From The Archives.pt.2, It's All Been Said

The following is from 2003 and was a type of "call to arms" for Stotans and others to commit or recommit to what they had learned in previous years.At the time I perceived a weakening of resolve in certain Stotans, who as they became older, had appeared to compromise the teachings they once believed in. Also,some were going after every new training theory that came around the bend. In retrospect, what I wrote seems a bit extreme but the intention was well meaning.Perhaps the following might provide some things for all of us to consider.

It's All Been Said---" Athleticism in my view is not a sport,it is a way of life. It is only the athletes who truly live and can savour life in all its aspects. Only those who excel in something physical yet exercise the mind can ever hope to be balanced and to live balanced lives. What profits a man if he makes a million and ends up dead at fifty. It is not the arrival that is important but the journeying to. The athlete lives now,right at this moment." The preceding quotes are from Percy Cerutty's, Athletics: How To Become A Champion. Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder Herb Elliott once said that Percy was more of a philosopher than simply a trainer of athletes. This fact is what makes Cerutty still relevant today.How many coaches these days are teaching that athleticism is life? Zero! As I have said repeatedly, you are either totally into it,or.....your not. There is no half-way here. The sad thing is that it seems as if the majority,including self-described serious athletes, are not. Acquisition of money,toys and possessions,plus satiating every desire, takes precedence over living the athletic life. Athleticism,as Cerutty taught it, is supposed to encompass all facets of one's life. There are far too many people who believe athleticism pertains only to your workouts and competition. How wrong they are! It is also about how you approach,view, and live your life. What am I getting at here? Folks, we've been shown the way,the search is over ,it's all been said. Don't be like the rest of the world, doing what they do,wanting what they want,chasing after every new fad trend,idea and coach. Cerutty wrote about THE way in his books, Athletics: How To Become A Champion should be read and studied by every person who claims to be a serious athlete. Where Cerutty shows the hows and whys of the athletic life,we find that there are teachers who provide athletes with the fundamentals of training in every sport. These fundamentals are time tested and ageless. If you need to,go back and relearn what they taught, Stop wasting your time with those who say they have found a new and better way. And to you runners, Arthur Lydiard discovered the fundamentals of distance training. It could have just as easily been someone else who experimented and found the way. As fate would have it, a onetime shoemaker from New Zealand did the work and put in the time,thank God for that(and Arthur). Leave the complicated systems,the v-dots and the lactate thresholds for the running hobbyists. It appears that the rest of the world is ready to embrace every new,hyped idea that is sent their way,we know better,in large part because of the two men I've mentioned above,be thankful and content with that fact. In closing: The choice is yours. Nothing more needs to be said. Read,study,write and practice.