has applied his mentor’s methods to his own coaching. But it is perhaps inevitable that the coach and his ideas fade from the public eye somewhat. In the 1970s, almost any distance runner knew of van Aaken and had at least some familiarity with his method. But he is virtually unknown among modern runners. Has van Aaken had any lasting impact, and is his method effective?

Certainly, in the last 40 years, the idea that you can become a faster distance runner by doing most of your training at considerably slower than race pace has become fairly widely accepted. Van Aaken was one of the people who worked to introduce that idea. Dieter Hogan, who coached Uta Pippig and a few Kenyan athletes, once acknowledged that he took some of his training ideas from Ernst van Aaken. A glance at the training of Dieter Baumann, Germany’s 1992 Olympic 5,000-meter gold medalist, shows an amazing amount of slow training. Even the interval sessions resemble those of Norpoth or Watschke in that they are never faster than race pace and often noticeably slower.

Modern coaches like Frank Horwill and Peter Coe have employed “multipaced” training systems. Yet the Waldniel method, with its slow and moderate distance runs, slow tempo and interval runs, and small amounts of race-paced running and sprint work, previews the modern multipaced system. A decade or so ago, Jack Daniels was presenting the idea of cruise intervals, intervals done at considerably less than race pace. Van Aaken was using this idea in the 1950s.

It does seem clear that van Aaken created a training system that is effective and, for many, more pleasant to use and perhaps less likely to induce injury than more intense training systems might. So how would a modern runner wishing to employ the van Aaken method train? The runner would build mileage to six to 13 miles each day, done at a comfortable pace and with walking breaks, at least initially. After perhaps two years of this sort of running, van Aaken suggested the following workouts:

¢ Runs of 12 to 30 miles through forests or on level roads

¢ Runs of six to nine miles through forests, followed by 3 x 500 meters at the racing speed on the track, such as a 5,000-meter runner who can do 1,500 meters in 3:42 running 500 meters in 74 seconds with three-minute jogging or walking recoveries

¢ Runs of six to nine miles in the forest or on the track with slight accelerations over 80 to 200 meters and jogging recoveries of the same distance

You need not worry about the pace on these distance runs other than to make sure that the run wasn’t done too hard. To steal a line from Arthur Lydiard as he described base work in Running to the Top, “You can never run too slowly. But you can run too fast.” Or you could follow van Aaken’s one-sentence recommendation for better running and health: “Run daily; run slowly; don’t i eat like a pig.” I

Be Careful Whom You Compete Against.

his story is about the very best workout buddy I have ever had.

It started like this: The weekend was hot. The temperature was 100-plus degrees. I spent Saturday on the Olympic Training Center’s archery range. I was shooting my bow in the state games and was standing in the hot sun all day. I was fried and boiled, red, burned, and hot.

Sunday is my long-run day, and the plan was for a three-hour run. There was absolutely no way I was going to put my poor parboiled body through another day in the sun.

I found my free gym pass and was off for a three-hour run on a treadmill in a nice, cool gym.

As I walked upstairs to the treadmills, I noticed a person behind me heading for the same equipment. I circled around the treadmills and chose one farther down the line so the fellow or gal behind me could have first pick. I assumed the person walking behind me was on the treadmill beside me.

When I prepare to mount the treadmill beast, I am all business. I wear my trail-running pack, complete with water bottles and a Walkman. I am focused and don’t look around. I prepare the music and start to walk and then run. I am serious. I have very poor eyesight, no side vision, and must look straight ahead when running on a treadmill or I will fly off the back or sides.

I started to run. The music is Yanni. I run. I feel good. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the person next to me is running very well. I see perfect posture and form. I am impressed. Time passes.

After 45 minutes of running fast and slow to the music (I think of them as Yanni intervals), I have to pee. I entertain the idea of asking the person next to me to watch my stuff while I run downstairs. No. I will keep running until that person stops. No one stays on the treadmill as long as I do. lam woman. See me run. I am on fire, running very fast and strong. The person next to me just keeps on running.

I start to plan a social contact with this runner. Maybe we can get a snack or health drink after our runs. I amuse myself with conversations we could have.