This weekend, I have been reading through some interviews with legendary running coach Arthur Lydiard. I feel his attitude is so refreshing compared to a typical coach. Lydiard emphasized the enjoyment of training as a key component. Here are a few of his quotes:
- "I have a saying 'train, don't strain.' The Americans have the saying 'no pain, no gain' and that's why they have no distance running champions. They get down to the track with a stopwatch and flog their guts out thinking that it'll make them a champion, but they'll never make a champion that way."
- "If you are not enjoying training, stop all anaerobic training. Go out for a long jog, so slow that the old ladies with shopping baskets go past you. Do that until you start to enjoy it!"
- "Athletes need to enjoy their training. They don't enjoy going down to the track with a coach making them do repetitions until they're exhausted. From enjoyment comes the will to win."
I think that last phrase represents such a unique attitude: "From enjoyment comes the will to win." I have never heard anything similar. You wonder if this simple philosophy could be successfully applied to the burned-out athletes you see in different sports.
More information is available at the Lydiard Foundation website.
