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From: turlo
Date: 5/31/2003
Time: 6:42:45 PM
Remote Name: 158.125.1.22
Yes those are totally valid points. Many great runners have been able to train 100+ per week while holding down a full time job. However things have moved on since the days of Peter Snell etc, and its not just a simple case of running 100+ to be able to compete with the worlds best anymore. The actual is just one part of the overall package of perfect preparation. Theres also several other areas which the modern day athlete needs to address such as, strength training, flexibilty sessions, nutrition, REST, self monitoring, INJURY PREVENTION and psychological aspects. For example Paula Ratcliff would spend 2-3 hours per day purely on her running but then she would spend another 5 hours on strength training, stretching and icing and injury prevention techniques. It very unrealistic to be able to fit all of this in and hold down a full time job. Of course the nature of the job will have a big effect on things, a physically demanding job wold be very unsuitable as it would increase the risk of injury and overtraining. As a runner you need to be training at you physical limit, too much below your physical limit and you are under training, and anything above your physical limit and the chances are that you will get injured and run down. The point i am trying to make is that the injury prevention work is as important as the training. As i 16-17 year old i was running 40-45 miles per week but i did not spend enough time on injury prevention work etc. so that my body could cope with this amount of training - resulting in injury which has restricted me to 15 miles per week for the last 4 years!
Ok so maybe asking people to give up there job is a little bit unrealistic but you guys should consider working pert time if you want to a make real go of your running. Theres no need to have flash cars, big houses, £100 shades, and expensive lifestyles. people seem to be more concerned with becoming rich than becoming great athletes. Ok if you want to be rich and lead luxury lifestyles then thats your choice. People seem to be more concred with their image rather than their preperation. Eg. went clubbing with paul ard on friday night and he was trying to take the p**s out of me for wearing my running trainers, while he was wearing some very fashionable flip flops/shoes. The chances are that he will continued to be injury because of his inapropriate footwear! Theres plenty of time to earn big money own flash cars after your peak running years or over.
In respect to me going full time i might reach a point where i may need to get a part time job, aslong as it will not invlove me standing up for long periods as that will screw my legs up! I could happily live off 5-10 grand for the next few years, because i want to make up for the last 4 years of my life where i couldn't train properly or race. Although im far from being injury free at the mo but im getting there.
With respect to me putting something back into society i would consider that my voluntary work with in athletics and sports science is helping a great deal of people.
You guys have just got to consider how much you want this. Perfect preparation might mean that you have to make some big sacrifices in life. Although this is just my opinion. Cheers
ps. is Tom thinking about going to university? Anyone out there thinking about going off to univeristy needs to talk to someone who has allready experience it because there are many ways in which uni life can have both positive and negitive effects on their running. The major problem is the booze culture associated with university life. I've known of several "elite" junior athletes to quit running because of this.