St George Marathon winner, Iain Hunter and his advice

I did a tempo run in the morning, and then because it wasn't too hot outside I ran again in the afternoon. I set out for what I planned to be a 3-mile run, but then it turned into 6. At about a mile and a half into the run Iain Hunter saw and waved. He had been my Bio mechanics professor and we had spent time talking before and after class. In 2009 he won the St. George Marathon and he came and ran with me. I asked him what advice he would give to a college runner like myself and he told me the following...

1. Listen to your coach. I'm not on the BYU team, and he knew that, but he said that Ed Eyestone is one of the greatest and best coaches in the nation and that his workouts are close to perfect. He makes adjustments during a workout and according the needs of each athlete.
2. Take the easy days easy. I had heard this and read this in a variety of sources. Iain said that easy days are meant for recovery. He said he has seen several athletes injure themselves because they have over-trained. They go on an easy run and start running 6 min. miles because they can, but they don't allow their bodies to recover and they go through this vicious cycle where they think that if they can push it every day they'll be the best, but they just end up injuring themselves. I read about this in "More Fire: How to Run the Kenyan Way" and the Kenyans take the easy days easy and then the hard days they push it HARD. How are you supposed to attack a hard session if your tired from your easy, recovery run? You can't. I was also reading some tips from Ryan Hall and Denna Kastor (two of America's top marathoners) and both mentioned taking the easy days easy so you can attack the hard days.
3. Every other long run, run hard. Iain told me about how he and Josh McAdams, NCAA & U.S.A. champion and Olympic steeplechaser, would go out on a long run the last 2/3 or 1/2 would be significantly hard. He said that with all the top coaches that he's spoken with across the nation, they agree too. He then told me about Josh Rohatinsky who trains in Oregon with Alberto Salazar and his group. They would go on an 18-mile long run on a 3-mile loop and each loop would be faster until the last loop they would do at 5-minute mile pace.

I am grateful to have run across Iain Hunter and I thank him for his advice and words of wisdom. I think he is a great man, professor and person. I have never heard an unkind word come out of his mouth nor have a ever heard him talk about how fast he is and believe me when you have qualified for the Olympic Marathon trials you have something to talk about. Have a good day and Run Fearless!