"I also found it extremely valuable at measuring velocity through the phases. This being from board to end of the runway just before the sandpit. The major nemesis to triple jump is loss of horizontal velocity."-Kenta BellSome interesting talk on what models can be found in the Triple Jump based on the last 5 world championships and 4 olympics. After listening to a few of them I asked how does o [...]

On Monday morning, April 15th, 2013, the Boston University Track and Field Team practiced during the hours of 10AM and 12PM. It’s been team tradition that on days when classes are not in session, whether it is on Saturdays or holidays, we practice at 10AM. Marathon Monday is no different to us. We remind ourselves that our competitors don’t take the day off for Marathon Monday, so why shoul [...]

Lot's of talk about therapy, fascial connections, and now the brain in coaching circles. What is the prime reason training wise people are getting faster in the 100m? If it was the 1990s everyone will say technique. 2000s it was force into the ground. Now? I am not sure. What I do know is that watching and observing what people do in training still has merit. Yes athletes are tempted to go to the [...]

Activate. Potentiate. Foam Roll. Self Mobilization. I posted earlier this year about heat and how it validated what Charlie and other coaches have said for years, and John Smith's quote from the MSTCA clinic was chanted this Friday. When one is tired or sometimes when athletes are lazy, warm-ups look like prides of lions with half hearted stretches and leg swings. I am no longer letting people di [...]

The graph above shows the performance chart for one of my athletes over the course of her career (Courtesy of mo.milesplit.us) run 5k in XC. It is easy to see this athlete struggled in the middle of her career. However, that graph shows doesn’t do justice to the story of Kayla Friesen. Kayla showed a lot of promise as a young runner on our cross country team as a freshman. She was putting in a n [...]

So you’ve got a big dream and you’re willing to train more but you can’t fit it in. If you get up earlier, you don’t get enough sleep. Or, you can’t train 6 days a week because of other stuff going on in your life.How much sacrifice are you prepared to make? Think of your dream. Make sure it’s big. If you’re dream is too small, then it doesn’t work. If you’re dream is too small t [...]

In my dozen years in elite track and field, I have seen some amazing things up close and personal:I was ringside as the USATF shot put biomechanist when Christian Cantwell had the greatest shot put series in history at the Home Depot center.I was on staff at LSU when Xavier Carter led the 4x400m to an insane collegiate record NCAA win of 2:59.59.I was on the infield 10 feet from the finish line wh [...]

As a track season reaches its crescendo the choices we make as a coach become increasingly more significant. As stated in my previous blogs I try to focus my training and season plan around the 400 dash. However, after a crazy set of circumstances we missed out on qualifying our 4x400. The remaining events we qualified were all less than 200 meters in distance. The season plan called for an extend [...]

This may be hard to believe but in my last four years we have not had a hamstring pull. Now we have had some great things happen over the past four years in our sprint program. Most recently we finished our season with a 2nd place finish in the 4x100 relay at the Class 4 (Largest Schools) State Championships. I am sharing this bit of information to give you clarity on the fact we have kids pushin [...]

Gabe is too humble to share his success, so I wanted to say congrats to a job well done for Elitetrack.com Blogger and Sprint Coach Sanders. NEW ORLEANS - Boston University track & field assistant coach Gabe Sanders was named the Northeast Region Men's Indoor Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Monday.Sand [...]