Boathouse Presents the Weekly AT&F Coaching Tip

Number 46: Pre Race
November 17, 2008

One of the smartest things a coach can do is to take his or her team around the championshp race course a couple days before the race. Run it slowly, walk through the tough spots, and discuss the challenges of the course. Give the team time to ask questions. Consider the weather, discuss any special needs for racing shoes. If it is muddy for the race, consider taping the shoes on the feet of runners as well. Mud, bad weather, tough hills all make the race more challenging. Remember, everyone has the same challenges, it is just how they look at them. The day before the race, jog easy, perhaps the first and last mile of the race, and get a good night sleep before the major event!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 45: Cold weather
November 10, 2008

The weather is changing. Training in the cold is just part of the game. Dress in layers and the athlete can pull off clothes as they get warmer. After a workout is critical. Make sure the athletes get into dry clothes. Gloves, hats, and good socks are critical. I also suggest GORE-TEX shoes for winter running as well. It just makes sense when the weather is tough!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 44: The Planners
November 4, 2008

Some people believe that if they plan for enough problems, the problems will away. Bill Toomey, the 1968 Olympic gold medalist, had a different approach. He called it his bag of tricks. Every time he went to a track meet, he had a track bag with the following: a dry towel,
dry t-shirt, sweats, socks, shorts, cap, a pair of shoes, a track spike wrench, extra bag of spikes, something to read, snacks and finally,
a bottle of water.

Bill was prepared for just about everything. He also trained for the high jump in the rain, so that he would be ready to do so in competition. In the summer Olympics of 1968, his high jump competitions was in the rain, and that was one of his best events on the way to winning his gold medal in that event.

The gold medal is in the details . . .

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Number 43: The Dreamers
October 27, 2008

At the end of a long season, it comes down to the healthy few who make it to the starting line. On the starting line, you can normally discount about half the field for either over training or under training. In the end, it gets down to the final six to eight. In that group are the favorites, the surprises and the dreamers. I would concern myself with the dreamers.

No one else will. The dreamer is the athlete who has come close, but has not taken the big prize yet. In the 1975 World Cross Country, that was one William Rodgers, known to most of you as Bill Rodgers. Bill had not won anything of note outside of the New England area, but his winter of 140 mile weeks, his Tuesday nights of six times a mile or four times a mile and a half had built Bill into an anaerobic animal.

In Rabat, as the front pack headed into the last lap, Bill took the lead, and no one really knew who he was! Ian Stewart, the eventual winner, saw this unknown American go by him and he gave it one more go, with Stewart in first and Bill Rodgers in third. One month later, Bill Rodgers would win his first Boston Marathon, setting the American record!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 42: Team Workouts
October 21, 2008

A team workout is a great idea for high school teams in track. Starting in November or December, take Monday for speed drills. The ideas are to get the whole team together, work together and learn about commitment and respect.

A typical workout is early jog, 1/2 mile, then, a series of ten 100 meter sprints on the grass, followed by four flying 150s on the second turn of the track, this is followed by one 400 meters, and then a cool down. This is for the throwers, jumpers, distance runners and such.

Each and every week, add to the 100 meters sprints, and 150s, try 2 times a 300, then do 3 x 200, and move to 4 x 200 meters. They key is to be cognizant of the speed days and the team.

Do this for 10-15 weeks and your crew should be a team! They will also have fine tuned their speed.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 41: Confidence
October 13, 2008

Coaches are educators, cheerleaders, good listeners,and most of all, salesmen. They need to, from their comportment,
show their athletes that they are confident in in their coaching methods, that they are confident in their athletes and that they can be someone to rely on.

This does not mean that one has all of the answers. Testing, trying new things are okay. Make sure you are honest with your athletes-answer questions with honesty, all of the time. That develops a relationship and also allows the athlete to realize that there are adults in his or her life that they can trust and learn from.

Confidence in your program, in your coaching is part of what gave New Zealand's Nick Willis the presence of mind and
confidence to make his final move with fifty meters to go in the Beijing 1,500 meter final, which gave him the Olympic bronze medal. Without his confidence in his coach, Ron Warhurst, his program and himself, Willis would never have achieved the Olympic pinnacle.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 40: Coaches
October 6, 2008

Coaches: What We Are
Coaches are educators, and they spend more time with the average teenager than their parents. The average parent sees
their teenager for an hour fifteen minutes a day. The average coach sees the athlete forty six weeks a year, six days a week,
for two hours, fifteen minutes a day.

Coaches: Role Models
What you do, is replicated by the athlete. If you are cynical, they may do that, if you keep things light, relaxed, they will model that behavior. You are modeling young people for more than running, you are teaching them how to live life.

Ethics always comes into play. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Sending a fake team time does no one any good. Make sure that your athletes know that they earned their positions on the team. Dust them off when they fall, but make them get up and finish. We learn more from failure than winning. We also learn how to live in a world that has good days, bad days, and challenges around every corner.

Keep your athletes inquisitive, always learning. Encourage them to read, listen to music, see movies. Growing the regular person also makes for a better, well rounded athlete. They put less pressure on the athlete part if an athlete has a real life.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 39: Using Race Courses to your Advantage----Race into Shape; Race Smart
September 29, 2008

Cross country in the fall is a huge sport in the US. Over 350,000 high school boys and girls compete in the various meets across the US. Whether you are running a large meet or a small meet, one thing is for certain: cross country requires one to race themselves into shape. Normally, it take two to four races to get into the groove. By that I mean, that you can actually use tactics and race, whereas survival is the key game early on.

In the early races, give yourself goals, such as a) finishing, b) being competitive on the hills and c) working on a long drive for home. Learning the courses are key, especially if you are going to race on them alot. Here are a couple of suggestions on how to take an advantage of the developing season:

a. Training on the course. Before my senior year of college, I ran on our home course, which was 5.2 miles in the rugged hills of the Almaden Quicksilver Park. I knew where every rise was, every stump was, and where I could run all out for a nice one and half mile downhill-after a three mile run straight up! My confidence in racing longer races over that course showed up on the day of our conference tri meet there, where I used the hills to lure faster athletes with me, broke them on the hills and before they could recover, ran hell bent for home over the last downhill mile and a half. My strength allowed me to use tactics that would help me break runners much faster than I and get the win.

b. Knowing the obstacles. I was racing against a guy who had broken thirty minutes on the track for 10,000 meters. My best at the time, was just under 32 minutes. We hit the first lap, with him running 14:38 for the 2.9 miles and me running 15:12, trying to relax. As we hit the second loop, I moved up from sixth to second by five miles and knowing that there was a huge hill before the finish, I timed my charge up the hill, and down the hill, hoping to catch him. I had cut the lead from nearly a minute to twenty seconds, but had run my best race of the year. My teammates, staying behind me, followed my move over the hill and we won 27-29, with all seven of my teammates passing a competitor over the last mile.

c. Not panicking. In my senior year of college, we were running an 8k and a bee's nest dropped at just past three miles. All I knew was that guys looked like they were dancing around. About that time, I was stung twice in my ankle. I remember putting my hand on my ankle, swatting the bees off and passing the five guys who had passed me. I was still a little discombobulated until a teammate went past me. That woke me up! I timed my kick over the last five hundred meters to catch him and lead the team with a lean at the finish line.

d. Using your brain. The course was noted for its flat fast first three miles, and then nearly two miles on soft sand. A pack of eight of us were together as we hit the sand. Now, my stride is quite short, and I used that to gain some footing on the ground, as one by one, the other guys fell back until there were three left. Knowing we were less than fifty meters from the finish, I dug in extra hard and pushed myself through the soft, hot sand to just eek out a few foot lead at the finish. My size thirteen feet and short stride finally had some benefits!

Races are the icing on the cake. They are where you test your resolve and your team's resolve. Having different tactics mean that one can respond to different challenges. Success does breed more success. If you improve on your racing during the year, you should be ready for the big ones. Good luck!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 38: Learning from Arthur Lydiard
September 22, 2008

Arthur Lydiard was a New Zealand milkman who changed the face of modern distance running. Way back in the late 1940s, Arthur, a spry man in his mid 30s, went out for a jog in New Zealand with a friend who was twenty years older. The fifty-year-old, who ran every day, wiped Arthur out. Arthur got incensed, started reading on running and experimented on himself, running up to 200 miles a week for a 12 week stretch, and winning several New Zealand marathon champs while in his 40s.

That anecdotal information changed modern running. Lydiard devised a program where if one did gentle distance running for a period of time, increasing pace and distance as one became fitter, then added a hill training stage, then added a speed development stage, one could get tremendous aerobic benefits and for the elite athlete, develop himself or herself to great heights. From that little neighborhood in Auckland came Peter Snell, 800/1500 Olympic champ, Murray Halbert, 5,000 meter gold medalist, Bill Bailey, bronze medalist, marathon, all in the 1960 Olympics!

Arthur Lydiard was a study in contrasts. He was a world traveler, who changed distance running in Finland, Mexico, wherever he went. In the 1970s, athletes like John Walker, Rod Dixon, Dick Taylor and Dick Quax, all Kiwi athletes, were global names in the sport. In the 1980s, Dixon and Quax moved to the marathon, and that combination of anecdotal and scientific training continued to persist.

Arthur trained on horse sense, and there was a world looking for scientific justification of what Lydiard said. His long runs, his ideas on periodization, his ideas on rest, recovery, peaking have all been proved in the past two decades, but in his time, he was considered a true wack job. The only problem was, Lydiards' training worked.

In my own racing, I found that the 16 weeks of distance work, followed by hills, then speed work gave me a strong season and my bests from two miles to the marathon were done on that training after college and kept me from being injured.

In 1999, ATF was fortunate enough to help sponsor a U.S. tour of Arthur, who was in his early 80s at the time. Arthur spoke to 20 different communities. He loved a crowd and he wanted to tell a new generation about running. Arthur died a few years ago, just days after speaking to a running club in Texas, I believe.

The lesson from Arthur Lydiard? Coaches learn from observing the athlete---what works, what does not work, and how much a coach can add to a performance by encouraging the athlete to challenge one's limits.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 37: How to Communicate to Athletes
September 17, 2008

Athletes, especially teenage athletes are constantly asking questions. But, dear coach, they ask questions for a myriad of reasons. Sometimes, they want to be reassured, sometimes, they may be afraid of the workout, sometimes they just want to say something and need you to respond.

Sometimes a new workout will spook them. So, if you are asked a question, explain it the best you can. Afterward ask if there are any other questions. Now sometimes, there will be questions given just to hold up a workout. You need to realize when you are being conned a bit too!

In my eight years of high school coaching, six years at community college and club coaching and two years at Div 1, I found that honesty is best policy. There were workouts where I said, that I will give them ONLY what they are doing immediately in the next round. I told them to relax. The workout was six times 300 meters, a 3,000 meter time trial, then six times 300 meter cut downs, then ten times 150 meters, stride outs. Each session was revealed just as the kids got to the line, and the workout was one of their favorites.

In college, when I coached, I also ran. One of my favorites was a four mile run on the track alternating 200 meter runs at six minute (45 seconds) and 4:40 mile pace (35 seconds). The idea was to learn pace, and to stay relaxed. I would go to the front, with two seniors, and put a senior at the back. We would run 45 seconds, then 35 seconds, then again, 5:20 a mile. The pace was not the thing, it was the ability to change paces and follow instructions while fatigued.

Later in the season, over the last mile, I would drop the rest to 40 and the 4:40 pace stayed the same. The guys were just programming themselves to follow and it worked. All ran personal best for four miles, and were stoked that they had run four miles at a pace better than they had run two miles for just five months before in high school.

Then, there is the "No Answer" question. In my last year of high school coaching, one of my best kids, a tough competitor, had run himself into the ground, running better than he ever had, trying to make up for a team without strong fourth and fifth man. Well, this time, the whole team, inspired by his leadership, had run their bests. Fourth and fifth were so good, we just missed state by a scant five points, when I had figured us to be fifty points out. I told him I was proud of him and his team, I was sorry that they missed state, but they had proved to me that they were a great team and there was more to life than making the state meet . . .

And then, there is the emotional response. One year, we had three really good milers. The local newspaper said that while my team was good, none of the guys had what it took to make the state meet. This was about three young men who had not lost a mile all season, won a 4 x mile relay, but they were not running fast---yet. I made all three read the column, and we did not say another word to them. Coming off the last turn, qualifying for state, were our three milers, one--two--three, running two, four and six seconds better than ever before. That was a bit of negative reinforcement, but it worked.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 36: Critical moments--how to use them to your benefit
September 8, 2008

Normally, in a championship event, whether it be on the track, on the field or on the roads, there are critical opportunities that, in hindsight, made the difference between setting a personal best, taking a medal, beating opposition, that on paper, looks to totally outclass the athlete in question. I call these: career moments. The seeds of the success that comes from making the right decision under stressful times are sown four, six, perhaps even a dozen years.

Some sound silly, in the heat of competition, it is the details that make it or break it. 2008 gold medalist and 2004 silver medalist in the decathlon, Bryan Clay says it best. In a recent interview with ATF, Bryan said that "I do not believe in favorites. Normally, the guy who wins the decathlon is the guy who makes the fewest mistakes."

In the throws, it might be controlling ones frustration when a throw is short, but legal, and going out the back of the ring to have a safe throw. In the jumps, vault or multi events, it may be getting some early clearances, low heights or legal jumps, to get the system moving and stay safe. On the track, it may be just staying clear of the pack and pushing oneself to get through that round.

In the finals of a championship, whether it be regional, national or global, fellow athletes are going to make mistakes. Stephanie Brown Trafton, the first US women to win a gold medal in the discus since 1932 put the pressure on the discus field from her first throw. Her 212 feet, 3/4 of an inch was a great start, and try as her competition might, they could not get there. Perhaps they were forcing the throws, perhaps they were stressing on her big throw, the bottom line was Stephanie put it together when it counted. In the 100 meters, Walter Dix was behind for the first 80 meters, and it was his final push that put him into third place, passing two sprinters in the final feet.

Most distance runners will tell you that when they get to a midpoint in their races, that there is the need to commit totally to the race, or fade away. Many runners have told me about hitting 5,000 meter in a 10,000 meters and knowing there are 12.5 more laps to go. Note Shalane Flanagan was having a rough week before the Olympic 10,000 meter event. She stayed out of trouble, and as the pace quickened, she started moving through the pack. She was so focused on her own race, and when to kick, that she had no idea if she was third or fourth. Her focus was rewarded by her bronze medal and a new American record!

Critical moments come in each and every athletics event. Our sport is about challenging oneself and getting to the place where the uncomfortable becomes routine-challenging oneself is the secret of success in our sport. Mastering the critical moments in your sporting life will teach you life lessons for your daily life.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 35: Passing with Authority
September 2, 2008

Sounds funny, but how many races have you seen where a runner kicks by his or her competition, only to be passed in the final stretch? The best example the entire Olympics was with Nick Willis of New Zealand. Nick is the Commonwealth gold medalist in the 1,500 meters. Last year, in Valencia, Spain, Nick was running in a 1,500 meter final at the indoor world championships where there was alot of elbows and such. Nick sprinted on the inside and was pushed and ran off the track several steps and was disqualified.

In Beijing, Nick learned his lessons. In the two early rounds, he stayed out of trouble, running in fifth to seventh, knowing that only six went on in each round. The Olympic rounds in any event pit the best of 204 countries against the other, so making it to the final is not only a Herculean task, but it also requires complete focus and alot of luck. Willis used all of his talents, staying close to the pack and kicking down the final stretch in each round, making it to the next. In the second round, he was the last finalist to make the grade, one step ahead of Bernard Lagat, the Osaka double gold medalist!

In the Beijing final of the 1,500 meters, the pace was tough, 57 for the 400 meters, 1:56 for the 800 meters and at the bell, nine guys were in the hunt. The young Kenyan runner, Asbel Kiprop was in the lead, and at 300 meters, Rashid Rhamzi sprinted madly by, focused on gaining the first gold medal for his country, which he did. Kiprop put on a tough sprint and while he held on to the silver, nearly caught Ramzi over the last ten meters.

The battle for the bronze started with 300 meters to go and ended at the finish line! During this final, Nick Willis, a University of Michigan grad, kept his wits and most importantly, his kick about him. Waiting until the last 70 meters, Willis kicked by sixth, fifth, fourth and moved himself in third place AND did not stop until he crossed the finish line, with the bronze medal! As he fought down the final stretch, Willis just held off the French runner, Mehdi Baalam who made a game run for the final medal, but Nick Willis held him off and won the first Olympic medal for New Zealand in the 1,500 meters since 1976!

The key to his race? Making his move at the right time and passing the pack with authority! Remember to make your kick count in your next 5k!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 34: Relay passing in bad weather
August 28, 2008

In the recent Beijing Olympics, both the men and women's U.S. Olympic track teams dropped their batons in the opening rounds of the 4 x 100 meters. In fact, in the same race, three other teams dropped batons or ran out of their passing zones! And these are elite athletes!

First of all, relay racing is an acquired skill. It takes hours of practice with the same team and racing and training in all types of weather. Until the U.S. Track & Field management decides to a) set up a real relay team for the year, b) make them train and race together and c) keep that team intact at major events, we will continue to drop batons. There will also be many high school teams who run more efficiently and drop less

It was only 1992 when a French Relay team at 4 x 100 meters broke the world record for the 4 x 100 meter relay. They did it with a team that had NEVER broken 10 seconds in the open 100 meters, but---they had trained together for five years! This young men were great with the baton, raced all of the time, and showed that it is not always the fastest guys who win, but the team who gets the baton around the track cleanly and efficiently.

In bad weather, with new teams, always, always use a visual cue. It is far better to get that baton in one's hand and run like the world is on fire than to do a blind handoff and drop the baton. Practice the hand off as a visual and the knowledge that you can get the baton around the track---that is the first and most elemental concept. Once you have that down, then try to improve.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 33: Keeping your head
August 18, 2008

If there is anything I have learned covering my fourth Olympic Games it is this: the athlete must keep their options open! Track & Field is a thinking person's sport, there is strategy, there is luck, there is time to move and a time to watch.

Here are some examples:

Getting the good throw out first. Stephanie Brown Trafton decimated a world class field in the discus tonight by throwing the discus out of the park on the first attempt. Her winning margin, which was nearly three feet, was the first U.S. women to win an Olympic gold at the discus since the 1932!

Staying out of trouble. Nick Willis of New Zealand, the 2006 Commonwealth 1,500 meters champion, made the final of the men's Olympic 1,500 meters after a gruesome semi final that left a two-time world champion out of the final. Willis stayed out of trouble and made his move when it was the right time for him.

Not giving up. Last year, in Osaka, Jenn Stuczynski, the top American pole vaulter, was hampered by a back injury that hurt so bad, she had to withdraw from the pole vault in the World Championships. This year, she stayed on target and got healthy. Jenn broke the American record and Olympic Trials record and took the silver medal at the Olympic Games! What a difference a year makes!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 32: How to get in shape quick? Try running hills
August 11, 2008

When I coached community college in the early 1990's, my partner in coaching, Joe Mangan and I used some easy tricks to get our athletes in shape to race in about four weeks and race well in about ten weeks. Most of our athletes were good high school runners who had taken the summer off or had trained, shall we say, in a not so serious fashion.

Joe should get the credit for this, as it was and is his idea. He would take our athletes to a few of the local parks, and first, just get them out for four to six miles. In the early August heat, that was a challenge. Then it was a few runs uphill for two miles, and down for two, perhaps twice that second week. Then, by the third week, there were hilly moderate paced runs, some hill repeats and a run over a couple of race courses that we would do during the season. I took them on the weekends and got them out for 60 to 90 minutes on the trails under redwood trees.

The idea was that running slow uphill mimicked racing form and no one gets hurt running slow. Then we would get them through their first race, which was normally pretty pathetic. By the second race, they knew what their strengths and weaknesses were and they were five weeks into the season.

I watched Joe do this with athletes of varying talents, including a track state champion, and the results were the same. Hills get one into racing shape, and keep the injuries down. Your pace picks up as you get into shape, so don't worry about pace, worry about getting the job done!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 31: Speed Workouts
August 4, 2008

For speed workouts, I had three workouts that did it for me: 800 meter repeats, 1,000 meter repeats and 400 meter repeats. If you are racing 1,500 to 10,000 meters, one of these workouts a week should give you what you need to get to your level of fitness. Add that with a tempo run, and depending on the season, a hill day or a day of short intervals ( 200s, 300s), here you go:

a. 400 meters
Early in season, start with 8 times 400 meters, at current race pace, with a quarter jog, make 400s progressively faster so that you cut down on a) recovery and b) pace as season goes on. For example, once I build up to 20 times a 400 meters (16 will do), at say, 75 seconds, I would add some variety. I would, each set of four cut the recovery by 40 meters so that I was down to 200 meters on set five and throwing in a 70 and a 65 to get the legs moving. Great strength workout, but intersperse with 800s and 1000s and you have a nice three week schedule with some variety!

b. 800 meters
Really a fun workout, start with four, build up to eight, with 400 meter jog in between. Start at race pace and bring pace down two seconds each 800 meters. As one gets into shape, great testing workout is four times 800 meters, 200 jog, at current race pace.

c. 1,000 meters
This is workout is de rigeur for elite 5,000 and 10,000 meter runners. For 5,000 meter runners, six to 8 times a 1,000 is where you build up to, with 400 meter jog. Start with four and build up. Start with current race pace and cut back two second s each session. Tough workout, callouses very well to the 5k and 10,000 meter distance.

Variety.
Try the 400 meters by 12 one week, the six times 800 meters the next and the six times 1,000 meters the next. Then start over, add two and get to 14 x 400 meters, seven times 800 meters, and seven times 1,000 meters over the next three weeks. This variety is good for legs and brain.

Remember, to always warm up and cool down well before and after your workouts!

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 30: To Race Smart, You Need to Train Smart
July 30, 2008

In reviewing the workout plans and training logs of elite and not so elite athletes over the past twenty five years, I have observed the following: To race smart, you have to train smart. A couple of examples come to mind:

Runner A After 12 weeks of high mileage, runner A moved into his hill training phase, where he was doing 8-10 hill repeats in a workout, three times a week. Feeling strong, runner A increased the hill repeats to 15 for three weeks and then moved to a speed phase. Then 18 weeks into the training program, the runner was surprised to see how terrible he felt on the first two or three speed sessions. The sessions were combinations of 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, and runner A had not taken into consideration how hard he had worked in the hill phase. Runner A kept his long run on Sundays, but slowed it down and ran only 30 minutes easy for two days, followed up by shorter quality sessions. The first couple races were upsetting, but each race, the runner started to improve, and his easy days, sometimes two in a row, sometimes three, gave his body time to recover. In three weeks, the runner felt invigorated, and his easy days, still at 30 minutes, were down to one between short and quickening speed sessions, two to three times a week. The runner was rewarded, with a series of personal bests from two miles to 10,000 meters over six weeks, culminating in a one minute pr over 10,000 meters. Lesson learned---recovery is as important as speed sessions.

Runner B After six disappointing marathons, runner B took one year off from marathon racing. Focusing on gentle trail runs, and little or no speed work, the runner felt his legs return. Staying on the trails, the runner added a couple of hilly runs a week, working the long hills and relaxing and running fast on the smooth downhills. His first race in two months was suprising--a nice, fast run over 10 kilometers, with no speed work! Not changing a thing, the runner spent the next eight months building up his strength, doing the long runs, a couple of hilly runs and an all comers race occasionally. When the hilly marathon he had wanted to run came up, he started very slow, hitting the halfway point at slower than his goal pace. But, feeling good, runner b ran the second half eleven minutes faster than the first half, to break three hours for the first time. Lesson learned---there are lots of ways to reach success, one must find the one that works for their circumstances.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 29: Juggling Coaching and Life
July 21, 2008

Athletes and coaches need breaks. That is important. The average cross country and track coach coaches two hours, 45 minutes per day, six days per week, 46 weeks a year. We all know, anyone who has coached, that what one gives to the kids is nothing like what one gets in return. It is called, the intangibles. However, a spouse, family, friends get tired of you canceling all of the time because you have a workout or a game.

I am taking this one from my parents playbook. Stan and Marilu have been married for 50 years. I am their oldest. From the time I was ten, until now, I remember my folks going out, once a week, for a couple of hours, over dinner or a movie and just taking time for themselves. Dad told me he heard that from our family doctor, a father of ten. The good Doctor (Doctor Leib, if I recall) told my Dad that getting a few hours away, not talking about kids (my parents have five), once a week was the best medicine for keeping the couple going while raising a busy family.

I still think that is the best advice I can give a young coach about having a life. Remember, having a life makes you a better coach and a better person. Besides teaching your athletes how to run, jump and throw, you are teaching them how to live a good and honest life.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 28: What is coaching?
July 14, 2008

Next to being a parent, coaching and teaching, are in my mind, two of the most important jobs on the planet. Face it, the average coach spends 2 hours and 15 minutes with the kids awake every day, the average parent of a teenager gets 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Kids look to you, the coach, as a role model. It is not so much how many 400 meter repeats you give them, it is the care you give in talking to them on a bad day, it is the attention you pay to the not so talented kid and the even handedness you treat the entire team with, whether the kid can run a 4 minute or 6 minute mile pace. Teenagers will not trust you if you lie to them or talk above them.

You are not trying to be their buddies. They have those. They need someone in between their parents and their friends, and you, the coach are it. Treat yourself with respect and them with respect, you will get it back. Show them that there are repercussions for their actions, they will groan, but they will respect you.

Sam Adams, the long time coach at UC Santa Barbara was a formidable man. He scared me to death most of the time. But, in between the fear, i would listen to him. "Coaches are educators, educators first, educators second." He bemoaned the fact that young coaches would coach virtually for free in order to keep programs going. Sports was part of the education process and he demanded that athletics get that respect.

I had the distinct privilege of coaching under Terry Ward for seven years at Bellarmine Prep. Terry could get the kids to laugh, he could get them to work hard, he could discipline, but most of all, he developed generations of kids who loved the sport of track and field, who entered coaching and who learned how to be men. Terry really did not have to raise his voice, we knew when he was upset, we knew when he was frustrated, but he found ways to reach the team and us coaches, and he made it fun. After 40 years, Terry is retiring this year, and the sport and Bellarmine will be the worse for it.

Take the time to be a good educator, take the time to be a good coach. Your athlete's lives depend on it.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 27: Why Not Write Your Own Training Program?
July 7, 2008

If you want to get your training program going, write a Training program. First, see where the athlete was last season---did they achieve what they had planned? Where were the pitfalls? What worked and what did not?

For throwers, jumpers, sprinters, distance runners, the keys in the early season are strength work, flexibility work, core training. If you are planning for a season which starts in March and ends in June, take the summer to build the base well and be patient. I would suggest developing a program that goes like this:
a. Six weeks, Three Days of Strength work, free weights, Two days of core work, flex boards, etc.
Basic exercises are sit ups, pull ups, push ups. Start with one a day and build up, one a day, until you reach 50 each, then, go to 75, adding one a day. If you do not have access to a full weight set, get 5, 10, & 15 pound hand weights and use them. Isolate each arm, upward rowing, military press. (You can build up to a good 30 minute workout here). Get a medicine ball and develop a 15 minute session for core work with the ball. On both Free weights, core training, we suggest you speak to a trainer to provide a strong well balanced program.
b. Week could look like this:
Sunday run 40 minutes, build up to an hour, stretch before and after running.
Monday Strength day, 45 minutes, after strength work, 30 minutes of each running.
Tuesday Core Training day, easy jogging, ten times 150 yards, then high knees, butt kicks, skipping, 400-300-200-cooldown
WednesdayStrength Day, 45 minutes, after strength work, 30 minutes of running.
ThursdayCore Training Day, easy jogging, hill repeats, start with 3, 200 yards, jog down, add one a week, get to 9, cooldown
FridayStrength Day, 45 minutes, easy 30 minutes of running
Saturdayday off

This work will take 90 minutes a day, and it will give the athlete basic skills. The more interested athlete will look at jumping rope, playing basketball (great way to improve endurance, jumping), pick up soccer (endurance, acceleration). The key is keep it light, have some fun, and get the brain to clear from the last season. Talk to the athlete about goals for the year, have him or her start thinking about the goals for the next year and to write them down.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 26: How to start your training program
June 30, 2008

After a couple weeks of recovery, active rest, it is time to begin slowly and methodically, your training program for
the next season. The big thing is to have a plan. My suggestion is to set up your training program like this:
a. Two week transition back into training
b. Ten to twelve weeks of endurance work, focusing on long runs, two times a week, and hill runs once a week.
c. push ups, pull ups, sit ups, start with five, get to fifty.
d. Stretch, before and after.
e. Do all slowly the first two weeks, no more than three to four times a week, 35-40 minutes.
Spend some time working on goals, long term goals, do some reading on training, and visit some coaching clinics.

This weekly Coaching Tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 25: Time to Recover
June 23 2008

Dear coaches,

It is now time to look at something we have not spoken about: Rest & Recovery. The state meet and national meets are done. If your kids are not on the World Champs Juniors team, they should be taking a two week rest. We are not good about resting in the US. But, after a long track season, it is time to give the body and spirit a break. My suggestions during this time are as follows:

a. family vacation
b. volunteer to help, Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Workers, Soup Kitchens-learn early that a person, community and country is judged by how they take care of their neighbors in need.
c. read a few good books, watch a few good movies.
d. Help around the house.
e. Find a job, earn some money.
f. Sleep and nap.
g. Do nothing for a few days.

If one is going to do any physical stuff, and you will want to, no more than three times during week can you run, or walk, or bike, or swim, for 40 minutes. Keep it relaxed and fun.

The idea is to give your body time to relax, heal, and recover. Drink 8 to ten glasses of water, eat the fresh fruit that is out right now. Visit a museum, and find something you like. The idea of a break is good for your body and spirit. Next week we will give you some more ideas on resting but also
how to start up again!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 24: Running in a Pack
June 16, 2008

The most competitive two mile I was ever in was run in a pack for 7 1/2 laps. Somehow, we hooked into a good pace, just over 5 minutes a mile and we ran 75-76 for six laps. The energy was amazing. There were four of us, and each guy was running very close to his best, redlining, as we called it.

The beauty of that was that we worked together, and all ran a much better race, with it coming down to four of us kicking like crazy over the last two hundred meters.

I did the same thing in an 8k, but the pack was much larger. There were 12 of us, running together, just over five minutes a mile, and we passed one mile--two miles--three miles, still together and then as we reached four miles, the pack began to break up. The problem was, that none of us knew the course well and we were being lead by a kid on a bike who was weaving back and forth. I just relaxed and got in behind a couple of guys for the next half mile, until we, believe it or not hit the sand, and then the last 300 some odd meters were spent trying to get to the finish over soft sand.

In marathons, especially the big ones, one will always be surrounded by others. I learned early on in my marathoning racing, to find a pace and keep it there early, relaxing and talking with other runners, and remembering that the race really does not get going until about twenty two miles anyway.

In all of those situations, whether it be a short distance, like two miles or 5k, a middle distance like 8k, or even the long distance of a marathon, the strength of a group is good to recognize. Here are some etiquette rules when running in a group:

a. If you are running with a pack, it is always good to take part of the pace, and let the other guys or girls do their part as well.
b. If you are running with a pack, get behind the leaders for a while to conserve your energy, and remember to offer to take the lead.
c. Always give your competitors a couple of strides-do not crowd them in.
d. Especially in a bad patch, a group around will give you more energy, until you can get your focus back.
e. When it comes time to finish, remember not to cut anyone off and finish hard.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 23: Racing to be a better racer
June 9, 2008

Want to know how to be a better racer? Race more! I f you really want to get the most out of your running, you need to plan your training, and plan your racing. Knowing that your body, after fifteen to twenty weeks of strong training and speed work, will give you six to eight really good weeks of racing, if you are especially lucky, learn to use races as ways to a) test your fitness b) practice different techniques and c) sharpen.

If you want to run a great 10,000 meters or 10k, you need to race from 800 meters to 5,000 meters. I ran my best 10k on the track and six mile on the roads after a season of twelve races, from 3 kilometers to 4 miles. I raced 3k indoors, and 5k outdoors, and ran a hard four mile on the roads. I noticed that my speed was there, but I was not responding to the workouts. So, I made my easy days really easy, ran three races on the roads from five miles to seven miles and tried to work on the middle miles of the races.

Once I got that down, I did my drills. For four weeks, I ran a 5k drill on Tuesdays and a 10k drill on Thursdays, with a two mile race thrown in on Saturdays for some speed work. After two weeks, I started feeling racing fit.

I then spent three weeks, running a really hard day, focusing on quality like four times a 3/4 mile, one lap jog, and then 30 minutes the next day. When I lined up for the 10k on the track, I felt like I was ready and took a good minute off my seasons' best! Two weeks after that, it all came together, as I put six miles, one after the other together in 5:08-5:09. What I did not do well was realize the only guy with me was a 3:43, 1,500 meter runner who dropped me over the last 400 meters like I was waiting in a port a john line. But, then that was another day.

The key is to listen to your body, find out how you respond to training and racing and make a plan that works for you! Racing into shape is a great way to get the season going!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Boathouse Presents the Weekly AT&F Coaching Tip

Number 22: How to test your fitness level
June 3, 2008

During the year, there are times that you want to test your fitness level for racing. The best way to learn to race and to race effectively is to race. Here are a few suggestions to prep yourself to get the most out of your racing:

a. Weekly time trials
Some athletes love this. Say you are training for a 10k twelve weeks out. Each week as you build up, try a time trial at various distances. Give yourself a time goal for that day and try to hit it. Say your Goal is to run six minute pace for a 10k, 36:53. As you build up, I would suggest time trials over one mile, two miles, three miles, up to four miles, all with the goal of hitting your race pace. Do a nice warm up, get a couple of friends to help, and find a good track or road course ( certified, please) and go at it. In a time trial, the goal is to gauge your fitness. As you build up, the 6 minute mile or 5.50 mile-(be within ten seconds either way) is great.

b. All comers meets
Each summer, as I trained for cross country in college and marathons after college, there were a series ( and still are) of wonderful All comers meets in Los Gatos, California. Each Thursday night, I would run the two mile to gauge my fitness. I was trying to run 5.15 pace for six miles, so my goal was a ten minute two mile each week. I would find a group of guys looking for the same thing and we would go at it. A memorable one was when we hit the mile in 5:05 and ran 10:08, with four of use just pushing and pushing. It was fun and it showed that the high mileage at the time was having its effect.

c. 5 kilometers
Five kilometer races are really under rated. A good 5k every couple of weeks gives you a great indication of fitness and it also puts you in the racing frame of mind. Very clear indication of how you can race, and what you need to do to improve.

d. Drills
My favorite drills for 5,000 and 10,0000 meters on the track were from Coach Bill Dellinger from University of Oregon. He wrote about a drill where you would run 5k race pace for a lap, then six minute pace, and so on. I used this drill for 5,000 meters where I would run a lap in 75, then a lap in 90, and run 12.5 laps. For 10,000 meters, I would do lap in 78-79, and then a lap in 90, and the next week, 800 meters in 78 pace, a lap in 90, then 3/4 in 78 pace, a lap in 90, until I hit the 10k distance. I ran my 10k personal best after 8 weeks of those drills and little else.

My favorite workout from that drill was a four mile where we ran 35-45. We did this at Santa Clara where I was coaching and running in the late 70s. I would lead ten to fifteen guys in a pack and we would just to 35, 45 per 200 meters. About three miles, I would drop the pace to 33-34 and the rest to 42-43 and not tell them. It was brutal, but it sure helped us get control of our mid race issues in racing 10 kilometers.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 21: The best fartlek workout around
May 27, 2008

When I was really racing, fartlek was one of my favorite workouts. I would do this workout two times a week during the racing season, as it helped me handle erratic paces in races and also gave me confidence in my training:

Workout is one hour in length. Warm up well with a good pace run for 15 minutes, with the goal of getting to a baseball diamond.

On the outside of every baseball diamond, well most, is a fence that shows where the field ends. This normally goes from left field to center field to right field. This is about 180-200 yards.

Jog the fence a few times, doing some pickups and then begin your fartlek workout. The workout is going to be a series of stronger and stronger runs along the baseball fence, increasing the speed and stride each time. No watch on this, these should take anywhere from 25 to 40 seconds each. The goal is to do 12 to 20, depending on your level of fitness. Between each strong run, do an easy recovery run along the fence back to your starting point. The idea, however, is to keep moving the whole hour.

While you are running the fences, think about finishing your race, making a strong move, holding off a competitor, just let your mind wander. You are feeling strong, and breathing well and you feel like a well-oiled machine. You are really fit, you can tell that now, as you float down the baseball fence, one repeat after another. The pace is a good hard pace, say 85 percent, not allout. You want to be winded at the end, but not wiped out.

After you have completed your fence runs, jog easy and run home, at a good pace, for fifteen minutes or so, cooldown, get out of your wet clothes and do something besides running. This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 20: How to do your best during the championship season
May 18, 2008

May 18, 2008. When you get to league finals, conference finals, state meet or nationals, all of your competitors have to be considered. But the truth is, the only person you can control is you, so here are some suggestions to get the most out of yourself:

a. Focus on your warmup, take it slow, and easy, get by yourself and get yourself ready to perform.

b. Do some easy jogging, and some stride outs, concentrate of the upcoming event.

c. If you need to get some practice throws or jumps in, do them early, concentrate on the upcoming event.

d. Visualize your competition, relax, but know that you are doing all that you can, and that your workouts are finished, it is now about challenging yourself.

e. During the competition, stay aware of what is happening around you. If someone gets off a long throw or jump, build yourself up to improving on the next throw or jump. If someone makes a break in a race, see what you can do to get closer to that person without hurting your chances.

f. There will come a time in the competition where one must choose-commit or not commit. Remember that while you may be tired, you may be worn out from throwing or jumping, focusing on the now, on the next throw, or the final lap can be all of the difference between a great or a lackluster competition!

g. Focus on the challenge, stay positive!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 19: How to stay sane during the championship season
May 12, 2008

The championship season is fraught with tension. This can affect your sleep, your eating patterns, your workouts, and in the end, your races.

Here are seven tips to keep your sanity during the championship season:

a. Sleep-eight to ten hours a night. If you are having trouble sleeping, a warm glass of milk before bed, some reading.

b. Keep your bed room dark, and music down.

c. Besides workouts, find something to do that relaxes you, such as reading, painting, watching dvds.

d. Spend time warming up and cooling down, spend more time on this, focus on the task at hand.

e. Eight to ten glasses of water a day, make sure you keep the caffeine down.

f. Spend time with friends, do things not sport related.

g. Spend five minutes a day, considering your upcoming race, or event, and what you want to accomplish.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 18: Championship Races
May 8, 2008

In a championship race, the successful athlete has to have eyes in the back of their heads. I am always reminded of athletes like Fermin Cacho of Spain, who surprised all and won the 1,500 in Barcelona in 1992. When everyone was waiting for Nouredine Morceli to take off, Cacho got the jump on the field, ran a 50.6 for the last four hundred meters and won the race! Cacho, who won multiple medals in European, World and Olympic venues.

Last summer, in Osaka, Kara Goucher went with Kim Smith and Jo Pavey and pursued the leaders in the 10,000 meters. In the last two laps, Kara told us that she took off with a lap to go, knowing that the safe move would have been to wait until a few hundred meters, and her decision to move with a lap to go helped her win the bronze medal.

The king of the waiting game last summmer was Bernard Lagat, who waited until the last 80 meters to race in the 5,000 meters and 65 meters to go to win in the 1,500 meters. It was Lagat's self control that gives him the ability to change to that fast gear and keep in control, still knowing what was going on around him on the track.

What can we learn from the great racers? The key to racing well is to know oneself, to be cognizant of others racing with you, and to figure out where the best place for you to use your kick, whether you are a long kicker ( 500 to 600 meters), mid distance kicker (300 meters ) or a fight to the finish (last hundred meters). Each has their own proponents and each has their own issues.

As one gets more experience, one draws from all the races, both good and bad, that one has run. The 1980 Olympic gold medalist at 800 meters, Steve Ovett, said once in an interrview that he never planned his racing strategies-he let the race develop as it should.

There are also times when I knew that no matter what I did, the guy on my shoulder was going to kick my butt. So, in that case, I kept increasing the pace, mile after mile, until with a half mile to go, there was nothing left. Somehow, I found another gear, and ran my fastest last half mile of my life and best 10,000 meters. The guy who beat me went by with about fifty to go, and he also ran his best. In the end I ran a race that made him hold off his kick because he was just hanging on, and reduce the kick to one last mad dash. That day, the mad dash gave him the win. During my cooldown, I thought of how I would beat the guy next time...

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 17: How to Fine Tune Your Championship Focus: The Bag of Tricks
April 29, 2008

As your athletes are now getting into the tough parts of the season. They are running conference champs, regional champs and hoping to move onto the state and national level. The key for going from a possible regional candidate to a national level requires alot of perseverance, focus and luck.

I am going to give you today, what I call the "Bag of Tricks." Bill Toomey, the 1968 Olympic gold medalist at the decathlon, taught me these ideas when we would watch Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson train at the VISA Decathlon Clinics.

When Bill competed, from the late 1960s to 1975, he always prepared for the worst. So his "bag of tricks," as he called them, included the following:

a. A warm up bag, with rain suit, extra spike wrench, extra set of spikes, pair of dry shorts, socks, t-shirt, hat, training shoes, and towel. Medical tape, tape measurer.

b. For hydration: bottle of water and sports drink, of your choice.

Bill always took those around with him, even as he trained in Santa Barbara or other warm climates. He always changed his wet training clothes immediately after workout, so as not to catch a cold. He always alternated shoes when training, so as to avoid injuries. He always trained in his worst events in the worst conditions, so he was confident that he could master those conditions. For him, it was the high jump in the rain and the pole vault in the rain.

As for equipment, he always had alternatives on hand--especially poles for vaulting. They were stashed in various places around the country if needed for his competitions. He did not rely on anyone else to take care of such.

Case and point. In 1968, in Mexico City, all that could go wrong did. He had to high jump in the rain and he had to use another pole for the pole vault, his worst event. Apparently his poles were shipped somewhere wrong and then broken!

What should be in your bag of tricks? Is there a special magazine you like to read (hmmm, say, Athletes Only) or science fiction writer you like when you need to relax? Those should be in there as well.

The difference between sixth and moving on and seventh and not moving on could be inches---even a tenth of a second. Your health, your focus, your hydration, your relaxation all play a huge part in your athlete's success. Don't forget the details!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 16: Five Ideas to Watch Over Athletes
April 22, 2008

As your athletes get into shape, the little colds, nagging injuries and soreness that comes from mid-season training can end their season. It is all in the details, so here are five ideas on how to watch over your athletes each and every day:

a. Training Logs are a must. Have them write down their workouts, rate the workout from 1 to 10 with 10=feeling great to 1=feeling terrible. Also, have them keep track of their pulse, when wakeup each morning. It is a good habit but also if their pulse does not go down for a couple days after a hard workout, give them another easy day. If athlete looks listless or has yellowish eyes, they might not be recovering. Check their pulse, have them run easy get some water in them.

b. Changing clothes immedately after hard workouts. Have your team bring dry tshirts and sweats so that they can get into them even in warm weather after a workout. Keeps the colds down and also make sure they have a bottle of water always.Hydration is key.

c. Changing shoes. Most distance runners should have two training shoes, they should alternate shoes so that they keep the shoes dry, and also avoid overuse injuries.

d. Sleeping----up to eight to ten hours a night, and if you can, get a nap in on weekends. Your athletes need rest, even at 17 or 18, so that they can recover and race well.

e. Track spikes-work into them. Give them a series of workouts where sprinters and distance runners work into track spikes. They are equipment, treat them as such.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 15: How to Get Your Best Throw or Jump April 14, 2008

Track & Field is about competition---finding what makes you tick, and how far you can throw, jump or fast you can run. In the throws, and the jumps, a great first competitive throw or jump can put big pressure on the rest of the field. Here are some suggestions on how to get a good throw early in the competition.

Throwing Well in Competition
At the 1976 Olympic Games, a young Hungarian thrower, Miklos Nemeth, was about to compete in the Men's Javelin throw. He was a young man with much pressure on him, as the son of the 1948 Olympic Hammer Gold medalist, Imre Nemeth, he had to deal with the pressures of being the child of a great athlete.

In 1968 and in 1972, Miklos had failed to live up to his country's dreams and by 1976 was not considered a favorite. But, something happened on the way to the javelin competition when Nemeth was given the first throw of the competition.

The pictures from the meet tell the story. Nemeth came up to the runway and began his run. His form was perfect, and as he released the javelin he almost did a 360 degree turn as he stopped himself from fouling his throw. After his turn around he looked up, did a double-take and then jumped for sheer joy---he had broken the world record by six feet!

None of his competition recovered from his great first throw and Miklos Nemeth went on to win the 1976 Olympic gold in the Men's Javelin.

Now, while we are not all Olympic champions, or the sons or daughters of Olympic champions, we can learn from them in and use the tips to improve our competition. So, here we go:

1. Before the competition, make sure that you are warmed up completely. Get there an hour early, do some light jogging and spend the time stretching, both lower body, core and upper body.

2. Get in as many practice throws as you can, make those internal checks: Am I feeling right? Are my shoes fitting, tied? How do I feel holding the discus . . . the shot? Am I ready to throw?

3. As you go to the ring, or to the runway, focus your thoughts, think of only the task at hand, and relax. Take a deep breath, focus and begin your throw.

4. As you finish your throw or jump, remember to complete the throw and walk out the back of the ring, in a jump make sure that you lean forward and in the javelin, stay behind the line!

5. To develop your mental skills, spend five minutes every night before going to sleep telling yourself that you will throw or jump your best in your next competition. Tell yourself, 'I am the smoothest thrower that I can be.'

6. Competition is really self discovery. Perhaps you will find out that you are not a first throw athlete, that you develop over the competition, and that your last throw is your best. Great, then work on that, but remember, you will never know how good you can be if you do not give it your all!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

Number 14: The Championship Season (Part 2)
April 7, 2008

Your athletes are getting into shape, and now, with the relay and invitational meets in focus, its now time to think about the championship season. Last week we provided the first set of suggestions to keep in mind as you set up training for the last two weeks of the season. As promised, here are the the rest of the suggestions.

4. Sprinters, Relay-key in last two weeks is to warm up and cool down. work on Relay hand offs every day two weeks out, and get in great workouts on Monday and Wednesday two weeks out. Like 8 x 200, and on Wed-200/300/400 and down again. Week before, 8 x 150s, starts, and Wednesday, nice stride outs.

5. Distance Runners-two weeks out, Monday-8 x 400, 400 jog, hard, faster than race pace, Wednesday, tempo-2o minutes, then 10 x 150, Friday, 4 x 600, 600 jog, faster than race pace. Week before-Monday-6 x 400, fast, jog 400, Tuesday-off, Wednesday-45 min, 10 x 150 strideouts. Remind them to focus on 3/4 of race, stay out of trouble and run for places at conference, especially if doubling.

6. Key to tell all is to Relax: If sprinter focuses on hand off and team gets around track safely, fast time will come. If throwers and jumpers focus on each jump and throw, they will not miss chance to get their best mark, and if distance runners stay in race to near end and move with 1/3 of race left, they can change the way their competitors respond at end of the race. Hurdlers should remember to focus on themselves, as some one will fall during race-don't let it stun them or hurt their race. And finally, tell them to run through the darn finish line-more races have been lost and team titles when someone does a victory sign before the finish.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 13: The Championship Season
March 31, 2008

Your athletes are getting into shape, and now, with the relay and invitational meets in focus, its now time to think about the championship season.

Here's the facts: 12-16 kids will line up at the starting lines, or for field events at your league or conference final. Of those kids, four will be undertrained, four will be overtrained, and two will be ready to roll. That means that six to eight kids are capable of placing high, maybe even winning, with some focus and final work.

American Track & Field's has six suggestions to keep in mind as you set up training for the last two weeks of the season. We will feature three this week and the next three the following week:

1. Throwers-cut back on the lifting. Let them lift three times, then go to two times the week before league, and keep it at that for the rest of the season. Keep the lifting focused on proper technique, and lower weights and higher reps. Have them focus on warming up well, and cooling down well. Keep the throwing at an hour a day. The week before, really cut back to 30 minutes of throwing and give them a day off, two days before the competiton, not the day before a competition day. Have them think about what they want to achieve for ten minutes each day in the two weeks before league.

2. Jumpers-spend extra time warming up and cooling down. Get your steps down, make sure poles are well kept and check spikes. Jump in rain, high winds, etc., any strange conditions. Take a roll of tape in your training bag, keep extra clothes in bags, extra spikes, socks, dry clothes, etc. Two weeks before league, do a 6 x 200 workout and 6 x300 two days later. Week before, do a 2 x 350 on Monday before League, on Tuesday, 8 x 150 rolling. Keep jumping at 30-45 minutes a day.

3. Hurdlers-warming up and cooling down is critical. Two weeks out, get some good speed work in, two days of 2 x 400, 2 x 300, and another day, 6 x 200, and work on hurdles on grass, by lining up four hurdles on field an work on steps and form. Week before, get over hurdles a few times, and keep relaxed and stretch.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 12: Racing at Different Distances
March 24, 2008

During the dual meet and relay season, in the six to eight weeks before the league and section meets, it is important to give your athletes the experiences that they need to do their best in the big meets. This means getting in the right work outs, giving them some variety in their competitive situations, and helping them focus on their goals.

Right workouts

On your easy days, get the distance kids to do 10 times 150 yard pickups, on hard days, focus on the last half of each interval, to develop your mental strength. Make sure that the kids get out of wet clothes and into dry clothes right away. Have them watch their shoes. Get some practice in the new track spikes, be careful with them. First do the sprints in them, then try the track workouts in them.

Six times 300 meter cut downs, 8 times 400 meters, 200 jog, another great workout, and my favorite, 8 laps, 200 meters on, race pace for mile, or if you are running 4:40, pace is 35 seconds, second 200 is six minute mile pace, or 45 seconds, the idea is do not stop, and stay focused on the job at hand.

Racing

As your athletes get into the racing season, it is key to figure out what the goals are. If you want to win dual meets, you can do that, giving your athletes some variety in racing. Take the good distance kids and get them in the 800 and 1,500 meters. Take the two miles and have them double in the two and the 800 meters. Always take the chance to do relays. First, they are fun, secondly, they give the athlete a chance to race hard, race fast and have some fun. Do not workout hard every day. Each race is a hard day, and they need an easy day in between. A meet day where one runs an 800 or 1,500 can be followed up with a 30 minute cooldown and some 1 by 150s. The long Sunday run is important, as it helps you absorb the speed work and also gives one a strong mental break.

Focus

How does one get the athletes to focus? I used to have my athletes write their monthly goals and season goals on a postcard, and tape it to the mirror wall in the bathroom. I help them make them realistic and refine them each and every month. I also will use any means necessary to involve the athlete in their own life. I once had three milers who the local paper suggested were good, but not good enough to make the state meet. Our head coach gave each of them a different racing tactic, and I read them the article. They all got pumped up, and made State on their own terms.

Our sport is the world's oldest. Athletes were running, jumping and throwing three thousand years ago, and were exalted and praised for their racing prowess. In ancient Persia, kids high jumped. There were races around the walls of cities in Egypt as well as festivals in the Greek cities celebrating various festivals, which including the discus, the javelin, 200 meter races (stadia) and a race that was 12 times the length of the stadia. Make sure that the athletes know that they are part of a sport with history. Who knows, it may be the thing that motivates them!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 11: Sports Nutrition on the Road
March 17, 2008

In this day and age where a home cooked meal is an anomaly, sports nutrition on the road has taken on new meaning. During the season, you will have some time to check in with your kids on eating habits. Here are some suggestions:

Breakfast
oatmeal, with fruit, toast with Jelly, Orange juice, hot tea-green tea is a good suggestion and a great aid in digestion. Dannon yoghurt, fruit flavoring is good, water.

Morning snack
Old style PowerBars, Apple with peanut butter, celery sticks with peanut butter, water.

Lunch
Salad, pump as many veggies as you can, yellow ones, green ones, onions, use oil and vinegar or a fat free dressing, piece of cheese pizza, or turkey breast sandwich with cheese, mustard on whole grain bread, Real fruit juice, water, milk.

Stay away from carbonated beverages, it slows down your recovery from hard training!

Afternoon snack
apple with peanut butter, soup, orange, old style power bar.

Dinner
salad, pump as many veggies as you can, yellow, green, onions, use oil and vinegar, cheese pizza, thin crust, with veggies, tomatoes, small steak, serving of fish, or chicken, water, real fruit juice, milk, hot tea.

If you are at fast food place, get a salad, normal burger (not pounder or quarter pounder), try chicken breast, at Taco Bell, try bean burritoes, tacos, taco salads, at PIzza Hut, try cheese pizza with extra veggies, or half meat, half veggies, at McDonalds, try chicken wraps, salads, yoghurt desserts, try tea or fruit juice.

Always, always, eight glasses of water a day. Small bags of peanuts, soynuts, pistachios are great. Turkey jerkey is good too.

The truth is, keeping the veggies up, water up, and fat down, with their normal training should keep the kids at the weight that they need. Please, please watch the sports supplements that they take, many are just like eating cement, and also can cause dehydration! VERY dangerous!

If your kids want to take a supplement, have them call the USOC Drug Line and get it checked out. If they eat a diet rich in veggies, whole grains, low fat protein (nothing wrong with beef) and dairy is good for you too!, most of your kids will be fine.

Anyone who seems too worried about weight---tell them that in 12 weeks of real training, their body will go where it is supposed to---get them to a counselor and watch their behaviours.

Nutrition is key in an athletes' development. Let common sense rule. After running four events, the eating machine who digest six tacos, a quart of milk and two apples is doing fine. He is eating what he needs and he is not getting too much junk! Just remind him, he can not do that all of the time!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 10: Recovery
March 10, 2008

Probably the weakest area in American track and field is the understanding the importance of recovery. Face it, running, jumping or throwing in our sport requires lots of focused training, many competitions and both of those situations tax the body, physically and mentally. After each season, an athlete needs allow at least one week to recover. It is key to giving the body some off time---and the mind, as well.

A two week break after cross country and after track was de rigeur for me in college. Understanding the recovery time allowed me to get two good peaks each year, keep injuries down and improve each season. If one watches the European elite and Asian elite athletes, one notes that they take breaks after the championships, most of the time an entire month! As your body recovers, you begin to miss racing and training and then, you know you are coming back and ready for the next season!

During the training cycle, remember that easy days, one day for each hard day, allow the muscles to recover and your body to gain value from the hard days. The ying and yang of training is very important to understand. Without recovery from your hard workouts, you will not be able to compete well!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 9: The Importance of Listening
March 3, 2008

As a coach, we are educators first, and role models always. Remember that teenagers are at a point in their lives where everything is changing around them: their relationships with families, their understanding of the world, themselves, the dating game, making decisions about life. With all that going on, it is not surprising that a kid loses control, overreacts, or behaves in a way that is foreign to them.

My suggestion is listening. When a kid has a problem, do not overreact. The rest of their social circle does that, and perhaps their familes do that. Get them out of the situation and get them by themselves. Do not be surprised with expletives, crying, yelling or pounding walls. Let them unwind, let them get a drink of water, let them gain some composure and then, ask them, 'What the heck happened?' Let them tell you, if they can. If they seem unable to explain, get them to do something physical, perhaps jog a couple of laps or have them help you set the hurdles. Especially with guys, the physical act of doing something is like a truth serum. Most of the time the athlete will tell you what is going on. Perhaps it is a family issue, many times it is a school, dating, or life issue. Just listening, and not trying to solve all of the problems will go along way.

Life is overwhelming for you, an adult sometimes. Think of how it could be for 17-year-old?

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 8: How to Test Your Distance Runners

February 25, 2008

So, the distance runs are going well, the speed sessions and fartlek are doing well, and the team is nice and healthy. You are four weeks from your race season and you want to start getting a feel for their shape. Here are two good suggestions for testing your team of distance runners:

a. Week of Time Trials
Monday - 800 meter time trial
Wednesday - Mile Time Trial
Friday - Two mile time trial.

The idea is to warm up well, and run them over 800 meters, give them goals-2:05, 2:10, 2.15, 2:20, then jog for ten minutes and finish up with six 300 meter runs, with two minute break in between, and cooldown.

Tuesday - Nice, relaxed 45 minutes to an hour

Wednesday - Warm up, run them over a mile, break it into target groups, and then jog for a ten minutes and give them six 200 meter runs, with two minute break in between, and cooldown

Thursday - Warm up, relaxed 45 to 60 minute run.

Friday - Warm up, two mile time trial, again, set some goals, read the tmes and get them through it. After this, jog for a half hour to get the lactic out of one's legs.

All distance kids should run all three, whether they are 800 meter or two milers. This gives them some idea of where they are at and gives you an idea of what you have to do this month.

My second test is for two weeks after that, and this is a tough one.

For 2 milers, milers and half milers, warm them up, and have them run four times one lap at their present mile best pace. So, if they can run five minutes, they think, have them run four times a 400 in 75 with 15 second rest between each quarter!

Add those quarters up and that is what you can do now! I remember doing that mile test as a junior in high school in 4:58. Two weeks later I ran a 4:56.

It is tough, callousing and as honest as a good watch!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 7: Using Fartlek for Your Distance Runners
February 18, 2008

Fartlek was developed by Swedish coaches and distance runners in the late 1930s and 1940s, during the time of Arne Anderson and Gunder Haag, the great middle distance runners of the war years.

Fartlek allows the runner and coach to vary both the surfaces of running and to use the natural surroundings to develop a stronger, more efficient athlete. For example, if one is looking to develop speed, charging a series of small hills, for 80-90 seconds, perhaps six to ten times, could be a great workout, with a nice warmup and warm down.

Holmer Fartlek is the most gentle---a sustained speed on the way out and on the way back. This type of run helps develop endurance.

Fartlek done two to three times a week during the build up phase will make speed development that much easier. Here are my three favorite Fartlek workouts:

a. Golf course, or varied fartlek. Warm up and over the period of one hour, run six to eight charges, going from 45 seconds to six minutes, with equal rest, and then a cooldown. The pace for the charges should be what one would perceive to be a strong effort.

b. Short and fun. Warm up, and over the period of an hour, run one minute hard, one minute easy, twenty times. There is no recovery here, but the ability to change gears, and have some fun, is important, cooldown.

c. Follow the Leader. Minumum of four runners, warm up for ten minutes, for next forty, one person from the back, takes off and charges to the front and leads from three minutes to five minutes, then two minute break and next guy in last does same, gets in six or seven good charges, and the group works together. If there is a larger team, do charges for two minutes on, two minutes off. Cooldown well for ten minutes.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 6: Developing successful relay teams

February 11, 2008

Both the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 400 meter relay teams are two of the keys to a successful high school track and field team. Picking not only the right kids, but the right temperaments is part of the art of coaching. My belief is this: the earlier you pick your squads during the year and the more they can workout together, the stronger your chances of success.

For the 4 x 100 meters, I pick four of my sprinters who;
a) can work together
b) can handle stress
c) have huge work ethics

Notice, I did not put, my fastest sprinters? Of course, finding your quickest sprinters is important, but it's more important to have good sprinters who can handle a stick. Passing a stick, in the zone--and fast---is a rarefied task and requires concentration, practice and more practice. Each day, while the team warms up, your 4 x 100 guys should be other there jogging the mile warm up together and passing the stick back and forth, so that it is so much a part of them, they sweat when the stick is not in their hands. Three days a week, the team practices live hand offs, first at half speed, then at faster speed. Keep the team working out together, remind them of their importance and give them a chance to jell.

My philosophy on placing my sprinters? I want good turn runners on both first and third legs, and prefer to have my speedster on leg two to blow the race out in leg three. For my anchor, I want the sprinter who is fast, focused and really wants to win and will run through the finish line. Teach them how to lean, and teach them how to behave as sportsmen and women.

For the 4 x 400 meters, look to my long sprinters, my middle distance runners, my jumpers, really anyone who can run the one lapper fast, and who can get the baton in the zone to their next teammate. I have an idea over the first few weeks and I start to put together a team that I can rely on especially during a close meet. I also have the soccer kids who know how to move and be in close, physical races, who I can rely on if a key sprinter is hurt, tired or not feeling ready to race. Key is communication.

If you start with a core team at the beginning of the season and work with them weekly on their baton work, their team work and their workouts, you will have invested well in your relays for the coming season!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 5: Team Chemistry
February 4, 2008

In developing a team chemistry for track & field, there are many ways to reach the same goal. Understanding the dynamics of your team is key. Who are the leaders? Who lead through their workouts? Who are the team clowns? Who need to be motivated?

While I spent six years coaching at Foothill Community College in Los Altos in the early nineties, our head coach was Hank Ketels. Hank was a USC graduate, life long track fan and one of the best coaches I have ever met. During our last two years of coaching together, Hank pulled out a the Monday team workout. This was a workout that the throwers, jumpers, sprinters and distance runners all did together.

The idea was to get the team warmed up. After that, anything went. We promised the team one hour workout on Mondays, but they had to keep standing. And it was all about speed. The idea was to help the athletes, whatever their discipline, develop their inner speed demon while cementing team spirit.

The workout went something like this: One mile warm up on the track. Once the warm up was done, go to the grass for bounding and high knees. Do repeats of high knees, where one pushes their knees as high in front of them as they can, which is done for 100 meters, a one minute break then back down the field. Each exercise is repeated four times. The second excercise is butt kicks, which is where the athlete kicks one self in the butt and repeats for 100 meters, takes a one minute break and repeats, just like the one before. The third excercise is to skip up and down the field, relaxing arms and shoulders and hips, take a one minute break and repeat. After that, we would go off the track and find a 100 meter hill and repeat that six times, jogging down.

The team was about 25-40 most days, and while the kids growned, they stayed with it. At the end of the season, we had 20 kids on the squad and they felt like a team. The talked like a team and they ran like a team.

The workout always ended with a 200, 300 or 350.

After the workout, the team would go back to their specialties, with the distance kids off for a long 45 minute cooldown. We did this for 20 weeks a year and it made a huge difference.

Try it with your team. The key is to get the team to work together. Relay races, putting the sprinters, jumpers, distance runners together are great. One of our favorites was 12 times 200 and the group was broken into two teams and it worked well. Relays get the workout in and create a team feel!

Remember to start this at the beginning of the season!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 4: Setting Standards of Behaviour
January 28, 2008

Young athletes are looking to you, the coach for many things. You are their trainer, their teacher, their confessor, and most of, their role model. This does not mean that you need to be a nominee for sainthood, but you should live by the rules you give your teams.

I always kept rules simple. Workouts are sacred. Show up each day, on time, and if there will be a deviation, call or contact your coach before hand. Emergencies happen, and in that case, a note from the parents, a conversation before workout is helpful.

The other rules-respect each other, respect yourselves and leave things that are not your own alone. Four simple rules, about all most of us can remember or enforce, and you should have most issues covered.

Competing on a school team is part of the educational process. Because it is physical, many parents, educators and the general community belittle athletics participation. But for many teenagers, the life lessons of working for a common good, taking on challenges, dealing with fear, treating others with respect, learning to compete and not belittle, are crucial in their development into adults who are comfortable in their own skin and who can contribute something to society.

So, in setting rules, make sure they are rules that you can enforce. Keep them simple and communicate them to your team in writing.

Final fact: The average sports coach spends two hours plus a day with a teenage athlete, while parents spend a bit over one hour in a 24 hour period.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 3
January 21, 2008
The Miracle Cure-Water

In my sixteen years of coaching high school, college, community college and club, the best "cure" I ever had was water. A simple product, H20, two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen, but so important in the proper maintenance of your athletes' health.

Water helps transport wastes out of the body. It is the medium used for the transportation of energy, from one cell to another. Proper hydration and the human body works well in all of its magic and magnificence. Less than proper hydration and you have muscle soreness, slow recovery from workouts, and athletes who are worrying rather than training.

The rule of thumb is eight to ten glasses of water a day. A glass of water is 8-10 ounces. I do not care if the water is from your tap, or from some bottling company in Southern France. As long as it is clean, and tastes okay, the athlete is fine. Suggest that they carry a bottle around to make sure that they drink the only miracle liquid that I know of.

Final fact: Remind the athlete that soda and sugared drinks should be cut back. When drinking sports drinks, dilute in half with water. And keep the caffeine down to a cup of coffee or tea in the morning.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 2
January 14, 2008

Training Logs = Good for Coach, Good for Athlete

The training log is a great training device. It is a daily affirmation of the theme that coaches should teach-that success in track and field is built over months and years of practice. A training log, properly used should tell the coach and the athlete what is going well and what is not. A coach should give their athletes a simple guide for setting up a training log.

A daily training log should have room for workout description, date, time of day of workout. The athlete should rate the workout on a scale of 1-10, with 1 beaing too easy and 10 being very hard.

A coach should check training logs once a month to get a good feel for the athlete's development and see if there are any problems. Also, copy articles and give them out to get your athletes to think beyond their normal workout.

Final fact: To develop a habit, something that is done for more than four weeks normally develops a good habit. Encourage this habit of keeping a training log!

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track

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Number 1
January 7, 2008

Teach by Example-the Coach as Role Model

Coaches hold an important place in the teenage athlete's development. The average teenager spends one hour, plus a day with their parents awake. The average teenage athlete spends double that with their coach. Be honest with your athletes, keep the rules simple and lead by example. Watch the athletes who seem to be having a rough day and give them a chance to work out their frustrations during the workout. Especially with young men, the best chance to find out what is bothering them is during the workout or right after.

Sam Adams, the long-time track administrator at UC Santa Barbara and dean of decathlete coaches once said that coaches are educators first. Always remember that. A kind word from a coach, a thoughtful comment on how to improve can go a long way with a young athlete who is dealing with rough issues at home or school.

Final fact: As a track and cross country coach, you will work with your team an average of forty-six weeks a year, six days a week, for an average time of two hours, fifteen minutes per day. To paraphrase the philosopher Plato, the best learning is done by example.

This weekly coaching tip was presented by www.boathouse.com/track