Our record books for distance running are history books to the best runners of the past

The best running team ever to leave New Zealand: New Zealand was once awash with running talent

"I"d describe nz athletics talent over the last few decades as a basket of eggs being thrown at a wall...

the few that didnt break went on to greatness.

As a teenager in the eighties can name various runners around my age who totally dominated their events for years , they would race ahead of the rest of the field from start to finish.

Ever heard of richard potts?  Phil Staar? Neil Secker? Andrea Wade? Julia Macgregor?  Simon Yock?

They were standouts in distance running,  few were successful at senior level. most disappeared from the running scene by the time they were seniors..

Phill Staar was the fastest junior mens white cross country runner in the world, seventh overall...

Nick willis is the exception rather than the rule. a successful Junior who came through the american college scholarship system not burnt out.  who knows how many of our athletes have had scholarships and failed to be competitive once they became seniors....

There is no system in nz to ensure we can hold onto the talent we have, to try and prevent them from quitting sport or burning out.

Very little of our best junior talent has survived to senior level.... so i would say very few of our coaches know how to develop talent in a sustainable way.

Needless to say our record books for distance running are mainly also history books to the best runners of the past..

There was little point spending money on synthetic tracks, our junior athletes probably struggle to find the energy or enthusiasm to train properly after they have spent so much time working to pay for their education and afford to live in our expensive cities, sure its not necessarily an excuse but it is a factor...  students worry a lot about their student loans. and it is a distraction if you're an athlete...

I'd argue young athletes today dont have enough patience to do the volume of aerobic training required to be their best....  too many distractions, or they are cutting the duration and upping the tempo too much instead, kids are used to staring at tv or computers for long hours for stimulation, they struggle more to really find stimulation putting in the hours away from that stimulation to train properly few coaches really understand how to develop them properly...

I saw the start of multiple tv channels in auckland and the start of personal computers and internet, i saw how it affected people... most of my fellow students at tech were more interested in computer games than their studies or exercising.  Sport for most people now is about watching it and criticising it...

athletics nz may have completly squandered our future athletics talent for good, looking at their history, its pretty much guaranteed. there's no Arthurs in NZ now. could Arthur have been able to do what he did in 2012?  probably to a lesser extent with the greater complexity of society."

Wayne Clark
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Gary:
Here is a report I submitted to the NZ Government several years ago when the Prime Minister's Scholarship underwent it first review.  It was investigated and and then completely fobbed off.  Most of it is still quite relevant.  Are we slow to learn? And is there a reluctance to listen to people who are not within the hallowed inner circle?

Prime Minister Scholarship

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About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Is your training program Pisa or Giza?

The 5 principles of Lydiard Training

1. Maximize Your Aerobic Capacity

Bigger Oxygen uptake = More Energy = Better performance

Is your training program Pisa or Giza?

 

Would you consider building a house without a solid foundation? Of course not! There are laws against it for good reason – the building would be unstable. Take the Leaning Tower of Pisa for example. I remember standing at the top of it frozen with the fear of falling. My point of reference was all askew because it lists precariously. All because the ground beneath it cannot support the structure. By contrast the Great Pyramid of Giza, with its wide base, is much higher but not in the slightest danger of falling over.

This is the principle behind building a base in training. Without it your capacity to recover and do the successive training phases is limited. 

For the complete article and to learn about their coaching services, please go to http://www.running-wizard.com/.  Lydiard Running Wizard is a project by my sister, Lorraine Moller, in collaboration with a small team of outstanding athletes and coaches.  Lydiard Running Wizard brings the coaching systems of the late Arthur Lydiard - the most successful running coach in history - into the digital era.

While this service principally targets runners, the programme and personalised support by professional coaches, is almost seamlessly able to be adapted to other sports such as cycling, waka, kayak, rowing and even racing horses!

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About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

TFS's Audio Interview w/ LORRAINE MOLLER (Part 1 of 2) - Female running pioneer and passionate Lydiard protégé

Dear Colleagues,
Episode 65 of The Final Sprint Podcast features the first installment in a two-part series of interviews with the legendary female running pioneer and Lydiard protégé LORRAINE MOLLER. (Note: The second and final part of the interview will be published tomorrow in Episode 66).I encourage you to listen to the podcast and to please share it with your readers and other contacts.

In today's portion of the interview, Lorraine talks about the link between her development as a runner and as a person, the stages of her career, being driven by that "pioneering kiwi spirit" , the metamorphosis of female athletics, her bond with iconic running coach Arthur Lydiard, misconceptions about his training philosophies, and why her basic training so seamlessly prepared her for the marathon. She also discusses the special meaning of her induction to the Colorado Running Hall of Fame, and her belief that running is a personal and spiritual journey has enabled her to develop the often under-appreciated, but yet crucial element to success in both running and in life: self-understanding and the mental framework of a champion.

The audio interview is also available at no charge in the iTunes Store.
Any and all feedback from you and/or your readers is greatly appreciated. Thanks again and please feel free to call and/or email me if there is anyway that I can assist you, your publication or organization.
Sincerely,
Adam Jacobs

News All About Running

These newsfeeders are designed to give you the latest news about running as it happens. These update continuously and will never fall out of date. This is where you will find news about the New York Marathon, Boston Marathon, Osaka Marathon or races in New Zealand like the Rotorua Marathon and Auckland Marathon.

You will find articles about the latest developments in running physiology, running coaching, running nutrition and how to avoid or treat running injuries. If you want to learn how to run faster to run a personal best, or just to keep running despite age, this is where you find your information.

You will find information about how to get started running or walking to complete a 5 or 10 k race, hafl marathon or marathon.

Bookmark this page so that it is added to your Favourites and drop by every day or so to see what's new in the world of news about running.

Trouble with cramp - some solutions

Dear Gary,
"I thought you might be interested in a de-brief from the Rotorua marathon and I would value some advice.

My biggest worry with Rotorua (apart from fitness!!) was getting cramp. I tried to overcome this by good training including 7 of my long runs over 30 k's, some hard short runs, and some hill work. Serious training started in Jan and included the Franklin 1/2. I had probably never been fitter leading in to Rotorua and injury free. I was also taking magnesium, calcium, and joint repair.

I had a good breakfast on race day and plenty of water. Also plenty of water throughout the race, some power aid and leppins squeezy later in race. But still I was stricken by leg cramp at exactly the Whakatane turnoff (30 kms). I could feel it coming on a k or 2 earlier and knew it was a matter of time. It struck hard in my right calf and left knee and I immediately dropped to the ground in a press up position and stretched out my legs. I carried on and forced myself to run through the cramp (I could feel it moving around my muscles) until it was bearable and then it would strike m further on. I went through that agonising process time and time again (knowing that my wife was only minutes behind me!) until it left me at about 2 kms from the finish and I was able to finish quite freely and quite fast. "

Anon
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World champion marathon runners generally spend at least 10yrs preparing and are world class 5 and 10km runners. Even if you are not world class, you can still copy the general principles of their training.

My Advice:
If it were possible to invent a cure-all for cramp, I would be a very wealthy man! The sad fact is there is no single solution. The most effective approach to prevention is to try to cover as many of the possible causes and hope that one, or a combination of them works. Prevention requires attention to training, diet, what you do in the days before the race and what you do duing the race and how you run it. When reading this, please refer to the updated Guide to Training for a Marathon.

• Train, race, train, race and even more training. I ran my first marathon in 2hrs 42 minutes with no special training, other than running competitively for about 15 years and doing big 2-3 hour Sunday runs on an empty stomach with the boys (and one girl - sister Lorraine) over the mountains overlooking Dunedin. That marathon was in Southland during October immediately following a winter of cross-country and road racing. Your buildup to any marathon should be at least 6 months and include the combination of long runs and short races.
• Top up your body's mineral stores, principally calcium and magnesium. While some benefit may be noticed, after supplementing with these for a few weeks, it may take several months of taking more than the recommended daily allowances to fully replenish body mineral stores. These minerals are essential for muscle and nervous system functioning, including preventing and treating cramping. It is very common for these minerals to become depleted; especially in women, teenage boys and men and women from about 40 years on. Heavy exercise; especially if sweating heavily increases need. You can purchase these supplements from the http://www.myotec.co.nz/ store.
• Train your body to use fat. It takes at least 3 months following the diet and training guidelines in the Training for a Marathon Guide for the body to show improvements in fat useage. You will notice this by fewer intense carbo cravings when on really long runs and your ability to go longer and faster on an empty stomach will be markedly improved. Your body learns to spare its muscle glycogen and this means less chance of muscle cramping glycogen depletion at about 30km (hitting the wall!).
• Learn to run steady effort pace. I ran the Crazy Man a few weeks ago. This was 18km of muddy mountain trails, followed by 38km of even muddier mountain biking. I finished in about 4.5hrs in second place for my age group. Although I was running at a very steady effort, I was being passed by the same competitors again and again during the run. They were running at an uneven pace. Every time a runner accelerates - even slightly - this costs precious muscle glycogen stores. I passed every single one of these runners towards the end of the run or during the bike, as exhaustion and cramp disabled them. When running a marathon, start slow and gradually build the pace so that your 2nd half is slighly faster than the first.
• Replenish glycogen stores as you go. During a marathon, this is next to impossible if you are running at about 3.30 hrs pace or faster. This is where the gels and electrolyte drinks come into play; but take special care with these if running hard. Refer to the guide to Training for a Marathon for more details.
• Get caffeine free. If you are a caffeine addict, your natural fat metabolism processes are compromised. Caffeine is only of any benefit to an athlete if they are not habitually taking in caffeine. Then, if you are caffeine free and if you are following the Training Guide, you will have no need for dosing up on caffeine on race day.
• Do not travel long distances within 24hrs of racing. If you spend more than about 4-6 hours sitting in a car or plane, the blood stagnates in your legs. While it may not clot like happens in deep vein thrombosis (DVT), it still goes off a little. This is why you feel tired, heavy and mentally lethargic following travel. The runner might notice that their resting pulse is slightly elevated for a day or so. It has always been traditional among the running professionals to go for a brisk 20 minute run immediately upon arrival to blow out the cobwebs. They also know that it is impossible to produce a personal best performance immediately following travel other than a few hours duration. So, travel to your race destination 2 days before the race. Failing that, stop and go for a quick jog every hour of travel. Take extra fish oil with vitamin E around the time of travel to improve circulation and to reduce any possibility of clotting. I also recommend a quality antioxidant to reduce any degradation of the blood cells through oxidation.
• If you suffer disabling cramps during a marathon. Slow down, gently stretch the offending muscle group. But do not stop altogether for more than a minute or two, lest you completely seize up. Keep the muscles warm. If dehydrated, get fluids in. Definitely try to ingest crabohydrates, best in liquid form. You might like to take two Magnesium Complete capsules: Break them open and disslove in water and ingest (magnesium is a mild laxative, so be prepared!). Power walk, if necessary for as long as 20 minutes while doing these measures and giving time for them to take effect. Resume running cautiously and see what happens.