How did this dude train, work, and only sleep 3-4 hours a day?

The truth hurts huh wrote:

Or, perhaps, he’s exaggerating his workload. An old man recounting something from a few decades ago is certainly not going to be accurate.

Don’t believe everything at face value, peons.

I wasn't there when he was sleeping, but I saw him working on the loading dock at Sears and still work with him in his capacity as a coach. I met up with him to drop off some things while he was coaching youngsters at 6:30 AM on a Tuesday. I saw him race many times and (even beat him once or twice when he was still coming up.) He has a big heart (and big lungs) and is always a perfect gentleman. He is the classic working man, doing what he has to do with grace and a smile.

During his best marathon years, there was an all-comers meet at Georgetown's old track on top of the field house. Darrell was there to run the mile which was way out of his normal race range, but he gave it a go. Laps of roughly 59, 61, 62, 58 put him within a hair's breadth of breaking four. It was an awesome effort. Was he disappointed? Not so you could tell it. He jogged it off with the other guys and then went back to marathon training. Just another all-comers meet.

In the article they describe his less than ideal buildup to Marine Corp. But he still ran last weekend in 3:35. Minimal training, just to celebrate his victories 20 years ago.

Darrell is the real thing. Folks are going to have to step up pretty far to match his example.

zipple wrote:

He does have something to show for it. At the least, there are thousands of DC runners (like myself), who know all about Darrell General. He didn't just run MCM. He ran 8ks, 10ks, lots of local races. I remember him winning the Rockville Twilight 8k in 1989 or 1990, finishing in something like 24:00, with it being 85 degrees and 85% humidity.

Second this^

If you're a runner from the DC area during the 1990s, 2000s there's just no way you don't know Darrell General. He was a huge presence on the road scene, and not just because of his MCM victories. He's definitely on the top of a list of road regulars from that period like Chuck Moeser, Ted Poulos, and a bit later Michael Wardian.

Mise en Scene wrote:

zipple wrote:

He does have something to show for it. At the least, there are thousands of DC runners (like myself), who know all about Darrell General. He didn't just run MCM. He ran 8ks, 10ks, lots of local races. I remember him winning the Rockville Twilight 8k in 1989 or 1990, finishing in something like 24:00, with it being 85 degrees and 85% humidity.

Second this^

If you're a runner from the DC area during the 1990s, 2000s there's just no way you don't know Darrell General. He was a huge presence on the road scene, and not just because of his MCM victories. He's definitely on the top of a list of road regulars from that period like Chuck Moeser, Ted Poulos, and a bit later Michael Wardian.

I didn't say nothing, I said not much. Your post proves my point.

HRE wrote:

Test him wrote:

Doping.

I don't know if you're trying to be funny or if you really believe this but if it's the latter you should be ashamed of yourself. If you read the article and know what he did day after day for years on end to make himself a good runner and to earn a decent living and can only make some demeaning comment like that you should take a hard look at the sort of person you are.

Settle down gramps. I'll let the home know that you need to get your walk in today.

Didn't he make the trials 4 times and run 2:14? I'd take that ! nothing to show!

How about this writer of the story?... Mercer? Seems like he's been featured a few times on LRC. Good talent!

I guess if he enjoyed it wrote:

Mise en Scene wrote:

Second this^

If you're a runner from the DC area during the 1990s, 2000s there's just no way you don't know Darrell General. He was a huge presence on the road scene, and not just because of his MCM victories. He's definitely on the top of a list of road regulars from that period like Chuck Moeser, Ted Poulos, and a bit later Michael Wardian.

I didn't say nothing, I said not much. Your post proves my point.

Presumably he enjoyed running. That's worth the time and effort.

Test him wrote:

HRE wrote:

I don't know if you're trying to be funny or if you really believe this but if it's the latter you should be ashamed of yourself. If you read the article and know what he did day after day for years on end to make himself a good runner and to earn a decent living and can only make some demeaning comment like that you should take a hard look at the sort of person you are.

Settle down gramps. I'll let the home know that you need to get your walk in today.

Your attempt to be funny is just pathetic, loser.

gfhsdfrytsert wrote:

I guess if he enjoyed it wrote:

I didn't say nothing, I said not much. Your post proves my point.

Presumably he enjoyed running. That's worth the time and effort.

Kinda what my username indicates.

This is highly possible, and for that, I have mad mad respect for him.

When you are dedicated to a goal, a dream, and/or a passion, nothing can stop you....and it shouldn't.

I can relate in a way to him. From later 2003 to the better part of 2005, I blended my walking workouts with my work and/or school schedule as a graduate student. As a result, between working, school and walking workouts, there was not a lot of time, necessarily for sleeping.

For the better part of 2003-2004, I worked the graveyard shift at a 7-eleven near the college I attended. This meant taking the bus to school at 4:30 pm (class was 5:30pm-9:30pm) 2 days a week, and working the graveyard shift at the 7-eleven (10:00pm-8:00pm) 4 days a week. Then, it meant taking the bus home to get home at 9:30ish, switch clothes and walk for about 60-90 minutes, eat, shower, sleep and up at about 3:30 pm. On days I did not have school, I could do my workout before my shower before I took a later bus.

in 2005, I was doing my student teaching practicum. Still having no car, I would be up at 3:30 in the morning to catch a 4:30 bus, transfer buses and get to work at 6:15 am. I would work until about 3:30 or 4:00. So, how did I get my walking workout in? On days I did not have a student teaching seminar class, I would simply walk home (about 7 miles). I did this for the equivalent of a school semester.

In 2007, I was able to walk my first marathon, which led to running it, and then which later led to speedier times in other races.

So I get it, when you love something, you will find ways to sacrifice things to do what you love. I am 43 now, and there are still days that I choose not to drive to work (I live only about a mile away) so that I can walk the longer way home (which amounts to about a 6.5-7.0 mile walk). This allows me to have running and walking in my repertoire still.

I love this story for this gentleman, and I completely have bought into the possibility of him having done this. I do not doubt a thing, and I think this is a great story for what we need to know at this time.

Thank you.

Not to take anything away from his accomplishments, but he definitely exaggerates. Just look at the times he lays out for his work day.

General: At Whole Foods, I was working 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. Then I was leaving there and going to the D.C. running group — D.C. Fit. I was helping out there from 8 to 9:30. Then I was working at Metro Run & Walk from 10 to 3.

Farley: You still haven’t told us how you get your run in.

General: I would coach from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., so my run at that point in time was with the D.C. Fit. When I got off of Whole Foods, I would drive to the W&O. And once you got into August, they were already started. I stretched real quick and then I jumped in. When they saw me, I was going down, and they were coming back. All those 75 people saw me, so their goal was to keep me from catching them. It was helping them, and it was helping me. We had fun.

Yeah, that part was confusing to me, too. On my first reading, I it sounded like he was working at DC Fit; however, on a second reading, I think that he did his run with DC Fit from 8 to 9:30. The reporter or editor should have asked him to clarify, but whatever. I live in the Midwest, so I had never heard of him before yesterday, but I'm always impressed to learn about the old-school guys who worked hard at their jobs and managed to train hard, too. Phil Coppess is another good one that someone mentioned earlier in the thread.

HRE wrote:

Test him wrote:

Doping.

I don't know if you're trying to be funny or if you really believe this but if it's the latter you should be ashamed of yourself. If you read the article and know what he did day after day for years on end to make himself a good runner and to earn a decent living and can only make some demeaning comment like that you should take a hard look at the sort of person you are.

Do I hear troll bite?

That's a good point about the timing. I could have made that more clear. Nonetheless, his schedule was definitely packed - and the idea that he would meet up with a running group to get his training in reflects how active he was within the DC running community. When I moved to DC in 2008, he was at the end of his competitive run. I heard about him, but never got to meet him. After we published this, though, a friend mentioned to me that after a local 10k, Darrell went back out on the course and ran in with people in the back of the pack. Everyone knew who he was - not just the sub-elite crowd.

History Know Knot wrote:

Full time hobo wrote:

Steve Jones was wrestling with jet engine parts full time when he ran 2:07.

Brendan Foster was a teacher who ran to and from school and probably at lunch too. He also lived in the golden era of no showers and you could look and smell like a hobo while teaching kids,

Jones was a full time pro when he ran 2:07

Foster was a factory worker who ran on his lunch break.

Doubt it When Jones went full time pro he never ran as well. That wasn't until a couple of years later that he bought out his RAF contract.

Foster gave up a cushy teaching job to work in a factory? OOOOOOK.

Dickson wrote:That's a good point about the timing. I could have made that more clear. Nonetheless, his schedule was definitely packed - and the idea that he would meet up with a running group to get his training in reflects how active he was within the DC running community. When I moved to DC in 2008, he was at the end of his competitive run. I heard about him, but never got to meet him. After we published this, though, a friend mentioned to me that after a local 10k, Darrell went back out on the course and ran in with people in the back of the pack. Everyone knew who he was - not just the sub-elite crowd.

No worries! It doesn't detract from the story, and he does offer some clarification in the following paragraph. Thanks for taking the time to respond and for publishing this interview in the first place. He sounds like an awesome runner and a great person.

Good article. I just wouldn't take him too literally. He got 3/4 hours of sleep, but I would bet there were days he got more sleep than on others. Kind of irresponsible of him to not get into the specifics since there are probably a lot of kids who read this and think they could get away with months of lack of sleep.

ran against him and was easily one of the nicest competitors out there. Lucky to have beaten him in epic 10 miler so many years ago.

I don't really follow your rationale here. That said, as another poster touched on, when it comes to sleep, I think most people simply discover that they either can or can't go without it. As an interesting parallel to great DC area runners, Michael Wardian sleeps even less. He barely sleeps at all and considers four straight hours of sleep really good. Like Darrell, when he talks about it here, he's not promoting not sleeping - he's just being honest.

https://medium.com/the-morning-shakeout/going-long-an-interview-with-mike-wardian-8c4112745ac

I actually worked with a lot of people who knew him at a local running store. I didn’t know he was as good as people said until I read this. The Dude works hard at everything he does. He never once bragged about his accomplishments or anything. You’re just like every other letsrun degenerate that says nothing but horrible things about another they don’t even know. Pathetic that someone who works hard is always labeled a doper. I’d hate to see what you guys think when I run well in track this year.