Philosophy
Science Vs. Practice- Should our training be evidence based?
Science versus Practice: Evidence Based training A consistent theme of this blog is the battle between the scientific side and the practical side training. As I tried to express in this article on my conflicting passions, the constant tug of war that goes on between the two conflicting sides is something I frequently deal with.…
Read MoreRecognizing 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 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 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 MoreMe and Coach Stew figure out everything…
While the title is in jest, I thought I’d post some random musings based on a conversation I recently had with my High School coach, Coach Stewart. We covered a range of topics from barefootin’ to stretching to the importance of an active lifestyle, so I’ll briefly highlight the points. As any coaching nuts would, our…
Read MoreMy Rules of Everything
My Rules of Everything: Over the years, I’ve noticed several key themes that seem to pop up in a variety of different situations. These apply not only to running or training, but to many other things. What I was left with is my eight rules of everything. I use them as reminders to keep me…
Read MoreLearning from Other Sports: CC Skiing:
Learning from Other Sports: CC Skiing: If you’ve been watching the Olympics at all, and since you are reading this blog and presumably have an interest in training, I bet the question of “I wonder how they train” has crossed your mind. It certainly has mine. To help scratch this interest, I’m going to start…
Read MoreResearch on Individual response to training
A big theme of my training/this blog is individuality. It’s central to training a successful runner. The problem is that it is hard to do. It takes work to actually individualize something. It’s much easier to give a cookie cutter approach. If you know anything about research and studies is that most of the time…
Read MoreComplex to Simple
First, read this post by Vern Gambetta: http://www.elitetrack.com/blogs/details/4804/ While I might not totally agree with how he applies it, the concept of taking complex things and making them simple is one that hits home. Before I headed out to Virginia, I spent two days with the man I think is the best track and field…
Read MoreFinding the Right System.
Finding the right system. Do you follow a Lydiard system? Daniels? Coe? Hudson? Or how about Pfitzinger? That is a very common question that many coaches and athletes get asked. It typifies our need to simplify training down into something that is easy to digest. What’s Lydiard? 100mi weeks leading to a peak. How about…
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