Phedippidations

This is a biographical review of the Czech runner Emil Zatopek. He was the first to run the 10K under 29 minutes and the first to run the 20K in an hour and set 18 world records in his 15 year career.

However you approach your training runs or road races, you’ll find comfort in finding a ritual: a method of psyching yourself up to the task ahead of you. As you develop a familiar routine, you’ll feel more relaxed and at ease before you run.

Focus, concentration, internal conversation, planning and visualization are all key elements to a successful mind game in pushing your body past the limits of your own belief.

In this episode I talk about the basics of most training programs, and discuss items such as the maximum weekly distance you should run each week, the number of weeks you should train, and the length of your longest “long run‿. You need to determine the best training schedule for yourself that will help you meet and surpass your own goals. For some of you, just finishing a race of any distance will be a satisfying achievement.

Those New Year resolutions we make for ourselves should be balanced with a promise of altruism. Use the occasion of this new year to help change the world for the better, both for yourself and for others.

Runners are both patient and understanding. We’ve found something to improve the quality of our lives and should make some effort to save the non-runners from themselves. We should not be afraid to be laughed at or ridiculed, if we can save another human being from the fate of inert uniformity.

It’s important to dress warm and in layers. The fabric available on the market today is on par with the most advanced space suits constructed by NASA.

Since it’s the season to be jolly and all that, I list four gadgets that a geekoid runner like myself would love to receive during the Holidays, or any time of the year that you’re in the mood to give.

I discuss eating for runners, and go through the basics that your Mom probably gave you as you were growing up. I mention some “fad‿ diets, and talk about an interesting study in the Britich Medical Journal that justifies a daily consumption of wine and chocolate! (How cool is that?!)

Bill Rogers is one of the most respected, influential distance runners in the United States, having won the Boston Marathon and New York Marathons four times each. He’s run a total of 57 marathons in all, 28 of them in under 2:15.