Dr. George Sheehan On Training,In Case You've Forgotten

Dr.George Sheehan,runner,writer,physician and philosopher, is one of those people who has become a part of what some call the fabric or framework of modern distance running. Besides providing practical advice as a physician and runner,his reflections and insights on running are thought provoking. What he has to say below may be familiar to most of you but the question to ask as you read the following is,when was the last time you considered what he's saying here? "Over the years I have come to believe in two rules about training. The first: it is better to be undertrained than overtrained. The second: if things are going badly I am undoubtedly overtrained and need less work rather than more. This is in line with Bill Bowerman's belief that a bad race almost always indicates too much work. Most runners and coaches,of course, take the opposite view. For them a bad race is an indication to double the training rather than cut it in half. We must remember that your body is always trying to tell you where you are. Listen to it. For instance, beware when you become tired and listless,when you lose interest in workouts and approach them as a chore rather than a pleasure." So much of our inability to ease up on our training is rooted in a fear or anxiety that we will go backwards instead of forward in our conditioning. Months of work cannot be lost because of a temporary reduction in training.