Table of Contents
Part I — Question and answers
- Greg Meyer: Why do I get more satisfaction from training than from racing?
- Craig Virgin: How do I cope with the pressures of winning or, on the other hand, the disappointment of losing in a sports competition?
- John Dimick: What should a good runner do when he finds that the pressures of his family, community and job mean he cannot train at high mileage or undertake frequent racing?
- Dick Beardsley: Recently I ran a 2:08:53 marathon with primarily a road-racing background. Would it improve my chances of making the 1984 Olympic marathon team if I partake in training and racing the 10,000 metres on the track? If I get the speed down in 10,000 metres, will I run a faster marathon?
- Rod Dixon: Am I being reasonable to expect my family to understand my physical urge to pursue my running life? I want to please my family, yet I also want to please my running career.
- Eamonn Coghlan: Given an Olympic final, when ten competitors are lined up in the race, and all are 100 per cent physically fit and prepared, what does it take for one runner to win over the others?
- Don Kardong: Why do you think that runners often are able to achieve a meditative state while running?
- Question: What role should competition play in one's running?
- Mike Spino: If higher states of consciousness are possible when running, will this always result in superlative performances? Can there be a poor performance and a gain in the life quest? If so, how can this be recognised?
- Mike Spino: In our last meeting I was fortunate to have you observe a film of the late Percy Cerutty demonstrating his canter and gallop techniques. You made insightful commentary on the nature of his spirit as it related to this late phase of his life. Could you elaborate further?
- Mike Spino: America is seeking a form of an Olympic training centre, yet the American lifestyle negates the use of any mental training that is larger than biofeedback or personality inventory. As a university coach seeking a mental training technique with objective timings, how does one balance the objectives of a programme? Is it a 'given' that as we seek dual purposes of spirituality and performance, we will remain an iconoclast, understood by only a small circle and questioning our own methods?
- Mike Spino: I have experimented with moving visualisations in an attempt to transfer 'sitting awareness' to running consciousness. What suggestions can you make for this transfer, and is sitting a necessary prerequisite for the development of elated running consciousness?
- Gary Fanelli: Sometimes when I am racing, I ask myself, "What am I doing here, beating my brains and body out?" I've had some injuries, but I continue racing. What is the best attitude toward this?
- Cahit Yeter: After averaging nearly 7,000 miles over the past three years, I believe I have satisfied my thirst for very long, long runs. Meanwhile, I am still entering many long races. Most of the time, winning itself does not come into my mind, but sometimes I think of running beyond the records most other men have run. I'd like to know, since winning is everything in America and I am part of it, why I have lost my desire to win.
- Mary Slaney (formerly Decker-Tabb): It is known that some female athletes, because of drugs, have a chemical advantage over their competitors. How can a natural athlete, such as myself, justify the use of world rankings, knowing that other athletes using drugs are consistently ranked higher than so-called natural athletes?
Part II — Talk
Part III — Interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Question: Do you have a philosophy on physical fitness?
- Question: Which comes first — the inner life or the outer life?
- Question: How does exercise and competition help the inner life?
- Question: Is improvement and building on previous records important, or is the main thing to exercise daily?
- Question: Spiritually, what can we get from games? Volleyball, for instance, is one of those sports that they will be doing in the Senior Olympics.
- Question: Why is the development of the Senior Olympics important?
- Question: In your remarks tonight, what do you anticipate saying to the Senior Olympians?
- Question: Could you talk about the concert that you will be giving?
- Question: What is the relationship between meditation and sports? I know in martial arts, which is something I've done for many years, there is a direct relationship, but does it also exist with sports?
Part IV — Question and answers
- Question: For a very long task, such as an ultramarathon that goes on for many days, do I need to have patience or should I just try to have dynamism?
- Question: Is there some spiritual quality that I can invoke during the 3,100-mile race this year or something new I can do to really please the Supreme? Outwardly I know the goal is to finish the race, to transcend my best time and so forth, but is there something I can do inwardly to please the Supreme?
