Episode 61: “If you can’t be great, be good” Coach Mike Smith after winning a National Championship
As promised, we’ve brought back NAU coach Mike Smith to give us insight on how his team won the NCAA Cross-Country Championships. As he did in our previous episode, Mike delivers numerous pearls of wisdom and shows how he has grown and evolved as a coach. He walks us through the week leading up to nationals, discussing the training and emotions, as well as taking us inside the team meetings.
Some of the insights Mike covers are:
- The Importance of Recharging throughout the season and at the end of the year.
- “If you can’t be great, be good”- Why his runners don’t shoot for perfection.
- Listen for silence- How silence tells you the emotional pulse of the team
- Riding the Line- The importance of knowing where your limits are.
- Why he doesn’t do big team meetings the night before the race
- Why his runners did 10 miles two days out from the big meet.
- “Make it about the work”
- The importance of Muscle Tension and neuromuscular work in getting ready for a race.
We’d like to thank Mike for his oppenness and willing to share. Thanks for listening, for more thoughts on coaching, follow us on social media:
Resources Mentioned:
The Education of a Coach by David Halberstrom
The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
Shop Class as Soul Craft by Matthew Crawford
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Hello Guys, Can you please please please do me a favor???? Bring back Mike Smith AGAIN after the three peat in XC. I’m one of the people who have listened to those podcast multiple multiple times.