Ten Proven Steps to a Faster Race
"I first became acquainted with Frank Shorter when my dad and I watched him run his Gold-Medal performance in the 1972 Olympic Marathon in Munich Germany. I remember a young boy was running along the side of the road trying to keep up as Frank ran by. He lasted about 25 yards. That was the day I decided to be a runner. I was eleven." Tim Ritchie, President, National Running Center
FRANK HAS WRITTEN AND SAID MUCH ABOUT THE SPORT OF RUNNING. I'VE FOUND YOU CAN LEARN A LOT JUST FROM LISTENING, OR IN THIS CASE, READING, FROM THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE. IN THESE QUOTES FROM FRANK SHORTER, YOU WILL FIND PROVEN STEPS TO GET YOU TO A FASTER RACE:
THE TEN STEPS
(DRAWN FROM THE WORDS OF OLYMPIC GOLD-MEDALIST, FRANK SHORTER)
"What's the secret? Yogurt? Vitamins? Maybe. I don't know. But I'll tell you one thing. You don't run 26 miles at five minutes a mile on good looks and a secret recipe." - - - Frank Shorter
1. "[The] runner must realize that hard means hard, easy means easy and they must patiently seek out what combinations work for them. They have to learn to be persistent and patient with their training and racing."
2. "Running with others can help get you out when you might otherwise blow it off."
3. "A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier."
4. "Hills are speed work in disguise."
5. "You train best where you are the happiest."
6. "You can actually suffer a little bit more going slowly than when you're going really fast. A faster marathon might even be easier than a slow one, in terms of what it takes out of you mentally."
7. "I want my time spent running to serve as a reward."
8. "Remember that the more consistent you are in your training, the less you must rely on a perfect training run every day."
9. "Set goals that are reasonable, attainable, and incremental."
10. "You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."
Why does a faster race matter?: "Because running fast is more fun than running slow."
Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the achievements of other American runners, is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States during the 1970s.
From 2000 to 2003, Shorter was the chairman of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, a body that he helped to establish. (excerpted from wikipedia)
