Books by
Hal Higdon
Over the years, Runner's World has presented articles on just about every subject of interest to runners from motivation to training to what shoes to where on your feet. But unless you are a long-time subscriber and have saved every issue, much of this knowledge is unavailable to you.
To the rescue comes Amby Burfoot, Runner's World's Executive Editor and winner of the 1968 Boston. Burfoot has collected 37 of the best articles published in that magazine since its founding in 1966. In his Introduction, Burfoot states: "Running is the ultimate individual sport. It doesn't matter how fast or slow you are relative to anyone else. You set your own pace and you measure your own progress. You can't lose this race because you're not running against anyone else. You are only running against yourself, and as long as you are running, you are winning."
In this sense, all 37 chapters in Runner's World: Complete Book of Running are about winning. Three of the chapters are by Hal Higdon, including the following excerpt:
The goal of any beginning running program should be continuing. First you get in good enough shape to be able to run for 30 minutes at a time. Then you move on to another running goal. Then you continue doing it for the rest of your life.
A running program that lasts only a month or two is like an exercise bicycle that gets shunted away to the garage after a couple of months: hardly worth the effort. On the other hand, a running program that you continue practicing for years, and even decades, continues to provide rewards for that entire time. The key, then, is continuing.
Of course, during a lifetime of running, we go through phases that range from enthusiasm to ennui. We pursue goals. We achieve triumphs. We suffer defeats. Injuries sometimes plague us. Boredom hits. Seasons change. The weather is too cold or too hot or just right. We need to find something that will keep us going.
In his days at the University of Oregon, former Olympic coach Bill Bowerman pioneered a training plan that calls for hard days of training followed by easy days. Most runners today follow some variation of that plan in their weekly routines. But in a broader sense, that philosophy can extend to your lifetime training plan: Hard weeks can be followed by easy weeks, hard months by easy months, hard years by easy years, hard decades by easy decades. As we pass through our twenties, thirties, forties, fifties and onward through our sixties and beyond, we change our training patterns. We may compete or we may not. But we run on.
I, too, have experienced different phases in my more than 40 years of running. I ran in high school track but devoted as much energy to playing touch football with the guys and eyeing the girls. Only after graduating from college did I begin to mature as a runner. I had good years and bad years. Then I spent a long period away from serious running until the masters movement came along and collected me.
In all those years, an occasional injury forced reductions in training, but since 1952, I've taken only three two-month breaks from running. Through it all, I learned one important lesson: When training through the seasons of your life, you don't always need to run at your peak. You don't need to struggle to be in top shape all the time. You don't have to race a 10-K, then a marathon, then another 10-K and on and on.
You can let yourself relax, then get excited about running again. It's also better sometimes to plan "down" seasons or years, rather than be forced by injuries to take a break from hard training. I have taken several breaks from hard training and racing, and they have kept me running all these years.
According to studies on detraining by Edward Coyle, Ph.D., at the University of Texas at Austin, fitness declines by 50 percent in three weeks. That doesn't mean you should be afraid to skip three weeks of running. Dr. Coyle didn't claim you lose your fitness permanently by detraining; you simply put it aside for a while. Fitness can be won back. It may take a while to regain your past peak if you relax your training, but you can do it.
During a visit of mine to Russell Pate, Ph.D., director of the human performance laboratory at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, he commented that the key forms of training--speedwork, hill training, long runs and rest--need to be part of any successful training program, but the way they are pieced together will vary across a training year and probably, to some extent, across a career as well.
"One thing we don't know nearly as much about as we would like," commented Dr. Pate, "is whether or not there are certain stages in life when certain forms of training are most effective and have the most lasting impact on a person." There may be particular periods when speedwork is appropriate, other times when you should run long and still other times when you should maintain a steady routine of casual jogging.
The discussion with Dr. Pate reminded me of something the late running philosopher George Sheehan, M.D., once said: "Everybody is an experiment of one." Different people have different responses to training and different demands on their time. During certain periods, running can be an important part of a person's lifestyle; at other times, it may be best to put aside running temporarily or reduce it to a recreational level.
Your approach to training has an important effect on how you come through the up and down phases of running. By following a few principles of balanced training and racing, running will remain an important and enjoyable activity throughout your life.
SET LONG-TERM GOALS.
Take time to look past next weekend's race to determine future goals, not only for this and next year, but for years to come. At the end of each year, I review my training diary to assess my successes and failures. I also set goals for the coming season and beyond. A running goal might be to relax one year so I can run hard the following year.
FIGURE OUT YOUR BASELINE OF TRAINING.
Just as you set a heart monitor to beep if your pulse rate falls below a certain level in training, you can also determine a baseline for your training. Set a certain level of miles or hours that you will run each week whether you are preparing for a race or not. If your training falls below that, you know you should get more serious about running.
DETERMINE YOUR TOP LEVEL OF TRAINING.
You cannot train your hardest month after month and expect to maintain your motivation and high race performance. Monitor your running through your training log and, after a certain period of high-intensity training, back off and follow a more moderate program for as long as you need. You'll avoid injury and mental and physical fatigue.
DON'T IGNORE PAIN OR INJURY.
Listen to your body. When it hurts, it's telling you to slow down or stop running entirely. Don't train or cross-train through every injury. Use the time off from running to reacquaint yourself with your family or to concentrate on other activites. You will lose some fitness, but that fitness can be easily regained. And remember, over the period of a lifetime, the weeks or months lost will prove inconsequential. In fact, it's more likely the rest will prove beneficial if it provides for fuller, stronger recovery.
LOOK INTO CROSS-TRAINING.
Too much cross-training can develop muscles antagonistic to those you use in running, but that doesn't mean you should avoid other activites such as cycling, swimming or weight lifting. They may provide just the mental break you need from your running schedule.
SET YOUR SIGHTS ON A MARATHON.
One value of a marathon is that it forces you to focus your training on a specific goal, using a steady increase in mileage to achieve that goal. This can make all the difference during those times when you want to keep running steadily but may need a little extra motivation. If you don't want to run a marathon, consider training for a half-marathon or other event that requires you to follow a schedule.
CUT BACK YOUR FOOD WHEN YOU CUT BACK TRAINING.
When you back off on your training, you may need to back off on your eating as well. If you continue to eat as much as you did during peak training, you will gain weight because you won't be matching calories burned with calories consumed. Abandon those creamy desserts and between-meal snacks. When you return to high-level training, you'll find it much easier to reach top form if you stay close to your racing weight.
BE THANKFUL FOR AGE-GROUPS.
We should all now turn and nod thankfully in the direction of San Diego, where a quarter-century ago an attorney named David Pain invented masters track, which resulted in age-group racing for the young and old. Every five years, as we move to another age bracket, a whole new world of competition opens up with new personal records to achieve. And toward the end of each five-year period, we can find an excuse to relax, take time off or learn the value of humility as younger runners nudge ahead of us. Age-group competition provides new goals and rewards for an entire lifetime of running and racing.
"Unexpected Pleasures" appears in Runner's World: Complete Book of Running Edited by Amby Burfoot, Copyright © 1997 by Rodale Press, Inc., all rights reserved. Copies of this book autographed by Hal Higdon are available for $26.75 (includes shipping and handling) from Roadrunner Press, P.O. Box 1034, Michigan City, IN 46361-1034.