I suspect 1% was not an accurate measurement. Many endurance athletes are very low bodyfat but claims of 1 or 2%, like xc course lengths, are probably not that accurate.
casual commentary wrote:
It's absolute bullshit that he walked around day-to-day @ 1% bodyfat, even if that's just a white lie to impress the readers.
I grew up in Los Alamos watching Sandoval run. Probably the most naturally gifted runner I have ever seen. Long, easy stride and 49 second 400 speed. If he hadn't gone to medical school, he would have been a legitimate shot to break the WR at that time.
The SI article claimed he weighs just 130 lb now at 50+yo; up from the 115 he weighed when running 2:10:19. Iam sure his BFat was low maybe 3% ??
Accurately measured I wouldn't even believe 3% as bodyfat that low would present medical problems.
The kicker is "accurately measured". The extremely lean and the extremely obese are difficult to get accurate body fat measurements from. Compound that problem with the fact that few athletes, even more so in his day, had bodyfat taken routinely enough to weed out obscure results and mismeasurments.
I'd say he was between 3-6%.
Alan
Alan so after all that verbiage you agree he was probably near 3%. The guy was 5'8" had a weight of 115 & ran 2:10;19... whatever
Tony was a freshman at Stanford the year after I graduated, so I knew him a little, have run with him and have followed his career. He was a famously hard, high-mileage worker. His Coach Marshall Clark told me that when Don Kardong came down from Washington to train for a week with Tony prior to the '76 Marathon trials, it was Tony (six years or so younger) who was the dominant runner. It was primarily Don's greater maturity that enabled him to beat Tony in the trials and grab the third spot (to Tony's 4th) and go to Montreal. Tony may in fact be the most under-rated American marathoner in decades. He never really got the chance to do an all-out, international effort over 26 miles, and yet his 2:10 and change in 1980 was the American trials record until only recently. A great, highly-competitive runner and a great guy, too -- a great human being.
And now I'm going to read that SI article! lol
ishuffle wrote:
Alan so after all that verbiage
You've captured the essence of Alan. Talk a lot, say little.
HRE was either right about Tony Sandoval or had good reason to be wrong if that was the case.
The below is from a paragraph from Galloway's Book On Running, 2d edition, 2002:
"Anthony Sandival won the US Olympic Marathon trials after several years of 100+ miles per week. The following year, during his MD residency he cut his mileage to about 40, running every other day, and ran 2:14 in the Boston Marathon."
FWIW Jeff told me that Tony ran a couple of 10 milers during the week and a 20 miler on one of the weekend days to get that 40 miles per week.
Well this certainly raises the point of the value of the taper and what, exactly, is the proper taper.
Good lord he tapered for a whole season!
Run More wrote:
You give people a fall sense of hope and one kid out there will think, "Hey, if I really run quality miles I can run a 2:14 on 35mpw...".
How did my original post imply that I was promoting less mileage? In no way does it imply that I promote or believe that lower mileage is the way to go. It ends with a question mark. If someone misreads that and gets 'a false sense of hope' then they aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer are they?
Bob Wildes wrote:
"...after several years of 100+ miles per week. The following year, during his MD residency he cut his mileage to about 40, running every other day, and ran 2:14 in the Boston Marathon."
FWIW Jeff told me that Tony ran a couple of 10 milers during the week and a 20 miler on one of the weekend days to get that 40 miles per week.
THANK YOU! This is EXACTLY the answer I was looking for.
Two 10 milers and a 20 LR.
Just think of what was lost in 1980 with the Soviet Boycott. You put Bill Rodgers (who chose not to run the trials race) & Tony Sandoval in that Olympics & we would have had a chance to medal in three games; 72, 76 & 80.