The training environment, depending on the situation, lies on both ends of the spectrum of control and influence we as coaches have on a practice session. The real art is managing the environmental factors that are both active and passively affecting what is taking place and what is being produced during the session. What can…
Archives for special endurance
Cross Country Workout Themes
One of the most important chores that a cross country coach does is to set the workout themes for the many daily sessions during the season. The workouts must be compatible with the other workouts that are sequenced around each other, and themes must be appropriate for the time in the macrocycle in which they…
Running Cadence
It is well known by scientists through academic studies, and with coaches working in the field, that the two measurable factors that determine speed of performance in an endurance runner are stride length and stride frequency. A common term for stride frequency is cadence, and this word refers to the rate of leg gait cycling…
Speed Training Starts Early
A coach once accused me of being one of those “speed coaches” who does speed work all year round. Initially, I didn’t know if he was insulting my coaching style or if he was just curious to know more about speed work. “I resent that remark,” was my response, before I began to school him…