w w w. p e a k r u n n i n g p e r f o r m a n c e .

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T H E N A T I O N ’ S M O S T A D V A N C E D R U N N I N G P U B L I C A T I O N

JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2006

Volume 15 / Number 1

IN THIS ISSUE . . .
Alberto Salazar ....................... p. 2 Frank Mungeam...................... p. 9
Training All Systems of Your Body Snowshoeing to Faster Running Times
Training Strategy Creative Cross Training

Matt Taylor .............................. p. 5 Scott Tinley........................... p. 12

What I Learned From 11 of America’s Competition & Relaxation: Finding the
Best Cross Country Coaches Delicate Balance
Personal Experience Reflection

Brian Bradley ...........................p. 7

Are Your Feet Leading You Towards
Injury?
Injury Prevention
 Training programs for
the most elite distance
runners in the world is
TRAINING
STRATEGY not just one of higher
volumes, but programs of
much greater complexity,
Training All Systems breadth, and scope.
of Your Body majority of the people reading this
by Alberto Salazar article probably will not have the time
to fully engage in the training of all the
A few months ago the editors of Peak Running Performance asked if I systems in the body and complete all
of the necessary workouts that I am
would be interested in writing an article or two discussing my training outlining. However, all runners can
programs and philosophies. My response was that while I could easily decide which of these components
accomplish this, one or two articles would never allow me the space and they have the time, energy, and
inclination to develop. It may be that
time to clearly explain myself and the training methods that I would within the time available for training,
address. My proposal was to instead begin with an article that outlined the reader may be able to incorporate
another 4-5 exercises or programs that
the main components of my training programs, and then follow this they can use on alternate days to get
introduction with 5 articles to further clarify each component and the better results.
workouts necessary for success in running.
LOOKING AT THE BODY AS A WHOLE
Part 1 of 6 the top Nike distance runners in the Twenty years ago, when I was
world and their coaches. Through competing, the primary emphasis was
I was fortunate to be influenced by them, I have continued to learn and on the cardiovascular system. The main
some of the great minds in the history of modify workouts and overall training concerns were to strengthen our hearts,
distance running from a very early age. regimens for my athletes. increase blood pathways, and make
In 1972, when I entered my freshman People often ask me what the our bodies more efficient at
year in high school, I began to hear biggest change is in training from my transporting oxygen to our muscles
about the University of Oregon – Bill era in the 1970s and 80s, to the training through training. Success in distance
Dellinger and Steve Prefontaine, from that takes place in the 21st Century. My running was a function of a
my older brother Ricardo, who was a answer is always that the primary continuously improving cardiovascular
freshman on the Naval Academy’s reason why the athletes are running so system. Doing sufficient amounts of
cross country and track teams. His much faster as a whole is not a result of aerobic work meant high mileage run
coach, Al Cantello, was a former world drugs, but rather because of the at a slow pace. The anaerobic work
record holder in the javelin and had advances in training knowledge. The consisted primarily of long or short
been an Olympic teammate of training programs for the most elite intervals at race pace or faster. Even
University of Oregon coach Bill Dellinger. distance runners in the world is not just tempo runs played a much smaller role
Al Cantello used to get distance one of higher volumes, but programs of than they presently do. The concern
training ideas from Bill Dellinger, and much greater complexity, breadth, and was with simulating the exact
those were passed on to me. scope. In the old days, running high cardiovascular requirements of races
The next influence on my high school miles, fast intervals, and small amounts through one’s training. The heart rate,
running career was Don Benedetti, the of weight work were considered to be lactic acid levels, and oxygen
Wayland High School coach, who was the only necessary components of a consumption had to be driven up to
successful while not overtraining his successful distance training program. match the levels that they would reach
athletes. Equally important, he allowed We now know that there are dozens of during a race. The key was to find the
me to train with Bill Squires, coach of different elements, exercises, and right amount of short and moderate
the Greater Boston Track Club, starting activities that one must incorporate if length intervals to allow one to run long
my junior year. At the time, the Greater optimal performance is to be intervals, ranging from 1200 meters to
Boston Track Club was the preeminent achieved. Training for two to three 1600 meters at a pace just faster than
distance club in the country. It included hours a day was once considered to race pace for 5000 and 10000 meters.
Bill Rodgers, who was soon to become be a maximum amount of time that Once that was accomplished, it was
the world’s dominant marathoner of could be devoted to one’s career. believed that by doing more intervals
the time. After graduating from high However, it is now known that an at that pace, or more mileage, one
school, I was coached directly by Bill athlete can clearly spend five or more would encounter great improvements.
Dellinger during my tenure at the hours per day doing all of the possible Now we know that there are many
University of Oregon. My training and necessary activities to maximize systems within the body that need
programs and philosophies are a their performance. The object of this particular workouts to optimize their
culmination of what I learned from all first article will be to briefly outline the individual performances and your
of these great coaches, as well as the different systems of the body, and the overall running performance. Similar to
knowledge I have gained in my different training programs and an Indy racecar, there are several
capacity as a Nike employee. Since activities necessary to fully develop the systems in the body that need to be
1992, I have had direct access to all of body as a whole. Obviously, the evaluated, monitored, and trained in

Peak Running Performance • VOL. 15 / NO. 1

2

Similar to an Indy racecar,
there are several systems
in the body that need to
be evaluated, monitored,
and trained.
order to have optimum performance
on race day. An Indy racecar’s
mechanics might be concentrating on
the fuel system, the engine’s
horsepower, aerodynamics, chassis,
suspension, tire pressures, heat
regulation, hydrolics, and a myriad of
other systems in the racecar. Like the
systems of a racecar, all systems of the
body must be honed to their optimum
level and compatibility. Having too
much power without adequate
flexibility can lead to injuries.
1. Musculoskeletal System: Often I
have heard and used the analogy
that the cardiovascular system can
be likened to the engine of a
racecar, while the musculoskeletal
system is similar to the chassis,
suspension, and wheels of the car.
As I detailed earlier, we at one time
were mainly concerned with the
“engine” and paid little attention to
the car “body.” Rather than
constantly trying to improve the
cardiovascular system to handle
higher workloads, why not also try to
improve the musculoskeletal system
so that a given workload, such as
race pace intervals, will cost less
energy because the
musculoskeletal system is strong?
Using the car analogy as an
example, this can be done by
improving the suspension, drive-train,
and wheels, as well as ensuring that
they are properly maintained and
aligned so that the car will be more
efficient at a given speed. Specific
types of musculoskeletal training
can include weight training, flexibility
enhancement, plyometrics, core
strengthening exercises, agility drills,
and power drills. Distance runners,
contrary to athletes in other sports,
often train only by running straight
ahead. This can lead to great
increases in strength in the primary
movers for straight ahead motion,
but can subsequently cause an
imbalance due to the weakness of
muscles used in lateral movement.
The result is often tightness and
injury. It is necessary to keep the
entire body flexible, supple,
muscularly balanced, coordinated,
and athletic. Throw a basketball to
many distance runners and they will
embarrass themselves on
Peak Running Performance •
attempting any sudden movements
or change of direction. Becoming a
better all-around athlete by
concentrating on the above
indicators of musculoskeletal health
will make a runner much more
efficient, quick, and powerful.
2. Cardiovascular System: The
cardiovascular system is comprised
of the heart, lungs, and blood
pathways. The cardiovascular
system also is involved in the
subsequent ability of the body to
transport and utilize oxygen, as well
as process and remove lactic acid.
Specific measurements of the
system are maximum heart rate, sub
maximum heart rates, max VO2, sub
max VO2, maximum lactate levels,
and sub max lactate levels. Max
Runners often train only
by running straight ahead.
VO2 was felt to be a culmination of
years of training, in terms of the
amount of miles one has run, and
wasn’t considered to be
exceptionally changeable in the
short term. Sub max VO2, however,
was felt to be very quickly effected
by the type of interval training within
a season, because that training
could rapidly affect one’s efficiency
at different paces. Lactic acid levels
were similarly affected in the short
term through specific training
methods. If one was more efficient,
they would develop less lactic acid
at a given pace.
3. Anaerobic System: The anaerobic
system is an energy system which is
primarily focused on the use of
glycogen to fuel exercise. There are
limited glycogen reserves in the
body, so it was felt that by training
the anaerobic system as frequently
as possible, one would enhance
their ability to use less glycogen
while running. More was considered
to be better, as long as injury was
avoided. Recalling the car analogy,
the anaerobic system can be
compared to the use of high
octane gas, or nitrate laden fuel by
a racecar. There is a limited supply,
not a full tank.
4. Aerobic System: The aerobic system
is the energy system that focuses on
the use of oxygen and fatty acids,
which are both plentiful in supply.
The idea was that through the use
of long, slow mileage, one would
enable the aerobic system to
function for a long period of time,
VOL. 15 / NO. 1
delaying the use of the limited
anaerobic system. While this
technically was correct, we did not
realize that more mileage at a
slower pace did not effectively
enhance the aerobic system. Using
the car analogy once again, the
aerobic system can be likened to
diesel fuel: it is very efficient but does
not facilitate the faster speeds that
are needed for optimum
performance.
5. Lactic System: The byproduct of
anaerobic metabolism is the
production of lactic acid. Lactic
acid is very much vilified as being
the cause of race “slow downs”
and feelings of pain, discomfort,
and soreness. Whether it really
causes those symptoms is still widely
debated among knowledgeable
people involved in the sport.
Instead, lactic acid should be
looked at as a necessary byproduct
of intense training and race
performance which the body
reprocesses back into energy by
means of the Krebs cycle. Therefore,
rather than viewing lactic acid as
an enemy, one should look at it as
an ally if the body is trained properly
to utilize it. If the body is not trained
properly, lactic acid levels will rise
drastically during training, revealing
that the short supplies of glycogen
are quickly used up. Lactic acid
does not necessarily cause any
muscular damage or hurt
performance; it is simply the body’s
reaction to losing all of its glycogen
stores. Back to the car, lactic acid
would be the equivalent of
excessive smoke leaving the
exhaust of a car, indicating that fuel
was being consumed too rapidly or
inefficiently.
Rather than viewing
lactic acid as an enemy,
one should look at it as
an ally of the body.
6. Psychological System: One of the
most neglected systems of the body
is the psychological, mental, and
emotional systems of the body.
Back in the 70s and 80s, it was felt
that one’s mental toughness,
resilience, and ability to focus were
God given and could not be
enhanced. This, however, has been
proven otherwise by athletes and
coaches at the highest levels of all
sports. Psychological training can
3
 always enhance performance and
make even the most naturally tough
performers even better. We felt that
the only people who completed
psychological training were those
that did not have natural mental
gifts, and were “head-cases.” Now,
common sense tells us that even the
naturally toughest competitors can
become more relaxed and more
focused through the use of mental
and psychological training.
7. Nutrition: One of the greatest
advances over the last 20 years has
occurred in the application of a
healthy diet. In the old days, us
distance runners felt that we could
eat anything we wanted because
we would always burn it off during
training. We did not understand that
just because we weren’t gaining
weight, regardless of what we ate,
that eating better would allow us to
train harder, recover faster, and
ultimately perform at a higher level.
The main focus on nutrition had to
do with adequate carbohydrate
intake, especially prior to
competition. Protein was considered
important, as long as one took in the
amount normally advised for the
normal population. We now know
that even distance runners, not just
sprinters, need a higher protein
intake than the average person. This
is necessary to help the muscles
recover from and rebuild after
strenuous exercise. For power
athletes, the rule of thumb is 1 gram
of protein per pound of bodyweight
per day. For distance runners,
however, .75 grams of protein per
pound per day is recommended. In
today’s world of fast food and junk
food, it is not uncommon for a
distance runner to fall quite short of
the recommended daily amount of
protein. For a 160 pound distance
runner, an intake of 120 grams is
necessary (this is about the
equivalent of 3 full size chicken
breasts). In sports drinks, the
importance of having a
glucose/glycogen drink was only
starting to be realized in the 1980s. In
all of my New York and Boston
races, I drank whatever was
handed to me by the race
management or even more
unbelievably, by people in the
street! It is now accepted that at the
elite level, a proper sports drink of
about 6% glucose with a smaller
amount of protein included can
give a runner approximately a 2
minute boost at the marathon
distance. Equally important is the
post-workout drink. Again, a 6%
glucose solution with protein and
other essential amino acids and
4
In all of my New York and
Boston races, I drank
whatever was handed to
me by the race management
or even more unbelievably,
by people in the street!
electrolytes can hasten recovery
significantly if taken within a half
hour of a completed workout. This
has been proven by numerous
studies and even more significantly,
through the results that top athletes
get with this protocol. It has been
said that you are only as good as
the food you put into your body.
Using our car analogy, fueling
yourself properly can be likened to
using the correct grade of gasoline
in your car. Your car may run on
several different types of gas, but it
will only run optimally on one
specific grade.
8. Hormonal System: There are
numerous hormones within the
body. The stress hormones, such as
cortisol, are most affected by
exercise. However, all these
hormones are so interrelated that
fluctuations in one can cause many
changes down the line. It has been
learned that the actual
physiological reason for “burnout” is
due to the adrenal glands losing
their ability to react to stress any
longer. After a long season of
training and racing, the adrenal
glands have reacted so often to the
fight or flight syndrome that they
become fatigued and are no
longer able to provide “the lift”
necessary for competition. After an
adequate rest, the adrenal glands
recover and are once again able to
produce the adrenal hormones
necessary for top level training and
competition. It is therefore necessary
to give your body the downtime it
needs at least twice per year to
allow the hormonal system to get
back to normal. Even though one
may feel healthy, uninjured, and
ready to train hard, it is necessary to
have at least a month per year of
very little or no exercise where the
heart rate is low and the production
of adrenal hormones is limited. In
addition, although adrenal
hormones allow one to train and
compete at a higher level, cortisol in
particular is catabolic. If it is at a
raised level too often, the destruction
of muscle tissue is accelerated.
Peak Running Performance •
9. Blood Chemistry: It is generally
accepted that even the average
person should have a general blood
chemistry workup done every year
as part of a physical checkup. So a
distance runner pushing to the limit
should have blood work done 2-3
times per year. Often, problems can
be directly related to deficiencies
only identified through a blood test.
This can range from hormonal
imbalances to ferratin deficiencies.
When a problem occurs in a
runner’s health, one can compare
the current blood tests to previous
tests to identify differences. If one
only gets the blood work done while
sick or injured, it is hard to determine
what the normal levels are when
healthy. I was shocked to learn that
in the last year the 2004 US Olympic
team members have not had a
single blood test in over a year. Even
among our best runners in this
country, the importance of
monitoring an athlete’s blood
chemistry is still not understood by
all.
TRAINING EACH SYSTEM
If you’re going to be serious about
distance training and racing, it is
important to realize that there are
several systems in the body which are
important in influencing results. You
have a limited amount of time, energy,
and interest that you can invest in your
running. By knowing all of the above, it
will allow you to pick which systems you
are willing to try to optimize. The more
of the systems that can be addressed
and controlled, the better your results
will be.
All of the preceding information can
give you an idea of how beautifully
complex the human body is and
subsequently how extensive,
comprehensive, and varied the training
can be in the quest to maximize
performance. My future articles will
cover these different systems of the
body more extensively and in depth to
further reveal the keys to a successful
training program. Until then, good luck
and we’ll see you on the roads.
After leading Oregon University to the 1977
NCAA Cross Country Title, Alberto went on to
become a running legend. A member of
the National Distance Running Hall of Fame,
Alberto competed in the 1980 & 1984
Olympics, won the 1982 Boston Marathon,
won 3 New York City Marathons, and went
on to set one World and 6 American
Records.
VOL. 15 / NO. 1

There is No Right Answer–
Only Guiding Principles
What I learned from 11 of the best NCAA cross country
coaches.
Part 1 of 3
It was a typical hot and humid July
afternoon in Washington, DC. Despite the
heat advisories I went for a run through
Rock Creek Park. Big mistake. Ten minutes
into the run my heart was racing and I
was sweating profusely. My skin was
literally burning from the heat and
humidity! But I trudged along running at a
much slower pace than normal - a pace
that allowed my mind to wander. When I
run hard, I don’t think well. Deciphering
what pace equals a 2:18 marathon or
how many points I accumulated in my
fantasy football league is next to
impossible when running at high-speed. A
slow pace permits my brain to work
better, especially the creative side. This is
when my crazy ideas are normally
hatched - a running magazine, a running
television network, a professional running
league - and today was no different.
Today was the day I thought about
chasing tradition.
Almost five months following that
fateful July run, I am back in Washington,
DC. My last 11 weeks have been
immersed in the culture of the nation’s
top distance running programs, and I
now possess an invaluable wealth of
running knowledge. I ran, ate, slept and
hung out with today’s elite distance
runners, picked the brains of the most
renowned coaches, and soaked up the
tradition that brought these teams to the
top - and keeps them there. For one
week at each school, I documented the
2005 collegiate cross country season; in
essence, I chased their tradition. My
journey included the following schools:
University of Portland, Adams State (DII),
Colorado, Notre Dame, Ohio State,
Wisconsin - LaCrosse (DIII), Iona,
Dartmouth, William & Mary, Georgetown,
I ran, ate, slept and hung
out with today’s elite
distance runners.
Peak Running Performance •
PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE
by Matt Taylor
and Virginia Intermont (NAIA).
The project started with a trip to
Portland. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I
assumed that I would uncover some
secret training philosophies, special
workouts and cutting-edge recovery
regimens. I imagined there would be a
“right” answer to training theory, that the
answers would be complex with multiple
variables such as a scientific formula is,
but always leading to one concrete,
undeniable solution that was universally
implemented. I was wrong. I learned
there isn’t one right answer, but there are
several guiding principles that every elite
coach seems to follow. In this article - Part
1 of 3 - I’ll lay out those principles which I
discovered to be deeply entrenched in
each of the prestigious programs I visited.
In Part 2 we’ll look at how each coach
adapts those principles to fit within their
specific training environment (athletes,
terrain, available time, goals, etc). And in
Part 3 I’ll evaluate the different
techniques and styles and combine the
knowledge of the colleges’ top coaches
into a sample training plan for high school
coaches looking to prepare their athletes
for a collegiate running career.
There are four principles
that I observed at each
of the eleven programs
I visited.
There are four principles that I observed
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES
at each of the eleven programs I visited.
The specific training regimen varied, but
the overriding principles remained
constant. First, though, let’s take a minute
to consider “training environment” and
“training time”; these are important
concepts that will reoccur throughout the
article. Training is a stress to the body.
Exercising too hard and too often will
cause your body to break down. So
VOL. 15 / NO. 1
There isn’t a “one size fits
all” training plan.
Georgetown can’t copy
what Colorado does and
Colorado can’t mimic what
Notre Dame does.
when we look at training always consider
your own training environment and your
athlete’s training time. There isn’t a “one
size fits all” training plan. Georgetown
can’t copy what Colorado does and
Colorado can’t copy what Notre Dame
does.
Why? Because they’re in different
training environments. I’m not talking
solely about geographic location or
climate. I’m talking about all the variables
that make each program unique -
altitude, training surfaces, individual ability
levels, schedule, coaching staff, goals,
etc. On top of the training environment
you also have to consider training time -
how much time the athlete can devote
to training. Remember, training is a stress,
but so is studying, writing for the school
newspaper, belonging to a fraternity,
traveling to a meet, etc. At the high
school and college level you’re dealing
with student-athletes and have to take
into account the entire day - not just the
2-4 hours that you’re with your athletes. So
the question that coaches and real world
runners face is, “How do I adapt certain
training philosophies to my own training
environment and my athlete’s training
time to optimize performance?” Consider
the four principles coached and
preached at each program: aerobic
fitness, race-pace intervals, psychological
training, and recovery.
I. Aerobic Fitness
Cross country running is ultimately about
aerobic fitness. Even the most talented
runner can’t “gut” their way through a
cross country race. Maximizing aerobic
fitness is the top priority for every coach.
Without a solid aerobic foundation an
athlete will never reach their peak. The
top programs maximize aerobic fitness by
running hard and often. It starts in the
summer and continues right up to the
National Championship. Mileage and
pace vary, but the key is to include as
much aerobic running as possible within
the allotted training time. Specifically,
there are three types of aerobic running
that I observed: Recovery Running (easy
running to help speed recovery),
Maintenance Running (a harder run, but
still short of threshold pace) and Threshold
Running (running at threshold pace). The
majority of the aerobic work was done in
the Maintenance range. How each
program incorporated these types of runs
5

The majority of interval
training during the cross
country season should be
done at or close to race
pace with short rest.
varied, but for the most part they did one
threshold run per week, one long run (at
maintenance or faster pace), several
maintenance runs of varying distance,
and a few recovery runs.
Aside from threshold runs (where the
pace was very specific), the coaches
didn’t dictate the pace for each run.
Instead, they dictated an effort. This is an
example of how good coaches adapt to
their training environment. We know
scientifically that heart rates and lactate
levels are the most specific variables we
can use to direct training effort, but no
college coach has the resources necessary
to train 15-40 athletes with that type of
equipment. The cost and logistics are
overwhelmingly prohibitive. Instead, they
use the underlying physiological principles
to guide their training - “I want you to run
easy this afternoon” or “Start out easy, but
gradually increase the pace to where
you’re running hard, but controlled; maybe
5:50 effort.”
Today’s running culture seems to have
adopted a “don’t run too hard” mentality.
But the truth is, aerobic running is the least
stressful type of running. Sure, if you’re
constantly running right at your threshold
(~85% of MaxVO2) your body will break
down. But if you focus the majority of your
aerobic running in the Maintenance range
(~70-80% of MaxVO2) you should see
gradual improvement and recover quickly.
II. Race-Pace Intervals with Short Rest
When we think of intervals we tend to
envision fast 400’s on the track. While there
is a time and place for that type of work,
the majority of interval training during the
cross country season - mile repeats,
kilometer repeats, 400 repeats - should be
done at or close to race pace with short
rest. The goal of this type of interval training
is very specific - to get as comfortable as
possible running race pace. Many times
coaches try to disguise interval training with
ladders or other varied-distance segments
in an effort to take the athlete’s mind off of
the work. That’s counterproductive. One of
the main reasons race-pace interval
training is effective is so the athlete can feel
exactly what it will feel like during a race.
Take that away and you’re missing a key
element of interval training. Coach
Wetmore of Colorado instructs his runners
to “pay attention to your sensory data”
while Coach Gibby at William & Mary
stresses his runners to feel the “sensation of
the interval.”
Aside from pace and rest, the other
6
important variable for interval training is
volume - total distance covered in the
session. Excluding the last few weeks of
the season when teams were tapering,
the volume usually equaled race
distance. So for the men a common
interval workout was 5-6 x 1 mile. For the
women it was 5-6 x 1000m. Depending on
the time of year and pace of the interval,
the rest ranged from 90 seconds to 3
minutes. Of course there were plenty of
variations - such as Colorado’s 2 x 3600m,
Virginia Intermont’s 25 x 400m with
“hammers”, and William & Mary’s race-
simulation workout. The specifics of these
variations will be covered in Part II of this
article.
There is a point in every race
when you’re faced with a
decision - do I push harder
or just try to hang on?
III. Mental Toughness
Cross Country is mentally tough. Aside
from the myriad variables not in your
control (weather, course conditions,
number of runners, etc), there is a point in
every race when you’re faced with a
decision - do I push harder or just try to
hang on? This is where races are won
and lost. This is the point where - when
two athletes of equal ability are battling
each other - the athlete who is tougher
mentally breaks their opponent. Great
coaches know this and use different
techniques to try to teach race-specific
mental toughness.
I’ve already mentioned one tactic -
same-distance intervals. Why attempt to
mask the pain that a runner will feel in a
race by disguising intervals? As a coach
you want your athletes to know exactly
what to expect when that gun goes off. If
they can focus and push through the fifth
of six mile repeats, then they’ll be able to
do the same in a race. In every sport we
practice skills specific to the game -
running should be no different.
This aspect of coaching takes some
creativity and a good understanding of
what motivates certain athletes. The
same approach won’t work for every
athlete and I noticed that each coach
implemented athlete-specific variables
into the training that were aimed at
building mental toughness. For example,
Alex Gibby (William & Mary) doesn’t tell
his athletes the workout until right before it
starts. “I want them to be mentally flexible
and prepared for whatever I could
potentially throw at them.” Although
every coach doesn’t use this same
strategy, they all give credence to the
mental aspect of running.
Peak Running Performance •
IV. Proper Recovery
Physiology tells us that adaptations to
training (i.e. improvement) occur during
recovery, not the actual workout. This
concept wasn’t lost on these coaches -
proper recovery was a focus of the training
week. Unfortunately for our athletes,
resources oftentimes dictate the degree of
recovery aids available, but let’s look at the
basics. Aside from sleep, nutrition is probably
the most important recovery aid, yet it’s
often overlooked. Replenishing your body
within 30 minutes of a hard effort is vital.
Portland and Ohio State would always take
large coolers of Gatorade when they
traveled off campus for practice, and
Colorado offered Powerbars and bottles of
Gatorade in their weight room. At
Dartmouth and Adams State, athletes
would bring their own preferred recovery
drink and energy bar. While not every
coach adhered to the same nutritional
recovery products, they each encouraged
their athletes to bring something to eat and
drink to every workout.
Icing is probably the easiest recovery aid
to provide. An ice bath or cold pool is ideal,
but bags of ice, or even ice cups, work just
fine. A more recent trend is the contrast
bath - rotating between ice and heat in an
effort to flush the muscles of waste
products. Proper nutrition and icing are
easy ways to speed recovery between
workouts.
Massage and/or active release therapy
are two other tools that coaches are
starting to implement into their program. I
was lucky to get a few massages and
some active release work at Ohio State
and William & Mary, two programs that
utilize these treatments and swear by their
effectiveness. If these therapies are outside
of your team budget athletes can
compliment their recovery routine with The
Stick, foam rollers, or dynamic rope
stretching.
There are many factors that make a
LUCKY NUMBER FOUR
cross country team successful, but they
vary depending on your training
environment and training time. I have
found, though, that the four key principles
outlined above are essential in every great
coach’s training philosophy - aerobic
fitness, race-pace intervals, mental
toughness and proper recovery. How
these principles are incorporated depends
on many factors (personality of the coach,
team goals, school location, etc.), but
these pillars provide the foundation for all
successful cross country programs.
Matt Taylor is a running entrepreneur who recently
completed an 11-week project called “Chasing
Tradition”. He has coaching experience at the
high school and college level and is USATF Level I
and II certified, but his passion is providing unique
and innovative coverage of the sport. Taylor is in
the early stages of a new venture that he hopes
to announce early in the New Year. For more
information, go to www.chasingtradition.com or
email him at matt@chasingtradition.com.
VOL. 15 / NO. 1
 When we violate the correct
design, we will eventually
INJURY pay the consequences
PREVENTION in the form of injury.

design can be achieved. The first

Running the
Straight Line
In order for you to run efficiently, your feet must point
straight ahead.
Stand up and look down at your feet.
Do your feet point outward? If so, you
are likely among the 21 Million runners
(2/3 of the running population) that will
be forced to the sideline in 2006 with
injuries.
It is astonishing (and widely unknown)
that the majority of running injuries can
be traced to the misalignment of a joint
or set of joints. Consider the fact that
running involves unyielding stress on your
joints; more specifically, a pressure 2
times heavier than your body weight is
transmitted through each leg with every
stride, a stride that is repeated 1700
times per mile. If your joints aren’t
aligned properly to accommodate this
force, injury is inevitable. The good news
is that, contrary to popular belief,
postural alignment is not fixed or
unalterable. There are active stretches
and exercises that can amend your
postural deviations and lead to more
efficient and less injury-prone running.
A LOOK IN THE MIRROR
To start, we’ll take a closer look at the
body’s normal standing position, that is,
your posture. To give you an idea of the
body’s “blueprint”, the correct posture is
with feet pointed straight, knees facing
straight, hips level, shoulders level, and
your head centered. (See Figure 1).
Next take a good look at yourself in
the mirror (for best results when
observing static posture, you should be
dressed in shorts and a t-shirt). What you
are examining is your body’s deviation
essential step is to participate in activities
that reposition your hips, knees, ankles,
and feet. This is accomplished by
utilizing corrective exercises, all focused
on the goal of peak performance. We’ll
examine postural corrective exercises
by Brian Bradley later in this article, but first let’s take a
deeper look at your body’s design and
how you move.
YOUR DESIGN
We all know that on a daily basis we
from the design constant. This is a true are required to move. However, most of
representation of the old saying, what you are accomplishing day-to-day basic
you see is what you get…function or movement with compensation patterns
dysfunction. You will likely observe a that will lead to chronic or acute pain
myriad of dysfunctional posture symptoms. This natural tendency places
symptoms which may include one postural stress and wear-and-tear on
shoulder lower than the other, a pelvis your musculoskeletal system, a system
that appears to be elevated, or your which was not designed to handle this
knees knocking together. These postural type of strain. The end result is an
deviations are all correctible. For the inefficient running pattern and future
sake of this article, we will be focusing in chronic pain symptoms.
and around the lower extremity, When a muscle or muscle group is
especially the foot
and ankle.
You probably Figure 1
noticed that your
feet are pointed
outward or that
one foot points out
more than the
other. The
blueprint design
(Figure 1) has the
hips and knees
telling the feet
where they should
be pointing. When
we violate the
correct design, we
will eventually pay
the consequences
in the form of injury.
Over the last
thirty years of
assisting
competitive
athletes in their
training, the
Egoscue Clinic

Contrary to popular
discovered that
through the
belief, postural deviations appropriate
are all correctible. exercises, the
original postural

Peak Running Performance • VOL. 15 / NO. 1 7


With incorrect
positioning, you’re not
efficient in getting from
point A to point B.
functioning properly during running and
according to the correct design, it helps
evenly distribute the shock to your joints
as the heel of your foot strikes the
ground. But if there are abnormal
patterns in your gait, the wrong muscles
are active and the shock is no longer
evenly distributed. Instead, the shock is
focused on one or two points; the
subsequent friction begins to wear the
joint away. Taking a look at the bottom
of your running shoes is an easy way to
determine if you are victim to this
posture and gait imbalance. If your gait
and posture is normal, you’ll notice a
wear pattern across the heel that is
centrally located across your shoe
bottom. However, if you notice a wear
pattern on the outside edges of both or
one shoe, you can assume that your
gait and posture is abnormal and is
leading you down an inefficient (and
potentially painful) running path.
HOW YOU MOVE
Let’s begin by going over some key
events in normal walking that may help
you understand how and why correct
posture affects your running efficiency.
Ideally, for the human body to walk/run
efficiently with proper foot mechanics,
you must move through the different
phases of the gait pattern by
incorporating correct hip, knee and
ankle movements. Walking and running
use a repetitious sequence of leg
motion to move our bodies forward
while maintaining stability. As our
bodies move forward, one leg serves as
the support mechanism in contact with
the ground as the other leg swings to
the next support point. At this stage the
legs reverse their roles. This movement
should be repetitious and smooth
allowing for an upright torso throughout
your entire workout.
In normal walking, there are five
phases that your foot and ankle go
through when you begin to strike the
ground. Each phase has distinct
markers needed to achieve correct
foot and leg movements. The moment
that the foot strikes the ground is called
initial contact. The critical event in this
phase is the center point of the heel
contacting the ground. If there is a
deviation in how the heel is contacting
the ground, the ground force reaction is
compromised. This force is better
8
known as the “pounding” that occurs
with walking and running. So,
essentially, if contact occurs deviated
from the straight-ahead position, this
force becomes a negative stressor, firing
compensated musculature throughout
the leg from the foot to the hip. This will
eventually lead to chronic or acute
pain symptoms, beginning a domino
effect of inefficient running.
The next event is the loading
response. This is the movement prior to
your weight being placed on one leg.
The critical event in this phase addresses
the ankle and foot and the progression
of the body over the heel. This is
accomplished by what is called the
“heel rocker.” In this movement, the
ankle and foot make accommodations
to allow for a normal load bearing. To
accomplish this, the position of the
lower leg bones must be aligned with
the foot to allow for the correct muscles
to fire and control the movement. This
occurs over the central portion of the
heel bone as the weight transfers from
the rear to the front of the heel,
readying the body for the next phase.
The next phase is the mid-stance. In
this phase work that was mainly
centered on the knee and hip is
transferred to the foot and ankle
Your body is a
remarkable machine.
directly. The critical event is the ankle
rocker allowing for progression from the
rear of the foot to the ball. As the foot is
planted on the ground, this progression
initiates hip extension. With a
compromised foot position, one that is
turned outward (over pronated) or
inward (over supinated), the normal
progression over the heel rocker is
negated and the result is eventual pain
or soft tissue breakdown.
Hip extension (the leg traveling
behind the torso in walking and running)
is an integral part of the terminal stance.
The forefoot rocker (the body rocking
over the ball of the foot) allows the
body weight to move forward. The foot
then begins the heel rise in anticipation
to push off the toe. Prior to the “toe
off,” the body readies itself, called the
pre-swing phase, by using the knee and
hip musculature to unlock the knee
joint.
As iterated, the mechanics of
walking/running are complex. With a
correct foot position, this mechanism is
smooth and efficient. On the opposite
end, incorrect and compromised
Peak Running Performance •
positioning can have severe
consequences. With incorrect and
compromised positioning, you’re not
efficient in getting from point A to point
B, not to mention setting yourself up for
injury.
TAKE ACTION:
OK! Now that we better understand
the importance of correct foot
mechanics, it is time to do something
about it. Begin by manually typing or
copy/pasting the link provided below,
and then follow the four exercises (keep
in mind the tips listed). The exercises are
focused on re-aligning the entire lower
leg with the upper leg and hip. Once
you complete these exercises, you will
notice that your pain has lessened and
that your balance improves while
standing and moving. Also, take
another look in the mirror and notice
that your shoulders, hips, knees and feet
are better positioned. Your feet are
straighter, your shoulders are more level
and you feel more comfortable
standing. Finally, take this newly
positioned machine into action. It is
time to walk or run that straight line...it is
time to move. Remember, your body is
a remarkable machine.
DO’S AND DON’TS
• Do remember the four socket
position; shoulders, hips, knees, and
ankles in line; feet pointed straight
ahead. Figure 1 - the body’s
blueprint.
• Don’t forget to breathe with your
diaphragm when doing these
exercises. You should feel as if you
are breathing with your stomach
coming up and down.
• Do remove your shoes for all exercises
except for the Airbench (to prevent
slipping).
• Do the exercises in the sequence
provided.
THE CORRECTIVE EXERCISES
(Type in the link below)
http://www.egoscue.com/htdocs/
pperformance/
Brian Bradley is the Vice President of Therapy
Protocol at the Egoscue Method world
headquarters in San Diego, CA. Having treated
the finest professional athletes such as Jack
Nickalus, Junior Seau (Miami Dolphins), and Abde
Bile (Olympic Runner), the Egoscue Clinic is world
renowned as “The Leader In Non-Medical Pain
Relief”. Brian basically sits in his office all day
waiting for you to contact him with postural training
questions or concerns at the email address and
phone number listed below.
Phone: 800-995-8434
Email: Bbradley@egoscue.com
www.egoscue.co
VOL. 15 / NO. 1

Snowshoeing to
Faster Run Times:
How Making Tracks Increases Your Running Performance
Dave Dunham was in the lead in
his very first snowshoe race. Then his
snowshoe fell off. He put it back on,
charged back into the lead, and lost
a shoe again.
He’d won the snowshoes as a prize
in a race and admits: “I didn’t realize
how tightly you had to strap the
shoes on.”
Dunham, the 2000 USATF Mountain
Runner of the Year, finished second
by a couple of seconds. No matter: “I
was hooked,” says the Bradford,
Massachusetts runner, who went on
to strap his shoes tighter and win the
inaugural 2001 U.S. Snowshoe
Association National Championships.
He’s been cross-training in winter by
snowshoe racing ever since.
For many runners, winter is the
cruelest season of the year.
Cold, wet, short days result in
hazardous conditions;
oftentimes we encounter
a loss of enthusiasm and,
subsequently, fitness levels.
This winter, don’t despair – make
tracks. Research has increasingly
affirmed that cross-training on
snowshoes can help runners increase
performance in Spring. First, the
physiological benefits are impressive
Research affirmed that
cross-training on
snowshoes can help
runners increase
performance in Spring.
Peak Running Performance • VOL. 15 / NO. 1
CREATIVE
CROSS
TRAINING
by Frank Mungeam
– snowshoeing maintains and
enhances aerobic capacity,
strength, balance, VO2 MAX and
lactate threshold. The psychological
benefits may be just as important.
Snowshoeing offers a mental break
from repetitive road running and a
winter escape that’s just plain fun.
“If you can walk, you can
snowshoe. There’s really no learning
curve,” says Mark Elmore, president
of the U.S. Snowshoe Association, an
organization whose ranks have
swelled in the past half-
dozen years as more
runners discover the
sport.
Innovations
in snowshoe design
have also fueled the boom.
Those bulky old wooden snowshoes
have now become wall ornaments
as today’s snowshoes are sleek,
lightweight and nimble. Made of
aluminum and titanium, the modern
snowshoe weighs as little as one
pound and can be as compact as
22 inches in length. Traction cleats
and flexible toe plates enable runners
to retain their natural gait in snow.
TRAINING BENEFITS
Olympic Marathon champion Frank
Shorter was one of the first runners to
Olympic Marathon
champion Frank Shorter
was one of the first
runners to embrace
snowshoe running.
embrace snowshoe running. Today,
countless elite athletes turn to
snowshoeing for off-season cross-
training.
Research has confirmed what
these athletes have discovered
through experience. For example, at
the University of Vermont, researchers
followed two groups during six weeks
of training. One group only ran, while
the other group trained by
snowshoeing. After six weeks, VO2 MAX
scores for those who ran improved by
7% while VO2 MAX for snowshoers
improved by 13%. Those who trained
by snowshoeing also improved their
time-to-exhaustion performance by
50% more than the running
participants.
These tests were completed on fit
subjects (average VO2 MAX of
50ml/kg/min), not elite runners,
but the results demonstrate
clinical evidence of what
many top athletes already
know - snowshoeing is an
intense cardiovascular
workout.
“You don’t need to worry about
getting a killer workout,” says Nikki
Kimball, two-time Ultra Runner of the
Year and reigning U.S. Snowshoe
Association Champion. “You just
have to find a way to keep your
heart rate under 200 beats per
minute!”
Cross-training on snowshoes also
increases strength. The sinking effect
of running on soft snow requires more
power from the legs for each stride
than running on roads or trails.
Runners often compare snowshoeing
to running in soft sand.
“Snowshoeing helps a runner
develop great running-specific lower
extremity strength,” says Kimball. A
physical therapist in Livingston,
Montana, Kimball is a true believer in
9

“You don’t need to worry
about getting a killer
workout, you just have
to find a way to keep
your heart rate under
200 beats per minute!”
the clinical benefits of snowshoeing.
“I like to see my running patients
increase their strength and take
periodic breaks from the pounding of
straight-plane running,” says Kimball.
“I strongly believe that taking at least
one month off from running each
year has helped my race results,”
says Kimball, adding: “I really don’t
like not running. Snowshoeing keeps
me sane during my yearly hiatus.”
Cross-training on snowshoes can
also improve balance and control,
valuable benefits for trail runners.
Danelle Ballangee, 2004 Adventure
Racer of the Year and four-time
member of the U.S. World Mountain
Running Team, runs on trails from
spring through fall. Come winter, she
looks forward to snowshoeing.
“Snowshoeing is like running on a
balance bar. It helps develop some
of the smaller muscles in the legs
around the ankles,” says Ballangee.
“After snowshoeing in winter, I feel
really confident running on trails in
the spring.”
For the Dillon, Colorado adventure
racer, snowshoeing is more than just
an off-season maintenance program.
“I feel like I have gains in both
strength and also cardiovascular
fitness,” says Ballangee. “Come
spring I feel stronger.”
Research studies validate that
snowshoeing at speeds less than half
of normal running pace will
accomplish the same results in
expended energy; and this is without
the customary pounding of road
running. For example, a University of
Wisconsin - Lacrosse study found that
men snowshoeing in powder on flat
terrain at 3.3 miles per hour burned
985 calories per hour. By comparison,
running on similar terrain at 7.5 miles
per hour burned 890 calories. The
10
final benefit to runners cannot be
measured in any lab, but runners who
snowshoe universally agree –
cavorting in powder with floppy
shoes is just plain fun! “Snowshoeing
opens up a whole new world of
winter,” says Kimball. “The hours just
fly by for me out there.”
GEARING UP
Getting geared up for snowshoeing
is refreshingly simple. All you need is
snowshoes. Teri Smith of Wilsonville,
Oregon has introduced more than a
thousand outdoor enthusiasts to
snowshoeing. As the director of the
Atlas Snowshoe “Experience Winter”
Women’s Clinic, Smith suggests
looking at four features when
choosing snowshoes: floatation,
articulation, comfort, and traction.
“The greater the surface area of the
snowshoe, the more floatation you
get,” explains Smith. Conversely,
smaller snowshoes will be lighter and
more nimble – but you’ll sink deeper.
Cavorting in powder
with floppy shoes is
just plain fun!
The snowshoe bindings should
articulate naturally - “the way your
ankle would rotate without
snowshoes,” says Smith - and the
bindings should attach your shoes
comfortably to the frame. For
traction, “there should be a toe
crampon or cleat under the ball of
the foot, used for climbing,” explains
Smith. “Also look for traction under
the heel, which gives you
descending control.”
The best way to find the shoe that
works for you is to rent first. Most
outdoor stores rent snowshoes for
about $15 and some running stores
offer rentals of running-specific
snowshoes. Each of the top
snowshoe manufacturers has
designed a snowshoe for runners. The
Atlas “Dual -Trac Super Lite” weighs
less than a pound without
compromising traction or range of
Peak Running Performance •
motion. The “Catalyst” by Tubbs
features an asymmetric design that
insures you won’t overlap snowshoes.
Redfeather’s “Race” features a
turned up, tapered tail. A quality
running snowshoe costs about $250
and most snowshoe companies offer
lifetime warranties.
SNOWSHOEING TECHNIQUE
The technique for walking and
running in snowshoes on flat terrain is
the same as for trail running. “Just put
them on and go,” promises Teri Smith.
Control on uphill and downhill inclines
is achieved by shifting weight over
the corresponding cleats underneath
the snowshoe. “For uphill running, shift
your weight more forward, digging in
with the crampons under the ball of
the foot,” says Smith. “Drive your arms
and use shorter steps, similar to
running uphill on a trail.” Going
downhill can be thrilling. To stay
upright, Smith suggests keeping your
weight back over the heel cleat,
while keeping arms up and out for
better balance.
WALK BEFORE YOU RUN
When you take your first snowshoe
hike, start slowly. Ray Browning,
author of Serious Training for
Endurance Athletes recommends
four strategies to ease the transition
from running to snowshoeing:
1. Use a heart rate monitor. It will
help you manage the intensity of
your workouts.
VOL. 15 / NO. 1
2. Start slow. In the beginning, keep
your intensity low while you get
acclimated to the sport. Your
heart rate should be between 55%
and 70% of your maximum.
3. Use time instead of distance to
measure your workout. Snow
conditions and terrain will dictate
how long it takes to complete a
distance. What counts is the
amount of time your body is
aerobically exercising.
4. Add intensity by increasing either
your speed or the difficulty of the
terrain. Hills and deep powder are
both great for intensity training. Be
sure to warm up and cool down
for at least fifteen minutes if you’re
participating in intensity training.
Be prepared to be surprised by the
demands of snowshoeing. It may
take several trips to the mountain to
fully acclimate.
Nothing builds strength
and tests stamina like
snowshoeing through
deep powder.
SNOWSHOE TRAINING
A great introductory snowshoe
workout (a personal favorite) is
called: “You’ve Got to Walk Before
You Run.” Pick a snowy trail with
rolling terrain. Jog the flat stretches,
walk up the hills, and run down the
hills. This approach keeps the heart
rate consistent and moderate while
allowing you to experience the
varied tempos and techniques of
snowshoeing. Once you’re
comfortable with the sport, snowshoe
workouts can be designed to mimic
the core elements of a standard
running training program. Danelle
Ballangee has won more than 100
snowshoe races in her career. Here
are four workouts used by the ten-
time Beaver Creek National
Snowshoe Champion that have
Peak Running Performance •
enabled her to maintain and even
improve her running fitness during the Snowshoe races are
winter months.
the ultimate test
1. Aerobic Base and Strength of winter fitness.
Training: “I do a lot of long hikes
on snowshoes,” says Ballangee,
sure you don’t tromp on the ski
“anywhere from two to five
tracks. To locate nearby trails, you
hours.” She keeps the intensity
can log on to www.tubbs-
down, mimicking a long slow
trailnet.com or the American Hiking
distance run without the
Society at
pounding. “I build a lot of
http://www.americanhiking.org.
endurance and also strength
Snowshoe clubs are another way to
because you have to walk
find about local trails and also
through snow.”
snowshoe races. The U.S. Snowshoe
Association offers links to regional
2. Hill Repeats: “I’ve got this hill by
clubs and races at
my house and I snowshoe up
www.snowshoeracing.com.
pretty hard,” says Ballangee. “It
Snowshoe races are the ultimate
takes about four minutes to the
test of winter fitness. Races typically
top, and I’ll do repeats on that.”
range in distance from 5K to 10K.
To come back down, she uses a
Elevation, snow depth and terrain
sled. “I squeal all the way down –
combine to determine race pace.
that’s my reward,” she says,
These conditions usually add 50% to a
laughing.
runner’s pace, so a 6:00-per-mile 10K
Hill repeats are a training staple
runner might average closer to 9:00-
for top snowshoe racers. The
per-mile in a 10K snowshoe race. This
workout can also be inverted,
year, 21 regional races in January
starting with an easy uphill hike
and February will serve as qualifiers
then sprinting downhill to work on
leg speed and turnover.
leading up to the 6th annual U.S.
Snowshoe National Championships
held March 24th-26th at Bolton Valley
3. Intervals on Flats: Finding suitable
terrain for interval training is more
Resort in Vermont. The sport’s future
challenging on snowshoes
looks golden.
“It is the U.S. Snowshoe
because most trails are in the
Association’s ultimate goal that there
mountains. Improvising and
will be snowshoe athletes marching in
creativity might be a necessity to
an Olympic Opening Ceremony one
create the desired workout.
day,” says USSSA president Mark
Ballangee uses a frozen lake to do
Elmore. Efforts are underway to
her “fartlek” style intervals.
introduce snowshoe racing as a
demonstration sport at the 2010
4. Strength: Nothing builds strength
Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
and tests stamina like
This winter, take a break from
snowshoeing through deep
repetitive road running and head to
powder. “It’s hard - it takes forever
the mountains to make your own
to get anywhere, punching
tracks.
through just one step at a time,”
says Ballangee. “But I think it
makes you mentally tough. Plus
you can go anywhere. In winter I Frank Mungeam is a five-time member of
the Atlas National Snowshoe Racing
make trails all over the woods!” Team, a 2003 All American in snowshoe
Snowshoe strength style racing, and placed 16th at the 2005 U.S.
conditioning will prepare you for Snowshoe Championships. A lifelong
your spring endurance runs. runner, Frank competed in cross country
and track at Harvard and has completed
seven marathons, including a top-25 finish
MAKE YOUR OWN TRACKS in the Portland Marathon. Frank writes
Hiking and cross country ski trails about fitness, travel and the outdoors
make ideal snowshoe routes. Just be from Lake Oswego, Oregon.
VOL. 15 / NO. 1 11

The Lazy Boy
Archipelago
“Today’s bare landscape is always the arena where I
contend with myself. I say my prayers and go into combat.”
– George Sheehan, 1987
I believe in the twin philosophies of
the arm wrestle and the armchair;
that the most insightful and
enlightening thoughts might come to
you at mile twenty of a marathon or
on a Sunday afternoon, while
plopped down in an over-stuffed
Lazy Boy with the New York Times in
one hand and a cold Budweiser in
the other.
It wasn’t always this way. When I
was young and full of the stuff that
seems in short supply these days, I
was more of a process-only thinker,
learning on the go. I’d think, “How
fast can I process this little lesson on
life before my workout is over and I
have to go back to work?” If I was
nearly splattered by a beer truck
while running a red light on a bike I’d
think, okay, don’t drink beer before
riding. If I gave a homeless man with
a cardboard sign a ten dollar bill
because it’s all I had in my pocket,
then hit the wall and had no money
to buy a coke or call for a ride home,
I’d think, next time, ask for change.
If I was Captain Ahab, training was
my Moby Dick. And making sense of
the world had to be done while
making dinner or making tracks.
But after a few years of that fly-by-
night pedagogy, I got stuck on some
12
REFLECTION
By Scott Tinley
transcendental plateau. I knew just
enough to be dangerous, which is to
say that on the big scale of real
knowledge, I carried no weight at all.
I believe in the twin
philosophies of the arm
wrestle and the armchair.
Who ever knows? Humans, and
young athletes in particular, just can’t
see six months down the road. We
keep our feet on the gas all through
our teens and twenties, but after the
big Three-0 and an injury-induced
wake-up call, an inventory check
shows that we’ve picked up some
baggage along the way. Then what?
We’ve got tendonitis in the knee, a
family that hates us because we’re
always training, our job is in jeopardy,
and our pants hang on us like a
skeleton. But, damn, we’re hitting PRs
every time out and can see the veins
in our stomach. Just a few days rest
and we’ll be solid until we hit the
Master’s circuit.
Yep, victimized by your own
obsession disguised as courage.
In our minds, this is all good. More is
better and what not, why not. Never
Peak Running Performance •
if not. Addiction? So what, we
convince ourselves. If we have to be
a slave to something, well, it might as
well be a master that can offer some
tangible benefits. It’s really not that
hard to reach a point where we
believe that we don’t have to slow
down to learn what counts. Drive-thru
restaurants, church services on tape
or CD, email to avoid those pesky
time bandits who only want to know
how we’re doing—hey, lay your
patience at the alter, rest when
you’re dead.
If you think about it, in an
unordered universe where most
people have a hard time cultivating
rest, passion or anything real and
raw, plowing straight ahead is a way
to keep from choking in the seaweed
of details. Like growing up.
* * *
I don’t know what it was that finally
sat my ass in a chair. I suppose that I
slowed down long enough to come
up for air and found that I couldn’t
quite break through the surface. A
kind of battle began inside me—one
leg scratching the side of the chair,
itchy and frenetic, the other lying
there lifeless, barely attached to my
hips. Up top it was even worse. I
could hear them arguing in my sleep.
Brain: Man, you gotta’ get out of
that chair and DO something. What if
a photographer from Runner’s World
happens to peer in the windows? You
won’t be able to show up at the
Thursday track work ever again!
Heart: Don’t listen to that blowhard.
You need the rest, you need to think,
to learn and grow – and read
something other than Track and Field
News and the SI swimsuit issue.
Humans, and young
athletes in particular,
just can’t see six
months down the road.
VOL. 15 / NO. 1
You’ve been running away, little
brother. Now, relax and let the world
catch up.
These two would not shut up. It was
caffeine or incense. Mozart or MTV. A
sweet-smelling evergreen in the den
for Christmas or a ten foot chrome
and glass special with a disco light
where the angel is supposed to go.
This was not a battle to be fought
within the human body. This was a
form of psycho-Darwinism—kill or be
killed. Depending upon the day, one
had its hand placed gently on my
forehead while the other was
squeezing my testicles. Something
had to give.
I realized that my peak
as an athlete had come
and gone.
I finally gave in to the Lazy Boy on
a trial basis after I’d broken my neck
in a mountain bike crash. It was a
type of forced introspection. Like
some yuppie having to pick up trash
on the side of a freeway after his
third DUI. Something else happened
as well. I realized that my peak as an
athlete had come and gone. In fact,
it had gone, like, five years before.
Whatever, it’s never too late for
revelations in life, including that you
just ain’t that fast any more and your
future mentions age groups and fun
runs.
That being the case, I thought
about what I was, what I did. You
know, like the way we judge people
by what they do, not who they are.
When you meet someone at a party
they don’t ask what makes you
happy or if you’ve read Nabokov or
did you go to Woodstock. They ask
you what you do so they can affix a
label and pour you into the
occupational mold. If I was sitting in a
chair and not out training to be a
Peak Running Performance •
Koran and then took a break in
Addiction? So what, Europe. All this cerebral training and
we convince ourselves. trying to bring the divisions of my
attention into focus was hard work. I
needed something easy, like a ninety
professional athlete, then I wasn’t
mile bike ride.
doing anything. And if we are what
In truth, I was looking for a role
we do and we’re not doing it…than
model, somebody athletic who had
what are we?
gone down this path before. Turns
It’s the tyranny of the chase, the
out there were more than I could
promise of its glow. It is like the
count. Being a closet patriot and like
mirage on the hot desert highway—
most runners worth their smelly socks,
an ever-moving body of water just
I loved the American, George
over the horizon. You know it’s not a
Sheehan. I’d gotten to hang with him
cool lake but that doesn’t stop you
at his peak once, drink a few beers
from driving on into the night until it
and run a funky 10k somewhere in
finally just goes away.
Colorado. Sheehan was one of those
Still, the busted bones and aging
individuals whose enlightenment
legs weren’t quite enough. I think it
curve steepened as he got older,
was when I applied solid training
reaching a ridiculously impossible
theory to my armchair-chill that
angle near his death that he so
things began to make some sense.
calmly chronicled in his writings. But
Hard day, easy day, right? You wear
George, as simple as his messages on
your body down and then lie around
running and life were, was a tough
or go easy (that oxymoronic term—
read. He had this thing about
active rest) and it adapts to a higher
constantly referring to his own
level. Then you start the whole thing
influences; heavy hitters with
over again. Days, weeks, months,
impossible names and long, mind-
years…it doesn’t matter. All the
numbing quotes attached. In a one-
exercise physiologists and people on
page essay from the late eighties,
the infomercials say it’s true, so how
Sheehan either quoted or
could it not be? I think I heard Oprah
referenced, God, Robert Frost, Eric
talk about tapering once. That’s like
Gill, A.E. Houseman, Jose Ortega y
reading it in the Old Testament.
Gasset, Soren Kierkegaard, Norse
And so, on my easy days, after my
legend and someone he called,
neck healed and I realized I wouldn’t
“one critic.” But somehow George
win the Ironman again, I did two
would tie all these cats into the act of
things. I got a good running dog and
running. I’d just follow the ribbons,
I started to read. I started right in with
desperately trying to straddle the
Genesis, skipped all that Moses stuff,
narrow chasm between heroics and
played around with Psalms, loved
naiveté.
Proverbs, went Eastern for awhile,
dabbled in the Upanishads, the Tao,
Sid-something, and since I had been
If we are what we do and
we’re not doing it…
a competitive bastard, Sun Tzu’s “The
Art of War.” Between chapters, I’d
take the dog for short runs and walks. than what are we?
Interval stuff. Study breaks. He was
fast. I could keep up with him for
When Sheehan would speak of the
awhile.
German philosopher, Schopenhauer,
I kept traveling east in my chair,
and his long afternoon walks along
was surprised by what I found in the
VOL. 15 / NO. 1 13
the banks of the Main near his home
in Frankfurt, his beloved poodle in
tow, I’d either have to go find the
man’s work in the university library or
skip it and take my own dog out for a
crisp six-miler in the local canyon. I
had to remind myself of the concept
of balance, of that hard/easy
doctrine.
But Old Schop had some cool
ideas on The Will and how it is
fundamental to other actions (like
reason and sensation) that would
follow. I could certainly be willful in
my harder events, sensing the
rewards of pushing through the pain.
But the reason for it all? That might
take a few days in the chair to
conclude anything worthy of
mention. Money and chicks didn’t
seem to hold enough Will.
Meanwhile, my dog was standing
at the door. Poised.
On occasion, my friends would
come by and see me surrounded
with books, notepads, Power Bar
wrappers and dog bones, unshaven
and with a far away, stoned look.
You’ve lost it, Tinley, they’d say,
shaking their heads and purposely
leaving the door open when they left
so that I’d have to eventually get up
to close it. They were still finding their
purpose at the Church of the Sunday
Morning Run.
If I was jealous, I tried not to show it.
“I’m mid-way through a 12 step
program,” I’d scream after them.
“Why are you tempting me so?”
Of course, we all know how lots of
answers can appear while we plod
or pace our way through a workout.
Blood flow to the brain, we’d call it,
the neuronal pathways cleared of
debris, endorphin enlightenment. I
won’t discount that. I was just trying
to get answers to more than what’s
for lunch or when to roll out the new
product line.
Sheehan had become a
wonderful conduit to other great-
14
thinking people with an athletic twist
to their doctrines. But trying to follow
the thread was like a Hash House
Harrier run—you had to go from one
clue to the next. Skipping a check
point would put you at great risk of
getting completely lost and having to
suffer the ignominy of asking
directions from a local jogger. I
decided that in my quest to figure it
out, whatever that was, I couldn’t
follow someone else’s path.
Schopenhauer had done his best
work before he turned twenty six. I
was nearing forty and had never
liked poodles.
In any case, Freud (another dead
white guy I thought was misguided at
first), had called Schopenhauer one
of the six greatest men who’d ever
lived. That’s it, I thought, sitting in my
Lazy Boy after a five thousand yard
swim session, now I’ll have to see if
any of the other five had anything to
say about sport. That’s when
Nietzsche and I got into it.
As athletes, by definition
we are physical, active
and engaged in all the
elemental forces inherent
to movement and play.
Here was another German who’d
died in 1900, almost exactly 100 years
before my inner journey was at its
peak during the celebrated
millennium. His most famous and
prophetic work revolves around the
idea of the Ubermensch, The
Superman. The connection to
(formerly-considered) insane athletic
contests such the Ironman was
palpable. The increase in ultra-
distance competition and
corresponding barrier-breaking
performances were the twenty-first
century embodiment of Nietzsche’s
philosophy. If I followed Nietzsche’s
Peak Running Performance •
teachings, I would be able to justify in
arrears many years of nihilistic
thinking and narcissistic training. He
could’ve been my Pontius Pilate of
missed birthdays and forgotten
anniversaries.
But I couldn’t follow his irrationality,
even as he hammered home the
concept of man as individual, the
loneliness of the long distant runner
and all that. The pessimism was too
thick. I’d stick with AA for over-
trainers.
* * *
Most of the world’s great religions,
ethnic groups and cultures have their
own tales, myths and storied legends
of heroic figures retreating into the
wilds and into their deeper selves:
Buddhism’s Gautama under the Bo
Tree, Christianity’s Jesus’ withdrawal
into the Judean desert to fast and
resist Satan’s temptations, Judaism’s
Moses atop Mt. Sinai for forty days
and nights, Mohammed retreating to
the cave to feel the presence of
Allah, Greek mythology’s story of
Endymion, a son of Zeus, who never
awoke from his long sleep on Mount
Latmus after a kiss by Selene granted
his wish to avoid growing old, and
the Australian Aboriginal tale of how
the Pleiades, the Seven Sister stars,
came to be through acts of virtue
and sacrifice.
Each tale, regardless of its
perceived level of truth, has borne
significant lesson and impact toward
its culture’s ideologies. And for
centuries, those peoples have looked
to these figures and their actions as
model and impetus for their own
retreat from the daily regiment of
living. While often remembered for
what they did, their truer and
immutable identity must be found
and remembered for more than that.
For whom they were.
As athletes, by definition we are
physical, active and engaged in all
the elemental forces inherent to
VOL. 15 / NO. 1
 correlation to what we think about making any progress? Because I’m
Speed and effort appear while we run. getting a little bored sitting here
to have no correlation I am convinced though, that we all waiting,” I noticed his legs were quiet

to what we think need serious and prolonged breaks in but ready, trim but relaxed. He was

about while we run.

movement and play. There is much
to be learned in that kinetic force,
that simple act of placing one foot in
front of each other for reasons that
vary with each step and each
athlete. We can solve the world’s
problems on an after-dinner walk
around the block or fall into
bottomless confusion while watching
a wondrous sunset.
The phenomenologists, Brentano
and Husserl spoke of finding meaning
through experience. And every
experience must be taken in context,
flat on your back or flat out flying.
What does it mean to us, the
participant, must remain our constant
self-test.
I’ve been on snappy trail runs with
doctors who would offer emergency
surgery consults by cell phone
without dipping below a six-minute
mile pace. And I’ve sauntered gently
down familiar avenues with brilliant
college professors who’d get lost in
conversation on their own block.
Speed and effort appear to have no
our routine, regardless of its nature or
intensity. A break from the nine to five
cube-farm, a break from eighty-mile
running weeks, a break from isolation
and a break from mankind. Hard
day, easy day.
Habit can kill the spirit inside us all
and reduce us to the banality of
mere existence. We need to hunt the
tiger but we need to celebrate our
return to the cave as well. My dog
taught me this.
Habit can kill the
spirit inside us all.
There was a brief period when I
lived on the cusp, on the edge of
many things. Thoroughly confused in
my big, fluffy chair, one day I noticed
that my one leg wasn’t twitching any
more. And the lifeless one had
somehow reattached itself to the rest
of me. They were symmetrical, not
bent and skewed or propped up.
And when I looked at my faithful
dog sitting next to the chair, his eyes
searching mine as if to ask, “Are you
breathing patience but at some
point, I imagined, he’d find some
young thing who could give him the
balance that he needed.
Okay, Boy, I said after we looked
right into the core of each other, right
down to what Nietzsche called, “that
granite stratum of spiritual fate.” Let’s
go for a run.
And when we returned several
hours’ later, cold, tired and hungry, I
put the books on a shelf. It was low
and accessible. My dog went for
food and water and then found a
nice spot near the window to look
out on the world. He seemed as if he
was reading the passing clouds and
the wind moving the birds like string-
less kites. He seemed at peace,
balanced.
My dog looked happy. He was a
great teacher.
Scott Tinley teaches Sport in Society at
San Diego State University and Cal State
San Marcos. A Two Time World Ironman
Champion, and a member of the Ironman
Hall of Fame, Scott has finished over 400
races in more than 20 Countries.

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