Recurring Beliefs On Training

So who out there knows who Joe Vigil is? Joe was Track and Field and Cross-Country coach at Adams State College in Alamosa,Co. for nearly 30 years. Vigil led teams in both sports to a total of 19 national championships. His overall record at Adams State stands at 94.2% with 3,014 wins and 176 losses. He produced 425 All-Americans and 87 individual national champions during his time at Adams State. He coached Cross-Country superstar Pat Porter who won 8 consecutive U.S. National Cross-Country Championships as well as Deena Drossin who was a silver medalist in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics. I could go on but you get the picture,Vigil can coach. In addition, he is an exercise physiologist who actually has a record of producing athletes that achieve national and international success. So as I have said in the past regarding certain other coaches and athletes, when Joe Vigil speaks,runners that desire success should listen. The following quote will be familiar to readers of this site but is well worth reading again coming from yet another person who knows training. Universal truths do not change because we are in another era or because some author thinks he's found a new and better way. Joe gave this advice to his runners: "You've got to eat as though you were a poor man. You've got to do endurance training daily. And you can't let your mind go to seed. I think if runners would observe these three things,they would have a complete life, in which they would get satisfaction from their world." One thing that struck me about the above is that Vigil, like Cerutty, recognizes that the ideal athlete is one who also develops his mind.