Bill Rodgers Training Log

glorydays wrote:

somebody publish the logs, please. I'll buy a set. I'm talking just Xerox them as you need them, put a price on them, and sell them. Go to Staples and run 'em. Who cares? they're vintage - they'll sell.

Leirbag & glorydays, email BR at his website and anyone else interested do the same.

I am certainly willing to transcribe and publish them on my site, but not for a price, only to share.

Will do- thanx much.

Will do- thanx much.

Awards and distinctions

1975 IAAF World Cross Country - Bronze

I'd say that's an important one, especially as it presaged his win at Boston.

Where did Bill do most of his running in Boston? I am always looking for new soft surfacs to run on.

Leirbag wrote:

Did Bill Rodgers ever keep a training log, and if so, any chance we could get snippets of it online? I'm sure it might have been very similar to all the Squires GBTC guys, but still, I'd like to see what he put himself through, in detail.

Leirbag, if you are still out there...

Bill has agreed to have his logs presented on the web on his own site and also on mine.

We will begin with 1973 BR first run at Boston. He was 24 I believe.

It will be a few weeks before this is ready for prime time. It will be done as a serial and hopefully we can continue year upon year until 1988 or so.

He may be warming up to the idea for a BR biography v. 2. After all his first one ended in 1980 and there was definitely more to come. A box set, maybe some film as well...

I am perusing the diary now, some good details/history there.

Hope to put the thing in context with some thoughts from Bill & others and photos from the era etc.

I suppose it will be at least a kind of historical record and confirm what many of us all have learned over the years.

well done bob. how is coach doing?

Last winter I asked Bill what he recommended for mileage when training for a marathon and whether he ever attempted the insane 200 mile weeks that you hear about guys like Shorter or Tergat running at one point.

His response to me was that we should run as many miles as we can. The best way to train for a marathon was to run far and run often. (I took this to mean while staying on your feet and off the injury bed)

Also, he told me he only ran 200+ miles a couple times because it just drained him too much.

To CollegeSoph asking where Bill ran his soft surfaces - One spot in particular I believe for workouts was the Chestnut Hill Reservoir near BC. Soft surface, about 1.5 miles around. It was recently resurfaced (re-graveled, potholes filled in) so it's in incredible condition.

I am looking forward to seeing his logs, although I must admit I'm also a little frightened too because I'll bet the mileage and workouts are insane. He was and still is an amazing runner capable of many great things.

a fan wrote:

well done bob. how is coach doing?

All reports indicate that he is doing well.

This is spectacular! Can't wait!

What kind of pace was he running most of his runs at during the 150-160 mile weeks

what would he eat during those 150 mile weeks. maybe someone has insight into his diet. I have been into high mileage for a while and I always wondered how the people who did it year round did (eat/rest) to avoid endocrine problems or just some sort of anemia or deficiency.

Pace?? wrote:

What kind of pace was he running most of his runs at during the 150-160 mile weeks

6- 7 min./mile, thousands of laps around Jamaica Pond in Boston.

Avg. mileage in 73 before Boston well below 150 per week though he did have some 140's.

This is huge! There is no other runner whose history can provide as big an inspiration to American runners as his. He was a good, but not great HS and college runner, who, with little support - hell, he was on food stamps at the time - decides to start running 20 miles/day and becomes, if not the greatest marathoner in history, certainly the best in the world for a half dozen years. I bought a copy of his biography (v. 1) in high school and must have read it a dozen times. Although, for me, it turned out not to be true, reading that always convinced me that the only thing that stood between me and marathon greatness was a whole lot of work. These logs will have the same effect on some young men and women who have the talent to make that true for them.

One of the running mags printed his diet back in the day. It was not a scientifically based diet that's for sure. I think pizza was high on the list.

Hi Hodgie!!

Coach, huh? Nothing can keep him down for long!

I'm looking forward to Billy's training logs. (I don't have mine, my old coach does) and I remember at that time hearing about the high miles...and thinking "if he can do I can too"...lol! Gosh, I remember doing my first 150 mile week. I was too happy to know I was tired!

Then 150 became mundane....so did the fatigue... And so it goes.

The great thing about Bill, including all the esteemed company (from GBTC) he kept back in the glory days is they run using their legs not their mouths as some do today. As good as Ryan Hall did at BAA do remember Bill ran that course even faster many years before.

Pizza....with mayo! At least that's what I recall.

patti wrote:

Hi Hodgie!!

Coach, huh? Nothing can keep him down for long!

I'm looking forward to Billy's training logs. (I don't have mine, my old coach does) and I remember at that time hearing about the high miles...and thinking "if he can do I can too"...lol! Gosh, I remember doing my first 150 mile week. I was too happy to know I was tired!

Then 150 became mundane....so did the fatigue... And so it goes.

Hey Patti,

It would be great if you could get a hold of those logs of yours...