Should Masters Runners Lift Weights?

Posted on May 22, 2013 by CoachJay

I had a great discussion with Dr. Richard Hansen the other night (over a fantastic meal by the way) and we were talking about the differences between high school athletes getting injured and masters runners getting injured.  Richey coaches high school athletes, but in his clinic he sees many serious masters runners.  The key point he made was that the masters runner could really benefit from work that changes their hormonal profile.  They need to up-regulate human growth hormone, testosterone to stay healthy.  But it’s a really hard sell because this group truly loves to run.  And they understand going out for an easy run on Monday, workout on Tuesday, easy runs on Wednesday and Thursday, workout Friday, easy run or day off on Saturday, then a long run on Sunday.  They’ve done that for years.  They’ve found a way to make that running schedule work alongside their family life and social life.

So back to the question, “Should Masters Runners Lift Weights?” Continue reading →

Posted in Training | Tagged , | 7 Comments

I’m impatient but I encourage patience

Posted on May 20, 2013 by CoachJay

I work with online clients, runners in Athletics Boulder and post-collegiate runners.  Daily I’m asking athletes to be patient.  Every day.

I couldn’t help but smile today when I remembered that one of my mentors often told me that my problem was that I was impatient.  True dat.

Posted in For Everyone | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sunday Morning Reads – 05.19.13

Posted on May 19, 2013 by CoachJay

Hope you’re having a nice Sunday.

Who is the best miler ever?  This short article debates the point.

Another short article is one that I wrote on which distance should beginners run – 5k or 10K?

Two discussions regarding the principle of 180 strides per minute – one from Sweat Science and one from my blog (where the comments are the meat of the post, so thanks to all of the commenters).  This subject comes up weekly via email or with athletes I coach and I think it’s important to understand how 180 strides per minute works for serious runners.

Finally, a longer article – and a sad one – on Sammy Wanjiru.  Big talent, short life.

More posts coming this week.  Take care.

Posted in For Everyone | Tagged , | 6 Comments

The two hour practice that gets you less than three miles

Posted on May 16, 2013 by CoachJay

Two days ago @macklinChaffee tweeted that the session was more than two hours, but less than two miles.

I disagree a bit as I think that if you added up all of the meters covered in the workout it would be closer to three miles. But not more than three miles for a two hour practice, so he’s basically correct. Why would we do that? Why would we conduct a practice session and not run more miles? A few of reasons. Continue reading →

Posted in For Everyone | Leave a comment

Should Runners go to the Weight Room? Part 1

Posted on May 14, 2013 by CoachJay

The first thing we need to acknowledge is that in training athletes to become the best runners they can be there are “Many Roads to Rome.” That said, I’m a firm believer that runners should do non-running exercises if they want to to run faster. If you improve your General Strength and Mobility (GSM) you can reduce the chance of injury, and when you reduce injuries you’ll maintain consistency in your training, not missing days, weeks or months at a time. Consistency is one of the most important factors in racing to your potential.

So if you buy into the idea that you need to do non-running activities to reduce injury and maintain consistency in your training, the question becomes, “What non-running activities should I do?” For many runners this question is answered with “I need to get in the weight room, work on my core, and get strong.” That’s a not a bad idea, but it’s not my approach. The weight room has a place in distance running training, but I believe it comes after a progression of exercises and routines that can be done outside of the weight room. Continue reading →

Posted in For Everyone, Training, Training Videos, Videos | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Three quick items

Posted on May 13, 2013 by CoachJay

I’m in the middle of responding to emails. Here are three things that keep coming up. Continue reading →

Posted in For Everyone | 1 Comment

Sunday Morning Reads – 05.12.13

Posted on May 12, 2013 by CoachJay

First, Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers reading this.

The high school and college track seasons are winding down. Here is a quick article about how long it takes to watch (and compete in) a track meet. Hopefully the state track meet in your area has a enough volunteers that it moves quicker than all of the meets leading up to it.

Have you ever thought of cutting a course and faking your race time? This article from the New Yorker is one of my favorite running articles in the past twelve months, even if it makes you sick that someone would do this. Long article but well worth your time.

A couple short training articles I’ve written. Some general running tips and three training questions answered.

Finally, this blog post by Macklin Chaffee, a miler I coach, is a detailed account of his third place finish at the Medronic TC 1 mile (a road mile) this week. Macklin was not very physically strong when we started working together this spring. He is fired up to get into the weight room, but we’ll wait until the fall to do that as we still have gains to make in terms of General Strength and Mobility (GSM) (article and article). Here is Alberto talking about how weak Mo Farah was when they started working together.

Have a great Sunday.

Posted in For Everyone, Training | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

How Should I Run Strides – High School Athletes, Summer Training and Cross Country

Posted on May 10, 2013 by CoachJay

Please read the overview on strides before you read this article. Thank you.

Strides should be an elemental part of all high school training programs. Why? First, you don’t know how fast a high school athlete is until you’ve asked their neuromuscular system to work. Doing 4 x 200m with 200m jog on the track two weeks before the regional cross country meet, when the athletes haven’t been doing fast strides up this point, isn’t going to tell you what the athletes are really capable of. Now, the hierarchy will probably be the same, but if your varsity is running 29.5s for these 200s at the end of an easy run, who is to say they couldn’t be running 27.9s as a group?

So what should be done in training? Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Training | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment