On Coaching #74: Alex Hutchinson-“The goal isn’t to go faster…the goal is to feel better doing it.”
Special Guest Alex Hutchinson has written the defining book on endurance and fatigue. His latest book Endure is a must read that blends storytelling and science to explain the intricacies of fatigue. In this weeks episode, Alex takes us through not only the surprising insight of his book but to his own athletic career. While known for his writing, Alex was a 3:43 1,500m (and 13:52 5k!) runner back in the day, and more importantly, was coached by some of the big names in the coaching world. During his career, he spent time training with Matt Centrowitz Sr. and Harry Wilson, who famously coached Steve Ovett.
With exquisite wisdom, Alex combines his experiences in training along with his work as a scientist and journalist to provide numerous takeaways for the coach or athlete, including:
- “Great tacticians feel the punches before they come.” The importance of cultivating tactical awareness in racing.
- “Data: Use it to describe, not prescribe.”
- Workouts: “The goal isn’t to go faster…the goal is to feel better doing it.”
- On How Kiphcoge ran 2hrs for the marathon. It can bsummed up with Kipchoge’s own quote: “The training will be the same. My mind will be different.”
- Why Buy-In matters more than the details of training. How Alex had his big breakthrough once he let his hesitations about his coaches workouts go, and went all out in the first 300-meter rep of the workout to run 38 seconds.
- How athletes and coaches should filter information.
- The major takeaway for coaches when it comes to his book Endure.
- “The epidemic of self-doubt fueled by the internet.”
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Resources Mentioned on this weeks episode:
Endure by Alex Hutchinson
Which Came First? Cardio or Weights? by Alex Hutchinson
Alex’s piece in the NY Times where he talks about the importance of Kipchoge’s mindset.
Why it matters how you think about pain. Outside Magazine.
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[…] the question of how to use data to guide your training came up during a podcast discussion last week, I dusted off a familiar bromide. The output from GPS watches, power meters, heart rate […]