Just bought latest runners world

that in addition to the story about the woman running a 67-minute 10k and Bingham's disgraceful column, Jeff Galloway's piece is entitled "Speedwork without the Work"? I only skimmed it because I was at the bookstore and had no intention of paying for the magazine, but it seemed to focus on visualization techniques that will supposedly increase speed. What a fraud.

The Wiz wrote:

that in addition to the story about the woman running a 67-minute 10k and Bingham's disgraceful column, Jeff Galloway's piece is entitled "Speedwork without the Work"? I only skimmed it because I was at the bookstore and had no intention of paying for the magazine, but it seemed to focus on visualization techniques that will supposedly increase speed. What a fraud.

Yep, anything but putting in the work.

If you are not on the fast track to becoming CEO of the company you work for, then why bother working hard? You will be happier and emotionally healthier if you forget about buying a house, or a car, or putting your kids through college, or saving for your retirement. Keep plugging away at your $5.15 / hr. job handing out french fries through a window while wearing a headset. If you are a student, drop out of school. Honestly, if an education guaranteed you success, then everyone would be Bill Gates, right?

Have the courage to not try. Have the courage to not chase your dreams. Leave the stress and misery of life to those "old school" types who still ignorantly cling to the Judeo-Christian work ethic and ambition. Believe me, Jack Welch is crying on the inside.

Relax. Have a doughnut. Watch a few hours of TV. Life is too short to be wasting it on excellence.

PR once again hit the nail on the head. If one took Penguin's philosophy on running and applied it to other areas of life, that is exactly how it would read. Maybe you should e-mail this to RW...

Okay, alright already...I'll actually read ALL the way thru the Penguin's latest column. That'll be a first for me and I won't like it but in the interest of research, I'll do it to see what the carping is all about. We'll see if letsrun sentiment matches mine.

I hate you all for driving me to reading the Penguin. So, yes, he does go over the top w/his comments. Please, don't make me read him anymore.

scotth wrote:

I hate you all for driving me to reading the Penguin. So, yes, he does go over the top w/his comments. Please, don't make me read him anymore.

scotth, welcome! I knew you would come around! We'll be sending you your official "I bash RW" membership card an t-shirt soon. :)

Now, c'mon GP...I'd be happier w/a 'I skim RW' tee. My roots are too deep and the current RW offering tolerable enough for me to do any bashing. Some stuff I read, some I groan over and some I skip. 'I'm an RW skimmer!'

Now boys, there was some usable stuff in a recent edition of RW. They had proper training paces and mileage for different 5k time goals. It just caters to beginners.

scotth wrote:

Now, c'mon GP...I'd be happier w/a 'I skim RW' tee. My roots are too deep and the current RW offering tolerable enough for me to do any bashing. Some stuff I read, some I groan over and some I skip. 'I'm an RW skimmer!'

Oh, what the heck, close enough!

Since the Penguin was (is?) quite an accomplished musician, I think he understands hard work and how it pays off, but for the vast majority of people running is not about making the Olympic team. Only a handful of people achieve that goal each Olympic Games (about 10,000 Olympians at the last couple of summer games out of 6 billion). I could practice playing an instrument all day, every day for years and not become Eric Clapton. I just do not have the talent for it. I might read about the great musicians but I will know there is a limitation (I have difficulty distinguishing tones from one another). I doubt competitive athletes are reading the Penguin. I doubt HS coaches are using his ideas in their training. He is NOT the reason US is not developing runners---he has been around a few years on the national scene. In fact, since he has been in RW, our crop of runners has been getting better. Perhaps that proves he is responsible.

Now go run.

A tangential comment in praise of the Boston Marathon.

I am old enough to remember when RW was a good magazine. In fact, I think I can pinpoint when it slipped over the edge. It was the late 70's issue that first put Susan Anton (star of the moving hard-core track movie "Goldengirl") on the cover, yet at the same time actually contained a good article about Steve Ovett. Since then, lots more Goldengirls, lots fewer Steve Ovetts.

Much of this thread has been a lament about RW as a reflection of the diminished value placed on excellence in this sport. To this end, I think the Boston Marathon deserves some praise; and in some ways the philosophy it inhabits is getting lonely. Clearly, for most of us sloggers (okay, you guys are fast, I'm a slogger) there is no hope of the Olympic trials or a sub-30 10k. I'm happy with a sub-40 10k. But by limiting entrants to those who pass a reasonably tough qualifying cut-off, the Boston Marathon manages to enforce at least SOME standard of excellence for the common hoofer. Something RW really can't lay claim to. The BM remains attainable, but only if we (well, the untalented we) put the screws down a bit and actually train. It's qualifying cut-offs are just tough enough; I really doubt a Gallowalker will break 3:10 (or 3:20 at my age) and get into the BM. Imagine the sense of loss and diminishment if the BM just allowed anyone to enter based solely on a lottery -- no need for tempo runs, just luck. How many common sloggers still grab a Lydiard book and get serious for 18 months to sneak into Boston (well, that's how I did it anyway)? Good for them. Yrs, EricG (see ya in Hopkinton 4-19-04)

I get a gift subscription from my Mother-in-law every year. The only things that I really enjoy looking at are the results section and the occasional shoe review.

By the way, does anyone know where I can find that girl on last month's (May, I think)cover ? She's running on a beach, so I'm guessing California. That girl is gorgeous! DAMN !

I remember that issue well, it did slip over the edge there. However, it returned for a short time as a good runners magazine only to fall again to the penguins and gallowalkers of the world. Once it lost its only competition from the Runner magazine, it has never quite been the same.

Wow, we're back to the Penguin is an accomplished musician point. To me, this further proves how ridiculous his running writing really is. Just to be consistent, maybe I should take up music, get a job with a major music publication, and write about how I never try to improve. How I'm so much happier and better than those "old school" musicians that try to make a pleasant sound. Then I'll write a book titled "No Need For Harmony." You see, those old school musicians are under the misguided notion that music is supposed to sound good. Well, as a new breed of musicians, we know better. When I pick up the guitar, every dog in the neiborhood starts running away. The neighbors call to complain about the racket. Sure, I could try to get better, but I'm never going to sell a million records, so why bother? I'll just keep on being lousy at it and mocking those "old school" musicians that try so hard to improve.

Sounds stupid, doesn't it? Well, it's just a stupid when the Penguin takes this approach to music.

I've got bad news for you, that already exists. It's called pop music. Recipe: combine a simple melody with a non-existent chord progression and lay it over a mind-numbingly simple rhythm. Add young women in tight clothes making pouty faces at the camera. Done. Oh, and it helps if they jump around a bit.

I didn't know that the penguin was a musician. If he is and he also takes this approach with music then he can only be classified as a casual musician. Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe it's a genetic thing, but if there's something I like, I like to push the envelope. I've studied music for years (decades). I will probably never be as coordinated as Bill Bruford, but you know what? I'm way better than I was at 25 (when I was way better than at 17). That's a progression. Being lame is not something any of us should strive for.

Finally, I hope luv2run was not suggesting that the appearance of the Penguin and the recently improved state of distance running in the USA in anyway represents a causal relationship.

Maybe if it was renamed Joggers World,lets run readers would be more charitable.Many years ago it probably was mostly about Runners,but the money is where the readership is and they are more interested in general fitness,diet and celebrity runners.Serious runners read the news on the web.

If the Penguin were really an "accomplished" musician, wouldn't someone have at least mentioned what instrument he plays? Most people, if pressed, can tell you that Tiger Woods is a great golfer, not just a great athlete, and that John Holmes was not merely a notable film actor, but a notable porn-film actor. In that vein, I'll be the only instrument the Penguin is proficient with is the skinflute.