Autumn 2007 - British Milers Club

Book reviewHigh Performance Middle Distance Runningby David Sunderland,published by the Crowood Press Ltd.Cost £12.99.It is refreshing to read a book about running written by asuccessful coach with over 35 years’ experience. The firstchapter introduces the reader to different training systemsand mentions all their inventors with the strange exception othe 5-pace system whose name is omitted (Frank Horwill).Later when this system is discussed it gives the impressionthat track work is done every other day and nothing else,when, infact, the day after track-work there is a recovery runof not less than 35 minutes. Also, in the winter the pacespredominanantly used are 5k, 3k, hill running and steadyrunning.The sections on strength training and mobility work arecopiously illustrated. The energy requirements for each eventare discussed at length and the training needed to improvethem.Nutrition is dealt with cursorily and the importance of lowglycaemic carbohydrates in preference to high glycaemic isnot stressed. Also, the frequency of iron deficiency in runnersis not discussed. The specimen schedules at the end omitthe 5k and 10k events.It’s customary for certain findings by others to beacknowledged if used in a book. The Russian Kosmin Testhad its formula computed by the late Ray Williams in 1979at the request of the BMC. It was first published in 1990 inOBSESSION FOR RUNNING by Frank Horwill. The tablesare BMC copyright.Peter Thompson, I.A.A.F. lecturer and development officer,claims that extracts of his work in LEVEL11 ADVANCESCOACHING THEORY TESTBOOK (2003) have been quotedwithout due acknowledgement.While periodisation is discussed fully, it is not revealed thatin the last issue of THE TRACK AND FIELD NEWS MANUALON MIDDLE DISTANCE RUNNING, the editor states,“Periodisation has lost its appeal to world class runners andis no longer used in its original form”. The simple reason forthis is that athletes compete all-year round for money andtrain pretty well much the same all-year round.Given a rating out of ten the book scores six.by Nevern RussellNotes from the editorArticles in this magazine do notnecessarily reflect the views of theBMC.The BMC welcome items from all itsmembers for inclusion in themagazine. From its many membersthere must a number who haveviews, comments or whatever theywould like to present to themembership. They can beforwarded to the editor by e-mail orby post.. Comments on currentarticles are especially welcome.48 BMC News : Autumn 2007