The Conditioning of Distance Runners

By Thomas Osler

The trailblazing 1967 training guide for runners, with a new foreword by 1968 Boston Marathon champion Amby Burfoot

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ray Charbonneau
• Release date: Nov 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463317860

Book preview

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THE CONDITIONING

OF DISTANCE RUNNERS

by

Thomas J. Osler

A Long Distance Log publication

with a new foreword by

Amby Burfoot

To the extent possible under law, Thomas J Osler has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to

The Conditioning of Distance Runners.

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(For more information:

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

Book design: Y42K Publishing Services

https://www.y42k.com/publishing-services/

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Table of Contents

FOREWORD to the 2019 edition

FOREWORD to the 1967 edition

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

PART I: THEORY OF DISTANCE RUNNING TRAINING

PART II APPLICATION OF TRAINING THEORY TO THE DESIGN OF A TRAINING SCHEDULE

PART III: THE ART OF ADJUSTING A TRAINING PROGRAM TO THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF THE ATHLETE

FOREWORD to the 2019 edition

As an aspiring high school distance runner in the early 1960s, I got lucky. More lucky than you can possibly imagine. I happened to attend the Groton, Connecticut, high school where John J. Kelley coached the cross-country team.

Kelley was also, by universal agreement, the best marathoner in the country. He won Boston in 1957, and captured the USA National Marathon Championships (in Yonkers, New York) seven years in a row—a record that will never be equaled.

For the next several years, I had the unbelievable good fortune to lag behind Kelley on weekend long runs from his home in nearby Mystic. I couldn’t keep up with him, but I was inspired every time I watched him disappear into the distance ahead of me. I wanted to be like that someday.

However, Kelley was humble to a fault. He never instructed me or anyone else about the whys and hows of distance training. He led by shining example; he never preached or lay out a clear path.

For that, I needed Tom Osler and his wondrous pamphlet, The Conditioning of Distance Runners. When I first purchased it in 1967 (for probably a buck or two), I immediately sat down and devoured every page. I was looking for guidelines I could use to orient my training. Tom presented them in clear, precise language and illustration.

I particularly appreciated three things about Tom’s guide. First, it came from someone who knew what he was talking about. I occasionally raced Tom in New York, Connecticut, or Massachusetts, and he was steady and tough. I think I beat him more often than he beat me, but I had youth and speed on my side. In fact, we called him Turtle Tom precisely because he wasn’t fast—just incredibly good at maintaining his pace.

Second, I liked the way Tom laid out the ups and downs of training and racing. You couldn’t maintain an endless peak. You had to plan your training to get you to a peak, and then you had to realize your peak could only last