Distance Running Lessons from Bill Rodgers
I just finished Bill Rodgers’ autobiography Marathon Man and wanted to share some takeaways. If you didn’t already know, Rodgers is arguably the greatest American marathoner of all time. He won four Boston marathons, four NYC marathons, and set the American record in 1979. Three primary reflections after reading the book:
Even the greats want to stop running sometimes. New runners have the belief that running is easy for supremely fit, elite-level athletes. Rodgers provides plenty of evidence to the contrary. Yes, sometimes he’s floating on a course, but often he has side aches, cramps, a foot injury, and extreme fatigue after setting out to fast in the heat. In his first Boston marathon, he walked off the course without finishing, thinking “What a terrible sport this is!” So embrace the challenge of running and know that even the very best runners share your pain. And keep going!
You can find time to run. Rodgers often ran twice a day to keep his weekly mileage around 130 miles per week. When he was working as a teacher, this meant squeezing every second out of his lunch break so he could get in a run. He sprints out the door, runs, showers, and sprints back to his classroom just as the bell is ringing. His principal dares him to be late to class just one time so he can be fired, but he never is. When Rodgers has long layovers on flights to races, he runs laps around the airport to get his miles in. No excuses, no complaining about circumstances, just hard work and dedication.
Speed work matters. Before he joined the Greater Boston Track Club, Rodgers trained by himself doing long runs around Jamaica Pond and along Boston’s Emerald Necklace. He wasn’t doing speed work or track intervals until the GBTC days. He credits the track and strength workouts devised by Coach Bill Squires with making him a better runner. So don’t discount the value of those hard workouts. They are on your calendar for a good reason and will give a huge advantage on race day if done properly.
