Paavo Nurmi probably wished he were twenty years younger and could put Zátopek’s methods to use himself. At the peak of his career, Nurmi had run forty miles and walked twenty-five miles per week. This was more than the runners who came before him had done, and it was enough to make him the greatest runner in history. Known as the Flying Finn, Nurmi earned nine individual gold and silver medals in three Olympics between 1920 and 1928 and set numerous world records. Interestingly, Nurmi had been a rather mediocre runner until he added a relatively new method of training—high-intensity
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