What I love about summer is all the downtime I have to sit in my bed, with the window open next to me, and read. Its even better when the book's about running. This particular book, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, is about finding out why the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico can run so well and so long. The secret, he finds, is love of running. As I was reading, I came upon this passage about a Czech runner who apparently broke 3 Olympic records in the same year WITHOUT any coached training - apparently he did 100 meter repeats till he dropped, or 90x400s with 200 meter rest! Anyways, here's the passage - enjoy!
"Zatopek's inexperience quickly became obvious. It was a hot day, so England's Jim Peters, then the world-record holder, decided to use the heat to make Zatopek suffer. By the ten mile mark, Peters was already ten minutes under his own world record pace and pulling away from the field. Zatopek wasn't sure if anyone could really sustain such a blistering pace. "Excuse me," he said, pulling alongside Peters. "This is my first marathon. Are we going too fast?"
"No," Peters replied. "Too slow." If Zatopek was dumb enough to ask, he was dumb enough to deserve any answer he got.
Zatopek was surprised. "You say too slow," he asked again. "Are you sure the pace is too slow?"
"Yes" Peters said. Then he got a surprise of his own.
"Okay. Thanks.: Zatopek took Peters at his word, and took off.
When he burst out of the tunnel and into the stadium, he was met with a roar: not only from the fans but from athletes of every nation who thronged the track to cheer him in. Zatopek snapped the tape with his third Olympic record. "
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