I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while. And.. you know, I’ve not just been running for a while, but I read A LOT of running books and running publications. I was expecting to be bored, and know most of it, and also hoping I would know most of it, and ALSO hoping I didn’t. You know?

Well, I did learn a lot. If you think about it, I only know about Distance and Biomechanics. And not what THEY call Distance, but just Halfs and Marathons and stuff.

 

Anyway, I signed up, found out that a few of my friends would be in attendance and decided I was gonna make the best of it. The schedule was a little crazy. Friday 6 to 10:30 pm (after a full day at work!), Saturday 8 am to 8 pm, and Sunday 8 am to 2:30 pm. Just 1 hour lunch on Saturday. Barbaric: I have no idea how to wake up at 7 anymore. It was a necessary pain.

 

Then I saw the Classes:

Philosophy

Physiology

Psychology

Bio-Motor Training

Training Theory

Endurance

Biomechanics

Sprints/Hurdles/Relays

Jumps

Throws

Multievents

 

Wow.

There was a lot in there I have never even touched. Or seen. I felt like an idiot assuming I knew so much. I really learned a lot. The funny thing is that having the Biomechanics part down, was KEY. Once you know the physics of movement, every sport can be broken down step by step (ha, pun intended!), it’s ALL TECHNIQUE. I  felt like I had an unfair advantage, even with things I’ve never bothered like the jumps (long jump, high jump, pole vault, triple jump) or the throws (shot put, discus, javelin, hammer) as they broke them down, all phases of balancing movement and momentum, as well as all the laws of physics you can apply to it. 

 

Fun Fact: Pole Vault can be a fun class. There’s a lot of fun vocabulary: penetration, hard poles, soft poles, bend the body on the pole. Not sure why I was the only one having a blast though. 

 

So, Physiology and Endurance and Training Theory were VERY interesting. I learned a lot and here is a little snapshot of things to think about:

– There are no bad workouts, just bad reasons to do a workout. For example, why do mile repeats? What is that accomplishing, what are you giving up in return and what are you gaining, and how soon? Is it worth it? After we went over the science, I am not sure I’ll ever bother with mile reps anymore!

– Best workout to do the day after a long run is NOT a recovery run, add some speed/accelerations/maybe not a full workout but add some quality! why? endurance is down, work on the rest, your physiology is ready!

– Your first 7 seconds of every race are free!! did you know that? Check out what ATP does!

– When you’re over 30, you don’t produce any Human Growth Hormone anymore (so your recovery slows down). When you do speedwork, you produce HGO!

– One key thing is we shouldn’t see ourselves (or the people we coach) as Runners. You should see yourself, and train, like an Athlete that Runs. It is quite a different thing. 

Best workout for distance runners: the threshold run. Do you know how to do reps of aerobic or anaerobic of both? How do you pick what intervals are better fitted for your training program? So many things I had never thought before… Why does the Billat 30-30 work so well? Well, I will be going over these things soon, if you’re interested!

 

Now, I gotta reread the book and take a 200 question test. I’ll be reading (sleeping with the book on top of me!) over there. PS: definitely worth it!

USA Track and Field Coaching Certification (Or what I did this past weekend)