Competition Day Routine

I have been asked to give a little overview of what I think is the best considerations for what to do/eat/drink on the day of a meet, game, etc.  This is vital to performance maximization, so I am going to give you a short list of you what you need to do think about and do so you can be your best.

1) Set out all your items such as uniforms, shoes, warm-ups, etc., the night before and place them in a bag, except the items you will wear when you leave your house.  Setting your clothes out the night before allows you to prep when you are aware of items you will need rather than shuffling around in the morning, half-asleep.

2) Don't eat a huge meal the night before a morning race or a morning game because you may not have enough time to flush everything out of your system.  Eat a normal, healthy meal and get plenty of fluids (because we lose fluid during our sleep).  Make sure you wake up with enough time to do your normal morning routine (i.e. don't wake up late and rush to get to the meet).

3) Count back 8 hours from when you plan on waking up and go to bed at that time.  Unless you plan on waking up at some ridiculous hour like 3 A.M., this shouldn't be too much of an issue.  It is well known that teens need a lot of sleep, yet don't get enough.  Don't cost yourself a victory because you were too stubborn to go to bed at a reasonable time.

4) Start taking in fluids as soon as you wake up to replenish what you lost, but the closer you get to the race, slow it down to a sip here and there to avoid cramps or the need for last minute bathroom breaks.  As far as eating, don't eat a bunch, and know your stomach!  If you can't handle a whole sandwich in the morning, eat half of one, but never attempt to race off of eating nothing.  You spent a lot of calories at night, and you don't even realize it.

5) Don't eat heavy items.  Stick to foods that will either digest while not upsetting your stomach, or foods that you know won't bounce around when running.  Items such as peanut butter on a whole wheat bagel, thicker racing gels, or some non-sugary cereals can be good.  Try to avoid lactose (milk), fatty foods (fast food), or large amounts of food.  Also, never try to eat something new on race day that you haven't tried before such as drinking coffee if you aren't a regular coffee drinker, or trying any type of food with ingredients you normally don't eat.

Follow these rules and you will be set on race day.  But always, know your body and make adjustments when necessary.

Knowledge Is Power: September 28th

Sorry I'm a day behind, I know you've eagerly been waiting for it, now you have it!  The weekend reads:

Losing Is Good For You by the NY Times- Why it matters:  This is so important.  Parents and coaches are trying to shelter their kids from competition but yet in the real world competition for jobs and other important life factors are a part of daily life.  All the "give everyone a trophy" mentality does is let kids know underachieving still gets them praise.  If you don't read another article, read this one!

Article on Anita Hinriksdotter by European Athletics- Why it matters: This is a follow up to an article posted a few weeks back about her training.  Once again, studying the best in the sport is how you can help achieve a higher level for yourself.

Runner of the Week by Flotrack- Why it matters:  This runner ran just a few seconds off of Adam Gouchers all time high school mark in Colorado.  Could Gebrekidane be the next great runner from the US?  Only time will tell.

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep by Milesplit- Why it matters: I've said it before, sleep is a crucial element of training.  Milesplit breaks it down for you here.  Read this carefully, it will really help out!

Girls Toughness Wins The Race by Marc Bloom- Why it matters: The name of this article series is "Knowledge Is Power."  This is some very good knowledge for girls (and boys) to have to succeed at cross country/track.

Training To Be Your Best: September 30th-October 6th

Alright I hope you enjoyed your recovery week last week!  It's time to get back in the swing of things as the the championship season is just a month or so away.  Remember to stay healthy, especially with winter coming down soon.  Getting sick can derail a whole season if you aren't careful.  It's time to get back to the meat of training, so lace and get out there.

Monday- 35-45 minutes of Ins and Outs, 8x strides, Strength Workout A
Tuesday-  12x400 @ current 2 mile fitness with 200 jog recovery
Wednesday- 35-50 minutes easy, Strength Workout B
Thursday- 3x 1 mile @ current 3 mile fitness with 3 minutes standing or jogging recovery
Friday- 25-35 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- Invitational Race
Sunday- Off or 35-45 minutes easy

Finally some respite from the heat!

Legend:
Warm Up- A few minutes jogging, dynamic stretching, a few strides
Easy- A pace you can handle and have a conversation at the same time. Relaxed.
Tempo Run- A distance run at a pace of 5k race pace plus 30 seconds per mile.
Ins and Outs- Striding the straights and joggins the turns on the track
Strides- Not a sprint! Simply a short pickup of 50-100 meters at around 1-2 mile race pace. Full recovery.
Progression Run- Training done at progressive pace that increases throughout the run. Begin at an easy pace and finish at 5k race effort or so for the last few minutes.
Fartlek- A run of varied pace for varied time which can be anywhere from an easy jog to hard sprinting.
Hills- Not all out sprints, good paced effort around 5k race effort. Can be anywhere between 100-400 meters long.
Workout A- 10-30x pushups, 10-30x prisoner squats, 10-30x lunges, 10-30x crunches, 30-60 seconds of planks on each side and the middle, and 30-60 seconds of Australian crawl.
Workout B- 20-40x step ups, 5-20x tricep pushups, 30-60 seconds of bridging, 10-20x dips, 30-60 seconds of pedestal, and 30-60 seconds of scissor kicks.

How to Stay Healthy

Raise your hand if you like to be sick or injured.  If you raised your hand, you may now exit the post. Those of you who survived the first round of cuts, congratulations.  So it's safe to say that if you are still here you are looking for some good, juicy info on how to stay on top of your game.  Well, the health game I mean.

Alright, well look, the good news is that for the average American becoming a more healthy person is easy.  Americans tend to be unhealthy.  Why?  Well, let me make my rant really short: we tend to be very lazy.  Laziness goes hand in hand with being unhealthy for many reason.  But the good news is, you can easily get over this.  You don't have to be stuck in a constant battle between training and taking off. Here is a list of ideas that you can follow to break out of the cycle and perform to your highest level.

1) Sleep.  Sleep.  Sleep.  All three of these ideas I'm listing are equally important, but to paraphrase Animal Farm, this is the "greatest amongst equals," mainly because so many high school athletes run themselves into the ground by shrugging off sleep.  I know for a fact many of my runners stay up late texting, facebooking, and playing video games, and it is easy to tell when a kid is struggling because of lack of sleep.  You can't stay healthy or compete at a high level without proper sleep.

2) Eat healthy!  What so many people refuse to admit is that food affects their body.  If I eat too much fast food in a short amount of time, or too much processed food, I usually end up feeling ill.  I know plenty of people who feel the same way, and it gets worse as you get older.  Eat as much organic food, or lightly processed foods as possible, and definitely avoid too much sugars.  And remember, All-Natural means nothing!  The word Organic is regulated, but anyone can claim anything is all-natural.

Yogurt and fresh fruit is a common healthy dish.

3) Take measures to avoid injuries/sickness before they become an issue.  Some call it pre-hab, or pre-habilitation, but it means treating injuries before they are injuries.  This means if you always know your knees are very sore a few days after a long run, take measures such as icing as soon as you are done, don't wait till you are sore.  If you always get sick when the weather changes or when it rains in the winter, take vitamin C and other vitamins before the storms or weather change even come!  You need to think on your feet and do your best to beat out sickness and injury before they manifest.

Knowledge Is Power: September 20th

Ah yes, the weekend is here.  Time for football and cross country.  Those two go together, right?

Alana Hadley Opts For Road Less Travelled by Dyestat- Why it matters:  The great thing about the high school exploding the past few years is that many top runners are exploring races they never would have just a couple decades ago.  Alana Hadley is taking the marathon challenge and without a doubt she will be the center of controversy in the near future.

Stotan: The Way of Fayetteville Manlius by XCNation- Why it matters:  This is an older article from a couple years ago, but since FM is still winning, it obviously still applies.  This is a short summary of the philosophy of FM and why they have been so successful in the past decade.

Training Log: Gig Harbor by Runners World- Why it matters:  Gig is one of the best teams in the country this year and it is interesting to note their training.  While different than what I'm sure many teams are doing, it is good to keep up with what the top teams train like.

The Gig Harbor team will most likely compete for the NXN title this year.

New Balance Indoor Nationals Guidelines by NSF- Why it matters: This is the premier high school race indoors.  This is where the best of the best go to race.  Where do you stack up?

Shannon Rowbury to Alberto Salazar by Letsrun- Why it matters:  Shannon is one the top pro runners in the US.  Her former coach, John Cook, is/was one of the best in the nation and has coached several world medalists.  Now she moves on to the controversial Alberto Salazar.

Training To Be Your Best: September 23rd-29th

We've made it through the first third of the season, congrats.  This week will be a "down" week, or a week with a little less excitement in order to allow the body to recover a bit for the upcoming stretch of meets.  It's okay if you have an invitational this weekend as the main part of the recovery will come from the easier workload this week.

Monday- 30-35 minutes of Ins and Outs, 8x strides, Strength Workout A
Tuesday- 35-45 minutes easy
Wednesday- 35-45 minutes easy, Strength Workout B
Thursday- 20 minute tempo
Friday- 25-35 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- Invitational Race or Off
Sunday- Off or 35-45 minutes easy

Recovery is a vital part of a successful, long-term training program.

Legend:
Warm Up- A few minutes jogging, dynamic stretching, a few strides
Easy- A pace you can handle and have a conversation at the same time. Relaxed.
Tempo Run- A distance run at a pace of 5k race pace plus 30 seconds per mile.
Ins and Outs- Striding the straights and joggins the turns on the track
Strides- Not a sprint! Simply a short pickup of 50-100 meters at around 1-2 mile race pace. Full recovery.
Progression Run- Training done at progressive pace that increases throughout the run. Begin at an easy pace and finish at 5k race effort or so for the last few minutes.
Fartlek- A run of varied pace for varied time which can be anywhere from an easy jog to hard sprinting.
Hills- Not all out sprints, good paced effort around 5k race effort. Can be anywhere between 100-400 meters long.
Workout A- 10-30x pushups, 10-30x prisoner squats, 10-30x lunges, 10-30x crunches, 30-60 seconds of planks on each side and the middle, and 30-60 seconds of Australian crawl.
Workout B- 20-40x step ups, 5-20x tricep pushups, 30-60 seconds of bridging, 10-20x dips, 30-60 seconds of pedestal, and 30-60 seconds of scissor kicks.

Giving Training Its Dues

If you have figured anything about me by now you have probably figured out that I am an old school, hard nosed coach that doesn't like to put up with too much rah rah.  I do enjoy a good joke and sarcasm is my favorite form of humor, but when it comes to training, I'm unrepentant about how serious I am.

One of the biggest problems facing the sport is coaches, athletes, and parents looking for quick fixes and immediate satisfaction.  One thing that I hope you are picking up by now is that there are no quick fixes.  The teams that win have gotten to their perch from years of building up.  The flash in the pan programs who try to crash train or use gimmicky training to reach the top only have success for a year or so then fade back to where they came.

Talent doesn't matter in high school, unless you are talking about the talent of toughness so teams that say they can't compete because they don't have the talent are mainly just looking for excuses.  Sure, a small school that only has a team of 15-20 will have a hard time beating out a school with 80-100 runners regularly because the bigger school will be much less affected by graduations and team members who "lose the passion" but in reality that small team can work its' butt off and take it the bigger team week in and week out if they train hard and smart.  All the small team is a group of at least seven runners every year who have the talent of toughness and they will be a force.

Now going hand in hand with that, it takes many months and years of training to reach your peak, so those who want to be state champions from the first year will probably be disappointed.  Every PR, even if only a second, is a victory.  Work up on the small goals first before you try to skip straight to the ending.  There will also be many plateaus during training where the athlete will be working hard but won't be improving and that is simply a natural part of training.  Most high school athletes are no where near their physical peak so eventually that plateau will be broken, but not if the athlete loses focus and wants to feel sorry for themselves.

If you want to succeed you need to suck it up and think long term.  There are too many kids and coaches who leave the sport early because they don't see success in just a short amount of time.  It's crazy. Keep your goals focused, keep working hard, and you'll be happy you did so when you are on the victory podium.

Who Cares What Others Think?

I was literally laughed at when I started coaching distance runners.  My only coaching experience was an "interesting" experiment coaching sprinters.  I remember at one point I had a successful fellow coach and a pretty decent collegiate runner look at my training program, both enjoying it like a page off the Onion.  I took over a program that had not been previously known for distance runners and only inherited one returning varsity runner, a sophomore.  There was no girls distance program to speak of. Yes, I was destined to be a joke of a coach according to the critics.  Well, if acceptance is an important part of success, I guess that would be true.  Good thing is that it isn't.

Honestly, it didn't take much time to reverse my supposed fortune.  I was coaching one of the best road runners in the state after just a few months of serious training and I was building a top ten program from the bottom up with just the faith that God would help me and that hard work would pay off in the end.  But this isn't a story to illustrate that I am some amazing coach because I'm not.  I'm just here to illustrate what hard work can do for you.

Do you have goals that others think are insane?  That's a good start.  Follow those goals.  If you have a bunch of people behind you, usually you aren't thinking too far outside the box!  A lot of the people who are controversial and successful are so because they dared to think outside of the norm.  They pushed against conformity and what others thought were possible.  Don't let anyone tell you that you don't have what it takes to reach the top of the sport because the truth is, despite talent playing a part, most people still never reach their physical peak.  Use the critics as motivation to go out and work hard each day.  If you are willing to outwork everyone else, perhaps you will find yourself in a position on the podium.

Training To Be Your Best: September 16th-22nd

The season moves along and the bigger invitational meets should be approaching within the next month. Use these meets to challenge yourself since if your race plan doesn't play out, it still doesn't affect your ability to perform in the post season.  By now your body may start to be dinged up a little bit.  Feel free to take ice baths once or twice a week to help the inflammation.

Monday- 40 minute progression run, 8x strides, Strength Workout A
Tuesday- 3x1000 @ 2 mile race effort with 3 minutes recovery, 8x strides
Wednesday- 35-45 minutes easy, Strength Workout B
Thursday- 8x400 @ 3 mile race pace with 1 minute recovery
Friday- 25-35 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- Invitational Race
Sunday- Off or 35-45 minutes easy

Mo Farah takes ice baths to help the recovery process.

Legend:
Warm Up- A few minutes jogging, dynamic stretching, a few strides
Easy- A pace you can handle and have a conversation at the same time. Relaxed.
Tempo Run- A distance run at a pace of 5k race pace plus 30 seconds per mile.
Ins and Outs- Striding the straights and joggins the turns on the track
Strides- Not a sprint! Simply a short pickup of 50-100 meters at around 1-2 mile race pace. Full recovery.
Progression Run- Training done at progressive pace that increases throughout the run. Begin at an easy pace and finish at 5k race effort or so for the last few minutes.
Fartlek- A run of varied pace for varied time which can be anywhere from an easy jog to hard sprinting.
Hills- Not all out sprints, good paced effort around 5k race effort. Can be anywhere between 100-400 meters long.
Workout A- 10-30x pushups, 10-30x prisoner squats, 10-30x lunges, 10-30x crunches, 30-60 seconds of planks on each side and the middle, and 30-60 seconds of Australian crawl.
Workout B- 20-40x step ups, 5-20x tricep pushups, 30-60 seconds of bridging, 10-20x dips, 30-60 seconds of pedestal, and 30-60 seconds of scissor kicks.

Knowledge Is Power: September 13th

Another Friday! Here's your weekend reads:

Tokyo Olympics 2012 by Wikipedia- Why it matters:  The Olympics are the biggest stage of the sport and in 2020 it will be returning to Tokyo.  Will Tokyo be ready to host the event by then?

Columbia XC by Columbia Spectator- Why it matters:  Programs that want to get insight on what successful programs do to rise to the top should seek out articles like this.

Greed of Competitor by Letsrun-  Why it matters:  The big issue here is that Competitor bought a bunch of major road races around the country and have decided to stop supporting the elite fields.  Many of these races are steeped in history.  This does not help the sport at the top level and needs to be combated.

Rock n Roll is owned by Competitor Group.

State of the Sport by Steve Magness- Why it matters:  I don't agree with everything Steve says, but he bring up some interesting points.  This goes along with the competitor story above.  What can we do to promote the sport?

How Much Should You Pay Your Coach? by Ann Gaffigan-  Why it matters:  Ann is a pro runner and is addressing other pro runners here, but I found it interesting because it shows the relationship between pro athletes and their coaches and gives an idea of how payment works.

The Mentality of Athletic Excellence

I'm all jacked up, but it's not because of Mountain Dew, it's because cross country and football season is in full swing.  As a coach who focuses on the 400-3200 during the track seasons, I have athletes competing in both fall sports.  I get to work with my middle distance runners during cross country while keeping a watchful eye on the long sprinters during the football games and a few practices I can sneak away to.  One of the best parts of working at a school like John Curtis is the tremendous culture of academic and athletic excellence (just last signing class saw four of our track athletes sign either football or track scholarships to Tulane, one to LSU, one to San Diego State, and one to Stanford) that is founded on toughness and sound training philosophy.

We have been blessed to have a steady flow of willing and hard working track athletes in the past few years that have allowed us to compete for state titles.  The key to having a successful program lies almost solely in the athletes.  Without them, you could be the best coach in the world and it wouldn't matter.  The willingness to work hard lies within the mental recesses of the athletes mind.  It is the duty of the coach to help cultivate that mentality.

As a coach you have to put kids into situations where they will succeed to help build confidence.  The sum of repeated successful situations helps turn an athlete from a good one into a great one.  That lies almost exclusively in the mental aspect of training.  Almost every athlete can physically become a great high school athlete in track in field, they just need to find the right event and get the right motivation. Be reminded, toughness is a talent, and it is one that you can actually build up if you don't have it at first. You can't train to gain height and our size is somewhat limited to our genetics, but toughness is nearly boundless.  If you learn to harness that talent you can achieve nearly whatever you want as an athlete.

I consider an athlete that I coach.  He is physically one of the best athletes I work with but since he started running he has always been behind during competitions despite being physically capable of outmatching many of his peers in workouts and having the measurables that say he should be in the front.  Well his issue was that he didn't have the belief in himself necessary to succeed while other around him did.  Well he has slowly started to turn the corner and is now moving up the middle of the pack with his peers.  He is slowly gaining the confidence to do what he needs to be a top flight runner. It is a slow process but when he gains the mentality of athletic excellence, he will be a force to reckon with.

Multiple time All American from John Curtis, Dylan Duvio

Coaches need to make their athletes think they can succeed and then once that is conquered the athletes will surely succeed.   First and foremost the athlete has to believe in the program, believe in the work he is doing, and also be put in successful situations.  Excellence needs to be talked to as a common standard, not some lofty goal that can never be achieved.  When that is the norm, your team is probably already on its way to being a top program.

Knowledge Is Power: September 6th

It's Friday! Here's your weekend reads/videos:

How Fast Can Usain Bolt Run The 40 Yard Dash by Carl Valle- Why it matters:  Track and field needs articles like this one to perk more interest in the sport by athletes who haven't yet decided to try it.  This is a fun article that gives us some insight into what we could see from bolt in footballs version of the 100 dash.

Maddy Berkson Focuses on XC by Milesplit- Why it matters: Some of the best cross country and track athletes lie tied up in other sports.  As coaches, we need to continue to work to get these athletes in our programs.  The dividends could be big.

2020 Olympics Site To Be Decided On Saturday by Flotrack- Why it matters:  The Olympics are the biggest stage of the sport.  It will be interesting to see which country gets to host the competition.  I have my own personal city I'm rooting for, but we shall see!

Jim Ryan on Faith and Running by Jay Johnson- Why it matters:  Running and spirituality has a tight bond as many athletes use their faith to help them through rough times in training.  The ability to find strength when the odds seem innumerable is essential for runners to reach their potential.

Jim Ryun is arguably the countries greatest miler ever.

Mobile Meet of Champs Preview by Dyestat- Why it matters: Well, here is me giving a plug to my kids again, but it's only because they worked so hard to earn and invite to the meet.  The Meet of Champs is one of the biggest meets in the Gulf South for XC and is a big season opener for many teams.

Training To Be Your Best: September 9th-15th

I hope everyone did well in their season openers from the previous weekend!  You need to begin to consider race strategy now that you have your feet wet.  What's the strengths and weaknesses of your racing?  Attack those issues.  If you don't have a strong finishing kick, make sure to push the pace in the middle, and if you do have a strong kick, you need to position yourself to within range of the runners you need to be when it's go time.

Monday- 3x1 mile @ 5k race pace with 4 minutes recovery, Strength Workout A
Tuesday- 8x Hills with jog recovery, 8x strides
Wednesday- 35-45 minutes easy, Strength Workout B
Thursday- 10x 200@ Mile Effort with 200 jog recovery
Friday- 25-35 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- Invitational Race
Sunday- Off or 35-45 minutes easy

The NXN race is the team national championship for cross country.

Legend:
Warm Up- A few minutes jogging, dynamic stretching, a few strides
Easy- A pace you can handle and have a conversation at the same time. Relaxed.
Tempo Run- A distance run at a pace of 5k race pace plus 30 seconds per mile.
Ins and Outs- Striding the straights and joggins the turns on the track
Strides- Not a sprint! Simply a short pickup of 50-100 meters at around 1-2 mile race pace. Full recovery.
Progression Run- Training done at progressive pace that increases throughout the run. Begin at an easy pace and finish at 5k race effort or so for the last few minutes.
Fartlek- A run of varied pace for varied time which can be anywhere from an easy jog to hard sprinting.
Hills- Not all out sprints, good paced effort around 5k race effort. Can be anywhere between 100-400 meters long.
Workout A- 10-30x pushups, 10-30x prisoner squats, 10-30x lunges, 10-30x crunches, 30-60 seconds of planks on each side and the middle, and 30-60 seconds of Australian crawl.
Workout B- 20-40x step ups, 5-20x tricep pushups, 30-60 seconds of bridging, 10-20x dips, 30-60 seconds of pedestal, and 30-60 seconds of scissor kicks.

September Update of All Things Good

I love updating this website and I think I've started to get some good content together recently that I hope you guys are enjoying.  Now that we are in September, the fall season is in full swing and things are busy busy busy.  Besides school going back in session for the kids and myself (yes, my long overdue graduation from Tulane University should happen this semester), I have also started to put together a second evening training session for local athletes.  I have a bunch of team fundraisers set up in the coming few months including our Lap-A-Thon and working games for the New Orleans Saints. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

This Tuesday, September 3rd, JCCS is hosting our first annual season opener race (well second if you consider last years race was cancelled because of a hurricane).  This should be a fun, short race that I plan to make better each year and add quality teams and athletes.  Just as the middle school and varsity meets we hosted last year, we always try to put on events that are run well and worth coming to.

I'm looking forward to bringing the team to races like Mobile Meet of Champions on September 7th and the Catholic High Invitational on October 12th.  I plan on bringing the team back to the Nike Cross Country Regional in November as well.

My favorite announcement for this post is that I am organizing Team Louisiana for the Footlocker South meet in Charlotte North Carolina.  I am working hard to get Louisiana on the level as some of our peer states, at least at the top level, and I want to try to expose some of the top athletes from the state to the highest level of the sport.  I'm nearly done writing up the team packet for those who are interested in joining us for the meet.

Looking further into the future I am looking into putting on a relay meet next year with a few distance oriented relays as well including 4x8 and the DMR.  As always, putting on quality events is of the most importance for us!

Lastly I want to give a shoutout to the countries that follow this website the most outside of the US. China and Germany, here's looking at you!  Have a good labor day weekend.