"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"
About this Quote
Rodgers is smuggling a whole training philosophy into a sentence that sounds almost casual: speed is not a mysterious gift, it is built. The line lands because it flips a common runner fantasy on its head. People chase pace with pace - track workouts, splits, gadgets - while Rodgers argues that the most reliable shortcut to “fast” is the long way around: strength, grind, gravity.
The specific intent is practical and corrective. He is telling runners that “strength work” isn’t just weight-room masculinity or cross-training busywork; it can be as blunt as hills, repeated until your legs and lungs stop negotiating. Hills become a kind of honest laboratory: you can’t fake form, and the effort is self-leveling. Run uphill and your body is forced into better mechanics, higher power, more recruitment. The speed comes later, downstream.
The subtext is cultural. By invoking “as the Kenyans do,” Rodgers isn’t name-dropping for mystique; he’s pointing to a training ecosystem that privileges consistency and terrain over novelty. “Steady basis” is the quiet dagger. It’s not a hack, it’s a habit. It also reveals a 1970s-into-80s American distance-running anxiety: how to translate East African dominance into something actionable without romanticizing it into genetics or destiny.
Rodgers, a marathoner from an era before “marginal gains” became a brand, offers a sturdier credo: get stronger, embrace discomfort, repeat it often enough that speed becomes a byproduct rather than a performance.
The specific intent is practical and corrective. He is telling runners that “strength work” isn’t just weight-room masculinity or cross-training busywork; it can be as blunt as hills, repeated until your legs and lungs stop negotiating. Hills become a kind of honest laboratory: you can’t fake form, and the effort is self-leveling. Run uphill and your body is forced into better mechanics, higher power, more recruitment. The speed comes later, downstream.
The subtext is cultural. By invoking “as the Kenyans do,” Rodgers isn’t name-dropping for mystique; he’s pointing to a training ecosystem that privileges consistency and terrain over novelty. “Steady basis” is the quiet dagger. It’s not a hack, it’s a habit. It also reveals a 1970s-into-80s American distance-running anxiety: how to translate East African dominance into something actionable without romanticizing it into genetics or destiny.
Rodgers, a marathoner from an era before “marginal gains” became a brand, offers a sturdier credo: get stronger, embrace discomfort, repeat it often enough that speed becomes a byproduct rather than a performance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Training & Practice |
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