Ran a 2 x 5 miles at a really easy pace. Feeling much better versus yesterday.
Those few of you that read my blog know that I'm a man of few words. Let's say I lack a lot of details about my running. Anyway, since I don't have much to say on my blog I thought I'd add some quotes from Dr. Ernest Van Aaken. I've studied the scant amount of his writings that are available and try to follow his methods. They have done wonders for my running and I'd like to share some his thoughts once and a while. My hope is that it might help some of you with your running experience. Most excerpts will come from the book called the "Van Aaken Method". First some background for those who never have heard of the man.
Ernest Van Aaken was born May 16, 1910, in Emmerlick, Germany and died on April 2, 1984. During the 1930s, he studied astronomy and physics, but later switched to medicine. He served during WWII as a surgeon and director of a field hospital. Then after the war he set up his medical practice in the village of Waldniel. That same year he began writing about the "pure endurance method" which he had been formulating since the 1920s after he'd watched Paavo Nurmi in the Olympic Games. He founded and coached the OSC (Olympic Sports Club) Waldniel, and in 1960 set up the German Association of Veteran Long Distance Runners. He has been called the "Wizard of Waldniel" and "Father of LSD (long, slow distance)". Dr. Van Aaken displays wisdom developed over 40 years of scientific investigation and practical application. By his own reckoning, Van Aaken has written some 300 articles and 6000 letters on matters relating to sports medicine and general fitness. He lectured throughout Europe, Japan, and in the United States. He has examined and advised hundreds of runners, including a dozen German national champions and several Olympic competitiors (most notably, Harald Norpoth).
His method is no mystery to Germans and as he states, "My whole teaching in one sentence is 'Run slowly, run daily, drink moderately, and don't eat like a pig.' To be healthy, one must train and eat like a marathoner." According to the doctor, "Only the person who runs daily, lives mostly without touching his reserves and who eats little but well will ever become a good runner."
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