legendary coach Percy Cerutty

LoopHole wrote:

If you want to argue semantics they maybe jogged these long runs.

To my knowledge, this is correct to an extent. But every month to six weeks they would do a long run very hard and fast. Once again, to my knowledge, Herb loved running long distances which is a theory as to why he was such a great miler. A love for the simple art of running, the philosophies of Percy and the freak of nature that Herb was equaled one of the best athletes track and field has ever seen.

After rfeading his bood Why Die I concluded that he was not a great coach. All attention had to be turned to himself. He wasn't worthy to carry Lydiard's or even Stampfl's shoes. He was a great motivator and did get the Aussies to start exercising.

LoopHole wrote:

Yes...

Cerutty said, "The runner cannot suck oxygen into his lungs." ... he then said racers can take off 10-15 seconds per lap if they learned to gallop with shoulders slightly raised up to relax the muscles of the neck and fill the upper lobes of the lungs. as the lungs are not muscles but, sacks and we don't properly use them since we now walk and run like zombies!

Loophole, i'm an 800/1500 runner, a few years past my best days more than likely, but this is breathing new life into me so to speak. i've experimented with the breathing technique my past 3 runs and have to say it's feeling a bit more natural than my previous form of keeping my shoulders squared off and low. moving them up and down in rhythm with the breath is kind of nice!

galloped a bit, but admittedly feel a bit self-conscious doing so. it felt powerful for the 50 meters or so i let loose (with the right leg being the trailing/power leg, haven't tried with the left leg trailing, but just visualizing it i can tell it will be less coordinated), but then started thinking too much because i run in the city. will have to get on some more desolate trails to work on that, as lame as that may sound.

have you, or anyone reading this, done much galloping? whether or not you can run as fast doing it doesn't seem so important, but did you feel you got a good workout from it?

Percy Ceruty Herb Elliott - Port Sea Training Camp

video part English part German

Herb on a treadmill 1958

SMJO wrote:

http://racingpast.ca/uploads/ladoumegue%2076.jpeg

That's an awesome running body for a 60 year old.

I do Cerutty's canter quite often, including this morning. It helps me to warm up and also to wake up my stride turning training. I've not used the others much but I use the canter a lot, changing the leads back and forth every few strides.

RuKiddingMe!! wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKqMRpv7ygc

Percy Ceruty Herb Elliott - Port Sea Training Camp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWi4Mr9ttuM

video part English part German

Herb on a treadmill 1958

those videos are pretty cool. Cerutty is like a little kid in an old man's body! their form lifting weights is just atrocious, but they look to be having a ton of fun.

that's about the smallest treadmill i've ever seen.

Their form on the curls is conventionally wrong, but much better I think, because they're utilizing their whole body with the movement, not just the arms.

Cerutty sure knew what he was doing, and was very fit for a 60 year old.

Hey d.p.,

I have of course tried it in the grass and it felt very foreign to me. I myself don't run fast enough to really benefit from a gallop but, I enjoy the other basic movements and cherish trail running and playing with different running forms. If I want to conserve energy I hold my arms very low and imagine I am holding a 6+ foot long spear so that the imaginary spear doesn't rub and bang on the ground as I run. This also makes me hold my hands in small open fists and not cross my chest or nipples which, is in line with a lot of coaches idea of proper holding of hands. If I run slow uphill I keep this same form.

But, then if I fartlek I use the upper body of the gallop and let my legs follow.

Look at this video of Emil... you'll probably get a kick out of it. I don't have shame trying to move my shoulders like this during burst of energy or during intervals.

I'll try the trailing leg gallop form again and let you know how it feels.

guys a SWAMI

The latest comment on that video...

"When asked why he ran with such a pained expression on his face Zatopek replied, "I have not yet learned how to run and smile at the same time."

That almost sums up Emil's entire reason for success. He was running and racing for all the right reasons and he only over thought one aspect of it - faster.

Loophole, thanks for the spears visualization, that's a nice one.

I used to gallop a bit as a kid, actually, but only with the right leg as the trailing/power leg, which is why just the visualization of the left leg being the trailing/power leg "feels" awkward. As for you trying it again, and maybe I'm not doing it the way Cerutty did, but I do it a bit like riding a skateboard where the front leg is just directing almost and the rear leg is doing the bulk of the propulsion. Not sure if that helps at all.

That's exactly how I felt today while breaking into some gallops - like skateboarding. I believe my left leg was trailing and my right leg was producing the longer of the two strides. While doing it I also imagined this might be what it is like to break into "flight" mode if you are carrying something heavy on one side of your body, say your child while fleeing danger or a fresh kill of prey after hunting. It's very fascinating. More things I thought were the gallop could be similar to running when you have a leg injury and you over compensate one side.

I wonder if turning L on the track was Cerrutys reasoning to have a certain leg trail? I'm also not sure if Cerutty and Herb were right or left footed, regular or goofy, etc.

One more note, the gallop is pretty much what we do when we naturally try running fast over small obstacles, like running over cross country with uneven ground or rocks.

Loophole wrote:

One more note, the gallop is pretty much what we do when we naturally try running fast over small obstacles, like running over cross country with uneven ground or rocks.

good point. i jumped over a few larger rocks on my run this morning doing the gallop, intentionally, but then it felt natural to have done so.

it would've been interesting to have seen what cerutty and lindgren could have done together, or at the least conversations if nothing else.

Wow, what high mileage Lindgren did! Yeah, they would have made a good match. I also see Lindgren went out if his way to receive good Karma as a philosophy to better his running achievements.

domestic pro wrote:

I used to gallop a bit as a kid, actually, but only with the right leg as the trailing/power leg, which is why just the visualization of the left leg being the trailing/power leg "feels" awkward. As for you trying it again, and maybe I'm not doing it the way Cerutty did, but I do it a bit like riding a skateboard where the front leg is just directing almost and the rear leg is doing the bulk of the propulsion. Not sure if that helps at all.

That's the point. Now change them around in reverse.

i was fortunate to have spent a good number of years in assocaiation with (sir) murray halberg. some of his stories about percy were almost unbelievable. start with the book, "why die".

J.R. wrote:

That's the point. Now change them around in reverse.

That's a bit vague, I'm not too sure what you're trying to communicate.