Knowledge Is Power: October 25th

Here is your weekend reads to satiate your appetite!

Put Your Hand On Seven by Dyestat- Why it matters: This is actually the first part of a long series but the story is most likely worth it because it is about the York cross country team, one of the greatest programs ever!

Conference Championships by USTFCCCA- Why it matters: This is the highest level of team cross country in the country (if you don't include USATF cross country which is actually probably less competitive) and many of these top runners are former standouts in high school.  See how the field pans out this fall by following the meets.

State Championships by Milesplit- Why it matters:  This is a complement to the conference championships above.  The state championship season is in full swing around the country.  Follow the future of the sport!  Don't forget the LHSAA state championships are on November 18-19th.

Track and Field's NFL Team by Spikes Mag- Why it matters:  It really doesn't matter, it's just fun.  I think Spikes underestimates the size needed at QB in the NFL though!

Sara Baxter's Mt. SAC Race 2012 by Flotrack- Why it matters:  Mary Cain may be the best female distance track runner in the country, but Sara Baxter is the top cross country runner.  Last year she nearly broke 16 for the Mt. SAC course which is similar to the time a runner would hit on a flat 3 mile course.  Take a look at her running 16 flat last year.

Sara Baxter of Simi Valley on her way to winning NXN.

Training To Be Your Best: October 28th- November 3rd

As we move further into the post season, keep in mind that you need to stay injury free so if that means you need to take an extra day off from practice, go for it.  The majority of the work has been put in already.  Now is just the peaking process.  Also, it should be getting cold everywhere across the US by now.  Stay warm because getting sick can also negatively affect your performance.

Monday- 2x2k @ current 5k race effort with 12 minutes jogging recovery between, Strength Workout A
Tuesday- 5x300 @ 800 race effort with 6 minutes recovery
Wednesday- 25-35 minutes easy,  8x strides, Strength Workout B
Thursday- 8x400 @ Saturday goal race pace with 200m jog recovery, 8x strides
Friday- 20-30 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- Regional Championship
Sunday- Off or 20-30 minutes easy

NXN South is a Post Season race coming up in four weeks.

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: October 18th

Here are a few articles you can sneak in between meets and football this weekend:

Throwback Thursday: Matthew Elliott by Running Times- Why it matters: Elliott is such a great guy who had a very inspirational interview after his fourth place finish at the US champs this summer where he had to walk away after a happy, tearful breakdown.  He was only a 4:42 miler in high school. He should be the model for what the sport is really about.

Matt Elliott after a victory.

Mead High School 20 Years Ago by Dyestat- Why it matters:  I've always believed that we should know where the sport has come from in the past so we can see if we are improving or regressing, and we should also use others as a lesson.  Mead was one of the best teams in the 90s and Doug Binder explores them a bit here.

Can You Talk Yourself Out of Exhaustion? by RunnersWorld- Why it matters:  Finding an edge in performance is always important, and here is a chance to understand a way you can improve without even doing any more training!  Take a look.

Competitor Groups Decision by Flotrack- Why it matters:  This is another post about the situation with Competitor group not supporting elite athletes anymore.  I don't usually agree with Flotrack, but this is worth considering.

Nutrition by Athletics Weekly- Why it matters: People are always asking me about nutritional advice and I usually yield to better sources of information since I'm a coach, not a nutritionist.  AW gives you some food for thought here on protein.

Training To Be Your Best: October 21st-27th

The last postseason Invitational is over, I hope you ran well!  The part of the season where you worry about times is over, now we shift the focus over to racing for place.  For the more experienced and advanced teams, the goal will be to qualify for the next phase of the season without injuries, staying low key until the tougher meets.  For others, the goal may just be to make it out of the district or conference meet.

Monday- 3x1 mile @ Saturday goal race pace with 400m jog recovery, Strength Workout A
Tuesday- 12x200 @ 1 mile race effort with 200m jog recovery,
Wednesday- 30-40 minutes easy,  8x strides, Strength Workout B
Thursday- 6x600 @ Saturday goal race pace with 200m jog recovery, 8x strides
Friday- 20-30 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- Conference/League/District/Metro Championship
Sunday- Off or 30-40 minutes easy

Postseason is here!

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.

Preparing For Fall Sprint Training

Either it's football or soccer ending early or it's a kid who is solely focused on track, but for some teams, between six to eight weeks from now some of the over-eager sprinters will head out to their track coaches (if they are holding practice, some may opt to wait till January) to begin their season. What should you do with high school sprinters who come out late November/early December to prepare them for the spring season and get them ahead of the game?

Well one of the first and foremost items that need to be addressed is developing the practice routine.  It will be different than their previous sport if they even did one at all, and you need to show the athletes what time practice starts, what the warm up is, and what tempo you want your practice to be.  This can go on for a week or two as developing the mindset early in the season is crucial for keeping practice flowing well throughout the year.  For instance, when the John Curtis football players come out for track in late December/early January, the first week or two is dedicated to learning the warm up and just doing a few strides on grass to get the rhythm of practice down.

One thing a good sprint coach needs to focus on is not allowing the athletes to dictate the workouts. Doing blockwork on the first week of the pre-season is unnecessary despite how much kids may say they want to do it.  Don't over look some small things like doing shin exercises to help rid the athletes of shin splints from the get-go so you don't struggle with that down the season when you are racing. Also, you may want to get the ball rolling on some strength work.   It doesn't have to be crazy, and honestly body weight strength training exercises will be fine for the majority of what you need to get accomplished in high school track and field.  Once again, for instance, the John Curtis track/football guys haven't lifted for over a month and a half when they start running again and need to start with just some basic exercises.

Malachi Dupre of John Curtis is a 5-star wide receiver as well as a sprinter/jumper.

Get your plan set ahead of schedule because the seasons can be short.  In Louisiana the indoor state meet is in the middle of February and the outdoor post season starts the second week of April.  The season is over before you know it so a good base is important to success.

Knowledge Is Power- October 10th

Are you ready to learn something?  Here you go, and a day ahead of schedule!  Also, shoutout to the Ukraine, you guys are reading almost as much as the US on here!

How Much Does Mental Toughness Affect Race Times? by RunnersWorld- Why it matters: Perhaps the scientists are a bit off on how much mental toughness affects race times, but regardless they come out with the conclusion that it is still a huge factor.  Imagine that only 3% of a 20 minute 3 mile run is 36 seconds!

Improving Olympic Performance by Popular Science- Why it matters:  This is the future of athlete training.  Very specialized science and medicine which will create specific diet plans and training plans on the highest level.

Training Essentials- The E's by Vern Gambetta- Why it matters:  This article is very short but to the point.  You need to think about how you approach every training day and make sure this is a part of your program!

Efraimson Takes Another Step by Dyestat- Why it matters:  This year the quality of girls competition in high school is through the roof.  I've noticed locally that even some state champions have become also-rans in the girls races.  The sport is becoming very tough across the country.

Alexa Efraimson has represented the US internationally and medalled.

What Makes Great Runners Great by Milesplit- Why it matters: Dr. Matthew Mitchell breaks down two components that runners can improve to be great.  I really like the line "good is the enemy of great."

Training To Be Your Best: October 14th-20th

So here comes the promised down week to prepare you for the final invitational and get ready to run well for the post season (don't confuse down week with a week where you don't work hard!).  At this point, we should be starting to round into form as the state meet is 3-4 weeks away. Some states will have to qualify for the state meet, others like Louisiana are automatically qualified by fielding a team (I know, sad, but hopefully that changes in the future).  I will tailor the training for those who have to navigate the gamut of post season qualifying meets so don't fear!  Next week will start the prep to a state championship!

Monday- 6x800 @ end of season 3 mile/5k goal pace with easy 200 meter jog recovery, 8x strides, Strength Workout A
Tuesday- 30-40 minutes easy, Strength Workout B
Wednesday- 5x300 at near maximal effort, focusing on running fast but without losing control
Thursday- 35-50 minutes easy, 8x strides
Friday- 20-30 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- End of Regular Season Invitational Race
Sunday- Off or 30-40 minutes easy

State (or states as some people call it) is a month away and it's time to shift focus to it!

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.

October Update Of All Things Good

If you haven't noticed, I've been really busy lately!  Between school, coaching, and some projects I am working on, things have been hectic, but all is well.  The John Curtis boys XC team has done well and has been ranked as high as #3 overall in the state and #1 in class 3A.  The girls XC team has been ranked as high as #5 in 3A and looks to reach the goals they set out with from the summer despite losing several varsity runners from last year to other sports.  The JC football team played the hardest 5 game stretch in the country and came out 3-2.  Good job guys, keep up the work till state!

The weather changes coming should help runners across the south run some good times, especially for the ones who get the opportunity to run the Walker Shootout and Rollette Invite on the north shore of Louisiana.  Remember to say warm when the weather gets colder so you don't get sick!

I'm still working on assembling the team Louisiana for Footlocker South and there has been a lot of responses and interest.  The more kids choose to seek out the best competition possible, the better off the sport is everywhere across the country.

I'm currently working with Louisiana Running Company and the New Orleans Track Club to help promote the sport in the city and work with local runners to help them reach their competitive training goals.  Just like I put up weekly training for high school athletes (and I will continue to do that through the year and into track), we may work on training programs for road racers.  Both groups already have weekly running sessions in New Orleans so check them out!

LRC sponsored the awards for the JCCS meet in September.

I'm looking forward to next summer as well as the Southern Athletics program continue to grow.  I'm currently looking to decide what this years uniforms will look like, although I still have a few of the all-blue uniforms for those who liked last years version.  Should I do white this year?

I expect to be back to writing as much as I did in the summer once the semester dies down in December.  If you have any wishes for me to write on, email me and I may put together a post about it. Consider it an early Christmas present!

The Mid-Season Evaluation

Evaluation is always an important part to the success of a program.  Your team will miss out on opportunities to improve down the line if you don't learn to evaluate successes and mistakes each season.  This is true for any sport, not just cross country and track and field.  See what workouts worked, what motivation techniques got the kids excited, and what you might think would be a more efficient use of time.  Here is a short list of items to consider when evaluating the season:

1) Are you on the path to meet your goals?  Compared to where you want to be in a month, are you close to being in a position to reach them, or have you already reached some of your goals and need to establish new ones?

2) Is there a workout or day of the week where your team struggles to accomplish the necessary training?  Can you shift that day to another one in the week, or change how you implement a workout to make it more effective?

3) Is the team buying into the season plan or are you struggling with connecting the training and the vision of the team?  Is there a way to get the athletes to better understand the connection between their effort and their goals?

4) Have you received the support you were expecting or do you need to challenge your parents/coaches to make a bigger impact on the team?

These are all items that you can work on correcting within the course of a season, even if they are a bit difficult.  These are the "half-time" adjustments of a season and be important to getting back on track or staying the course.

Remember the SMART goals!

Knowledge Is Power: October 4th

This week has some exceptionally good reads.  Enjoy!

How To Organize Your Own Track Meet by SpikesMag- Why it matters: While the sport has some of the highest participation rates in the country, there is still a big void with the fanbases.  See what Nick Willis did to get people out to his sub-4 mile.

How To Perform When It Counts by SpikesMag- Why it matters: Who doesn't want to peak at the right time?  SpikesMag interviews Jenny Simpson to see what she has to say about the matter.  By the way, where did this website come from?  They have great stuff!

Jenny Barringer-Simpson on the way to the medal stand.

Safe To Eat Soy? by NY Times- Why it matters: I remain skeptical about the health benefits of soy, and no one is going to tell me any form of processed soy is good, because processed food has reduced amount of nutrients.  This article shows that soy may not be harmful, but I implore readers to stay educated on the topic.

Unionville Blog #2 by Milesplit PA- Why it matters:  Unionville beat the multiple time defending national champions Fayetteville Manlius by a good margin.  FM usually saves its best races for the end of the year, but was this large margin of victory a taste of things to come?  Can FM be dethroned?

Full Speed Ahead For Haney by Dyestat- Why it matters: Blake looks like he is the top runner in the country so far this year, although there is still plenty of running left to do.  See how he persevered through injury to come back and be a force this year.

Training To Be Your Best: October 7th-October 13th

The middle of the season has come, and now the last few Invitationals before the postseason meets are happening, so it's time to start buckling down on all the small things. Don't forget how to stay healthy. Some of the workouts, as we start to get to the end of the season, will ramp up the intensity, so bring your A game to practice.  This week is tough, but next week will be an easier week to help you get ready for the postseason stretch, so maintain the faith!

Monday- 8x400 @ current 2 mile race pace, 200 meters jog recovery, 8x strides, Strength Workout A
Tuesday-  3x 1000 @ current 5k race pace, 90 seconds standing recovery
Wednesday- 30-40 minutes easy, Strength Workout B
Thursday- 12x200 @ 5k race pace minus 5 seconds (ex. A 16:30 5k runner, 5:20 pace, will run 35 seconds for these 200s since his 5k pace is 40 seconds per 200) with 60 seconds standing recovery
Friday- 20-30 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- Invitational Race
Sunday- Off or 30-40 minutes easy

Faster intervals help get you ready for the post season!

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.