Week in Review: 11.24.14 to 11.30.14

Happy Thanksgiving Week! I hope everyone had a great week with family, food and some rest from work. We hosted at our house, which included roasting a 23 pound bird (!!!!), mashing 10 pounds of potatoes and a lot of laughter.

Dad holding court at the head of the table.

Monday: 4 miles at MMU with some uptempo sections with the girls. Weirdest, warmest weather ever.

Tuesday: 4.5 miles with a mile of 200 ins/outs on the track with Will. Feeling super clunky.

Wednesday: 3.5 miles at Mills Riverside Park plus striders. Snow rolling in over Mansfield and the first really cold day.

Thursday: First snow run! 5.5 miles through Burlington before dinner to kick off the #RWRunStreak that I’m taking part in this year. Cold enough that I had to break out my winter running jacket!

Friday: 1 mile shakeout run in Norwalk, Connecticut on our way down to Footlocker.

Saturday: 5 miles in Van Cortlandt Park coaching Footlocker. SO fun to be back there and to feel the Footlocker energy.

Tortoise and the Hare Statue at Van Cortlandt after an awesome day of racing.

Sunday: 3 mile campus loop. Wiped from New York trip.

Total Miles: 26.5 miles.

I’m still enjoying my off-season but ready to get back to a more normal schedule for this coming week. I’ll aim for about 35 miles with a longer run and a fartlek workout just to remind my legs that they can turnover plus some visits to the gym to rebuild the chassis before we start spring training. Nordic also starts this week, which means that I’ll be crippled from dry land.

Who else is streaking with me? Any great runs over the past week?

A Graduation Day, Of Sorts

States 2011. It was frigid and I wore all of the layers.

In some ways, this weekend will be a graduation day for me. Tomorrow marks the 4th time I’ve gone back to Thetford as a coach. It marks the first full class that I’ve coached from Freshman to Senior year.

When I first met this bunch of freshman, they were overwhelming. There are a LOT of them and they were not your typical freshman, just quietly trying to fit in. From the very first practice on my very first day to Tuesday of this week where I implored them for some silence, they have been a joyful, energetic, boundlessly enthusiastic bunch.

Awkwardness has happened over the years.

But (and they’ll be the first to tell you this) they are basically responsible for my marriage.

I’m going to miss this bunch enormously.

Yes, even you boys.

So to the first class to go through high school with me (survive me? I’m not sure), I am so proud of who you are as runners and more importantly as people. Have a great day tomorrow! All of the prouds.

Good Coach/Bad Coach

It’s no big secret that I love being a coach. I tell my girls almost daily that my time with them is always the highlight of my day and there’s little in my life that has rivaled my last four years at MMU. I had a physiologically “good” coach in high school, but he certainly wasn’t a cuddly guy and compliments were rare. When I took the job at MMU, my biggest goal was to make sure that every single one of my runners gained a lifelong love of activity and knew how proud I was of them, regardless of performance or outcome. The reality is that very few of my runners will go on to run in college. MMU is not a D1 production house. And that’s ok with me. My success as a coach is measured in how many of my girls leave MMU and still want to run. It’s measured in the bonds that form between generations of MMU runners. It’s measured in smiles that stay on our cheeks long after the races are over.

Coaching requires constant learning and adaptation, especially at the high school level. Although science says an exponential rapid drop taper is best, I learned the hard way last year that it doesn’t work as well with high school athletes who rarely get enough recovery due to outside forces. Over the past 4 years, I’ve kept a coaching log where I write up reflections on workouts, race performances and season patterns. This way, I don’t panic when we have a week in mid-September where the whole team is sick or injured.

I was interested to read this article on Coach Wetmore of Colorado last week. Wetmore is a fantastic coach (CU is arguably the most successful XC program in the US) but isn’t known for being warm and fuzzy. I found it interesting that despite this, his athletes love running for him. I especially loved the story of him walking away as an athlete won a national championship because Wetmore already knew he would. He didn’t need to watch the final stretch to see it happen.

I was appalled to read this article about a coach in South Carolina who drove a vehicle full of athletes while drunk. Driving athletes is terrifying. I drove a car full of girls to Manchester recently and have rarely paid more attention to the road. Precious cargo! I cannot fathom the decision making process that coach must have gone through that led to this news story.

Finally, I loved this article on why some kids try harder than others. Although it was more applicable to parenting, I can certainly see applications to coaching. The premise is that there are two mindsets: fixed (what you’re born with for talent is what you have) and growth (talent can be developed with hard work). Coaching relies heavily on a belief on the latter; if talent was all that mattered, we wouldn’t need coaches.

If you’re a coach, what’s your favorite part of coaching? Who is your favorite “famous” coach and why?

Week in Review 8.11.14 to 8.17.14

Late getting this out because we were up at Derby House this weekend! The team is still there through Wednesday but I had to leave paradise to come back to start my second year. Sigh. The next two weeks is Orthopedics, however, so I’m at least inherently interested in the topic.

I had another solid week of training and feel like I clicked up another level in fitness. This coming week is an adaptation week even though I’ve only had two weeks of “up” mileage because I need to make sure my “final” taper is perfect. Ah! It’s amazing to be talking about taper already…

Monday: 9.6 miles easy

Tuesday: Shake It Out Fartlek for a total of 10.1 miles.

Wednesday: Scheduled off day, prorated 9.5 miles.

Thursday: 10.8 mile recovery run.

Friday: 20.4 mile long run.

Saturday: 7.5 mile hill work with the team. 8 reps at varying paces, two of which were soul crushing to try to beat the boys.

Sunday AM: 7.2 mile easy run with the girls.

Sunday PM: 3 mile run.

Total Miles: 78 miles

My biggest anxiety for this week is remembering how to balance school, running, coaching and family. An adaptation week will help, as will my team being gone (sob) until Friday.

 

Check Your VO2 Max in 12 Minutes

There’s a saying in cross country that State Champions are built in July and it’s true, much to the chagrin of coaches who battle summer jobs, family vacations and Netflix as they mumble on about summer mileage. For the most part, my team does an excellent job of getting summer runs in. We use a number of tools to encourage people to keep up with their running, including online running logs to which the whole team belongs, captain’s practices throughout the summer, training camp and time trials. Time trials are an excellent way for athletes to check in with themselves and for coaches to monitor progress throughout the summer. We don’t expect PR performances; after all, most athletes who are running are at peak mileage with no speed work. We do expect to see hard efforts and a good approximation of how things are going.

One of my favorite “reality checks” is one that you can do yourself. This is perfect for someone with a fall marathon on the calendar that doesn’t have an interim race scheduled or for someone coming off a base building cycle. It’s a simple test: warmup, then run as many laps as you can in 12 minutes and enter the results into the Cooper calculator. The calculator isn’t a perfect estimate of VO2 max, but it’s a good litmus test for training paces and progress. Used at regular intervals, it gives a great estimate of fitness improvements and possible race outcomes. Try adding this into your training plan once a month and see how much progress you make!

We’ve done three time trials this summer: one 3K time trial on the cross country course, one 5K race on our home course and one 12 minute test. Before the season starts, we’ll do a mile trial and one more 3K trial. All of the information from those efforts helps me to evaluate how well summer training went, design workouts for training camp and select early season teams.

What tools do you use to monitor your fitness? Have you ever had the full VO2 max test? How do you motivate yourself in a time trial setting?

Cougar Chase 2014 Results

In case you were somehow under the impression that I always look glamorous, I present my outfit from this morning.

Normally I wouldn’t post this here, but according to blog traffic lots of people have been searching for results. Results will also be posted on the MMU XC page and on Cool Running. Right now, you can find results here. I’m also posting the overall results below. Sorry for the shoddy pictures but the timing software produces PDFs and WordPress doesn’t support the format. Congratulations to all the winners and huge thanks to the MMU community for a great showing today.

 

Week in Review (A Little Late): 6.23.14 to 6.29.14

First, today is the last day to enter the Sweaty Bands giveaway. Thanks for all the great entries and pictures thus far!

This training block has been the definition of “almost.” Like many people, I train in four week blocks, where I do three weeks that build and then an adaptation week to absorb that training. I’d intended this block to be at about 70 miles per week and every week, I’d be on track to meet or surpass that and every week something came up. Ended up at about 65 miles this block and I just have to let it go.

This particular post is a bit late because we moved yesterday! Four years in the same place + wedding + med school = SO MUCH STUFF. I’m so grateful we’ve moved into a bigger space because man did we need it. Still, my legs and feet are exhausted today so I’m glad it’s an adaptation week.

Monday AM: 8.5 easy in the heat

Monday PM: 4 miles with the team plus drills, hip core and lifting arms! Woot!

Tuesday: 9 miles including a minor run in with a car.

Wednesday AM: Rainiest.workout.ever. Did 7 by 800 at flooded-track I pace with 2:45 recovery in between. Lane 1 was totally under water so I just attempted to keep turnover up. 2:58 for the first before the deluge, rest were 3:04. Total of 10.5 miles

Wednesday PM: 3 miles with the team plus drills, circuits and legs.

Thursday: 7 mile trail run with Will at Catamount. Total blast.

Friday: 15 miles in 90 degree weather. Didn’t plan to get my long run in but since I was at 10 when I got home, I went for it. Glad I did, wouldn’t have had time with our weekend.

Saturday: 6.7 miles before the day trip to Boston. Legs tired from the long run in 90 degree heat.

Sunday: Moving plus 20 minute spin on the new spin bike. Ankle toast after being on it all week.

I’m admittedly a little frustrated/anxious that this cycle just hasn’t gone well thus far but trying to remain positive that this adaptation week will give me time to get the new house unpacked and refocus for the next block ahead.

How do you keep your optimism after a tough training block? Anyone else run in the deluge or scorching heat this week?

Happy National Running Day, a Run Bell and a Weird Sports Bra

First, Happy National Running Day! That’s a holiday I can really get behind. Ask me again when I finish a workout in the hot-humid-welcome-to-summer-weather we’re currently experiencing. National Running Day is a day to declare your passion for running and offers discounts on races and gear but also opportunities to raise money for charity.

I came across two truly bizarre gear items this week. The first was posted by This Running Life and is a “running bell” to let other pedestrians know that you’re coming up behind them. Granted I’m not a gear person anyway, but this seems insane. A simple “excuse me” or “on your left” should work for most people. For the people who have headphones in and music blaring, a bell isn’t going to get their attention any better.

I can barely find the battery for my heart rate battery daily, so this has no chance.

If the bell seems absurd, hang on because I found the one item that might be more bizarre. The following is slightly NSFW on account of it comes from Victoria’s Secret. For those that can open the link, can someone please explain to me why I would WANT a sports bra that zips over my regular bra. Although I’m not always successful at this and have a run or two a month where I realize my regular bra is still on under my sports bra (#runnergirlproblems), I cannot come up with reason why I would need or want this item.

Moving on to more substantive issues, here’s an incredible article on what happens to our brains when we exercise. I’m currently in Neural Science, so we talk a lot about clinical syndromes associated with the brain but perhaps unsurprisingly, not a lot about what to do to prevent those clinical syndromes. The key takeaway from this beyond the already-accepted exercise makes you happy is that the happiness benefits of exercise extend beyond the day when you get that exercise, making another case for lifelong activity.

Tina Muir is a Saucony athlete who writes a blog that masterfully blends the art and science of running and coaching. She recently wrote an excellent article on the reasons you need to take breaks in training, my favorite part of which was this abstract, which talks about muscle damage and recovery after the marathon. I’ve learned a lot of things in medical school, one of the biggest being what words = bad in terms of clinical outcomes. Pro tip = necrosis is bad. I try not to criticize other runners (outloud), but in the week after VCM, I’ve had to use extraordinary self-control as I’ve watched numerous runners insist on starting to run again with almost no time off after the full marathon. My biggest pet peeve with the marathon is when people don’t respect the distance, whether that’s in training for the event or recovering from the event. Stepping off my soapbox now…

Two more doping stories are presented without much comment beyond looking for a noise to express how fucking frustrating it is to keep hearing these as a clean athlete who panics every time she files a TUA for her inhaler (that I’ve had since age 4). Adrienne Herzog has more excuses as she gets caught for the third time and an insider gives some perspective on the line between innovation and cheating.

Maggie Vessey made an interesting fashion statement at Pre this year. She’s currently unsponsored and went with the outfit below. I’m impressed that she got through the 800 with no mishaps, but not sure this would work for a marathon.

Image from Getty Images

In the video of the week (well, from last week), Katie Mackey LIT UP the runner from Australia at the World Relays when she wandered out of her lane after the handoff.

Finally, USATF may never issue a statement on the SNAFU that was Indoor Nationals this year, but don’t worry, they are policing Instagram!

The Runner’s Body

Normally, I would share this article in my reading round-up but it resonated so deeply with me that I kept coming back to it on runs. Lanni Marchant (@LJM5252) is the current Canadian record holder in the marathon. She’s also a practicing attorney. Marchant gave a recent interview about learning to love her body and appreciate it despite not “looking” like a marathoner. I understand where she’s coming from 100%. As grateful as I am to be part of elite tents, there is nothing that sparks insecurity like standing next to a group of runners who are half your size. It doesn’t take much to convince yourself that if you are bigger, you must also be slower.

Lanni Marchant after setting the Canadian marathon record.

Body image issues in running start early and run deep. I started running at a time when the “thin is faster” trend was in full swing. We were encouraged to lose weight and restrict food. Teammates were praised for losing weight. I distinctly remember not being allowed to get a snack on the way home from a race if I didn’t PR. I also distinctly remember a coach from a nearby high school telling his athlete “not to worry about Waterman, she’s heavy on the hills.” I carried those words with me with me for years. I hated having to wear our team shorts because I was convinced I was fat. Once in a while when I’m climbing a hill, I still hear his voice.

Heavy on the Hills Waterman, circa 1999

Now that I’m responsible for 35 gorgeous, fit high school girls, I cannot imagine ever telling them to lose weight or change their bodies. The body types on our team run from short to tall, from ultra lean to muscled out and you cannot tell by looking at any of them whether they are fast, slow or in between. In many ways, the landscape is shifting on the desired body type for cross country running. Stronger runners are getting the best performances and more importantly, lasting longer than a season or two at the college level. We’re not out of the woods, however, as long as old school coaches continue to push for the classic long distance frame. While coaching last week, Will heard another coach berate his athlete for “letting that ox by her.” I pray that the “ox” didn’t hear his comment.

There are ramifications from this for elite and regular runners alike. I know women who run in pants year round because “they hate their legs” and know extremely fast men who talk about being too fat. I’ve overheard and witnessed shame from people at races who worried that they weren’t the right body type to be running and it crushes me. Regardless of what we look like, if we’re running, we have runner’s bodies. We may not all be sinewy and lean, but we’re all runners.

Can I Just Brag?

Occasionally I hear people grumble or catch a clip on the news about the “next generation” and how disconnected and selfish they are because of technology and indulgent parenting. Maybe that’s all true, but if so, there’s something in the water in Chittenden East. I’ve had the pleasure of coaching at MMU for the past three years and am continually blown away by the achievements of my athletes both in competition and out. Perfect scores on SATs. National Merit Scholars. Admissions to Dartmouth and Yale. Leads in the play, in the choir and on the Dance Team. Junior Nationals. The U.S. Fricken Ski Team. Double Qualifiers for the State Meet on the same day, with standards some 15 seconds faster in each that the year before. Athletes of the Week. All-State Teams. J2 teams. And they volunteer, go to church, walk the dog, go to work. In short, I think the next generation is just fine.

Last night, MMU hosted our Annual Pursuit race in another tough snow winter. With the help of our community and band of willing parents, we pulled off a race for 321 skiers on a 2K loop. To top this off, our skiers are essentially responsible for themselves on Pursuit night because the coaches are trying to run the entire event. In one of those moments where no walking boot could keep me from running into the finish area (Sorry Dr. Charlson, but I swear it feels fine), I watched Amy win the girls race, followed by 4 more teammates in the top 10. I watched Wiley win the boys race, followed by two more teammates in the top 10. And for the first time in MMU history, we swept both individual and team titles.

So yes, I’m bragging about the teams that I get to coach. Their performances have very little to do with me; I generally remind them to bring both pairs of skis and boots and tell time and occasionally offer a place to lean post-race or a sleeve to wipe off on. During cross country, my biggest role is getting them to the starting line, double tying spikes and lying to them that it’s almost over throughout the race. Coaching is 10% physiology, 10% luck and 80% psychology. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Congrats Cougars!