Something about this article, written some years ago by a legendary British coach, Frank Horwill, is very inspirational to me. It talks about the challenge presented by Kenyan runners - a challenge American distance runners have recently risen to. The Kenyans train hard. Frank argued that "Westerners" could compete with them if they would train as hard. The article is very informative, too. Beyond Our Reach Forever?
0 Comments
Or succeeding at track in general! http://co.milesplit.com/articles/207820-how-to-qualify-for-state-t-f-version
Mantras, or short phrases repeated to oneself, can be very helpful, especially for dealing with pre-race nerves.
Here is a good one: "This is my day. This is my purpose. I'm not afraid to win." What is yours? 1. Love what you do; then do what you love.
2. Don't count the repeats; make the repeats count. 3. Out-prepare your competitors in every aspect: training, recovery, eating, sleeping, injury management... everything. 4. Winning comes from confidence and confidence comes from knowing... knowing you lived the first three tips every day. A few more details: 1. Train to the best of your ability every day ensuring that your practice closely simulates your competition environment. 2. Stay healthy and injury free. 3. Get plenty of sleep and rest. 4. Eat a variety of healthy, natural, nutritious foods. 4. Believe in yourself. Pretty good article on a former Columbine runner, who won a semifinal heat of the Olympic Trials 5000. Talks about patience and perseverance. I love this quote: "He almost always has the fastest last lap. I don’t think he understands it either—he just turns his brain off and goes as hard as he can. I mean, if you thought about how much it’s going to hurt, you might not do it.”
Could be a good team motto. Western runners can learn a lot from the approach to training Kenyan runners adopt.
First, Americans have a mentality that you are only as good as your last race, or as good as your last workout, and carry this with us from race to race and workout to workout. However, when you talk to Kenyan runners, their approach to their fitness is the opposite. They think you are as good as your greatest day, even if you have not had it yet. Likewise, Kenyan runners learn how to leave their workouts at the track or on the roads. They train hard and push the limits during the workout, but as soon as it’s over, they forget about it—good or bad. This allows them to move on after a bad workout and not let it linger and bleed into their next race. When you have a bad race, review and assess it for 20-minutes. Learn from it. Then move on and get on with life. Your life isn't all about your races. We are excited to get the season rolling. We are thrilled to see many kids out for track. It is an honor to coach these great athletes and great students. We are already impressed by their positive attitudes and willingness to work hard towards goals. We hope to be able to help all the student athletes improve and succeed, while having great fun on the journey.
We plan to communicate frequently via this blog, emails and Remind text messages to discuss training, upcoming events, great performances, etc. Thursday, March 2nd, is the Parents’ Meeting in the high school cafeteria at 6:00 pm. We hope to see at least one parent/guardian per student-athlete - and students are encouraged to attend as well! We will discuss policies, expectations and standards, schedules, procedures, and many other things. Please read the Track Handbook. (Attached in the Expectations section of the website.) Then ask us your questions on it and other things at the meeting. The handbook contains the current schedule. The schedule will be updated on the website. Please print and sign the last page of the handbook and bring it to the Parents’ Meeting. The AAHS Boy’s have been picked, at least by one knowledgable coach, as the pre-season #3 in the State! The Girl’s rankings haven’t come out yet, but we coaches think they may be ranked even higher! Check the Colorado Milesplit website article: http://co.milesplit.com/articles/203786-a-long-hard-look-at-4a-boys Practices are Monday- Friday at 3:00. Distance runners will also have non-mandatory, but highly encouraged, Saturday practices on those Saturdays we don’t have meets. These will be at varying times and locations. I also encourage distance runners to go for a brisk walk on Sundays - about an hour or so. It would be great to do this with your parents and talk about track, school and life. We will be getting information out in several different ways.
As always, if you have any questions please ask us. We look forward to a great season! |
Coach HagenThis is the place for updates from AAHS Track and Field Coaches Archives
March 2018
Categories |