by Adolfo Salgueiro | Jun 18, 2024 | Book Review, Opinion
Written by Kathrine Switzer
Reviewed by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
I’ve wanted to read Marathon Woman for quite a while. For years. But because I thought I knew the Kathrine Switzer Boston Marathon story, other running books ended up jumping the line. Now that I tackle it, and finished it, I am glad I did. There is so much more to the generic story most of us think we know. There is so much more about this pioneering woman that every runner with the most basic interest in the history of our sport, especially women, should know.
The book was originally published in April 2007, for the 40th anniversary of her historic 1967 Boston Marathon. A new and updated version was released for the 50th anniversary.
Runners with basic knowledge in the history of running may know who Kathrine Switzer is. Yes, she was the first woman that while properly registered, ran the Boston Marathon. Yes, she is the protagonist of that set of three photos where the marathon official, Jock Semple, attacks her while trying to rip her bib. And yes, she is one of the pioneers of women’s long-distance running.
The set of photos by Harry A. Trask that propelled women’s running into a legitimate sport
But that is just part of the story. Only part of her legacy. She did so much more to promote that women were more than able to run beyond 800 meters, that they could run as far as they wished, including marathons at high speed without their uterus falling out. She was the catalyst of the women’s marathon becoming an Olympic event starting in 1984. And she did it not as a banner of feminism but because she believed women could do it, and se set out to prove it through actions. Not just words.
I am not going to go deep into the history of women’s running in the last 50 years. That is what the book is there for. But have this in mind: if you are a woman runner reading this post, next time you are in a race and see that more than half of the field being female, make sure you thank Kathrine Switzer.
I am sure that if Switzer did no endured and persevered through what she did, women would still be running marathons today. Another pioneer would have risen to the occasion. But Switzer was the one who did it, and as such, she should be recognized as a trailblazer in our sport. One of the most influential figures in history.
Switzer was more than a curiosity. She won the NYC Marathon, 2nd set up at 2:52 PR in Boston.
In her first-person account the author is very candid, vulnerable, and open about her life, both on and off the asphalt. She starts as a girl who just wants to run but finds no outlet, through her fateful first marathon, her win in the NYC Marathon, her 2:51 PR, the AVON race series for women and finally establishing the female marathon as an Olympic event.
Switzer is funny, intimate, candid and holds no punches while discussing her personal life experiences, especially when it comes to the men she has shared her life with. Her romantic relationships were not the best, yet she was able to persevere and come victorious on the other side, without surrendering as a victim and still making her life’s goal a reality.
You don’t have to be a runner, or a woman for that matter, to enjoy and learn something from Marathon Woman. I highly recommend it. It is worth two particularly important resources: your time and your money.
Have you read Marathon Woman? Let me know your thoughts in the comment box below.
by Adolfo Salgueiro | Feb 7, 2023 | Article, Coaching, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
Last week I was talking to a friend who is helping his brother train for his first half marathon. He told me the toughest part of the process is making him understand that the “no pain, no gain” old-school mentality no longer applies to running. The days of alchemy are over. The collective thought has evolved and adjusted to new science studies or discoveries, thus, we understand matters in a new way, one that 5, 10 or 50 years ago was unheard of.
In 1968 Kathrine Switzer had to finagle her way into the Boston Marathon because back then women were thought to be so fragile, they could not endure such physical punishment. The carb depletion pre-marathon protocol was the rage in the mid-1980s, today we know it makes no sense. The “I run through pain” approach that showed bravado 20 years ago, displays recklessness, today. And like that, many more running ideas that once we thought gospel, today are barely gimmicks.
A good book worth the time and the money. Highly recommended.
In his book “Do Hard Things” author Steve Magness, one of my coaching role models, talks in depth about getting over of this old-school thinking. He explains how toughness is navigating through your training, not bulldozing through it. This how we avoid overtraining, and even worse, injuries. It is about being smart.
He goes through eight strategies to develop real toughness as a runner. I am not going to go through all of them, of course. If you want to go in depth into them, that’s what the book is for. But I will briefly touch on three that caught my attention and that I now teach my coached athletes.
A – Our alarms are adjustable: “Being tough gets easier the fitter you are.”
What an avant-garde concept! Think about it this way: If you spent the last 10 years on the couch watching TV and eating Doritos but decide to go for a 5K run, most likely you will suffer through it, regardless of your commitment or toughness. But, if you got the running bug, you trained smartly, diligently, and two years later you complete a marathon, it is not because you have multiplied your toughness. You reaped the benefits of your work and got better at it. Just like the first time Bruce Springsteen picked up a guitar, which these days is an extension of his body.
B – We need hope and control: “The key to improve mental toughness doesn’t lie in constraining and controlling individuals. It doesn’t lie in developing harsh punishments to teach a lesson. It doesn’t lie in screaming at the person to complete the task in front of them.”
The era of “I am not done when we are tired, I am done when I am done”, is done (pun intended). If you are training for a marathon, you need to run 18 miles but you are feeling unwell, stressed at work, just had a fight with your spouse last night, didn’t sleep well, it is a hot/humid summer morning and you are beat up at mile 15… what’s best? Calling it a day and be happy you completed 80% of your workout despite the circumstances, or pushing through while destroying yourself, to prove your machismo and then having to take 7-10 days to recover from the effort? … Exactly!
Finishing exhausted after a training session could lead to injury. Be smart and always live to run another day. (Photo: Pexels)
C – Feelings and Understanding need interpretation: “The power through mantra only makes sense if you take stock in what you are powering through.”
I want to make sure my readers understand I am not saying you need to be complacent when training gets difficult. We need to learn how to power through difficult trainings, races, cross training and life. The key is to understand why we are doing what we are doing. If we are trying to run at race pace, then race pace sessions will be difficult. But we need to push through them if we want to understand and teach our bodies how to run at that pace. When we start strength training, or add yoga to our plan, everything will hurt, but there’s a good reason to keep going despite the aches and pains. It is not about suffering for fun; it is about reaping benefits in the near future.
These is my take on three of these principles, I fully recommend the book. “Do Hard Things” is a good investment of time and money for any runner out there. And it is not just for runners, but for every person wanting to get better at leaving their comfort zone behind and actually going for what they want, for their life goals, not just the athletic ones.
Please leave me your thoughts nn this blogpost, in the box below.
