MAYEROFF wrote:
Coach? wrote:So how many of you guys that dipped under 2:30 did it without a coach?
Sub 2:20, no coach, no training partners.
I and several other local runners from the late 1970-1985 improved by just training harder and longer on our tempos and total weekly distance. (WITH NO COACH). We all wanted to qualify for Boston each year and when the qualifying time dropped to 2:50 we just trained harder. This is the opposite of today and it plays a role in the decline in the lack of sub 2:30 US marathoners (and sub 2:10 US born runners). This is not rocket science...the data are clear. Now the question is what is missing that was there in the 70-85 time period. Well...I suggtest it is the media, driven by popular sports nutritionists and the supplement industry. They promote the need for runners to use sports beverages, CHO supplements and hydrations beverages during runs. We never had these in the 70-85 and YET WE RAN faster than today's marathoners. So if all these new products are so great for performance then why are marathners obviously slower??? I ran a 2:28:33 at Boston in 81 and placed only 239th (check the Results). I was not elite...except that I broke 2:30. The US was full of sub 2:30 marathoners then. We did not take any CHO supplements during the marathon and there were few aid stations. When I first ran Boston in 1975, there were no aid stations and no mile markers (only the traditional sites that had known distances). It was the long intervals, tempos from 6 to 12 miles, high mileage 80-90 mi/ wk and the God given genes we recieved from our parents that made this possible. Today the genes are still there in the same number of lucky runners...but what is missing is the dedication and commmitment to training by the old fashion way (mileage and W/out CHO supplements and fluids)and the above training program. Like it's been said before " The secret is ...there is no secret...it's all about training".
This may not be an accurate quote but try this one that is ..from Tom Huggins,an Oregonian who trained with Pre when they were both in Jr. High School. Several years ago I ask Tom what I should tell my High School Boys X-C runners...he said tell them "to run long, run hard and run often." No mention of carrying hydration fluids, Gue or eating before, during or after long runs....and you know what??? Today's Scandinavian research has supported this approach...check out the studies authored and co-authored by Benta Pedersen of Denmark. The old guys (1970-1985)were correct (they ran faster than today's US marathoners) and the new way is for "wussies" (i.e, most can't even break 2:30) because they choose the modern way, which is not to endure discomfort. Sorry youth...but this is the hard truth and exercise science research now supports it. If we train like the rest of the world class marathoners we will run like them...again it's not rocket science, not new nor novel, it's a proven model (e.g., review the 1970-1985 runners training). Let's get going and do it the old fashion way...and become one of the top marathoner countries once again.