Jeff Benjamin, Ken Popejoy, Jim Spivey, Mike Durkin, Craig Virgin, photo by Jeff Benjamin
Mike Durkin was a fine athlete in the 1970s. I recall him competing in the 1976 Olympic Games. Mike Durkin became a coach after his competitive days and advised Jim Spivey for several years.
Special thanks to MIke Durkin for his thoughts on training and communicating with Jeff Benjamin.
Awaiting The Baton In The Relay Exchange Zone – Profiles Of Athletes, Coaches & Legends During The War Against Corona
Profile # 34
2-Time Olympian, NCAA & World Class-Miler Mike Durkin
By Jeff Benjamin
How is your routine going and what advice can you give to runners, -especially youth, high school, collegiate- who are challenged during this time as well?
“Being a week shy of my 67th birthday, I wouldn’t call my workout routine “training!” However, even the plodding that I do these days has required adjustments. If I were a competitive athlete, I’d strive to make the best of the situation in which I found myself. In 1976, as a first year law school student holding down a part-time job, while trying to snag an invite to the Olympic Trials, I learned that adjusting to the routine that I had followed the previous 8 years ,while in high school and college (i.e. working out immediately after classes ended), didn’t impede having a dream season.
“These days, maintaining proper social distancing while out on runs is the biggest challenge that runners will face- but that is the highest prerogative. Being prepared to move away from others that you encounter, by injecting mini-bursts of speed when necessary, would replicate the changes in tempo that any racer needs to have in his arsenal. I would recommend using this time to build an athlete’s base, emphasizing longer runs. I believe that makes sense, with competitions no longer being on the calendar. I’d treat this time as the hiatus that occurs following the hard racing season. If I were training in this environment, in a week’s time, I’d be sure to include one run of at least two hours in duration, and another two of at least an hour. Recovery days with 30-40 minutes runs at “talking pace” should follow those longer efforts (with core and strength training on those same days), and I’d throw in a fartlek-style run or an interval workout, once per week. For a city -dweller like me, a workout alternating one block on (1/8th mile) and one block off awaits, right outside my door.”
“My other advice to runners is to maintain their focus on a goal, even if that goal needs to be adjusted. As a member of the ill-fated 1980 Olympic Team, I witnessed teammates who were absolute sure bets to medal at the Games, such as Edwin Moses, Craig Virgin, Don Paige and Steve Scott, readjust their goals and have outstanding seasons in 1980. Although they lost their shot at Olympic glory,( and I insist that they were locks to be medalists!), they never lost sight of their ultimate goal of striving to be the best in their event, despite not racing in Moscow.”
“It is important to realize that you can’t control everything in life, so concentrate on controlling those things that you have the power to control. Foremost among those things is your ability to continue to train in some form or fashion. (The great Emil Zatopek would train during the Czechoslovakian winters by running through knee-high snow drifts, while wearing heavy combat boots. Primitive? Maybe. Effective? Absolutely! Look it up!) Keep in mind that this, too, shall pass. These shelter-in-place orders and social distancing requirements will ultimately be lifted, and competitions will resume. Cross Country championships will be contested in the Fall; the Olympic Games will take place;and all of the competitions leading up to those Games will occur.”
“Will you be ready, or is this going to be a convenient excuse to be pulled out of your back pocket?”
“ADJUST!”
