The trick of a champion of 3000 steeplechase

I'm going to tell you the trick of the Spanish record holder in the 3000m steeplechase so that his weeks of hard training would be mentally easier.

To be able to switch off.

Like when you get home at the end of the day and all you can think about is drinking a beer and watching a Netflix series.

The same, but from a man who was several times Spanish champion and broke a record in the 70s.

I met Vicente Egido at the Montilla 2018 minimalist runners' meeting, where he spoke about the evolution of training for long-distance runners.

I sat in the front rows, almost in front of him, and enjoyed the wisdom and experience of a champion.

Amongst what he says, he gave his version of why European athletes don't beat African athletes.

'Too connected.
If they go to bed at 12 o'clock with the mobile phone, at 7 o'clock they can't be on the floor for the first training session, they start training in the middle of the morning and of course, at 5 o'clock in the afternoon they can't double their training. It's very difficult to be in the elite like that'.

Like this, he left more tips.

At the end of the talk, when I approached him to say hello, he gave me one of those handshakes you never forget.

And in a more intimate way we talked about the evolution of shoes and how athletes get more (in material and money) from the brands of shoes than from the clubs they belong to.

'You can't bite the hand that feeds you'.

A sentence to be framed.

Back to the beginning.

Vicente's trick to endure the hard weeks of training consisted of two things:

On Sundays he would take a hot bath while enjoying a beer. Just one.

And on unloading day he would run barefoot on the natural grass of the Camp Nou.

Small pleasures for a full life.

A hot bath, a beer and the feeling of having nothing on your feet.


I'm done.

Do you know what Vicente's running shoes were like?

Flat, light, with a hard but flexible sole and where the toes had space to open.

Shoes very similar to these:

Xero Shoes Prio

or these

Xero Shoes HFS

even to these

Xero Shoes 360º


None of them have cushioning, or systems that control your foot, or try to stop foot roll or pronation, or give you stability..... That's what your feet are for. Use them!

Your health starts with them.

- Antonio Caballo -


Pd. At the age of 75 Vicente is still Technical Director of the FC Barcelona athletics team.