Pearls of Wisdom From the Late Jack Foster on Training and Shoes

Joan Benoit did 120MPW in her peak years.

Epitomy of GUTS.

Try a 2:17 at age 43 in the heat & humidity of Hawaii in '75.

That works for me.

So what if he didn't do 100's? How many people posting or reading here wouldn't LOVE a 2:17 off 70-75MPW (or 100+MPW)?

Brace yourself...that book is available at ALIBRIS.com for

(gulp!) $150 (US)!!!!!

Yes. Jack always cycled. There were always stories of him skipping a day's running and going on a ride. And he sometimes biked to work or just rode for pleasure. In his later years he said he'd have traded all of his running success for a start in the Tour de France.

I also believe he continued to bicylce a decent amount during his running days.

Ok, so some one(one already did) might respond to that with: "SEE, he WAS doing an 'equivalent' of 120-150 running miles if one included his bicycling hours into the equation. So JK was right....."

And I would reply, ok, but THAT would still mean that there are different paths to the mountain-top, no??? Most elite runners(and coaches) scoff at the idea that good chunks of cross-training can be used effectively, and that if the runner is healthy, such cross-training is MUCH INFERIOR to getting in running miles(in fact, JK, once basically said: if a runner gets hurt a lot, some cross-training could be used, but....he was almost embarassed to admit it. In short, he did not think highly of cross-training at all).

So again, either way you look at it, Foster broke the rules in being so successful: either by running quite low mileage for a marathoner, and/or by using good chunks of cross-training successfully. Either way, he goes against the "absolute" concepts of some coaches.

Did Steve Jones ever average 120-150+ miles a week?? I don't think so.

And Benji Durden did not, and there are many, many more who did it "their way", and "broke the rules."

There are MANY paths to mountain-top. Find yours....

I do think that the Law of Diminishing Returns applies to running as well as to economics. So while I think running lots of miles is the best way to squeeze out every last drop of your potential, I think you can get close to that potential with considerably less. Even Lydiard told me that the amount of running any particular runner does is an individual matter. For Jack, I think "working" at the sport might have driven him away. I think he's very similar to Derek Turnbull who always insisted that whatever running he did was "for fun." The competitive success was a by-product of having fun for both of them.

Owwww, a single copy of Jack's book is selling for considerably more money than Jack made from writing it.

Yeah, can his family get any $ from them?

I know in the music biz offspring of artists can collect royalties for 70 years after that artist's death.

No. Runner's World got it all. Mind you, RW's profit margins on those bookelts was really small as well. But I have it from someone who was very close to the whole publication process that Jack, at best, would have gotten $100.

LOL. I'm not looking to climb any mountains. I'd just like to wake up in the AM without a sore back and right achilles.

Owwwwwww, were you banned for 5 months or something? Just kidding around.

I was just wondering about finding Foster's book, and I happened upon this website in which a poster found the book for $150! Damn. Does anyone else know where it can be found for cheaper? I would love to read this gem.

Great to see another post come to light.

As said on another post. Possibility of Jack's book being re released with updates. Will keep everyone informed.

Or maybe someone willing to take their copy to Kinko's and make and send out copies for $10 or so a pop?

If you check other posts written om here. Like the latest was last week. There is a ton of info on Jack. Much of the book is quoted and stats given. Really the only part not discussed was his comments on other Marathoners that he ran against.

Kim,

Not much has been mentioned about Jack's multiple marathons run within a relatively short period of time.

Was he just an individual who was able to recover very quickly from a hard race? It seems that he was often racing 3-4 marathons within a 9 month period.

His recovery seems all the more impressive when you consider he was 40+ when running at his best.

Cheers!

Jak came up with a good recovery formula. 1 day of 'easy running' for each mile raced. So basically 26 days recovery.

Don't forget, Jack did not 'train' for marathons. He trained for Cross Country or Road races, He just added more time to his longer Sunday runs in order to get ready for a Marathon. There was no periodisation as we know it. He just 'ran' every day.

.bump.

Since we're keeping this thread alive, another part of Jack's recovery was hosing his legs off with cold water after a run. He'd seen horse trainers do it to their horses and reckoned it should work for him.

jaguar1 wrote:

Are there any women marathoners in America running that many miles?

Google search results: Deena Kastor up to 145 mile per week.

Boston 1979 thread: I think I recall patti saying that she did 150 mile weeks.

Just had our Local Marathon here in Rotorua. First year that Jack has not been around to either participate or watch. Won by Dale Warrander in 2:22.Only 3 other guys under 2;30.

There are 2 records for the course(One for each direction around the lake) Jack is record holder for one Direction (2:17). Paul Ballinger the other direction (2:16:50)

Interestingly, both men were sub 2:12 marathoners.