Tom Osler On Runners Negative Obsessions

As I recall he was one of the early proponents of not stretching. He took heat for it but he was right on the money about that one.

Tom is one of the most unsung sages in all of running. I owe some of my own best road performances and training to his writings.

My fave is the obsession with NEVER walking. Not in a race, I mean that I know runners who have never willingly gone for a walk anywhere, any time.

So simple but so many would benefit from these wise words.

Full text:

I have referenced Tom Osler many times on this blog before.

For those who don't recall,he is a former outstanding ultra runner who back in the mid-60's wrote the now legendary booklet,The Conditioning of Distance Runners.Written in a time when precious little sensible distance training info was available, Osler provided the kind of guidance that runners needed.

Tom Osler has an insight into running that isn't as common as one would think.It is a fallacy to believe that former standouts become outstanding coaches and writers in their respective sports.

When asked about negative obsessions runners develop in running and racing he ofered the following observations:

"Some runners make a fetish out of never missing a day's training.Their streaks of continuous days running can number into the years.There is probably no direct harm in this. However,it distracts the runner from his legitimate concerns.He should first concentrate on listening to his body.Take a day off if the body needs it. There is no loss but actually a gain in such actions.

Another obsession runners succumb to is the minimum mileage for the week syndrome. Runners will kill themselves to make that magic 60 miles,or 100 miles,or whatever it might be.Again,this distracts the runner from his first concern.He should be monitoring his training according to how he feels and not according to some preassigned silly number.

A dangerous obsession is the refusal to quit in races.Of course,there is no honor in quitting simply because you are being beaten.There are however times when continuing poses a real threat to your health.At such times,it is the wise runner who quits."

I don't know about you,but I've been guilty of all of the above at one time or another.As I look back, I recognize that it was almost always related to fear or anxiety.I believed that by backing off I would lose "my edge." Foolishness it was!

Never heard of him.

Never subscribed to any of his "obsessions."

Never heard of any of my peers subscribing to any of his obsessions.

Anyone can have an opinion.

Another weirdo , no one knows with his own weird thoughts .

malmo wrote:

Never heard of him.

Just like no one ever heard of you until you got on this board?

malmo wrote:

Never heard of him.

Never subscribed to any of his "obsessions."

Never heard of any of my peers subscribing to any of his obsessions.

Anyone can have an opinion.

That is funny. Much of his booklet, The Conditioning of Distance Runners. reads like your Summer of Malmo manifesto: run more, run often, run at different paces.

Have his book "Serious Runner's Handbook" 1978 edition on the shelf in my office

[quote]malmo wrote:

Never heard of him....

/quote]

...then he clearly doesn't exist

malmo wrote:

Never heard of him.

Never subscribed to any of his "obsessions."

Never heard of any of my peers subscribing to any of his obsessions.

Anyone can have an opinion.

I don't know whether you consider yourself a peer of Henry Rono, but he has written that he is quite proud that he never dropped out of a race.

And Ron Hill was the most obsessive streaker of them all.

malmo wrote:

Never heard of him.

Never subscribed to any of his "obsessions."

Never heard of any of my peers subscribing to any of his obsessions.

Anyone can have an opinion.

Think more carefully.

I’m sure you have heard of him.

I’m also sure you and your peers shared many of these obsessions.

malmo wrote:

Never heard of him.

YMMV wrote:

Just like no one ever heard of you until you got on this board?

I still don't know who he is.

However, I remember Tom Osler from a long time ago, and still have his booklet.

Lars Sqweebles wrote:

malmo wrote:

Never heard of him.

Never subscribed to any of his "obsessions."

Never heard of any of my peers subscribing to any of his obsessions.

Anyone can have an opinion.

Think more carefully.

I’m sure you have heard of him.

I’m also sure you and your peers shared many of these obsessions.

What aren't you understanding? I've never heard of him before this thread, and I've never had any of those obsessions, nor do I know anyone who shared those obsessions. Why does this bother you?

Yeah, of course I've heard of Ron Hill's streak. More power to him.

Love his point about running streak people. They the worst! I don’t believe any of the dudes that say they ran for 40 years and all that stuff.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

Love his point about running streak people. They the worst! I don’t believe any of the dudes that say they ran for 40 years and all that stuff.

Actually Ron Hill got out of his bed with the death flu just to keep his streak going. That's obsessive.

So I looked up Tom Osler, and there a good reason why I don't know who he is. He's a mathematics professor and a hobbyjogger. By the time I graduated from high school I was already a much more experienced runner than he was. I had already been consuming training advice from the greats, and was exposed to great coaching. My focus was always at the much higher level than his experience.

I'll take the testimonials from those who posted here. Mr Oslers niche is for recreational runners, and I'm positive many have benefited from his "booklet". There's nothing wrong with that.

Now if he has a mathematics booklet for simple minds, I'll buy it. ;-)

Here is an article HRE wrote about Tom Osler in 2008.

http://www.intactest.com/GC_Heath/Cat.pdf

spicer wrote:

malmo wrote:

Never heard of him.

Never subscribed to any of his "obsessions."

Never heard of any of my peers subscribing to any of his obsessions.

Anyone can have an opinion.

I don't know whether you consider yourself a peer of Henry Rono, but he has written that he is quite proud that he never dropped out of a race.

And Ron Hill was the most obsessive streaker of them all.

Not necessarily a peer of Malmo, but Derek Clayton was a runner who was certainly obsessed with mileage. I'm sure there were others.

Ackley wrote:

Here is an article HRE wrote about Tom Osler in 2008.

http://www.intactest.com/GC_Heath/Cat.pdf

Thanks for posting this article.

His 60 something take on running hits home with this 63 year old.

Stuck between a rock and a hard spot

Decrepitude and The Grime Reaper.

Satchel Paige/Quotes

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.