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Speaking from Such Great Heights The sun brightly shone through the large windows of the auditorium announcing a beautiful day outside, but no one seemed to mind being inside all day with such a stellar cast: Jeff Johnson, Jay Johnson, Brad Hudson, Greg Weich, Steve Slattery, Shalane Flanagan, Weldon Johnson, and Kevin Sullivan, with Tim Broe anchoring the evening. Jeff Johnson, Co-Founder of Nike, focused on the importance of determining a coaching philosophy. Johnson offered an illuminating perspective from his extensive experience in the sport, whose own philosophy, “to give the gift of having been an athlete – the progression of starting weak and becoming strong,” is rooted in his life’s experiences – noticing the way that athletes handle every experience differently. Johnson stressed that the most important question a coach should ask themselves is, “Can I teach, inspire, and be valuable?”Jay Johnson, Assistant Coach of the University of Colorado Track and Cross Country Teams, apologized for being sick upon taking the podium. Any indication of sickness was bereft from an exuberant Johnson, whose slideshow focusing on the science of Anaerobic Threshold Running was conducted mostly with a long grass reed for a pointer, dynamically espousing endurance physiology throughout the room. Lear commented, “If I could be sick like you Jay, I would take that over me healthy.” The audience followed Johnson’s explanations through the handout packet featuring ventilatory and lactate threshold graphs and charts. Johnson advised, “teach [your athletes] to pay attention to respiration in threshold runs; heart-rate monitors are not the way to go for teaching threshold running, because [the athletes] need to develop an intuitive sense of this pace.” Brad Hudson casually approached the podium and drew more questions than any other speaker on the day. Hudson explained his training philosophy, his influences, and how he trains athletes at many different thresholds, all related to a specific goal. Hudson also waxed scientific about the body’s multiple muscular systems as integral components of distance running that compliment one another. “I probably spend at least 6 hours a day just studying training,” mentioned Hudson. “Training is really very simple… there are only two types of training: specific for your goal, and everything else that gets you to that specific goal.” Regarding multiple thresholds, Hudson trains his athletes at different intensities that illicit different levels of lactate release. For example, Hudson’s system for a 5,000m runner progresses by stressing Marathon pace runs and explosive speed, then to half-marathon pace and 400m speed, etc., gradually sandwiching down to specific 5,000m race pace work. “You want to gradually be able to run longer and longer at your goal race pace through your training.” Hudson’s intriguing system of extensive scientific knowledge paradoxically attached to a very simple three-phase program drew more questions and interest from the audience than time allotted for, and Lear apologetically fronted, “I hate to be the Grim Reaper, but we have to move on.” With Chipolte lunches looming, Smoky Hill Cross-Country Coach Greg Weich’s “Developing a Championship High School Program” presentation satisfied an alternate hunger for numerous high school coaches in attendance. Weich focused on “Objectives, Season Planning, Training, and What Sets us Apart” (Smoky Hill from everyone else). Weich believes in 46 weeks of training for his athletes, many weeks with a fun and loose atmosphere that include a mini-camp and one longer pre-season high-altitude camp. Weich emphasizes adequate rest for athletes, and for coaches, Weich encourages flexibility in a program and daily routine. “I have driven over to interested athletes houses at 6 in the morning to run with them because their schedule conflicts later in the day.” Often asked why his kids do not do “AT” runs, Weich replies, “Kids will overdo AT if you schedule it – they will treat it like a race. They have a natural tendency to run an AT without being told to when they feel fresh once or twice a week.” Weich did not include many specific details concerning actual training but helpfully included, “I try not to run workouts more than once – repeated workouts affect the psyche because kids will look closely at their times.” Earlier in the morning, Lear recalled evaluating who should take on the “post-lunch food-coma” crowd. “We decided that Steve Slattery was the man for the job.” Slattery rejuvenated the burrito-bogged masses with his presentation, “Running Through Life: Transitioning through Running.” Slattery said that for high school athletes, “endurance is the way to go.” Slattery discussed his own high school coach that would have him monotonously do repeat 800’s and 400’s in a week. Mentioning that is it was not the optimal strategy, Slattery nevertheless admitted, “Running 400’s doesn’t burn someone out; loss of love for running burns someone out.” Slattery stressed that it was all about maintaining motivation throughout your training and your life. He included a humorous anecdote about his father trying to alter his training slightly by telling Steve to try “holding his breath” when he runs. Shalane Flanagan, whose father most certainly has a few more ideas about training, had a similar focus in her presentation while specifically focusing on the high-school to college transition. Flanagan advised coaches to “encourage feedback and open communication form their athletes.” Flanagan discussed her transitioning plan, included in the distributed packet, which featured a gradual increase of mileage coupled with longer intervals, to “emphasize a combination of strength and development of speed.” Flanagan’s presentation featured her 2004 5,000m Olympic Trials race on the big screen, adding her own commentary on top of the announcers; a perspective that proved extremely insightful. Weldon Johnson, whose presentation was titled, “From Zero to Hero,” humorously debunked the concept of “talent,” stressing that he had absolutely none. Johnson discussed the importance of consistency and easy-recovery running as a critical ingredient of the mix that took him from a runner non-existent from NCAA championship meets to taking 4th twice in the 10,000m at USATF Outdoor. The modest creator of the Letsrun.com website hammered in the point throughout his presentation that “Running is a simple sport based on aerobic conditioning – don’t complicate it”, and, that there is “no secret to running fast.” Kevin Sullivan, who has consistently been the fastest North-American miler for 10 years, running sub-4:00 miles for 10 years, humbly conducted his “Mastering the Mile” presentation. “Sully” offered an entire 3-month sample high school mile training program with many detailed workouts and schedules as well as conditioning suggestions. Sullivan took many questions from the audience and talked about the importance of consistency in training. Tim Broe, upon taking the podium, immediately added, “Sully really downplays his abilities; the guy works harder than anyone.” A self-proclaimed “hunting and fishing boy” from Illinois, the 2004 Olympian and U.S. 5,000m Champion extensively discussed his past and how he “goofed around” for far too long before moving to Michigan and being the dedicated athlete he is now. “I wasn’t willing to make those sacrifices to be a better runner. Then, 5 years was suddenly up at Alabama.” Broe also generously contributed a large, thorough 12-month 5,000m Training Program, something Broe declared, “I worked harder on this baby than anything I did in 5 years at Alabama”. Broe said that to be a professional athlete that you have make all the commitments concerning sleep and nutrition and lifestyle – something he saw immediately in Kevin Sullivan upon arriving in Michigan. Including a few anecdotes about Warhurst, who will write Broe’s training plan on a napkin from his pocket, Broe admitted, “I knew that Warhurst was my kinda guy within 30 seconds of talking to him on the phone; he used all the same words that I did.” The event concluded with 30 minutes of small-sessions in classrooms that the speakers rotated through for more specific and intrinsic questioning. The audience thoroughly satisfied, the guests returned to the auditorium for a final round-table discussion of questions posed by Jonathan Beverly the Editor of Running Times Magazine. The entire contingent, audience and speakers, lined the outside stairway of Palmer Hall at Colorado College for a group photo. Brad Hudson was immediately searching for anyone interested in going for a run.
Note: The entire event was filmed and may possibly be soon available through Negative Split Productions. Find out more at http://rmds05.com
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It
would be nearly impossible to adequately summarize the eight hours
that was the Rocky Mountain Distance Summit in Colorado Springs
primarily due to the sheer quality of knowledge and brilliance
each speaker contributed. The audience responded with vigorous
applause following each presentation, as host and MC Chris Lear
was often blown away upon returning to the podium. The Feb. 19th
event was presented by Negative Split Productions and Parsec Time
and Distance.
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