Middle distance and distance racers cannot be effectively managed in the same manner as sprinters, jumpers and throwers are, despite rules that allow it. Cross country coaches, for the most part, understand the many aspects of managing the racing schedule of distance runners: 1) race with a purpose, therefore schedule only enough competitions to address…
Archives for middle-distance
Specific Preparation Period Workouts for Middle Distance
Ideally, a typical middle distance training macrocyle is set up to be between fifteen and twenty weeks in length and divided into four training periods. The difference in macrocycle time lies in the number of training sessions dedicated to the first period, or general preparation period. Once general prep is completed, the next stage is…
Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment of Running Injuries in the Middle Distance Athlete
Running injuries of the leg and lower back are the most common types of acute or chronic ailments found in distance runners. Aches and pains are common in runners training in excess of 15 miles per week, but these transition to injuries when the ailment is severe enough to reduce the number of miles run…
Periodizing Special Endurance 2 Workouts: Middle Distance
Periodizing Special Endurance 2 Sessions: Middle Distance Multilateral training done in planned balance is the general theme of modern middle distance training. Much has been learned over the past couple of decades about the value of concurrently training all five of the primary physical components to achieve a better runner. Sport scientists working with sizeable…
Summer Camp Registration Deadline is This Friday!
If you’re still debating whether or not to come to the clinic this summer, search #ctfclinic on Twitter to see what past attendees said during and after the event. So, every year we get a flood of last minute registrations and countless sad stories from coaches, parents, and athletes who waited too long and get locked out….
Calories as Energy Currency for Middle Distance Runners
The concept of calories in food is everywhere. Visit any bookstore and the section of the building that contains books on dieting and calories is among the largest you will find. It seems so simple: eat fewer calories then one uses each day and body weight will be lost. Consume more calories then is used…
Strength Training as a Primary Physical Component for Cross Country Runners
Strength is categorized as a primary physical component of the human body. The other primary physical components are speed, coordination, flexibility, and endurance. The aim of physical training is to improve the fitness of these five components in a balanced program to meet the specific demands of the sport. The role of a coach is…
Speed Endurance (Middle Distance Training)
The middle distance events in track and field have a sizeable anaerobic energy system contribution when the distance is done to exhaustion. The percentage of anaerobic contribution varies from 50% in the 800 meters to 80% in the 1600 meters. Because the energy contribution is so extensive, many training sessions need to be implemented during…
Coaches Purpose Statement
Educational policies in America are rife with contradictions and ironies that make it almost impossible to have a personal coaching philosophy that one can feel comfortable with. On one hand, school administration directs that a teacher be transactional in the classroom in regard to student learning. What matters to the administration is the students standardized…
Goal Setting for Middle Distance Runners
Humans are the only animal species known to set goals. The process of establishing goals is higher order of thinking based on motivation, self-image, and an intrinsic reward process that no other animal species comes close to. Humans are certainly not the strongest or fastest animal species on Earth but their understanding of cause and…
The Genius of Frank Horwill
Frank Horwill was a middle-distance coach in Great Britain during the heyday of the British Milers Club, a training group that he founded. Before there was David Rudisha and Asbel Kiprop of Kenya, there was Steve Cram, Steve Crabb, Sebastian Coe, and Steve Ovett of the British Milers Club in the 1980’s and early 1990’s…