IOL Strength and Conditioning

Amby Burfoot

Back in the ‘70s when folks my age started jogging, logging our runs in a red Jim Fixx training log, Amby Burfoot took over the editor’s duties at what was then the opening days of the still-popular Runner’s World magazine. This 1968 Boston Marathon winner wrote to us passionately of striding along a country road in a way that made the reader unable to sit still.

Coming off our IronOnline escapade at Fort Leavenworth last month, steam is already building for a group effort at a USMC mud run in Bakersfield next October. You laugh, but some of us are a long way past our road running days, and it’ll take awhile to build up the mileage without adding more trauma to the plentiful ravages of a life well-lived. Plus, (I heard this but haven’t fully subscribed to the notion), at least a couple of trusted advisors warn of a need to whittle off a dozen pounds if there’s any hope of hauling these bodies over the ever-so-creative Marine Corp obstacles.

So here I am, thinking about running again, and I remembered the Burfoot articles in Runner’s World and John L. Parker’s Once A Runner (originally published in 1978), the character role of the fictional Quenton Cassidy so obviously built on racers Parker had known or perhaps had been. This one didn’t snare me and I’d put it aside and ordered the electronic version of Amby Burfoot’s The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life, having given up on the hero Cassidy after a deluge of college boy dialogue.

But almost as soon as I started Amby’s book (I can call him Amby since I’ve “known” him since the late ‘70s), Mark Reifkind posted a few quotes from this classic racer’s tale. This forced me back for a redo, which worked better once I skipped about a quarter into it, past the initial dialogue and well into the indoor racing season… which sizzles.

As to the reading experience, I still have to go with Burfoot for the aging former jogger who’s pondering a return to the streets. It’s not a method book, and won’t give you a clue how to go about this transition that makes your hips ache at the thought. What it’ll provide is even more important: desire. In Amby’s view, “The experience is what matters, and the experience is basically the same for all of us.”

Now here’s one that’s particularly relevant: “Distance running requires you to take the long view. It takes weeks and months, at the least, to get in shape. Give yourself time. Don’t make hasty and unnecessary mistakes. Remember: You’re in it for the long run. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself accordingly.” Both Runner’s Guide and Once a Runner are quick reads that share a glimpse of the spirit of running. If the idea of some mileage on foot is gnawing at you, either will give you a good shove. For those who haven’t been competitive racers, Burfoot’s is probably a better jump-off point.

For the fun of it, here’s a choice thought from Parker: “A runner is a miser, spending the pennies of his energy with great stinginess, constantly wanting to know how much he has spent and how much longer he will be expected to pay. He wants to be broke at precisely the moment he no longer needs his coin.”