I think I trained quite hard as a young lad, but no more than my contemporaries as far as I remember. I’m sure some trained even harder. So here is an extract from my diary aged 17. The Sunday before this I had finished 64th in the Mike Sully Cross Country race.
| Date | AM | PM |
| Monday 5/11 | 3 mile steady run on hilly roads | 5 mile steady run on flat roads. Played squash in the evening |
| Tuesday 6/11 | 5 mile fartlek on flat roads. 12 efforts | 3 mile steady run over very hilly roads |
| Wednesday 7/11 | 3 mile steady run on hilly roads | 5 mile hard run on flat roads |
| Thursday 8/11 | 3 mile hard run on flat roads | 12 hill efforts on Dapps Hill. Plus 2 miles warm up and down |
| Friday 9/11 | Rest | 3 mile hard run over hilly roads |
| Saturday 10/11 | 10 mile steady run over hilly roads | Rest |
| Sunday 8/11 | 3 mile easy run | 8 mile steady run over hilly roads |
Total mileage for the week was recorded as 55. I also recorded everything I ate and the estimated number or calories I consumed. All I can say is that I ate a lot of cake!
The following week I finished 3rd in the Bath and Wansdyke cross country championships and a few weeks later I finished 16th in the Gwent League cross country, which I noted was my best cross country run of the year so far.
I would like to see how this compares to the 17 year old runners of today.
Cheers
Wayne
Hi Wayne,
Being so much younger than yourself i know this isn’t totally relevant to your request! But I thought it would be fun to see what I was doing for the exact same week as you as a 16 year old in 1979 after the Mike Sully xc at which I finished 13th in the Youths race which I have recorded as Sunday the 4th.
Monday – 9 miles – Brisk
Tues – 6 miles – steady
Wed – am: 20x 20 sec hills. pm: 6x 90 sec hills. Total 7 miles
Thurs – 5 miles steady
Fri – 6 miles easy/steady
Sat – 5 miles – first half steady second half hard
Sun – 6 miles – steady
PS I do have the following years (ie 17 y.o.) diary somewhere.
Hi Geoff,
Good to hear from you. That’s very interesting, would like to know how that compares to youngsters of today. 2 hill sessions in one day, never seen that before. Like me, you didn’t take a rest day either.
Cheers
Wayne