We talked about ‘Grit’ at practice today, and the value of grit as a character trait. Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” [Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D., & Kelly, D.R. (2007)] Grit sounds like it would be important for a distance runner, doesn’t it?  The ability to decide that you want to work for years towards a goal that is challenging, and seems unattainable at times…in

Go for a run, and you will make yourself smarter. Huh? Well, that’s what this article in the New York Times says.  There has been a lot of study about mental exercises and other ways to train your brain, but the conclusion in this article is that ‘exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does.’ OK, the science is largely based on studies done to

Having a running log is a key tool of the serious runner.  There are lots of ways to keep a running log and it does not have to be complicated: –An Excel spreadsheet or Word document (your coach has a log on Excel that goes back for years). –Notes on a calendar. –A ledger or lab notebook. –On-line logs exist too. It doesn’t take much!  In addition to tracking mileage

I posted a couple photos of the Distance team running our first sets of hill repeats of the season (shown below), and pro runner Josh Cox texted back to me right away–‘Hills are where it’s at!‘ It’s true, hills give us so much as runners.  Hills make us hurt, make us work, make us stronger.  Hills are resistance work.  Hills are a coach every step, making us get fast with

Many of you will remember Mathilde Guglielmi, one of our teammates from track season last Spring.  Mathilde was known for her great attitude–and being really fast at the end of workouts and races when we decided that it was time to sprint!  Her family moved to Kansas over the summer, so unfortunately we lost a fun teammate.  However, she joined her high school cross country team and so Mathilde is

I’m proud and happy that Bree Lambert is a friend of mine. She is an amazing woman, and she is planning to come visit Monta Vista’s cross country team on Wednesday, September 14. Hopefully after her talk, she won’t make us run one of her workouts! Do you think Up and Over is a long run? Try a 100 miler! Read about Bree here: http://livewellfinishstrong.com/featured-races/lessons-from-a-peoples-champion/

As a coach, having winter break fall two weeks after practice starts is not ideal!  Having a week off a little a later in the season, when we are starting to get tired, might be better.  But at the same time, a break is nice…a break gives a coach time to do things that don’t always fit into a two-hour practice after school.  So I really enjoyed the chance to