Don Kardong Quotes

I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.

As an athlete, you can train for so many years to be a 5K/10K runner. That's who you are, and it's hard to change that. Not using that technique - almost like a sprint - that's when you have to loosen up and just save as much energy as you can.

Humans had run barefoot for millennia, and some still preferred doing so in the modern Stone Age of the mid-20th century, when the handful of people running for exercise often wore whatever they happened to have on at the moment of inspiration.

A lot of the people I know, they don't train like that. They do a lot of quick stuff, just speed drills. But I run long distance. I've always been like that, though, even when I was in high school. That's just how I train myself.

My favorite off-mountain workout is the long run. It's great for building endurance and strength.

We train six days a week, and each day includes some type of running or strength workout. It's all about getting functionally stronger in the positions that matter for racing, which means balancing the strength between my quads and hamstrings.

Twice a week I'll run fast quality workouts either on the track or road.

I believe you'll develop speed via strength work which includes hill running, either repeats, or running hilly courses as the Kenyans do on a steady basis.

I work with a place in Santa Monica called Phase IV. My doctor recommended them to me when I started losing weight. They help people train for things like triathlons or biking and running races. They offer physical therapists, testing, lectures.

When I got with Nina Greenberg, I had been running for a few months already without a trainer. But then she gave me a program and guided me through my runs, showing me how to take care of myself and letting me know I should ice my legs and stretch - stuff I hadn't been doing.

Do you need to train two hours a day? Probably not. The reason why my celebrity clients have to train two hours a day is because their endurance level is so strong. For Madonna to get results and keep results, it's like a professional athlete training - she has to push harder.

Hills are speedwork in disguise.

As I've been able to once again gain the benefits of speed work, I'm enjoying my running more and more.

I've been barefoot most of my life: either flip flops or barefoot on the pool deck. Although you'd think that would make me a good candidate for barefoot running, that doesn't work with me.

There's this kind of war on running - people keep telling you you'll get hurt, get injured, that you need orthotics, that you need go to a special running store before you try it. There's this totally misconceived notion that it's hard to do, and it's not.

When I had no shoes I was comfortable - I used to run barefoot. When I wore shoes it was difficult. To run in shoes was ok, but at the beginning of my career it was hard.

My biggest problem was to get the coaches to understand that I was a runner, and I wanted to prepare myself based upon the calisthenics I did and get myself ready. For example, I used my forearm when I ran the ball, so I didn't want to do pushups because I wanted my forearms to heal.

No one will burn out doing aerobic running. It is too much anaerobic running, which the American scholastic athletic system tends to put young athletes through, that burns them out.

Train at the same pace day after day, week after week, year after year, and that's the kind of running the body adapts to. But break out of that comfort zone with a little speedwork now and then, and the body will learn to deal with the new demands.

I was playing a defensive guard in 'My All American' who is a really fast runner, so a lot of my training was running. I wasn't too worried about bulking up because he was supposed to be on the small side.

I came to running late. It was something I had always wanted to do, but I always end up getting hurt. It didn't occur to me that I could actually slow down and walk a little bit!

In running, the only equipment that really matters - at least the mentality was in those days - were the pair of shoes that you wore.

I have to improve on my speed endurance, and I am working on it.

I can run a long distance very slowly and I do a half marathon every year.

I had virtually a three-month layoff from an injury angle we ran so I didn't wrestle at all. I was worried the most about my cardio and I tried to stay in cardio shape using a Stairmaster and treadmill but there's nothing like being in ring shape.