Posts by stevemagness
Recognizing patterns, winning workouts, making connections, and making it blatantly obvious
I’m generally not interested in the stock market or any business related information, but when former Super Bowl winning coach with the Baltimore Ravens Brian Billick tells you to read a business book, you do it. So I picked up the book Good to Great by Dr. Jim Collins with the hope that I would…
Read MoreTo change or not: Salazar, Ritzenhein, and running form changes
Ritz and his new form: There is a lot of buzz going around about Dathan Ritzenhein and his form changes. You either fall into one of two camps as Amby Burfoot stated in his blog on the subject: it’s great or insane (his article is here). I’ve got to observe Salazar working on mechanics twice.…
Read MoreThe 10,000hr rule and why talent and genes matter
The 10,000hr rule and why talent and genes matter: A decade or so ago, if you asked the top scientists what separated top athlete’s, the answer would be simple, genetics. Fast forward to today and the answer seemingly has shifted to the opposite end of the spectrum, hard work. Two books that came out a…
Read MoreCompression Socks
[easyazon_link keywords=”Sigvaris” locale=”US” tag=”onanofthtr-20″]Sigvaris[/easyazon_link]If you’ve been at a road race recently or watched Pro’s like Chris Solinksy or Paula Radcliffe race, you might have noticed the extremely long compression socks that are seemingly popping up everywhere. While Radcliffe was probably the earliest adopter to the compression socks while racing trend, it seems like in the…
Read MoreBuying into the Program:
I’ve been traveling a lot, and am still on the road, so forgive me for the lack of posts. This past weekend I ran the US 10k road champs in Atlanta, and came away with a solid race, 21st American in 30:28. Having only decided to do this race about 3wks before after focusing on…
Read MoreIs it a symptom or a problem?
Is it a problem or a symptom? A 1,500m runner consistently gets out kicked during cross country season when he is racing 5k. If he’s getting out kicked the problem must be that he doesn’t have enough “speed” to be able to pick it up during the last 100m, so we have to start doing…
Read MoreThe Evolution and History of Training: The Volume versus Intensity Cycle
The Evolution of Training: The training of distance runners has evolved based on a trial and error method that is essentially the ultimate scientific process. For the most part, the successful practices stick around and the unsuccessful practices get left behind. However, this isn’t always the case, because as a runner or coach you know…
Read MoreGoing from Mono to State Champ
As always, I try to be up front and open about what I believe in coaching runners. There are no secret workouts, it has all been done at some time during the past, what changes is how all the ingredients are put together. It forces me to be a better coach and innovate more if…
Read MoreLearning from other sports: Baseball:
Learning from other sports: Baseball: What could baseball possibly teach runner’s or endurance athletes? I mean just look at the baseball players, and the words “in shape” or “fit” don’t exactly spring to mind. The sports themselves have almost nothing in common, except for the fact that each can drag on for hours, depending on…
Read MoreSEARCHING FOR STABILITY: The efficacy of unstable training
With the popularity of the strength training posts, I’ve gotten many questions on both my and Matt’s comments on unstable training. People want to know why we both generally oppose the use of such devices as swiss balls, bosu balls, and dyna discs. Matt has once again been kind enough to let me post his…
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