Here are some of my thoughts on training middle distance and distance runners. I continue to be amazed at the things that I see going on in training. We have been down this path so many times before I am amazed that the same questions are being asked and the same mistakes are repeated. In my 41 year coaching career I have been fortunate to work with some great middle distance and distance athlete [...]

Mr. Lee from the very informative speedendurance.com did a nice job providing this super rare audio clinic from the late Arthur Lydiard. I think the 3 hour talk was fantastic and was able to spend a few days after the NBA Championship to listen to it during my drive instead of hearing rants form sports radio. If you are an endurance coach in any sport it's a surprise the speed philosophy of Art [...]

From the day I started coaching I have always approached the middle distance and distance events from a speed and power perspective. Very quickly I saw that those who could run forever, but could not run fast were not going to be competitive in races. Remember the winner is the person who can maintain the highest percentage of their maximum speed for the duration of the race. If you have speed and [...]

I have always maintained the secret to running fast times is to race. This is what happened yesterday when the American record in the 10 K was broken. Just race baby, just race - If you run to win then the times will come as the competition improves.Still on an adrenalin high, Solinsky was remarkably fresh after the end of his 25-lap race. “I really didn’t come here to run a fast time,” he [...]

I have really enjoyed watching the World Championships this year. The first time in many years I have actually watched the majority of the coverage. The shots of the action have been super, unfortunately we have to listen to the endless drivel from Dwight Stones and Ato Bolden. Bolden would be OK if he would cut the verbiage down by about 75% and just let us enjoy the action. Dwight Stones is anot [...]

I saw this article on Joe Vigil. It certainly warmed my heart. I am privileged to have Joe as a mentor and and a friend. He is an amazing individual, a role model for all teachers and coaches.‘Dean of distance’ discusses OlympicsBy Mike Touzeau, Special to the Green Valley NewsThough he was impressed — as the rest of the world was — with the pageantry, what legendary dis [...]

I know we're mainly speed-power folks around here but I think if you're anything like me, you can still appreciate a fast paced marathon race. With this in mind, WCSN will be broadcasting the World Marathon Majors (Berlin, Chicago & New York). Universal Sports has partnered with World Marathon Majors to deliver exclusive, season-long coverage of the World Marathon Major series, which includes th [...]

Apparently, the greatest cyclist of all time, Lance Armstrong, is making a comeback. He intends to ride in the 2009 Tour de France. This is interesting and provides for some more discussion material on the differences between seemingly similar sports. Like track, cycling is a physical performance based sport (rather than strategy, gamesmanship, team oriented sports, etc) that is generally quantita [...]

Obviously I believe coaching matters. I saw two prime examples this past weekend in soccer. First my good friend Juan Osorio is now coach of New York Red Bulls. I watched their game against Dallas last Saturday. With the lineup New York was able to put on the field they should not have been on the same field with Dallas, but because of their technical, tactical and fitness preparation they won the [...]

Approximately eight years I had the opportunity to consult for one year with North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Illinois. Patrick McHugh, the Athletic Director brought me in three different times during the year to do staff development and work on up grading their physical education and athletic program. Patrick is also the track coach and as you know track and field is my passion so we c [...]