| WARNING: This article will cause some people to | | | | Record in the 400 with a blistering 1:10.64 and |
| get defensive, to get their hackles up, to make | | | | back in Toronto a new outdoors 800 World |
| excuses for their less-than-great physical condition | | | | Record (pending?) with a blazing 2:48.95. If Earl is |
| while others will find hope in it. Proceed with | | | | slowing down, it's not by very much. If you'd like |
| caution. | | | | to see Earl's 800m World Record race, go to |
| Canadian Earl Fee went from being a good runner | | | | YouTube and type in "Fee breaks World 800m" -- |
| in his youth to being a great one in his later years. | | | | it's really worth a look. |
| By applying what we can learn from his hugely | | | | That Earl Fee can run this well at age 80 means |
| successful transformation maybe we can go from | | | | he's dong something(s) right. In a talk he gave this |
| average to awesome shape or maybe become a | | | | November at the Ontario Senior Games he told |
| masters athlete or a more successful one. Before | | | | the audience, "My main training secret... is to age |
| looking at how he did it, we should probably take | | | | slower than my rivals." Let's see how he's done |
| a peek at a little of why he's considered a great | | | | this: |
| runner today. | | | | - Earl uses short intense anaerobic intervals rather |
| Earl was a good, maybe even a very good | | | | than long aerobic runs "to slow the aging process" |
| middle-distance runner in high school and college -- | | | | and set new records |
| for example, his 400-meter time was around 51 | | | | - He follows hard workouts and races with easier |
| seconds (not bad at all, but not off the charts | | | | ones and stretches several times every day |
| either). After a 33-year hiatus from running, this | | | | - Cross training (rowing, weight lifting, swimming |
| nuclear engineer/supervisor decided to start | | | | and pool running) is interspersed between running |
| running with his two sons, Curtis and Tyler. At the | | | | sessions/days |
| time he was in excellent shape having kept active | | | | - Uses mental techniques before and during races |
| through the years with tennis, water and snow | | | | to improve results -- sees training as a mind-body |
| skiing and a habit of doing about 50 push-ups | | | | experience |
| every day. At age 56 Earl competed in his first | | | | - Formally and informally studies the art and |
| race since college, did well, found it was fun and | | | | science of running and training -- keeps meticulous |
| hasn't looked back since. | | | | logs of his running/training and refers to them |
| In his 24 years of competing in masters running | | | | often to see what is working and what isn't |
| Earl's been very successful, to say the least, in | | | | - Eats well -- enjoys a low-glycemic diet consisting |
| the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 300m hurdles, | | | | of mostly fish and a little chicken for his protein, |
| 10Ks, cross-country races and more. How | | | | fruit, nuts, whole grains, red wine and heavy on |
| successful? He's won 12 Canadian cross country | | | | the vegetables -- takes 13 nutritional supplements, |
| age-group titles. As of 2009, he has broken 53 | | | | including vitamins C and E, arginine and glutamine |
| (and counting) masters World Records and still | | | | (amino acids), fish oil, Co-Enzyme Q10 |
| holds 14 of them. This past March, on his 80th | | | | - Earl has kept the long stride of a much younger |
| birthday, he celebrated by running a World Record | | | | runner by doing periodic stretches throughout the |
| breaking 1:11.23 in the 400m at the Ontario | | | | day -- Typically stride length decreases about one |
| Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This time | | | | inch per year due to loss of flexibility |
| annihilated the 80-84 age-group Canadian Record | | | | Earl also believes in a balanced life. In this regard, |
| by 8 seconds and shattered the existing World | | | | he is not only a runner, but also a family man, |
| Record by more than 4 seconds; showing his | | | | artist, poet, motivational speaker and author. He is |
| stamina, just three hours later he was back on | | | | the author of The Complete Book of Running: |
| the track running the 200m in 32.07, just missing | | | | How to be a Champion From 9 to 90 and has |
| American Mel Larson's 31.86 World Record and | | | | another due out in late 2010, entitled: 100 Years |
| breaking Aleks Ernesak's Canadian Record by | | | | Young the Natural Way -- Body Mind Spirit |
| over 3 seconds. A few weeks later, in Raleigh, | | | | Training. |
| North Carolina, he set a new outdoors World | | | | |