Q:

I coach a very small team in XC and distance track. My kids do not feel as if 1 workout a week is enough (if they have a meet), or 2 workouts if no meet. They have a difficult time going easy the other days (long run day included!).

Is there a way to convince them that 4 easy days is best for them?

Could they do any other workouts on easy days that wouldn’t exhaust them?

They are overachievers and have been very successful – but have hit a plateau recently. They also play multiple sports – so they are always doubling – XC before school – volleyball after. Soccer/Basketball until March – so running is secondary until March – state is early May – so they feel like they need to ‘catch up’ and do more workouts once they can focus on track.

HELP!

A:

This is a great question that I get often. 

Tell them that the best runners in the world take it easy every other day. It’s how I trained when I set an American Record, it’s how everyone I know achieved their success.   

When you do a workout or long run, your body gets torn down. At that time, you are actually slower because your body has been damaged. If you recover properly, that’s when your body makes an advancement in fitness. If you do not recover properly, you will plateau and eventually start regressing. 

At my first overseas competition, I was stunned at how slowly the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners warmed up and cooled down. They must have been jogging 9 minute pace! They understood how their bodies worked. 

One thing they can do at the end of an easy run is a good set of core and hurdle drills to work on strength and mobility. 

I hope this helps! It takes discipline to do things right, including the hard workouts and the easy ones. 

Ann

Q:

My question is, you refer to “Core and Drills” as part of a few workouts. Do you have specific exercises you like for core and drill? I would appreciate your ideas. Thank you.

A:

There are tons of variations of these types of exercises. Let your captains get creative. This should be a team-building activity, where the captains lead the group in a set of 4-5 core exercises and 4-5 drills, lasting about 20-25 min.

• Push-ups (the best core exercise there is!)
• Plank holds
• Toe touches (lay on back with legs straight up; use core to reach up to touch toes)
• Oblique planks (lay on side and hoist yourself up on one forearm)
• Superman crunch (lay on stomach with arms extended overhead; raise arms & legs off the ground)
• Let the captains find others to try!

For Drills, here are a few ideas with links to demonstrate:

• Walking lunges (slowly with an emphasis on form and stretching); try backwards too!
• Karaoke/Carioca – Google “Karaoke drill” or “Carioca drill” to see examples
• “A” skip – like a regular skip except with an emphasis on high knees
• “B” skip – an extension of the “A” skip. Video
• Bounding – focus on pushing off (exaggerated “A” skip): Video
• Straight Leg drill: Video

Good luck!

Q:

Do you suggest any specific diet plans to follow? I have a hard time eating red meat and chicken but love fish.

A:

I’m not a nutritionist, so I shouldn’t give you full blown nutrition advice. To be honest, it’s more important that you try really hard to maintain a healthy relationship with food than it is that you follow a certain diet. While eating healthy is good for you (and for everyone!), it is easy for a Type A person (like me and many distance runners, maybe yourself!) to fall into an obsessiveness with food and what you’re eating and how much. Especially in our sport.

Focus on what your body needs to repair and stay healthy and robust – a variety of nutrients! Eat real food with real nutrients – fruits, veggies, meats (fatty and lean!), seeds, nuts, beans, dairy unless it makes your stomach hurt. Carbs and grains are OK! You need the energy. Sweet potatoes are superfoods! Change it up so you get a lot of different nutrients. Hydrate well every day. Shalane Flanagan’s cookbook Run Fast Eat Slow has some really fun recipes to try.

If you feel subconscious about how your body looks, ask your coach if your team can have the option to wear looser shorts and tank top jerseys instead of the skin tight uniforms. I even did this in college at Nebraska (see below), so I could “run free” and not worry about sucking in my stomach.

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Honestly, if I could go back to my high school self, I would say to her: “You are training so hard and you are doing so awesome! You’re amazing and I’m so proud of you! Stop stressing about your diet and think about food as your fuel and your power. Enjoy the fact that there are many wonderful things to eat, and please have birthday cake when it’s someone’s birthday, and eat a couple of Mom’s cookies when she makes them!”

This is a very important part of your success: now and in the future; in running and in life. If you can fight this mental battle and learn to be friends with food and your body, you will have a more successful and happier career, and that is what you deserve. So while I can’t give you specific nutrition advice, I can plead with you to look at the big picture. This is something that can affect your mentality towards running and towards life. Look at having a healthy mindset as just important as your training. 

This is a huge issue in our sport, and it has been for decades. We can change it one teammate at a time. If YOU have a healthy relationship with food, you can set a good example for your teammates. Together, you can change things for your generation and the generations that follow.