First and Second Presentation: 13 Week Training Schedule
6-page Handout – click here
Color version of 13 week training schedule – click here

The videos that correspond to the 13-Week training schedule are as follows: Lunge Matrix Warm-Up and Myrtl

Use the videos from the the Eight Week General Strength Progression to see Cannonball, Grant Green and the three exercises that comprise the Later Lunge (LL) warm-up (LL warm-up is: lateral lunge – 10m, single leg lunge – 3 x 3 on each leg, lateral shuffle – 20m)

Also, check out the Speed Development article and video from Running Times.

13 week Training Schedule

Third Presentation: Threshold Training
Handout – click here

Forth Presentation: General Strength for High School Athletes
Handout (13 week General Strength and Mobility document…good resource) – click here

In this podcast we cover a lot of territory, including his work with Matt Centrowitz Jr., the 1,50mm bronze medalist from the 2011 World Championships, as well as insights into his own training, where he is currently coached by Matt Centrowitz.

I highly recommend this link which will take you to a list of strength exercises that Wharton Performance has put together. Similarly, check out this video from Running Times where you can see examples of the some of the work that Phil does with athletes.

It’s an important question this time of year because the work you do in the next four to six weeks will determine “the tools” that the athletes has on their toolbelt come race time (i.e. you can’t expect a miler of average ability to be able to shift gears at 300m to go and again at 100m to go if you haven’t started a progression of speed development, as speed takes time).

Want an 800m runner to be able to “get out” in the first 50m and run a slight positive split race between the first 400m and the second 400m? Similarly, do you want them to come through 600m at a blistering pace and then run a solid last 200m, which will likely result in passing several competitors? Or maybe you believe the the only way to run the event is to run even splits?

Have you empowered the 1,600m runners to deal with the pace changes and “moves” that typify great races at that distance? Can they go out slow and run each successive 400m faster than the previous? Can they go out hard for 800m or 1,000m, then decelerate a bit for the next 400m or so, then be able to switch gears and run faster…and switch again if need be, running their fastest?

Do you want to see a 3,200m runner simply get on his or her edge for that race and run eight even splits, or do you expect to see some faster laps (or at least a faster 200m) at the end of the race?

I don’t go to high school meets weekly, so my opinion regarding these questions may be skewed. If you have some time (and I know you may not now that you’re back in school) I’d love to hear your opinions regarding these questions, specifically, how you think athletes should run each of the three disciplines.

I’m speaking in 10 days at the OATCCC clinic and I want to make sure I’m helping those in attendance. Thanks for your assistance.

You can watch an HD version of the video by clicking on the YouTube icon and then changing the number to the right of the closed captioning sign to 720pHD.

While we talk about various aspects of training and exercise physiology, no doubt anyone who wants to run the marathon well will want to listen to his suggestions on fueling for the marathon event.

Thanks for the interview Trent and no doubt we’ll have some questions from the readership…so maybe we’ll have to do another interview in the future?

As always, you can download this podcast (or subscribe) via iTunes.

I remember reading this series of articles on training in Kenya, thankful that someone had taken the time go to Kenya and write that type of series (though Train Hard, Win Easy is obviously a very good resource as well).

We cover a variety of topics, from ancillary work to the 2012 Olympic Trials in this podcast…and at one point we both give a nod to football coaches who coach track, so listen for that.

Thanks to Scott for taking the time to do this as I really enjoyed the interview.

As with all of the podcasts, you can listen to the podcast in iTunes.

Phil Wharton is one of the brightest people I’ve ever been around, but also one of the most compassionate. A special person. Check out this recent article in Running Times to learn more about his work. The article on Phil was written by Scott Douglas, one of the editors of Running Times, who is also the co-author of Advanced Marathoning and the author of The Little Red Book of Running. Speaking of marathoning, I’m excited to be speaking with Trent Stellingwerff, who I had the pleasure of hearing speak at the 2011 Canadian National Endurance Conference. The title of his presentation was “Born to Fuel? Performance Nutrition for Marathon Runners.” His was one of the best talks I’ve ever heard. The guy is sharp.

Here’s the deal: I would love to infuse some of your questions into the conversations, so if you have a question for one of them please say so in the comments section below (and make sure you specify who the question is for).

Read more about the workout at Flotrack.org.

For several years Mark Wetmore had an 8.5 x 11 inch frame with what appeared to be a day planner page, framed, on the wall, near his chair. His office was always clean, no clutter on the desk, no coaching awards on the wall. A team picture or two hung on the back wall.

Any visitor facing Mark could look to their right and see that framed sheet of paper.

A good journalist, say Chris Lear, would be able to tell you the year printed on the page and the time slot within which a note was written on that paper. I can’t. Sorry. What I can tell you is that the date was January 1st and the time was sometime in the morning. And the note was simply this: a workout that Mark Wetmore would be meeting Adam Goucher to conduct. I could be wrong on this detail, but I’m 90% sure that Adam was a professional runner at this time.

So that’s it, a framed page out of a day planner, hanging on the wall next to Mark.

The lessons here our numerous and obvious…just thought I’d share it.

Adam has a new book out. I have yet to read it but hope to get to it later this year. Dave Racey is well read and if he likes it I have no doubt it’s good.

He states, “Perhaps you are as perplexed as I in finding ways to get the best out of them come spring. Or perhaps you’re already found a way… and if that’s the case, please share!”

This man is an exceptional coach and he’s coached multiple state championship teams and individuals during his career, so he knows what he’s doing.

I always hesitate to give advice high school coaches because I’ve never coached at that level, yet the irony of this is email is that a mutual friend of ours has touted the following for a long time: a culture of running at your school is more important that the workouts. Now remember, I’m on the email list and I don’t coach high school athletes, but that was my first thought – the never ending task of recruiting in the hallways and getting kids out for the team. Specifically, if you get either a large number of kids or you get kids who are athletic to come out and run cross country and track, the workouts don’t matter as much. I’m not saying the coaches should ignore training theory, but I am saying that even the best coaches spend a great deal of time recruiting and building their program…so that eventually they have better athletes, or at least more dedicated athletes, following their training schedules. Note: There is a similar phenomenon at the collegiate level – a great recruiter who does an average job at developing talent will beat the coach who is fantastic at developing talent, yet due to average recruiting, he/she has average athletes to work with.

So what’s the secret to creating a culture of running at your school? You tell me. I know that in the comments of The Jump post there are some ideas, but I also know there are more ideas out there. If you have time, let me know what you do (and have done) to create a culture of running at your school.