сильные женщины: An Interview With GS Athletes Catherine Imes and Lorraine Patton

While kettlebells as an exercise tool have enjoyed a renaissance in the United States, they appeal mainly to a relatively small niche of strength enthusiasts: individuals who recognize that hard work and a back to basics approach to strength training trump anything that the pretty, comfortable, machine infested brass and fern commercial health clubs have to offer. Within this small group of hard working and hard core devotees is another smaller and I daresay even more hard working and dedicated group of athletes who compete both domestically and internationally in the kettlebell competition known as Girevoy Sport. I have with me today for a brief question and answer session two individuals who are not only dedicated and successful GS athletes but are also tireless promoters of this fledgling (in the States anyway) extreme sport. I’m pleased to introduce two extraordinary women, the first two athletes from the States to medal in international GS competition, Catherine Imes and Lorraine Patton.

ESB: Welcome to the blogosphere! I hope this interview will help to generate more exposure for the Girevoy Sport and I am excited to provide a venue for you two to share your knowledge, experience and accomplishments! So let’s get to it. How did you first get interested in kettlebells? How long have you been using kettlebells? When did you decide you wanted to give Girevoy Sport a shot?

C.I. I had seen an Advertisement in Muscle Media 2000 for KBs. Soon after, Pavel started writing articles for them. I picked up PTP based on the articles. Then he wrote an article outlining KB exercises with dumbbells. I did high rep dumbbell swings, clean and jerks and snatches for a year and saw great conditioning benefits and then I finally coughed up the cash for a 12kg and 16kg bell in 2003. So, I’ve been using them for 3.5 years.
When I joined the DD forum in 2003, they had just held their first competition in Virginia I think. In January 2004, they finally had one in Chicago. Lorraine had been encouraging me on the forum to compete. So, without any GS specific training, I drove there for a meet. I really enjoyed the competition, but really enjoyed the people I met. In May of 2004, I competed at my first Nationals in Sterling, VA. There I got to meet people like Lorraine and it was an unforgettable event.

L.P. Back in 2001, I was a huge fan of Pavel’s PTP method. I was a deadlifting fool. So, I had come to trust him in matters of strength. He just had come out with the Russian Kettlebell Challenge and I thought that there was no way in hell that I was going to do any of that. But I saw the reviews of the book and became curious and since you could do the exercises with dumbbells I gave it another look and purchased the book. Well, then I bought a 16kg. KB – the lightest they had at the time. I got it and thought ‘what the hell have I done – I can’t do anything with it’. So, I started with swings and you know what happens. Now I can’t walk 10 feet at home without tripping over a bell. The big attraction for me was not the kettlebell itself but the fact that you can take a weight and swing it around rather than just lift it. Dynamic stuff. A sport’s got to have an endurance component for me to be interested in it.

ESB: Cate, you recently competed at the World Kettlbell Championships in Latvia. Was this your first international competition of any kind? Compare it to your experience of competing in the States.

C.I. This was my first International Meet and first time traveling abroad. There were a lot more competitors and of course the overall caliber of competition was higher due to the dedicated GS Coaching and experience. The competition itself wasn’t really that much different, i.e. on the platform it didn’t matter that I was in Latvia vs. being here. The competitors were for the most part very friendly and just reiterated one of the reasons I love this sport; I love the people.

ESB: Lorraine, you were also in Latvia and you've competed overseas several times. Share your international experiences with us, please.

L.P. I went to Moscow for the 2005 World Championships and to Hamburg for the 2006 Veterans Snatch Classic.
Let’s set the record straight here. None of us were really ready for competition that first year but yet it was important that we go and try. What we lacked in ability we more than made up for in enthusiasm and interest. I can’t tell you how gracious the competitors were. We learned so much – they had our undivided attention. I feel we owe it to them to continue training and to improve. We all made friends that we continue to keep in touch with. It opened up a new world for all of us.
Latvia was wonderful also. Cate medaled! How can you beat that? Everyone improved. Valery Fedorenko encouraged us to go to Moscow and do whatever we were capable of. He said that with that behind us we must improve and so we did. I wasn’t about to let him down. He’s been very supportive of us.
Going to International competitions has made me realize that we are doing a very good job here running our meets. I like that we are small and friendly and very inclusive. The meets have been organized and well run. At his seminar, Valery Fedorenko announced that he’d be holding meets also and what’s interesting is that he will add more events. I think that will go a long way to attracting new competitors. We’ve tried that to a certain extent in the past – I think it was Jim Haines idea to have more events – but we should give it a try again. We witnessed the jerk relay in both Latvia and Moscow and actually our guys got to compete in that this year. I think they had a great time.

ESB: What in your opinion will it take to make GS more popular in the States?

C.I. First of all, it will take a dedicated base of us sticking with it. The problem is that it started out pretty strong interest wise because KBs were growing and appealing to serious athletes. The first meet I attended in Chicago had as many competitors as our last 2 Nationals. Our 2004 Nationals was huge. I think we had 5 platforms. I think we’ve got that solid-dedicated base now thanks to people like Lorraine. The competitor turnover has slowed. I also think that having someone like Valery Federenko in the States is definitely going to help. He’s passionate about promoting Kettlebell Sport. It helps to have the support of someone of his caliber. Steve Cotter is also dedicated to helping this grow and he is widely recognized athlete/coach and well respected.

L.P. That’s a tough question. The sport is a hard sell. It’s growing though and steadily. I love the folks we attract. The sport attracts people with a distinct personality that I’m very attracted to. They are patient, persistent and analytical.
But like I mentioned above, the inclusion of new events may attract those to whom GS is boring.

ESB: How do you train? By that I mean, how do you organize your training? Do you periodize your training? Use other tools besides kettlebells?

C.I. I’ve recently changed my view on training for this sport. I no longer view it as a “seasonal” thing. I owe my conditioning to GS type training. I used to train for a meet, and then not do repetition snatches for months until training for the next meet. Now, after a big meet (last one being Latvia), I took a small week long break, then I began to phase snatch sets into my training starting with 2 per week. I gradually build my duration while cycling my pace. For example, if I get close to 18-20rpm for a given duration, I know that I can probably increase my duration. I’m up to 4 sets per week now. I’ll probably work there for a few weeks 8-10 minute snatch sets. Then I’ll back off for a week and only do a couple, and then increase it to 5 times per week. High Rep Swings w/32kg and 24kg weights and one-arm jerks will be a mainstay of my training as they have been highly recommended by Valery.
I use John Brookfield’s Battling Ropes for more grip endurance work. I also do some Crossfit inspired met-con circuits with the ropes, swings, rowing, sandbags, etc. for conditioning. I’ve been using ZHealth for Joint Mobility.
I will do low-rep strength work 2-3 times per week. It is a nice break from the high rep stuff and it allows me to maintain my strength levels. I will also do some double ballistics with the heavier bells, e.g. double swings, LCC&P, etc.

L.P. Cate and I spent the weekend at Valery Fedorenko’s workshop. We had many conversations about training of course. The one point we all agree on is that if you come from a strength background you are clearly ahead of those of us who come from the pure endurance sports. I have to work hard on strength. I do the basics – deadlift, squat, military pressing, assisted chins and the like and I do them PTP style 4-5 days a week. Of course I then do snatches, swings, snatches, jerks, snatches and more snatches. My training is also periodized. I do a period of volume, then one of timed sets (usually about 6 weeks) and then I’m ready to compete. Now since the workshop it’s back to the drawing board and I’ll have to sharpen up my technique again before doing anything else.

ESB: How many times a week do you train and for how long?

C.I. I’m training 5 days a week now. My training sessions last anywhere from 10 minutes to 60 minutes total depending on the time I have. For example, I trained a 10 minute snatch set this morning due to time constraints I had to save the Jerks and Swings for this evening.

L.P. 4-5 days. Time depends on the period I’m in. I bet none of the GS sessions go over 45 minutes though.

ESB: Lorraine you have the distinction of being the first American to medal in international competition at the Veteran’s Snatch Competition last year in Hamburg and Catherine, you medaled in Latvia…talk a little about what that was like for you.

L.P. I was very excited to participate in Hamburg as that was the first World Master’s meet that allowed women to compete. I trained very hard for that. None of us had any idea what the numbers would be like. So it was very gratifying to find that I was in the pack. With the exception of the exceptional Lyubya who reached 241 snatches, the rest of us were within 30 reps of each other. So that was very cool. Paul Tucker was there representing Australia and he did well. The list of friends for both of us grew! I must say I really like the Masters. They’ve shed their egos for the most part and train hard, compete hard and party hard! A very gregarious group.

C.I. Honestly, winning a medal was awkward. I didn’t feel like I was deserving of a medal because of my relatively low numbers. However, I was very happy to bring home the medal for our team. I think we earned their respect. Several of us went the full 10 minutes and the men did outstanding considering their experience level.

ESB: It is interesting to me that the Women’s Snatch Record holder is also a Veteran age athlete. I remember Andrey Kuzmin telling me once that many Veterans (male or female) continue to improve in the snatch and can still compete very well in the Open division since the grip seems to get stronger with age and grip endurance is maybe the determining factor for high repetition snatches. Many of the top U.S. lifters are at or near Veteran’s age…what do you think is the appeal of this grueling sport to the Veteran age athlete?

L.P. That we can actually do it. I joke that I’ve had so many injuries that are haunting me now I had to find a sport that I can participate in while standing still. It’s great to see the guys close to or over 70 competing with the 16s. Their numbers are fantastic and they are in great shape. I have no doubt that they can still use the heavier ones also. I hope to be in the over 65 female pack some day.

C.I. I think it may appeal in the U.S. to more veterans. Let’s face it: I compete in this sport because I love it and I love the people. The endurance aspect has taken me way outside of my comfort zone and it has taught me patience. There’s not much glory and it may not appeal to younger-competitive athletes in the U.S. I think “Masters” may be more apt to appreciate those values and enjoy the sport. Veterans will realize the health benefits of this sport and the requisite training. I know I’ve heard Lorraine say more than once that KB Snatches have helped her shoulders. I’m 35 this year and I’m in better shape than I was at 25. At 25, I would not have had the discipline for this type of training. At 25, I would not have had the funds to travel like I do today and that is another reason why you may see more Master’s competitors in the U.S. In the former Soviet Republics their travel is subsidized at least partially by their government.

ESB: Share a little with us about technique. What have been the biggest issues you have had to resolve? Describe how you troubleshoot your GS technique…what are you trying to improve technically at the moment?

C.I. My biggest strength and weakness is my “strength”. I’ve gotten a long way by just performing mediocre technique because I’ve got a decent amount of strength. It likely makes up for the fact that I’ve got less than an ideal body-type for GS.
Getting acclimated to the competition bell has been the most recent challenge.
As far as troubleshooting my technique: I go on feel. I know if my posterior chain starts to give out on me, I may not be “following” the bell on the downswing. If my grip starts to give out prematurely or what I deem premature, I focus more on following the bell and the overhead lockout.
I’m trying to work on following the bell on the downswing so that I can take advantage of the momentum. I’m also trying to get my lockout position consistent.

L.P. ACK!!!! Having come back from Fedorenko’s seminar I’m not sure I can answer that right now. I have so much to work on. Nothing like competing for 3 years and then taking my first lesson. I have a fair amount to undo. Grip is undeniably the first to fatigue. Local shoulder endurance used to be a factor but I seemed to have resolved that. I hate to be vague but I probably could write pages about this. Give me some time to straighten this out and I’d be happy to get back to you.
As far as troubleshooting is concerned though, I worked with Steve Cotter for a period of time. I became super analytical as I had to answer to him. Do a long set and see what stops you. Something is going to stop you from continuing. That sounds obvious and easy but it’s actually pretty tricky. It’s tempting to say that everything feels like crap so I stopped. Really think about why and where you are uncomfortable. It’s very telling.

ESB: I know GS is still a small sport in the U.S. … Olympic Weightlifting has local events and a grass roots development program culminating in an elite squad that trains at the USOC. Local meets are used to qualify for National meets which are used to qualify for Pan Am and other international meets including the Worlds and Olympics. The NAKF has had a pretty open participation policy to try and grow the popularity of the sport. Do you think there is any merit to the idea of setting domestic qualifying standards that local meets could use to qualify athletes for those larger meets such as the Nationals? How far off do you think we are from setting those kinds of standards?

L.P. Absolutely not yet and not for the foreseeable future. I have no idea when to start qualifying standards but we are no where near close. I would hate to deny anyone the experiences I’ve had. Let’s see how the sport grows. There’s so much room to grow before eliminating anyone from anything.

C.I. Yes there is merit to it. I’m with Lorraine that we need the sport to grow first. I would say that we are probably a couple of years away if we see continued growth.

ESB: Now that Valery Fedorenko is manufacturing Comp Bells here in the States, do you think we should require their use at local meets? My thinking is, if we want to compete overseas and host international meets here in the States and develop our athletes we will need to do that eventually anyway regardless of what the individual athlete may choose to train with at home. Any thoughts on when use of comp bells in NAKF meets should become mandatory?

C.I. I attended Valery’s Certification and received a full set of competition bells. I will make both types of bells available to the competitors for the foreseeable future. I think the bells need to be “more” available for a while before we can mandate that they are used solely in competitions, i.e. athletes need to have time to acquire them. If someone has International aspirations, then they definitely need to be using and competing with the competition style bells. I also believe that we probably need to reserve an MS designation for people who attain it with the competition bells unless we come up with our own rankings. I for one won’t attend a meet unless these bells are available, but that is just me.

L.P. Not yet. People should use what they are training with. They should also know that if they want to compete internationally they will have to get professional kbs and work hard with them. Personally I think if you want to compare yourself to someone in another country you should be using the same equipment. But that’s up to the individual. I also must say that making the switch has been very tough. I’m not yet completely comfortable with them.

ESB: What’s next for you in GS competition? Upcoming meets and so on.

C.I. The next Cross Country meet and then the May 2007 NAKF Nationals in Salt Lake City.

L.P. Well, there’s the Cross World meet on March 17th. There’s the Nationals on May 5th. I’m going to the Ukraine for a Long Cycle meet in March but unless they threaten me with violence I’d rather not participate. I’m going to further good relations and I can fly on a buddy pass so off I go.

ESB: Wrapping it up here, is there anything else you want to add or comment on that I haven't addressed?

L.P. Yes. My list of people to thank is huge and getting bigger every day. First I want to thank Matt MacNamara for hosting the 2007 Nationals in Salt Lake City. I know how big a job that is and how much work it entails and I’m so happy he decided to take it on. I know he’ll do a wonderful job with it. Also involved with the Nationals is Matt Goodrich - our official translator and tour guide to Moscow and St. Petersburg and an invaluable help to us in Latvia and Moscow. I have no idea what we would have done without him. Fortunately he is completely irresistible to Ukranian women so it’s not too dull for him.
Not a whole lot would happen in the GS world without Christine Uberti, Catherine Imes, Steve Cotter and our NAKF President Sean McGuire. There’s a lot more folks to thank but I’d be writing forever. It’s a great group and I’m forever grateful to be a part of it.

C.I. Thanks for putting this together.

ESB: My pleasure! Thank you for taking the time to talk about GS and your experiences. See you soon! (I hope that Cyrillic in the title translates like I meant it to!!)

Plus Ca Change, Plus C'est la Meme Chose

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I just wanted to comment briefly on the recent resignations of two of my favorite Kettlebell Senior Instructors from the Dragon Door Russian Kettlebell Certification program.

I have (as have many other certified instructors and kettlebell students) benefited greatly from the time I have been able to spend with Steve Cotter and Steve Maxwell. In their roles as elite athletes they demonstrate to a remarkable degree just what the human body is capable of. In their roles as teachers they inspire by their generosity of spirit, depth and breadth of knowledge and challenge those of us (which is most of us) with more modest physical gifts to not settle for mere potential but to strive to achieve excellence. While it is on the one hand too bad that future RKC candidates will not have the opportunity to work with these two exceptional human beings in the context of the certification course it is, on the other hand, also true that the course itself has been an evolving work in progress, not just in content but also in the personnel who deliver the course. Many recent RKCs have missed out on working with former Sr Instructors Martone, Lawrence, Morrisson, and Mahler but nonetheless have benefitted greatly from the expertise of differently gifted but nonetheless exceptional instructors tapped to replace them: DuCane, Reifkind, Eli and Jay. (And I don't want to forget to mention that one of the "original generation Seniors" Sr RKC Brett Jones continues to deliver the goods course after course in his own inimitable "tough love" style.)

The effectiveness of the RKC certification is in no small measure the result of contributions made not just by Chief Instructor Pavel Tsatsouline and the Senior Instructors, but by the entire RKC community...one has to only read Pavel's recent book Enter the Kettlebell to realize this: it is peppered with the ideas and tips and suggestions developed and forged in the field by us, the community at large. Each Certification Course is the "current state of the art" and it is the synergy of the community, the "community consciousness" if you will, that keeps pushing the quality of the course forward. The Senior Instructors perhaps represent the highest expression of the quality of the product but they are not the product itself. And in the final analysis the product is information. In other words, the messenger is not the message: it is always better to focus on where the teacher is pointing rather than on the finger of the teacher, regardless of how great that teacher may be.

The central organizing principle behind the certification is to deliver the highest quality instruction and training in the most efficient manner possible. To that end all the Senior Instructors have made enormous contributions and their efforts have pushed the enterprise forward and produced a large body of exceptional RKC instructors. It should come as no surprise then that among this pool of instructors there exist individuals possessing, as all the Senior Instructors have, truly exceptional abilities and whom, like the Seniors were at one time also "beginner" kettlebell instructors. Should the "adjunct faculty" Senior RKC model stay in place, these are the men and women who will continue to "put the hurt on" subsequent RKC instructor classes.

So, it is the nature of things that things change..and even though the faces of the Senior RKCs may change the thing that stays the same is the commitment of the Certification: its organizing principle to deliver exceptional instruction. I am really excited to see what the next phase will be for the careers of Steve C. and Steve M. Those of us who had the privilege of studying with them owe them a debt of gratitude for their contributions to our educations. But I am just as excited to see what's next for the RKC certification as it moves forward.

"You can observe a lot by watching" -Yogi Berra

I've set a goal for the month of January to do at least 200 kettlebell snatches a day for the entire month with a 24kg kettlebell. That's 100 snatches each with the left and right arm. I've given myself the constraint of doing all the snatches in one training session, but the freedom of executing the total with as many sets as I wish and with as much or little rest as I want. Some days I get it done in 10 minutes other days longer; Like last night it took over an hour because I did my sets while a trainee was resting between hers. I've really learned a lot about technique and grip sparing (and hand maintenance) over the last month. I have also been closely studying video of snatch masters like Fedorenko and Fuglev for technical clues. This habit of studying video of athletes to learn how to improve my own technique has always been a staple of my practice regardless of sport...hence the title of this post.

Another great observation and quote is from Jean Claude Killy, the great Alpine skier. He said ,"The best and fastest way to learn a sport is to watch and imitate a champion." I agree. If you have access to one on one coaching by a champion, that would be the best way. But if you access to video you can teach yourself all but the finest points of almost any sport.

When I ran, I studied the running form of the top local runners in my area, but I also watched champions like Rojas, Shorter and Rogers. When I learned tennis, I did not have access to a pro, but I developed a passable backhand, forehand, slice and topspin serve via a combination of the classic book "Tennis for the Future" by Vic Braden and watching as much tennis on T.V. (Tanner, Laver, Borg, Connors, McEnroe and yes, Evert and Navratilova too) and video as I could find and lots of practice against a wall. When I took up weightlifting, I did not have access to a coach, so my teachers were via book and video (Schmitz, Rigert, Alexeyev, Vardanian, Chakarov, Sulemanoglu) and lots of time with a broomstick, then an empty bar and then with weights. DVDs are a miracle for slow motion and stop action study...Kolecki actually slides the hands out from the rings to the near collars during his pull under on the snatch (something I don't mimic) a highly technical manuever to maximize pulling leverage with a narrow grip and minimize the height to which he has to pull the bar. Can't say if it is concious or not...but they sure don't teach that in the USAW "manual of style"!

As I said, you can't get it all from watching and imitating, but as Yogi said, you can observe a lot. Among the things I've picked up from watching Fuglev (and listening to the audio track) is a great anatomical breathing pattern I would never have arrived at on my own. From Fedorenko I've learned to follow the bell: the hips follow the bell as opposed the the RKC hard style of the hips leading the bell; how to position the hand just so at the lockout and how turn the bell at the top before it descends to minimize the turning and pulling of the handle in the hand. I do lots of "air" snatching...no bell at all...just grooving the pattern.

Two great resources: American CMS ranked athlete Jared Savik has a great Girevoy Sport book which is a "must have" available from his website: www.fitnessyoucanuse.com and Andrey Kuzmin has great materials and a library of videos of world class GS athletes showing their stuff on his website www.girevoysport.ru As I said, nothing beats having a coach present and I have had the privilege of being instructed by some of the best kettlebell athletes in the country: Pavel Tsatsouline, Steve Cotter, Steve Mawell, Jason C. Brown, Marty Farrell, Catherine Imes to name a few. You can locate a certified Russian Kettlebell Certified Instructor in your area on www.dragondoor.com

At any rate, you get the point. Watch, visualize yourself doing it and go practice. At some point, you find your own groove and your own style. This is similar to how traditional painting is taught : you copy the old masters and study their color, design, composition and form sense. You observe and mimic and internalize the moves and technique. Over time you find your own individual form sense and way of doing things. You discover your own voice. It is how art and sport and almost any human endeavor I can think of is transmitted, absorbed and eventually improved upon.

Watch and learn.

"Start Slow and Taper off."

Walt Stack's advice on running a marathon. Walt Stack was born in 1908 and died in 1995. He started running at age 57 and ran 62,000 miles before he died. I like his advice not only for running a marathon, but I also subscribe to it for all my strength training too. It applies to many disciplines. Pacing is key. In Girevoy Sport this pearl of wisdom is especially apt. GS is not a sprint (except at the elite levels, perhaps) but a sustained effort. A slow start with a sustainable pace that leaves something in the tank for the ending "Kick" if you want to or need to.

So why a post about a now deceased senior citizen runner? While it is true that I am more interested in strength sports these days I have noticed that distance running has begun getting more and more of a bad rep in some exercise physiology circles. I don't understand this. Sport is sport. All have their respective risks. As a former runner myself (I used to do relaxing Sunday morning 14 mile runs from my apartment in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago to Buckinham Fountain downtown...about two hours round trip and all along the Lake Michigan running path) I loved the sport when I did it. Maybe I will suffer some aches and pains from it somewhere down the line, but I wouldn't trade the sense of accomplishment or the real fun I had as a runner for anything. I feel the same about weightlifting and girevoy sport...in the long term I may suffer real pains from these sports as I age ( 'deed I do already!) ...but I am willing to cross those bridges when I come to them. So, I'm presenting this little homage to Stack partly as a rebuttal to the "running is bad for you" crowd and partly for the simple reason I admired him and think he deserves to be remembered. Often. (And it's my blog dammit!)

I first learned of the Amazing Walt Stack" when I took up running in 1979 and began to read everything I could find on the sport. He was a hero of one of my running friends, himself a senior citizen. Stack became a hero to me too...the more I read about the guy the more I appreciated him.

Here is an exerpt from a 1998 Outside Magazine
"Before becoming the world's most famous senior-citizen distance runner, Walt Stack (who died in 1995 at age 87) first got into shape the old fashioned way: He worked as a hod carrier, ferrying supplies to bricklayers, stonemasons, and the like on his broad shoulders. But in 1965, at 57, he decided that eight daily hours of hard labor just wasn't enough. So he ran the first of what would eventually become 62,000lifetime miles, crafting a highly visible training routine that made him a San Francisco institution - though many a Bay Area commuter was heard to mutter that he instead should've been committed to one. "I'm going to do this till I get planted," he'd say, and indeed he nearly did. Every day for 27 years, until sidelined by failing health in 1993, Stack would set out on his bike and ride the six hilly miles from his Potrero Hill home to Fisherman's Wharf. There he'd strip off his shirt - to display the tattoos of peacocks, wild horses, and bathing beauties muraled across his broad, rawhide chest - and run over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and back, 17 miles. Next, Stack would jump into the Bay near Alcatraz Island (sometimes accompanied by sharks) for a one-mile swim in choppy water he called "colder than a landlord's heart." Perhaps even more impressive than his daily routine, however - and a timeless reality check for those who may feel compelled to boast of their fitness exploits - was the perspective with which he viewed it. 'All this work I'm doing,' Stack once said in the midst of a bridge crossing, 'it don't mean shit.' "

One of my favorite Walt Stack stories told by triathlete Joe Oakes:" Walt Stack and I did the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. I believe the year was 1982 (note: Stack would have been 74) Walter had a hell of a good time, but during the bike ride which was the final event, he was several hours past the cutoff. That didn't bother Walter, because he had a contingent riding merrily along with him, keeping him supplied with beer. The next day at the awards dinner another older participant, a medical doctor from Japan, came to our table to inquire as to how Walter had fared. Walt replied "Oh, I was okay once I got out of the hospital." The puzzled doctor asked, "Why were you hospitalized, Mister Stack?" to which Walt replied, "To get that damned bicycle out of my ass."

There's also a book about this legend called The Running Saga of Walter Stack by Bob Bishop. Written in 1978 it is long out of print. "Stack took up running when he was 58 and went on to fill the “bionic geriatric roll that so many television networks and newspapers inevitably seem to recycle.” How he got to that point is a story that can only be summed up as trading a bunch of negative addictions for a bunch of positive ones. Indeed, one loses track of how many times this former 2-pack a day smoker (for 35 years) went in and out of jail. Even the FBI kept a detailed file on him as an admitted and active communist. Stack called Pikes Peak the “Wimbledon, World Series, and Super Bowl of running” and was very active in getting women to run up it. It was he who was the impetus for the group that call themselves the “Peak Busters.” It’s a neat story of a neat man that needs a second chapter — he finished his last Pikes Peak race in 1989 (11 years after this book went to press) at the age of 81. In all he had 19 Peak finishes and in the early 90’s he was the starter of the race several times before he passed away on January 19, 1995 at the age of 87. "

Stack even did a Nike commercial. It went like this: shots of him running with voiceover:"I run 17 miles every morning.People ask me how I keep my teeth from chattering in the wintertime....I leave them in my locker." Just do it!

Stack was also famous for running all his races regardless of distance at pretty much the same pace. Commenting on his steadiness, a Sports Illustrated article theorized that if Stack fell out of an airplane he would probably fall at 8.5 minutes per mile.

So, if your training day looks like a huge mountain ahead, or if you are having one of those off days and can't seem to get in the groove, try to remember Stack's advice, " start slow and taper off". It certainly has turned around many a workout for me, forging good ones out of what started off as bad ones.