It’s an important question this time of year because the work you do in the next four to six weeks will determine “the tools” that the athletes has on their toolbelt come race time (i.e. you can’t expect a miler of average ability to be able to shift gears at 300m to go and again at 100m to go if you haven’t started a progression of speed development, as speed takes time).

Want an 800m runner to be able to “get out” in the first 50m and run a slight positive split race between the first 400m and the second 400m? Similarly, do you want them to come through 600m at a blistering pace and then run a solid last 200m, which will likely result in passing several competitors? Or maybe you believe the the only way to run the event is to run even splits?

Have you empowered the 1,600m runners to deal with the pace changes and “moves” that typify great races at that distance? Can they go out slow and run each successive 400m faster than the previous? Can they go out hard for 800m or 1,000m, then decelerate a bit for the next 400m or so, then be able to switch gears and run faster…and switch again if need be, running their fastest?

Do you want to see a 3,200m runner simply get on his or her edge for that race and run eight even splits, or do you expect to see some faster laps (or at least a faster 200m) at the end of the race?

I don’t go to high school meets weekly, so my opinion regarding these questions may be skewed. If you have some time (and I know you may not now that you’re back in school) I’d love to hear your opinions regarding these questions, specifically, how you think athletes should run each of the three disciplines.

I’m speaking in 10 days at the OATCCC clinic and I want to make sure I’m helping those in attendance. Thanks for your assistance.

While we talk about various aspects of training and exercise physiology, no doubt anyone who wants to run the marathon well will want to listen to his suggestions on fueling for the marathon event.

Thanks for the interview Trent and no doubt we’ll have some questions from the readership…so maybe we’ll have to do another interview in the future?

As always, you can download this podcast (or subscribe) via iTunes.

Phil Wharton is one of the brightest people I’ve ever been around, but also one of the most compassionate. A special person. Check out this recent article in Running Times to learn more about his work. The article on Phil was written by Scott Douglas, one of the editors of Running Times, who is also the co-author of Advanced Marathoning and the author of The Little Red Book of Running. Speaking of marathoning, I’m excited to be speaking with Trent Stellingwerff, who I had the pleasure of hearing speak at the 2011 Canadian National Endurance Conference. The title of his presentation was “Born to Fuel? Performance Nutrition for Marathon Runners.” His was one of the best talks I’ve ever heard. The guy is sharp.

Here’s the deal: I would love to infuse some of your questions into the conversations, so if you have a question for one of them please say so in the comments section below (and make sure you specify who the question is for).

For several years Mark Wetmore had an 8.5 x 11 inch frame with what appeared to be a day planner page, framed, on the wall, near his chair. His office was always clean, no clutter on the desk, no coaching awards on the wall. A team picture or two hung on the back wall.

Any visitor facing Mark could look to their right and see that framed sheet of paper.

A good journalist, say Chris Lear, would be able to tell you the year printed on the page and the time slot within which a note was written on that paper. I can’t. Sorry. What I can tell you is that the date was January 1st and the time was sometime in the morning. And the note was simply this: a workout that Mark Wetmore would be meeting Adam Goucher to conduct. I could be wrong on this detail, but I’m 90% sure that Adam was a professional runner at this time.

So that’s it, a framed page out of a day planner, hanging on the wall next to Mark.

The lessons here our numerous and obvious…just thought I’d share it.

Adam has a new book out. I have yet to read it but hope to get to it later this year. Dave Racey is well read and if he likes it I have no doubt it’s good.

He states, “Perhaps you are as perplexed as I in finding ways to get the best out of them come spring. Or perhaps you’re already found a way… and if that’s the case, please share!”

This man is an exceptional coach and he’s coached multiple state championship teams and individuals during his career, so he knows what he’s doing.

I always hesitate to give advice high school coaches because I’ve never coached at that level, yet the irony of this is email is that a mutual friend of ours has touted the following for a long time: a culture of running at your school is more important that the workouts. Now remember, I’m on the email list and I don’t coach high school athletes, but that was my first thought – the never ending task of recruiting in the hallways and getting kids out for the team. Specifically, if you get either a large number of kids or you get kids who are athletic to come out and run cross country and track, the workouts don’t matter as much. I’m not saying the coaches should ignore training theory, but I am saying that even the best coaches spend a great deal of time recruiting and building their program…so that eventually they have better athletes, or at least more dedicated athletes, following their training schedules. Note: There is a similar phenomenon at the collegiate level – a great recruiter who does an average job at developing talent will beat the coach who is fantastic at developing talent, yet due to average recruiting, he/she has average athletes to work with.

So what’s the secret to creating a culture of running at your school? You tell me. I know that in the comments of The Jump post there are some ideas, but I also know there are more ideas out there. If you have time, let me know what you do (and have done) to create a culture of running at your school.

The CHASE. from Gretchen Powers on Vimeo.

The next isn’t running related…except that it really speaks to the term “athleticism.” Thanks to the The Science of Sport for sharing this video.

The final video is a nod to Brent Vaughn, who I very much hope has a great race in Houston in a few short weeks. He works tirelessly and was such a pleasure to coach. I hope to cover all of the various exercises demonstrated in this video at some point in 2012.

One for college runners – Winter Training for College Runners.

One for adult runners – Do you have the guts to turn around?.

Today is the 24th of December and I hope you enjoyed the posts since the first of the month. I don’t plan to post between Christmas and New Years, but you never know. However, I look forward to posting regularly in 2012. Maybe not every day, but close.

Thanks for your time and attention this year and I look forward to bringing you better content in 2012.

Alberto Salazar said in his presentation on 5,000m training that a key workout in their group is:

7-8 x 1,200m at about 10 seconds faster than race pace.

In his next sentence he started talking about lactate.

Quick – what should the next thought in your head be?

How about “What’s the rest?” Or more specifically, “What’s the recovery?”

Now, the quote above was taken from his afternoon talk and I couldn’t attend his morning talk (still traveling to Canada), where he had shared what the rest is. I know he said that the recovery for 6 x 1 mile is 400m in 4:35. My guess the recovery for these 1,200s is 4:00 or more.

Note: I like the term recovery rather than rest because recovery can mean running or walking or jogging. To me rest makes me think of stopping and standing around, while recovery begs the questions “am I jogging or walking?” But that’s just me, if you use the term rest that’s fine too.

The point I’m trying to make in this post is that there are workouts where coaches give athletes 400m or 500m at a pace, then “float” 100m, which is a recovery jog that is more of a run than a jog, then they go right into the next repeat (note: interval refers to the recovery portion, while the interval refers to the portion you’re running at a given pace). The flip side is, when an 800m runner does a 600m time trial then 2 x 200m the recovery might be 10 minutes, walking as much as they want, then 5 minutes between the 200′s.

Bottom line is that when you look at workouts you need to know what the recovery is.

While I’m not injured, I have a chronically tight IT Band. I just ran 2:39 at the Philly Marathon and am just getting back into running. Despite everything I know about ITBS (I’ve had it before and feel like I learned a ton seeing PT’s and a lot of research), I can’t knock the tightness in my glute/hip. I’ve worked on glute strength and hip mobility – what other things can help treat ITBS?

Here are a few favorites, some books you no doubt know, others you might not have heard of.

A Cold Clear Day is great for the serious runner. While it’s a book about a marathoner, there is plenty of discussion and description of the trials of a runner for any serious runner to enjoy the journey. Actually, might not be a great read for a high school runner because of the distance (the marathon) and the volumes Buddy Edelen runs. But it’s a great read and definitely the type of book that keeps you going when you’re out on a long run, freezing your tail off.

The best running novel I’ve read is The Olympian by Brian Granville. Special thanks to Patrick for lending me his copy. Can’t buy this one new (well, as of today there was one copy on Amazon, but it’s $40 and unless you collect books you’re probably not buying a new one); I just bought a copy for myself used from Amazon. (Note: when you buy used from Amazon you often have a bookstore that IS NOT Amazon sending it; you’ll pay some shipping and you won’t get it very fast. The flipside is new books come quickly and for me Amazon Prime has been a good deal over the course of a year). Aspiring coaches will be doubly served as it’s a great example that there are always more than one road to Rome (especially when the athlete in question has talent). I’d say more, but trust me, it’s worth spending the money to get a copy. Really a good read.

The next book that I think is important is Running the Lydiard Way. But the copy I have is out of print and the best alternative seems to be Running to the Top. Obviously I should invest in Running to the Top and then I can report on the differences. Bottom line is there is good information on Lydiard training online from the LydiardFoundation.org, such as the Osaka Lecture.

I’m embarrassed that I’ve not read all of Bowerman and the Men of Oregon. Same goes for Best Efforts, both by Kenny Moore. Finishing both of those books is a goal for this year as I’ve very much enjoyed what I’ve read. The man can write.

Obviously there is Once a Runner and Running with the Buffaloes. These are the types of books I think are great for a serious male, ideally a senior in high school or freshman in college. If my daughters end up becoming runners I hope there are some books I could recommend to them if they wanted to be serious about running…I wouldn’t recommend either to a young woman (sorry Chris…you can kick my a@* next time we see each other).

Obviously other good books out there on training. The Daniels Running Formula and Better Training for Distance Runners should be on every coach’s (and athlete’s?) shelf. Athletic Development by Vern Gambetta is a great read for coaches who want to help their athletes reach their potential.

Finally, two books about being cold…because when you’re out for two hours plus doing your twenty miler you often need a reminder that your cold and pain will soon be over. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage and Mawson’s Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written. As I type in those two titles I realize they may sound hyperbolic in this day and age. The are not. Again, when you’re on a twenty miler and you’re freezing your butt off, these books are comforting because you know that soon you’ll be warm and dry, whereas these men went for months wet and cold, not knowing what was coming next. Thank you to the Mark Wetmore and The Colonel for recommending each book.

Happy reading. Podcast tomorrow.