alamosa wrote:
I know, I was there. Those "miles" are run at a park and they are not a full mile. However, it doesn't take away from how hard Porter trained, particularly when you consider the 7,500 ft. elevation.
When he said it, I assumed he meant a track, not the park loop. But I'm not about to argue with someone who trained with him.
is this park the one with a pavement loop on the edge of town? i visited alamosa a couple of years ago and saw a paved path and assumed this is the park i had heard of previously.
what is the length around the park that is spoken of, whats the name fo the park?
on another note... where are lappers ran?
always in the mix and never afraid to be right up front right there with the africans.
While driving across the country, I stopped in Alamosa and stayed a night with Pat. The morning run was a quick 4 miler through town ending at Plachy Hall. Pat did a weight workout (foolishly I did not observe It), we went to the Corner Cafe(?) for the famous cinnamon roll they serve and a visit with Coach Vigil. After a short break, I remember Pat going to the track for Plyometrics around 11 AM. One drill he did involved hurdles where he exploded over a series of low set hurdles placed close together (up down up down - boom boom boom). Lunch and a nap. He came back around 3-4 Pm for a workout with the ASC team, 16 x 400 @ 61 with a minute rest.
guy who knew Pat wrote:
While driving across the country, I stopped in Alamosa and stayed a night with Pat. The morning run was a quick 4 miler through town ending at Plachy Hall. Pat did a weight workout (foolishly I did not observe It), we went to the Corner Cafe(?) for the famous cinnamon roll they serve and a visit with Coach Vigil. After a short break, I remember Pat going to the track for Plyometrics around 11 AM. One drill he did involved hurdles where he exploded over a series of low set hurdles placed close together (up down up down - boom boom boom). Lunch and a nap. He came back around 3-4 Pm for a workout with the ASC team, 16 x 400 @ 61 with a minute rest.
Guy,
That tale reminds me of a long gone magazine (Running Times?) article describing a similar situation. Were you the writer?
OP,
dig up one of theNike XC posters featuring Pat Porter and Lynn Jennings
lappers were done at the park...warmup jog from the locker rooms, past the track, and on to the park. the distances on the 6's and miles were adjusted for altitude. you think porter was tought out there? you should have seen juma ikaanga tear that place apart...he was doing 30 mile HAMMER runs outside of town in the hills.
Average_Joe wrote:
I used to have one of those runner's calendars with quotes on it back when I was in high school. There was one by Pat Porter about training at altitude in Alamosa:
"I once ran an all-out mile up here. I did 4:01. I can't describe to you what that was like. I saw God".
So if he could run a 4:01 in practice at altitude, he probably could have done a decent one on the track at sea level.
Ha, I had that thing hanging over my bed.
To the OP, a better qustion is, what was Porter's high school training like to get that 4:29, 9:51? I bet he trained very little and those times were run at 6000'+. A disingenuous comparison. Still, Pat was unique and a monster in cross country. Wish he had devoted more focus to the track circuit in Europe, because I think his 10,000 PR was soft compared to those of the guys he routinely ran with in international cross.
Juma Ikangaa's NYCM win in 1989 in 2:08:01 when the WR was (I think) 2:06:50 was one of the best races ever. He was a notorious front runner who often died but on that day no one could touch him.
As others have mentioned Carlos Lopes was incredible. I heard he had a steak dinner the night before winning the 84 Olympic Marathon.
OP,
dig up one of theNike XC posters featuring Pat Porter and Lynn Jennings
"Their name is mud." Favorite poster ever.
fwiw wrote:
Juma Ikangaa's NYCM win in 1989 in 2:08:01 when the WR was (I think) 2:06:50 was one of the best races ever. He was a notorious front runner who often died but on that day no one could touch him.
As others have mentioned Carlos Lopes was incredible. I heard he had a steak dinner the night before winning the 84 Olympic Marathon.
Juma Ikaanga spent a stint training in Alamosa and it was chronicled that he ran up to 200 miles in a week. He was famous for the line, "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."
Pat Porter was my idol in high school, and I always thought it would've been great to train under Dr. Vigil, who I consider one of, if not the, best(s). However, the idea of living/training in Alamosa in the winter and getting a degree from Adams State just wasn't appealing. Even Porter mentioned he had to go to Albuquerque one winter because Alamosa was too frigid.
I'd take anything about training in "Running with the Champions" (or anywhere really) with a grain of salt. For instance, I seem to remember that book saying that Sydney Maree did ten milers in 45 minutes for morning runs.
I read the "up to 200 miles per week" somewhere else, not that it had any more credibility. Might've been Running Times or Runner's World. I remember an article on Porter (think he had the cover) in Runner's World saying that he'd top out at 130 miles per week as well.
Wonder what he's up to? Was in Albuquerque working as a rep for one of the major builders, but with the housing collapse.... anyone know?
fwiw wrote:
As others have mentioned Carlos Lopes was incredible. I heard he had a steak dinner the night before winning the 84 Olympic Marathon.
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Yes and I heard that he ate bacon and eggs for breakfast the morning of the Marathon. Would not be much on the veracity of either story.
That article was in Runner's World (surprisingly) and written by John L. Parker. The cafe is the Campus Cafe.
Between December 1985 and November 1986, the Harrier, Runner's World, Rodale's "Superfit" (author Merrill Noden), Sports Illustrated (Kenny Moore) and the Runner (Noden again) did stories about Pat that included his relationship with Coach Vigil and Alamosa. Great stuff. I saw Pat before Cross Nationals at Van Cortlandt Park with a fierce "don't talk to me look" and a cup of coffee in his hand. He was pleasant after he won. I think Jim Farmer (?) from North Carolina was 2nd.
Was I the author of the article you recall? No. A friend of Pat's, yes.
kenny Moore article from 1986:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1064603/1/index.htm
Pat Porter's training.
WOW! Look at 1988 results - Kenya 8 of top 9!