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Speaker challenges runners, offers advice
By Lynn M. Woolhouse
Local award-winning marathon runner Joe Perske spoke on Thursday, Nov. 21, at the St. Cloud Hospital. The Central Minnesota Heart Center and the St. Cloud River Runners sponsored the event.
Perske, who has run over 80,000 miles in his lifetime and averages 500 miles a month, spoke to the crowd of about 50. He offerred tips and techniques for improved running.
Perske has won awards nationally and internationally, and run for the Olympic marathon trials twice.
He said the first thing a runner needs to do is decide what it is they want to get out of their running. Runners need to ask themselves, “Is it enjoyable, is running healthy for me?”
“Your ability to run depends a lot on your own genetic endowment. How fast are your parents?” Perske asked the audience.
According to Perske, it’s the biological fiber that a person has that will determine if they are a good or outstanding runner.
Last year 59 out of the 60 best runners in the world were from Africa. Along with good trainibng, it is the fast-twitch fiber in the Kenyan’s and Ethiopian’s legs that give them the ability to be some of the best runners in the world.
“The desire to win means nothing without the desire to train,” Perske quoted an anonymous runner. Training breaks the body down then allows it the ability to rebuild itself. By training, runners add stress to their bodies and it is that stress that makes runners stronger.
Perske discussed three different workout methods of training for runners: the long run, the tempo run, and interval run.
The long run will get the runner to the finish line. This workout increases the runner’s cardiovascular system. The workout consists of a long run, 17 minutes, then a shorter run, six minutes, and then back up a little, eight minutes.
The tempo run helps runners establish their race pace and gets them to the finish line. A runner should plan on a seven or eight minute race pace. This workout trains the runner to hold the intensity of the run.
The interval run will get the runner to the finish line fast. It is an aerobic and anaerobic workout that might be at a six minute pace, then a five minute run, and a two-minute recovery, or jog.
As with all training, one needs to watch out for myths and fast-result flukes.
“Be careful with some of the information out there,” Perske said.
Perske once tried what is known as “The Banana Diet.” The diet consisted of pounds of dried bananas. Before a race, Perske once ate over a pound of the crunchy, sweet confections.
“I ate them like they were peanuts,” Perske said.
When it was time for the race to begin Perske was feeling good. For the first two to three miles he was on top of the race, but then the bananas hit him. The chips made him sick and the race was over.
Frank Shroeder, an Olympic gold medalist, was once asked why he took a vitamin, he simply answered, “because I don’t want to get beat by someone who does.”
According to Perske, a runner needs to stick to the principles of running. He threw his good race away for trying out a miracle food. Perske emphasized that no miracle will make up for inconsistent, bad training.
A key to running is consistent training and a healthy body. Perske suggests eating plenty of protein and carbohydrates, and not attempting to race when ill.
“The desire to run comes from within,” Perske said. Perske has known people who walk the last six miles of a marathon, and he stills considers them heroes.
“They had the courage to finish,” he said.
The sport of marathon running is much different than soccer or football.
What Perske likes best about the marathon is that all the runners are doing the same thing: running. The men and women in the front of the race, the men and women in the back, they all run the same course. The runner, who comes in last, runs the same course as the runner who comes in first.
“It’s not necessarily the goal, the medal, or the t-shirt that is important, but getting there is important,” Perske said.
On April 18 and 19, 2003, St. Cloud will host the Earth Day Half Marathon. The St. Cloud River Runners, St. Cloud Hospital and other affiliates will sponsor the event.
For more information about the Earth Day Half Marathon, and the St. Cloud River Runners, call (320) 255-3325.
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