Philosophy
Coaching Conversations- Interview with coach Adam Didyk
I’m starting a new segment on the blog that I’m really excited about. I’ll be having conversations with some of the top young coaches, exercise scientist, and generally smart people in our sport. One of the things I’ve loved about expanding my coaching/science network is the talks I’ve had with some smart people. Whether it’s…
Read MoreThe Process of Endurance Training
One of my favorite conferences to attend and present at every year is Vern Gambetta’s GAIN symposium. The reason I love it so much is simple. It challenges you. You don’t just go to GAIN to nod along and get a pat on the back to reaffirm what you are doing. Instead, you go there…
Read MoreWhy Breakthroughs can be dangerous? The Set Point Theory of Fatigue
First off, Thank you so much to all of you who have continued to make my new book, The Science of Running, a success. I cannot express how grateful I am for all of you who helped make it a success and wrote, emailed, or tweeted at me. I’ll have more on that in a…
Read MoreA Brief History of My Reading Patterns
If you could track my book reading over the past decade of my life, the types of books I have been drawn to for improving performance tells an interesting tale. When I was first getting interested in coaching, I read just about every running/track coaching/training book there was. I started with the basics and…
Read MoreWhy Crossfit works…but really doesn’t. The randomness of adaptation, and why beginners just need change.
Adaptation, regardless of whether it’s to a workout or to a drug, follows a familiar pattern. We react high to an initial new stimulus before tapering off and slowly adapting less and less to the same stimulus. The same workout loses its effects, just as certain drugs might lose their effectiveness over time. Obviously, the…
Read MoreOutside the Comfort Zone: What I learned from hanging out with a bunch of Aussies
At the world championships in Moscow, I got a unique opportunity to spend a couple weeks understanding the Australian system of training and development. As a coach, it was an incredible learning experience, not only because I was learning different ways of attacking the same problem, but instead because it offered a different viewpoint. It…
Read MoreAttacking Adaption from Multiple Directions
The Multiple directions approach: One particular thing I notice from athletes or coaches, and a trap I fell into early in my coaching career, is you start to pigeonhole workouts to develop particular qualities. For instance, if high-end aerobic endurance (or in science speak lactate threshold) needs to be developed, the answer was always going…
Read MoreCrossfit endurance, Tabata sprints, and why people just don’t get it
Crossfit endurance, Tabata sprints, and why people just don’t get it Not terribly long ago, I stopped dating a girl because she did crossfit. Okay, it wasn’t the only reason, but it was a major factor. I mention this not to show how messed up my dating life/requirements may be, but to show how strongly…
Read MoreLessons from outside the running world
This is going to be an interesting attempt at a blog. One that takes seemingly unrelated subjects and ties them into my main focus, running. If you were to flip through any of the myriad of books I’ve read on some pretty random subjects, you’d see the margins littered up and down with notes. If…
Read MoreEscaping the running world: Why Learning from outside sources is needed
Escaping the running world: Why Learning from outside sources is needed In any field, as you rise through the ranks and get more involved in whatever field you are pursuing, you get more and more insulated in your profession. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it creates a situation where we lose our ability…
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