[TPIN] 4 minute mile

[Bob Romans]

  How well I remember Roger Bannister's great achievement!. I always did love to run, and was fascinated by the 4 minute barrier...but the way I heard it, Roger had a trainer who started him on push-ups, and that's when the improvement began...funny how info get's tainted with the years! Probably many things entered into his training...just wish he had been a trumpet player...maybe the first to break the 4 or 5 octave high C!!
Warm regards,
Bob Romans,
1617 Lakeshore Dr.,
Lodi, Calif. 95242
Ph 209-747-1148
www.cellblockseven2002.net


 One of the great stories of man's physical limitations that speaks to our ideas of traditional training versus cross training and seemingly unrelated training is the story of the 4 minute mile.  Running a mile in under  4 minutes was thought for many years to be the ultimate definer and limit of human capacity for speed and endurance.  Glenn Cunningham and others knocked on the door for years but could not break through this invisible barrier.  Perhaps it just couldn't be done?  The training was hard.  They thought they had done everything that they could do to train themselves to break through the 4 minute barrier. until.........
 
     Along came a young medical student, Roger Bannister, who had joined in the effort to smash the record .  Yet, he too failed, even with his extremely aggressive training..  Finally, after many failed attempts, Bannister decided to take some time away from his training and do something completely different.  He went on a mountain climbing trip. Surely, mountain climbing was about as completely opposite in terms of muscle usage as running the mile.  It couldn't have any training value for running the mile.  As a matter of fact, it might even be detrimental to Roger's training.

Warm regards,
Bob Romans,
1617 Lakeshore Dr.,
Lodi, Calif. 95242
Ph 209-747-1148
www.cellblockseven2002.net