Thomas S. Miller, Ph.D., is a veteran of more than 100 marathons, an athletic performance consultant/scientist, and author of Programmed to Run, which is designed to help others understand how to improve their running and racing by learning to run with elite technique. A former aerobic sports and fitness editor and writer for the Utah Sports Guide, Miller has written articles for Runner’s World and Running Times and also recently published “Dr. Tom’s Running Shorts” – a collection of some 65 short articles on running and aerobic sports.
Tom brings some 50+ years of running and racing experience to his field research and is always looking for new ways to resolve training issues and improve performance. After publishing Programmed to Run at age 60, he turned his interest to the triathlon. Applying the same analytical skills and field research to swimming and cycling, he soon began winning his age group in local Utah triathlons. Eventually the lure of the Ironman came calling and at 69 he completed his first full length Ironman (after 4 unsuccessful attemps in previous years). At 70 and 71, Tom qualified to compete in the (half) Ironman 70.3 World Championships. He managed the 100+ degree heat the first year and returned the second year to deal with nearly 5 hours of rain followed by temperatures that climbed well over 90 by the time he got to the half marathon. Disappointed with his previous year’s run performance, he had significantly modified his running training by refocusing on the specific biomechanical/technique requirements of running after already competing for some 5 hours of swimming and cycling. While his swim and bike times were nearly identical to those of the previous year, his run time was an astonishing 20 minutes faster, Iroman ranked him 9th in the World and 6th in the USA out of the 97 70-74 age groupers who completed at least 3 Ironman 70.3 competitons in 2013. He finished that year off with a 3rd place finish in his age group at the XTerra National Trail Championships and in 2014 moved up to 2nd. In 2015 Tom will be focusing his analytical skills and scientific curiousity on how to prepare for and execute run/bike/run duathlons and more trail racing – all based on the concepts outlined in this book.
Programmed to Run will provide the knowledge to analyze how you currently run, to determine where you can improve, and guide you to learn to run with elite technique regardless of age, sex, body type, or experience – IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THE WORK.
