Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Want to run faster?
Read a book... no seriously. Running is a huge international sport with a ton of history and really amazing characters that no one ever talks about. Most of these guys and gals are more than happy to share their "secrets" and struggles. The problem is that you have to work a bit to find them.
Which is why I have collected a few classics in the Amazon ads on the left.
In particular let me highly recommend "fast Tracks". It is out of print but you can get a decent library cast-off for less than $4. That's a steal. The book traces the history of the sport from ancient Greece up to the late 70's. There are hundreds of great stories in there that will make you want to get out and run and run faster.
How many of these names do you know?
Zatopek
Haag
Landy
Dodds
Scott
Ovette
Bannister
Liddle
Flynn
Walker
Cerutty
Snell
Ryun
Nurmi
Coghlin
Mills
Cram
Shorter
You should know all of them.
These are legends.
Some of these guys are still alive believe it or not. Steve Scott was featured on Flocasts this morning. Do you know who Steve Scott is? He currently holds the American record in the Mile ( 3:47.69). The Flocast dudes ask him to name his favorite race and he talks about a race where he went out too slow (65) and got out kicked. Go figure. He also talks about the race he set the American record in. He describes the exact point at the beginning of the fourth lap where he hesitated too long before taking the lead and it cost him the world record ( he missed it by .33). If you are a miler you should be watching the video of that race...
Scott's mile record was set in 1982. He also still holds the American record in the indoor mile; the 2000m; and the 1500.
However I think that his most impressive stat is that he broke 4 minutes in the mile 136 times.
Interested? Buy the book.
Read more!
Which is why I have collected a few classics in the Amazon ads on the left.
In particular let me highly recommend "fast Tracks". It is out of print but you can get a decent library cast-off for less than $4. That's a steal. The book traces the history of the sport from ancient Greece up to the late 70's. There are hundreds of great stories in there that will make you want to get out and run and run faster.
How many of these names do you know?
Zatopek
Haag
Landy
Dodds
Scott
Ovette
Bannister
Liddle
Flynn
Walker
Cerutty
Snell
Ryun
Nurmi
Coghlin
Mills
Cram
Shorter
You should know all of them.
These are legends.
Some of these guys are still alive believe it or not. Steve Scott was featured on Flocasts this morning. Do you know who Steve Scott is? He currently holds the American record in the Mile ( 3:47.69). The Flocast dudes ask him to name his favorite race and he talks about a race where he went out too slow (65) and got out kicked. Go figure. He also talks about the race he set the American record in. He describes the exact point at the beginning of the fourth lap where he hesitated too long before taking the lead and it cost him the world record ( he missed it by .33). If you are a miler you should be watching the video of that race...
Scott's mile record was set in 1982. He also still holds the American record in the indoor mile; the 2000m; and the 1500.
However I think that his most impressive stat is that he broke 4 minutes in the mile 136 times.
Interested? Buy the book.
Read more!
