A SIMPLE TOOL TO DIAGNOSE BAD RACES Recently, an athlete I coach had a bad race. To him, the poor performance seemed to come from out of nowhere. Like all of us do, he began to doubt himself. He began to doubt his training. He began to doubt his coach. How could he be so…
RAISE THE BAR ON YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE Coach Joe Vigil is a master motivator. He’s also a tough task-master when it comes to running well. He continually forces runners to raise the bar on their own performances. As with Yoda, the sage Jedi Master, “there is no try, only do.” Following the advice Vigil gives…
SETTING A’s AND B’s FOR A WINNING RACE GRADE At a past coaching conference put on by the High Performance Division of USA Track & Field, a panel of expert coaches that included Joe Vigil, Bob Larson, and Brooks Johnson discussed goal setting and race planning. These top coaches suggested that our traditional method of…
You need a method to your madness I love the word “hodgepodge” and take great delight any time it’s used in conversation. Except when talking about a training plan. Far too often, I hear of runners who take a little from this plan, a bit from that plan, something from the training of a race…
3 multi-zone efforts to get you race-ready Most workouts focus on one training zone — endurance, stamina, speed or sprint. While these workouts make sense physiologically, many of the best coaches also incorporate “combo” workouts into their training. Combo workouts focus on more than one training zone and are often designed to mimic the demands…
Just as it is important to be mindful of the warm weather when running while pregnant, it is equally important to be mindful of the cold weather and environment. Here are my five tips on cold weather training for mothers-to-be. TIP #1: WEAR WEATHER-APPROPRIATE LAYERS Although you do not run the risk of overheating in…
TIMING AND QUANTITY ARE KEY All runners have strengths. All runners have weaknesses. For a competitive runner moving to the front of the pack (or your age group), it becomes increasingly important to correctly identify your strengths and weaknesses and to use this knowledge to maximize your performance. Runners can be divided into three general…
DON’T LOSE IT… USE IT! You worked hard over the last few months to prepare for your marathon or half-marathon. You put in the miles. You completed the long runs and on race day, you performed like a champ. Congratulations! So now what? You know you need to mentally and physically recover from the half/full…
8 TIPS TO SHAVE SECONDS OFF YOUR PR OR SURGE PAST YOUR RIVAL Smart racing equals fast racing. As a competitive runner, you want to run fast and you want to beat your rivals. Below, I’ve listed eight simple, yet effective strategies for doing both. #1: RUN THE TANGENTS I’m always surprised when I race at…
Learning to control effort so you don’t go out too fast in races (a common problem) is one of the keys to running success. Many athletes find this hard to do, but it’s a trick that you can practice in every workout so that it becomes natural to you. I first did the following workout…