Coach Squires once told me that Bill Rodgers was clueless when it comes to training. “I laugh when I read Billy’s first book. He doesn’t remember what he did in training and never understood why”
I recently talked to a Coach of more than one Olympian who said that “athletes have selective memories. They remember what they liked, not necessarily what they did”
I think the age of the athlete matters. Someone who's in their early 20's hasn't really been at a high level very long. When they're in high school the training they're doing is all they've ever known and have nothing to compare it to. Once you've done it for many years, and potentially different coaches, you can remember how you felt after different types of training, and what you were doing the months before your best races. So if you ask a 22 year old 5,000m runner about what they think is a good way to structure training they're just going to tell you what they've been doing the past few years which is nearly all they know. If you ask a 34 year old marathoner runner who spent years on the track, years running road races and years in the marathon, they'll probably have better insights as they've been living it longer and doing a variety of work.
Coach Squires once told me that Bill Rodgers was clueless when it comes to training. “I laugh when I read Billy’s first book. He doesn’t remember what he did in training and never understood why”
I recently talked to a Coach of more than one Olympian who said that “athletes have selective memories. They remember what they liked, not necessarily what they did”
But the press always reach out to the athletes.
To be fair, Bill Rogers was just kind of overall “clueless”. Phenomenal guy, fantastic runner, no one can ever question his impact on this sport, especially as a relates to road racing. However, this is the same guy that two years in a row arrived in Honolulu to partake in the Honolulu, marathon festivities, gets picked up at the airport, gets all the way to the Hotel, and then tells the driver/host/chaperone that he forgot his luggage at the airport. Remember, I said two years in a row, because the next year he did the exact same thing with the exact same person. When someone says he was clueless about anything , I’m not surprised.
Coach Squires once told me that Bill Rodgers was clueless when it comes to training. “I laugh when I read Billy’s first book. He doesn’t remember what he did in training and never understood why”
I recently talked to a Coach of more than one Olympian who said that “athletes have selective memories. They remember what they liked, not necessarily what they did”
But the press always reach out to the athletes.
To be fair, Bill Rogers was just kind of overall “clueless”. Phenomenal guy, fantastic runner, no one can ever question his impact on this sport, especially as a relates to road racing. However, this is the same guy that two years in a row arrived in Honolulu to partake in the Honolulu, marathon festivities, gets picked up at the airport, gets all the way to the Hotel, and then tells the driver/host/chaperone that he forgot his luggage at the airport. Remember, I said two years in a row, because the next year he did the exact same thing with the exact same person. When someone says he was clueless about anything , I’m not surprised.
A friend of mine who won the New York Marathon in its early years once lost an eight mile races he was leading comfortably when he went off course two thirds of the way through the race. The race was on a three lap course and he went off course at the start of the third lap.
I know some high school kids who are very thoughtful about their training and discuss everything in detail with their coach. And I know some pros who are clueless.
I just saw an interview with a pro who said that she does whatever her coach tells her to do and doesn't ask questions. Some people are more into details and other don't really care as long as they are getting good results.
Abdi Nageeye is highly aware, worked with several top coaches, and now combines all his knowledge by him self, his coach only thinks with him, so the other way around, this comes with experience and age. It’s about time elite athletes start to think and gather knowledge themselves, bringing better results and motivation.