I recently fished out another one of my favourite books; one that I bought just after Barcelona '92. It’s written by Alastair Aitken, who for years, had interviewed top athletes, from sprinters to javelin throwers, distance runners to hurdlers.
In this book, each chapter is dedicated to a specific athlete.
We learn about their thoughts -
Before a major success: Tommie Smith in 1966: “The school coach first introduced me to quarter-miling, and I clocked 47.7 for my first one, so that was probably my first step towards concentrating, as I do, on the event. However, I still like the 220 yards better as a race.”
During a successful year: DQ in 1976: “I made a slight error (in the 100m) about 25 metres, whereby I straightened up a little bit too early, which cut my stride for a period of time, so within 25 to 50 I had got myself back into that same rhythm, and that was when I started coming back on the field.”
After a major success: Ed Moses in 1979: “(My most pleasing performance) was the AAU in 1977 - it beat the record that I had set in Montreal, although it was not really a good race. Knowing that I had run that time under those conditions told me that I was in terrific shape at the time. It gave me a sign which told me to keep going, as I could go under 47 seconds.”
Even more interesting are the discussions on training:
Henry Carr: “In the early part of the season I do a considerable amount of distance work - for me that means 550 and 660y reps, and pyramid type sessions of 100 up to 660y and down again. As the season progresses my heavy work decreases and I pile in much more speed work. I do not do any weight training, for I think that for myself weights would affect me adversely because I am so bulky.”
David Hemery: "At times I did just a 2x660y or maybe one 660. Another variation was 2x550y over hurdles. 660’s in fact were almost my whole training and I would not do any other work on the flat, while any sprint workouts would be over 220y hurdles.
Debbie Flntoff: “My hardest session during the week would be a hill session. We do 4 of them, but they last anything between 45 and 55 seconds, and they are really steep and we just walk back. That would probably be the most lactic session I have ever done. I literally can’t walk after the 4th one, can’t sit down…”
The last chapter on a sprinter is one on Darren Clark and Aitken mentions that one of the 3 men who have been instrumental in his success is a certain Mike Hurst, “…who has a scientific approach which has been of benefit…”
There’s a collection of photos in the centre of the book too…I find myself constantly flicking through to find the one of Tommie Smith: “Effortless movement…”
I browsed through www.amazon.co.uk and it’s still available.