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When you’re a rank amateur at a sport, knowing elite athletes has its perks. On my cellphone, I have the phone numbers of a man who was one spot away from being on the U.S. National Rugby Team, another who is close to becoming a professional ice climber, and a third who made the Olympic time trials twice for cycling but didn’t quite qualify. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be to be so close yet so far. The silver lining, of course, is that these little twists of fate have made them the type of elite athlete I appreciate the most: almost Olympic-caliber, but not quite famous enough that they ignore my calls.
To be fair, they’re not ignoring other peoples’ calls either. All three athletes have been generous in sharing their insights, whether on a personal level or as professional trainers. Two and a half months ago, I was talking to Rod Raymond (the cyclist) and asked him a question about marathon training.
“Here,” he said, “I think it’s time for me to give you my book.”
I’ve worked with Rod in the past, which is an Important Disclosure for The Reader, but it also means I know enough to recognize that he’s been successful enough as a runner that he would be worth listening to. Plus, as someone who likes to answer questions by suggesting people read my articles, I loved the approach.
“Thanks!” I said. Then, flipping through it, I thought, “This looks hard.”
It really did. The bulk of the book is made up of a series of stretches and exercises, along with a training log. I could get behind the part where it said “10 minute slow jog,” but then I realized that was the warm-up. The real workout was pretty succinct. “6,” it would say. Or “11.” Or, one memorable day, “19.” That’s a lot of miles.
But in its essence, the plan is simple. You run however many miles it says, adding in some speed work and conditioning/training. The plan builds up the mileage and then backs down in the last two weeks so that you’re refreshed for the big event.
I’m running four marathons this summer, so I knew I’d have to put in some time getting my body ready for them. I’ve never followed a marathon training plan before and I found it easy to use. Whenever it felt like too much, I’d skip a day—which, according to the tips on page 55, you should do. (Page 55 also says you should eat vegetables and whole grains, but, well, no.)
How did it work? I ran the Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon today in 4:21:00, which is 19 seconds slower than my best time ever. Considering I’m almost 30 pounds heavier now (see previous comment about vegetables for an explanation) and ran the same time, I will stand behind this training method. It’s simple to follow, full of good principles, and will work for anyone—even if they don’t have a contact list full of almost-but-not-quite Olympians to talk to.
If you want the book, you can get it at http://rodraymond.com/advancedfullbook.html.


Robert Lillegard was the web/calendar editor for Duluth~Superior Magazine for four years and wrote the Duluth Grill Cookbook.