The author Ronander Finn is a freelance writer and a runner of Runner's World, the most influential running magazine in the world. In order to break through his own limits, he took his children to Kenya in 2006 and trained with a group of top Kenyan athletes in a local town for six months. The book describes the running trip.
This is a running documentary novel that combines running, customs and culture. In addition to running training records, the book also describes the unique landscape of the Great Rift Valley in central and eastern Africa, the African plain where elephants, lions and other wild animals meet, the image of Kenyans running sporadically or in groups, the grand local competitions where experts gather, and the touching stories behind the runners. The description is profound and vivid, which makes people understand not only how Kenyans run, but also the origin of Kenyan running culture.
The place where the author was trained in Kenya is a small town called Iten. Although this town is small, it is famous all over the world. It has produced more than 40 world-class long-distance running champions (this book was published on 20 15, and now the number of champions should be more than 40), which is known as the "hometown of long-distance running" in Kenya. Located in the Rift Valley of East Africa, the town is more than 2,400 meters above sea level, which is very suitable for training long-distance runners. There are about 4000 residents in this town, but there are more than 100 running training camps everywhere. Thousands of top athletes live and train there all the year round, and any one in Lu Yu is a super god.
St. Patrick High School in the town is a Catholic boarding school and the starting point of the brilliant career of Colm O'Connell, the godfather of Kenyan running. His story is full of legend-a foreign priest with no sports background actually taught Kenyans how to run, and his students became world-class long-distance champions, making the little-known St. Patrick a famous cradle of champions. It sounds strange, but it is a true story.
In the late 1970s, Friar Colm came from Ireland to teach in St Patrick's. As soon as the school's foreign track and field coach returned to China, he took the vacancy and made professional achievements after one job. The team he coached achieved good results in Kenya's national competitions.
1986, Kenya will participate in the first World Youth Championship held in Elegant. He will choose the players. He will choose nine athletes, seven of whom are from St Patrick. These people unexpectedly won nine medals, including four gold medals.
1989 Established the first running training camp in Kenya. The original intention was to provide holiday training for girls, which led to the popularity of the concept of "running training camp". At present, there are more than 120 training camps in Eaton and its surrounding areas, and athletes from Kenya and all over the world come in an endless stream, injecting vitality into the town.
Because of the influence of Friar Colm and St Patrick, Eton Town has become a holy place for runners and even has its own sports festival.
This book introduces the training skills of *** 10 Kenyan runners:
But after reading the whole book, I think the most crucial reason is the endurance foundation they have established since childhood. A solid endurance foundation enabled them to win at the starting line of running. Their training methods can be copied, but the growth environment can't.
Kenyans have been running since childhood, but this kind of running is an unconscious behavior caused by poverty, which is different from the compulsory running education in Japanese schools. Brother Colm also pointed out that all Kenyan excellent runners come from poor rural families.
Because of poverty, Kenyans have worked hard since childhood, herding cattle and sheep and running around. After school, you should run back and forth between school and home. If you are late, you will be severely punished by the school. Compared with Kenya's active childhood life, the author laments the "weakening" phenomenon of Kenyan children-"In the recent 10 years, ordinary children in Britain 10 have weakened, their muscle content has decreased, and their ability to carry out simple physical activities has also weakened." The weakening of physical fitness is related to the modern lifestyle. When life becomes more and more comfortable, people sit longer and longer, children's activities are less and less, and the physical quality of a generation is declining.
Because of poverty, Kenyans can only run barefoot. The pedal is in close contact with the ground directly, and I have mastered the most effective running posture of the forefoot landing-"I learned how to land carefully when running, so as not to hurt myself. I learned to land lightly, and I learned to skim the ground lightly instead of hitting the ground heavily." Running barefoot for many years since childhood has also honed their thick feet, strong and elastic ankles and high arches. In the author's eyes, western children put on all kinds of protective shoes long before they learned to walk, but they lost their ability to feel the ground and learn to run long ago.
Because of poverty, Kenyans eat simple and healthy diets. They eat low-fat foods rich in carbohydrates, such as Ugali (Kenya's staple food, a dense corn paste). This diet structure shapes their generally thin figure-this is the standard figure of excellent long-distance runners. In contrast, the author complains that the quality of British diet is declining, eating more salt and high-fat food than before, and obesity and diabetes patients are increasing.
The hardships of daily life have honed their tenacious psychological quality and given them a strong desire to change their lives and pursue success. Running may be a hobby, a pastime and entertainment for others, but it is life and survival for them. Running is their only way out in life. This idea makes them devote themselves to running, and even if they are extremely tired at the end, they can speed up the sprint.
Running to make money, it is best to compete abroad, and then use the bonus to buy land, cattle and houses. Most of them have a simple dream.
Kenyan runners who come to Eton Town have two training methods. One is to find a suitable training partner and train with them. The other is to join the training camp and train with the team, not only with the guidance of the coach, but also with the service of the masseur. The latter is more effective, and it is easier to get the opportunity to go abroad, because many training camps in Eaton are run by foreign brokers.
The living conditions in most training camps are extremely simple, with only the most basic facilities, such as digging holes in the concrete floor as toilets. Bathing needs another bucket to catch water. Athletes should take turns doing housework and cleaning public toilets. In the training camp, no matter the champion or the newcomer, everyone is equal.
Getting rid of poverty is the original motivation for most Kenyan athletes to run, but even if they become rich, they still choose to keep their original lifestyle and live a relatively simple life in training camps. They think that a simple lifestyle is one of their advantages, and a comfortable life will make people lose the motivation to struggle.
Kenya is a magical long-distance running country. The author returned from training in Kenya, and the score of 10 km increased by 3 minutes, and the score of the whole horse for the first time was 2 hours and 55 minutes. The magic of training in Kenya makes every runner yearn for such a running trip.