Knowledge Is Power: November 1st

With the cross country season reaching its zenith, here is some good reading to keep you excited!

You Have Four Years To Do Something Extraordinary by Chris Bennett- Why it matters:  The head coach of one of the top high school teams in the country has a one minute clip about doing something special in high school.  Take note!

Mary Cain Will Not Run Cross Country by Runners World- Why it matters: Mary Cain is the greatest high school distance runner in US history and has chosen not to run cross country her senior year.  She finished her track season late in the summer and has elected not to run Nike this year.  I don't fully agree with that decision, but I'm not her coach so I guess it doesn't matter!

Mary Cain raced in Moscow during the summer.

NCC Goes For 40 Straight by North Central College- Why it matters: If you can't understand how insane it is to win 40 titles in a row over the course of 40 years then you don't know anything about sports (or life probably)!  

Early Signing Period by CBS Sports- Why it matters:  This mainly affects football since no other sports really want high school athletes early, but this could affect some sprinters in track.  With early enrollment happening more often, this makes the process more fluid.

College Scholarships by Donna Dye- Why it matters:  Parents are always talking about college scholarships but I think many have a skewed idea of just how difficult it is to achieve an athletic scholarship.  Donna Dye explains a good bit about how to achieve one.  As she notes, only about 2% of athletes are award athletic scholarships.

Knowledge Is Power- August 16th

Continue to keep yourself in the know on the history of athletics or some interesting training articles.  Enjoy your weekend!

Article about USATF and Shannon Rowbury by Letsrun- Why it matters:  The USATF has been under scrutiny the past few years for lame leaders, bad meet protocol, and now this.  USATF may be the leader of the sport, but do they do what is best for the sport?

Womens 1500 Recap by Milesplit- Why it matters: This was the race that Rowbury wanted to be in, but never the less the USA had a medalist in Jenny Simpson and the future of American distance running (actually by now she can be considered the present) Mary Cain was also in the final.

Ancillary Training Ideas by Jay Johnson- Why it matters: I'm a fan of adding in some strength work even for runners and a lot of that comes from Jay.  Strength work keeps you healthy and can add some benefits more than just looking more toned.  Thanks a lot Jay!

Being Average by Vern Gambetta- Why it matters:  I love Vern's blog posts.  They are short and to the point.  They get you thinking.  We see people who struggle to be average all the time.  Maybe struggling to be elite is just as hard as struggling to be average?  Just something to ponder.

NSAF Rosters for Pan-American Championships- Why it matters:  Well, despite this being the "future" athletes of our sport, I had another reason for putting it up.  Congrats to Dylan Duvio of John Curtis Christian School for making the roster!  We wish you good luck!

LouisianaRunning.Com and other Updates

On occasion I like to give updates, like I did here, and here about Southern Athletics, about the things that are going on with either Vintage Performance, my athletes at Southern Athletics, my athletes at John Curtis Christian School, or other events going on in the running community around the country or even here in Louisiana.  The videos I mentioned in the first link, I am working on retooling some of them and refilming the drills and lunge matrix that we do every day, so if you were looking for those videos, they will be back sometime this summer.  

I will be working more with Louisiana Running throughout the year and will be writing articles such as the one I did recently.  We are working on putting together some of the rankings we did last year again for this year.  We are also planning on putting together more video interviews and possibly even following recruiting in Louisiana which is very popular amongst the football and basketball communities.  Also, on this website I am working on putting together capsules for the top junior and senior athletes on the teams I coach and will also mention where our graduates have signed and are competing at.  There will also be a few more articles on training during the summer, and not simply aspects of coaching.

The summer track season is also in full swing and we have our first meet this weekend.  In a few weeks we will be taking a couple athletes to New Balance Outdoor Nationals, and later in the summer we will have more out of state meets through AAU.  I plan on taking at least one trip to the beach, so maybe I will write a fun article about how to stay in shape on vacations. 

Also, don't forget to check out some of the websites listed under links.  I have given a short detail about some in this recent blog post. 

Have a good summer, and check back often!

Running on the beach may be in the plans for a lot of athletes this summer!

What If?

As I eluded to in my first post of this two part thought, work ethic and "talent" are really only one half of a formula for success.  The other is being in the right place at the right time.  Some call it chance, I call it providence.  Either way we are fortunate to be in situations that we can use as springboards to do the amazing and fantastic things that our hard work and resolve can take us to.

What I mean by that is, consider if you had been born in another part of the country, or another period in time, or had not had the fortune to meet certain people in your life who introduced you to certain concepts and ideas.  You would not be the same person you are today.  Basically, life has a path for you but you won't know where that path can take you till you actually explore it.  Furthermore, along that path you will have myriad choices to make which will determine the final route of that path.

I think about the Nike "What If" commercial from 8 years ago when I think about how easy the present can be different just depending on the choices and actions that comprised our past.


Understand that if you are in a situation that allows you to excel, don't turn your back unless you have a surefire means to excel in another arena.  This video shows all these athletes excelling at other sports, but what happens if the decisions in their life led them to be excellent at nothing?

Learn to understand who in your life can help you succeed and can offer you an avenue to progress.  For young athletes, they should look at coaches, teachers and mentors as those who have been placed in their lives not as obstacles to success through their discipline or standards but rather as enablers to a better future.  Coaches should look to their peers and even their athletes as a means to learn more about people and broaden their horizons.  Life is full of choices, and the success we have in life will be based on how well we react to those choices.

Training Videos, Etc.

It will be a slow process but as I find time I will be filming or taking pictures of certain things we do at practice, maybe some interviews with our athletes of John Curtis, Southern Athletics, and Vintage Performance, and some general coaching advice via Youtube.  Sometimes just reading about a subject is not enough and you actually have to see it happen to understand.  Currently up on my Youtube site I have the Lunge Matrix done by a friend and state championship winning coach Micah Simoneaux of Archbishop Shaw and a couple of sprints from the blocks done by the sprinters at John Curtis.  Take a look at them, enjoy them, and hopefully I will have a lot more of this in the summer when I have more time.  If you have any requests, just let me know.  Check it out at Vintage Performance Youtube.