Looking for info about Bill Squires/GBTC training methods

This site has a few years of Bill Rodgers training logs

^this. Starting point is to read the logs.

A very interesting question is what would those guys have run if they lived and trained at altitude. Rodgers said, in the future, altitude athletes would have an advantage.

Yeah the interesting question is, did Rodgers run 2:09 despite the old shoes and sea level training, or did he run that fast BECAUSE of that stuff? Is humidity better than elevation? Are effort based workouts better than these highly scientific workouts you see?

Squires had a book on training and that might give you some info. There should be some old copies out there.

Every couple years I spend a few hours reading this, and each time my mind is absolutely blown—a lot of volume, a lot of easy and moderate running, a lot of big-mileage doubles, and a lot of racing. It’s a simple formula, but Rodgers accomplished a lot with it.

I’m not saying modern training hasn’t made some meaningful advances, but man, Squires really knew what he was doing and his guys were dedicated to training over the long term and raced like animals. There’s a lot to learn here.

I would read Rogdgers Autobiography "Marathon Man" and Squires Autobiography "Born to Coach" if you want to learn more about what made them special.

In a nutshell: plenty of mileage but keep it easy (6:30-7:00 pace was the norm for Rodgers but he wouldnt hesitate to run 8 minute pace or slower if he needed to or was running with a slower friend), some speed work but nothing crazy (Squires used to tell his guys they should be able to turn around and do the same workout again if they needed to), long runs, simulate aspects of the race in training (like running tge hills on the Boston course), training in groups of similar ability, good fun team atmosphere, plenty of racing but nothing crazy (Squires always thought Rodgers raced too much). Squires also thought Rodgers ran too much mileage but let it be because he enjoyed it and was still successful.

Like what the other posters said about mileage and lots of it, but another thing is the sub Lt work they often did without thinking about. It wasn't uncommon back than to push it when feeling good or doing as malmo called it 'run to the barn' types of runs where common. So even though they didn't know it but they did quite a bit of what we would call sub threshold running.

Nate Jenkins knows a lot about it and thinks like a coach himself, so he can explain things well. You can ask him questions via the site linked. In fact, look at Nov. 6 in the training detailed on the front page.

Rodgers also used to knock out some lunchtime 8 milers in 40 minutes.

Dick Beardsley's training log before Boston 1982 is the best presentation of Squires training that I know of.

Speed with Endurance by Squires and Lehane. It’s out of print now. You can find used copies out there for a premium.

Or what would they have run if they had supershoes. Or the medical team behind them that the best runners have.

I had one called Improving Your Running by Squires with Ray Krise, and I'd bet it's also out of print.

That's right. Before "Threshold Running" and "Tempo Runs" were given a fancy name because Exercise Physiologists finally had a cool new toy to play with on a routine basis in the lab in the 90s you had Lydiard talking about 7/8th effort runs or blocks of time running "Time Trials" and you had guys in the 70s and 80s hammering hard runs when they felt their body was able to handle it.

Alan

These are great questions.

I started running in 1971. I need the modern shoes- I was constantly injured back then.

But, is that the case for everyone?

Keep everything the same for Rogers, et al but give them modern shoes, super shoes, tech running clothes, the knowledge we have for diet that we really didn't have back then- remember Rogers talking about eating mayonnaise by the spoonful he was so hungry!?

What times would those guys be running? Not to mention a shoe contract to give them the time to rest and train even better.

I have the book Speed with Endurance and tried his method for a period in 2011. It was a different way of approaching training. He would have a mid-week workout and a workout on the weekend as part of a long run (various minutes pickups). I found it ‘refreshing’, rather than doing 2 workouts + long run every week. I didn’t like the lack of longer type progression runs/aerobic threshold pace approaching marathon pace. The great marathoners he coached in the 70s/80s raced a lot- this probably how they got the anaerobic/aerobic work in. I also thought the pace for easy runs was too fast for what I like to do. I ultimately went back to what I had found worked for me, which is more blended training and slowing down the pace on easy runs.

Clerici, Paul C. Born to Coach. Meyer & Meyer, 2020.
Squires, Bill. Squires’ Money-back Guarantee Formula for Running Improvement. Robinson, 1976.
Squires, Bill. Improving Women’s Running. Penguin, 1987.
Squires, Bill, and Bruce Lehane. Speed with Endurance. Boston University, 2009.
Squires, Bill, and Raymond Krise. Improving Your Running. The Stephen Greene Press, 1987.

There was a publication prior to these named S.W.I.P by Coach Squires which was only about 20 pages long and was the best of them. I have it hanging around here somewhere.