability. Some guys can run workouts super hard and just wake up the next morning and be fine. Some guys though just try to run that hard and all they get are injuries and therefore lessened self confidence and they don't have the confidence to run hard ever again.

However that does not mean that if you are not genially incline you won't ever be able to race hard.

Also if you get more sleep and have less stress that will result in you having more mental energy to expound on racing hard.

Another idea is to take cold showers. This will strengthen your mental toughness. This will in turn allows you to have the mental strength to keep hammering for an entire race without letting up.

Pre was great but it will be many years before we find an American with that kind of combination of durability and guts.

The human mind is an amazing thing. One of my friends is a typical 35 minute 5k runner. Typical hobby jogger profile where she wants to run long and low to burn calories and running slow half-marathons is cooler than running a fast 5k. Anyways, one weekend she blew her diet in a big way and punished herself by going for a hard run and did a 25 minute 5k according to her GPS app. I tried to encourage her to do some threshold runs and VO2 max intervals to get used to running at a faster (and more painful) speed, but she had no interest and has remained a 35 minute 5k runner.

hard workouts can also train you for that mental toughness and elevate your level significantly, if they don't break you. but why not experiment with different approaches and take some risks?

Critical Thinking wrote:

Captain Oblivious wrote:

Be more physically gifted like he was.

Correct. Plenty of people can run themselves into the ground, and do on a regular basis. Doesn't mean they are going to run like he did. Same rule applies to him - even withh all his "pure guts" he would would have gotten waxed by Galen Rupp; it's just hard to beat a guy who runs 10000 at your 5000 pace.

Pre would destroy Rupp if he had access to today's thyroid medications.

How to run as hard as pre? wrote:

Prefontaine had an amazing will power to win in races, any advice on how to not give up and win? I train really hard but i need a bit more motivation in races

You need a rival or two.