Mihaly Igloi

"Must have big goals"

Varied Ints wrote:

Tabori has a running store in Burbank, CA. He also coaches runners a couple of days a week. If you drop by his store, he'll tell you all you need to know. Very cool guy. The license plate on one of his cars reads "355IN59".

What does that mean?

Canada is 15 pounds lighter wrote:

Varied Ints wrote:

Tabori has a running store in Burbank, CA. He also coaches runners a couple of days a week. If you drop by his store, he'll tell you all you need to know. Very cool guy. The license plate on one of his cars reads "355IN59".

What does that mean?

It means that Tabori ran a mile in 3:55 in 1959.

By the way, is Tabori still coaching?

i think he's still helping a few athletes privately. he was helping out at usc just a few years ago before their new staff stepped in...

Orville.

Thank you for your input on this thread and other threads on the LetsRun forum. Your replies on the "Anyone run a marathon using only high intensity intervals for training?" and "Whatever happened to BRUCE KIDD, Canadian Phenom in the early '60s? A pre-PRE!? threads are pure gold. I really appreciate it.

Did Coach Igloi have you on any special/different diet/nutrition programs?

I am currently reading Van Aaken's book where his approach to nutrition is "Don't eat like a pig". He also recommends keeping under 2000calories per day (even when training 30-40km per day!) plus regular fasting (no eating that day but still including the regular runs).

Oh, and another of Van Aaken's nutrition recommendations is to not go too heavy on the carbohydrates.

Thank you for your kind words. It is fun writing those posts. It is up to those to know to save the history of running as it was.

I do not remember talking to Coach Igloi about diet or nutrition. It was a very long time ago and my memory is slipping.

He would say "How you feel" Then sometimes before you could answer he would say "I feel nothing" and "You will rest in grave yard many years".

It was all a lot of fun.

I remember going to a Hungarian restaurant in downtown LA with him a couple of times.

This thread is a pure goldmine of information. Thank you to all who have posted.

Orville.

Interesting that you don't recall Igloi talking about diet and nutrition considering he was fastidious about prescribing his training sessions. Mind you, although nutrition can be a contributing factor to success, training is where the biggest improvement is made.

Thanks to all the other contributors to this thread (Ghost of Igloi, Bob Schul, Ancient Runner, Bill Scobey, HRE, Tinman and everyone else who added their own little gems of information and questions).

I checked with two other Igloi athletes and they said they don't remember diet, nutrition or stretching ever have been mentioned. That was 50 years ago! Much of what I remember comes from my training logs.

At one point Coach Igloi said that I needed to lose weight. I was about 132 pounds at 5 foot 10 or so. I asked what I should and the reply was "Nothing". Six weeks later I was 125 pounds.

Bump. Theirs def a few big college programs using these methods to some degree. My question would be how did igloi coach the racing aspect. Was their a technique to how his athletes raced a particular event. For instance if they were an 800m runner did he advocate front running I.e Solomon/jock or coming from behind (symmonds)?

Drizzly,

I don't recall Coach Igloi talking tactics or a race strategy. Igloi trained you to run a certain pace and expected you to run that time. I remember running a mediocre race and he said "I expected better result." It came across as a criticism of himself. Two weeks later I dropped my three mile PR time from 14:35 to 14:04. "Is good."

Igy

Ghost of Igloi wrote:

Drizzly,

I don't recall Coach Igloi talking tactics or a race strategy. Igloi trained you to run a certain pace and expected you to run that time. I remember running a mediocre race and he said "I expected better result." It came across as a criticism of himself. Two weeks later I dropped my three mile PR time from 14:35 to 14:04. "Is good."

Igy

Ok thanks for the post. My only thing with that is its been mentioned that no splits were taken? Or were they just not told to you guys. How would u know u can run 60s for a mile if u don't know you're running 60s in the intervals I guess I'm trying to understand how pace was communicated to the athlete so they would know what they were capable of accomplishing. Or did he just tell u to use good swing or one of those phrases for your race pace

Drizzy,

Most of the sessions contained repetitions that we're not timed. You did run regular repetitions that we're timed, usually 400s, 800s with occasional 200s, 600s or 1200s. I recall one workout in particular that was 5 sets of 4 x 400m ( 3 @ 62, 63 and 1 @ 59, 60) 200m between 400s and 400m between sets. Or,

3 x 800m (1@ 2:02-2:04, 1 @ 2:06-2:08, 1 @ "what you can") 400m between.

That is why I would say you were trained to run a certain pace. He might say something like in a mile, "first half 2:05, then see."

Keep in mind I ran with Coach Igloi from 1967-1970, so the memory is a little cloudy.

Igy

Ghost was a lot faster than I was. I was there a few years before he was. I was never told a time. It was all done by igloi's tempos. I ran an all out 440 once or twice but have no idea how fast it was. I understand that Igloi did choreographed race for the faster guys. Had some runners set the pace. I heard that in one case he told Jim Grelle and Jim Beatty how to run a race. Grelle questioned it and Igloi rechoreographed the race. Coach Mihaly Igloi always knew exactly what time a runner could run. He also recorded all workouts. He knew his runners running abilities inside out. He also worked long hours. He watched every step his runners ran rain or shine. I call that coaching.

Orville,

Hello. I trust you are well.

I recall one session with Coach Igloi started around 5:30 pm and I did not finish until after 8:00 pm. I was proud to be the last man standing. As usually Coach was there the entire time waiting in the shadows with that Columbo like trench coat which I am sure you remember.

Reid

Reid, all goes well. I had some sessions like that and then he'd say see you at 5 or 6 Am. I found it too hard for my slow twitch muscles. Maybe if I had stuck it out for a longer period I would have run faster times. Fortunately, he moved. Running was always my hobby.

Orville

Orville,

You did well and you were a great runner. I will always remember that year in Boston.

Reid

Thank you Reid, but it was a lot easier when I started. That 1974 Boston Marathon you ran was my 5th Boston over a 12 year period. I do know what it is like to run with the leaders for ten miles