Running with Joy

In light of the announcement that Ryan Hall will be staring in a film chronicling his preparation for the 2012 Olympic Marathon, I decided to take a look at Hall's book Running with Joy. The book was released in 2011, and chronicles Hall's preparation for the 2010 Boston Marathon (sounds awfully like the movie), the last marathon before Hall parted with his coach Terrence Mahon.

The thing that stuck out to me the most when reading the book is how open and honest  Hall is about his training and emotions. The role that the mental side plays in running is often times overlooked, especially with professionals who we hold to a higher standard. That's why when star athletes choke on the big stage they get little sympathy. But even on the elite level these guys are still human and deal with all the same emotions that me and you have. I've seen it time and time again the key to running well is not just putting in the training but being ready on the specific day with the correct frame of mind. More often than not it's not a lack of training but a lack of mental preparation that holds runners back on race day. Many times as runners we can feel isolated, after all you can;t tell that the other guy is hurting just as much as you, or that your not the only one in the world dealing with an injury. Hall's book takes you inside the mind of the professional athlete, along the way revealing that it's not so different from the mind of you and me.

Like I said earlier Hall basically lays out his entire training plan, the book essentially reads like an edited version of his training log. Although his book is much more thorough than any  training log I've ever seen! In addition to his training, Hall offers advice on just about any subject related to running including; diet, rest, clothing, shoes, and even blisters. Most of the advice is fairly common knowledge but Hall does put an interesting spin on a few topics, in particular laying out some of his own favorite books.

One problem I had with the book was Hall's constant reference to scripture, which I believe doesn't belong in a book like this. But its Hall's book and he can do what he wants. Hall is often criticized for his outspoken religious beliefs, a practice that makes him essentially the Tim Tebow of running.

Despite my criticism Hall's book is certainly a worthwhile read, and fairly quick at a little over 200 pages. I would recommend this book to runners of all levels especially those who have a hard time understanding the things Hall does sometimes, which includes myself. Running with Joy offers a brief glimpse into what the life of a professional marathoner is really like.

Link to Chapter 1 free!
 http://runningwithjoy.com/downloads/running-with-joy-chapter1.pdf

Webb's 2016 Olympic Chances

Is Alan Webb finished? Many people are doubting his Olympic chances this year, but more importantly is he even going to make the Olympic trials. Four years ago the headline on July sixth was "Webb doesn't qualify for Olympics", four years later the headline might be "Webb doesn't qualify for the Olympic trials".

As of today Webb has 70 days to get the Qualifying  mark of 3:43.00, but even that will not guarantee him entry to the trials as the A standard is 3:39.00. But after Webb's rough weekend at the Florida relays, 1:54  for 800 meters and 3:54 for 1500 meters it seems hard to imagine he can make the Olympic team or even the trials for that matter. To put it into perspective Webb's 1:51:91 800m from indoors is much closer to the 800m B standard of 1:48.3 than either of his races this past weekend. Webb seems to have regressed or at the very least stalled in terms of his fitness over the last several months. In February, he ran a 1:20-1 600 meter time trial and it seems that he hasn't made much progress sense then .It is a given that Webb is often times all over the place and I know ten weeks is a long time but at this point he seems like even a long shot to make the trials.

That being said let's take a look at Webb's chances for the 2016 Olympics,they don't look as bad as some might think. In 2016, Webb will be 33 years old, In the last six Olympics only one American has made the 1500 meter team at age 33 or older, Bernard Lagat in 2008. But three others have made the team after the age of 30, including Jim Spivey 1992 and Steve Scott 1988. So while Webb's hopes for 2012 might not be strong, we should not write off his career just yet as there is still plenty of time for him to right the ship.

Healthy Intelligent Training Review

Healthy Intelligent Training was written by Keith Livingstone, an Australian Distance running coach who has extensive knowledge of Arthur Lydiard's training theory. Lydiard coached some of the best runners in the early sixties and is renowned for his contributions to the sport. Livingstone's book Healthy Intelligent Training examines Lydiard's principles and explains their modern application. One of the problems with Lydiard's own books is that he does not convey his ideas in a way that is easliy understood. In addition to being easy to follow, the main thing Livingstone's book brings to the table is a scientific explanation for why Lydiard's system works. I believe that Livingstone has really done a great job incorporating information from a variety of sources including many diffrent applications of the system. He shows how the system can work for everyone from young club runners to masters. One of my main criticisms of the book is that at times it seems a little random, especially the section on Sausages (Fartlek). This partly comes from the fact that there are so many references to diffrent coaches and athletes using the lydiard system succesfully. The section on strength training is unconventional in that it proposes a system of low reps and heavy weight. Lydiard did not incorparate such a system with his runners but the fact that they grew up in a diffrent era, when kids were much more active and jobs revolved much more around manual labor makes up for the lack of weight training. Yet, this is one of the reason's why I enjoyed this book, Livingstone looks at a lot of the scientific data and is not afraid to support an unconventional approach. Indeed, while the principles of Lydiard might be fundamental to distance running today many people do not have a solid understanding of where these training ideas originated from. Healthy intelligent training offfers a very thorough review of the Lydiard system for the modern reader, and gives them a solid understanding of training theory.