Be Proud, Be Courageous

"Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts"

John Wooden

John Wooden is perhaps the most quoted coach in the history of sport. A few years ago I was given a daily tear away calendar and for every day there was a new quote form John Wooden and every day I was amazed at how great of a coach he was. His quote above touches every emotion our teams have had over the past weekend.

To start off with, a HUGE congratulations to our only senior and a captain Gracie Tilton for winning the 2013 Atlantic Regional in course and school record time. She had the courage to dream big since her race last fall. In 2012 she missed NCAA's by one place as an individual and the team missed NCAA's by 1 place as well. In talking with her a year ago at the awards ceremony the goal was made to come back in 2013 and win. She had the foresight to envision it and she worked hard for 365 days to reach her goal. Failure to her was not fatal, it was motivational. She had courage to chase her goal and now her success is not final. She now moves forward to NCAA's this weekend at Hanover College to race the rest of the top runners in the country.

The women's team behind her finished 10th at regionals, and did not qualify for NCAA's this weekend. How they respond will determine the future of this program. from our 2nd girl to our last girl, EVERY one of them returns for 2014. I am not sure if any other team can say that. They will now look to take a page out of Gracie's book, the courage to pursue their goals for a whole year. The women now have 2 top 10 finishes in a row in the region which is not easy, especially this year as the 23rd ranked team in the country finished 9th! They also have 2 years in a row of being 2nd in the Liberty League, not an easy feat either. I am incredibly happy with their season and look forward to some great improvements over the next year.

Our men's team had a historic race for our program this past weekend. They finished 5th in the Atlantic Regional and had 4 All-Region runners-both firsts. We tasted success on Saturday and tasted failure on Sunday as the NCAA committee decided we were not an at-large bid. The guys have had great courage this fall, believing in themselves and their training as the season went on, and they were patient waiting for their breakthrough race. They did everything right all fall and they ran to perfection in the race. They had courage to battle for position in the first mile, courage to push the hardest they've ever pushed in the 3rd mile and when they were in a place that was foreign to them they continued to have courage to chase down runners that they had never beaten before. Now the road doesn't end. Their success was not final and their failure cannot be fatal. In a few days they will start their pursuit of a spot at the 2014 NCAA Championship. One year until the next time all it takes is courage to step out the door each day thinking of the starting line at NCAA's. I couldn't be more proud with their season and look forward to working with the returners over the next year.

Our seniors will be missed. They had a tremendous effect on this years team and will continue to effect our future teams.

The Weekend We Have Been Waiting For...

The Saturday we have been training for is only but 5 days away. As a coaching staff we stood outside watching the two fantastic workouts last week going over different analogies for the old saying coined by Jim Spivey, "The hay is in the barn." The money's in the bank, the stuffing's in the turkey, the water is in the tub. As the sun went down, the air became colder and the workout went on, the analogies grew stranger; the laundry is in the basket. I guess even at peak time the coaches can become overly energetic and silly.

This is the time of year where we get giddy with anticipation in the days leading up to the big event. There is extra energy from the shorter practices, and a little extra pep in our step from the lower mileage and more recovery in the workouts. What decides those last few points that make or break a team is how smart each student-athlete is in containing themselves over the final weeks. They must dedicate themselves to the routines of their daily grind despite having the extra energy and the new-found extra time. For us at RPI this is not too tough to do as their is always academic work to help take the mind off of the upcoming race. The important part is opening the books instead of taking out the soccer ball or frisbee. Balance and consistency is the most important part of any training plan and any student-athlete experience, it does not change in the final weeks of the season.

In 5 days our Engineers will be on the starting line at Letchworth State Park. Once the gun goes off they will be released to do what they have been training for since June.

NCAA Division III Atlantic Region Championship
November 16th
Letchworth State Park
High Banks Recreation Area
11 am- Women's 6k
12:30 pm- Men's 8k
3 pm- Awards @ SUNY Geneseo Merritt Gym

2013 XC Season Recap/ Championship Preview

I know it has been a while since the last Blog. But in attempt to have more to write about, this blog will also now take on the topics of reviewing and previewing team competitions and events.

Patience has been the name of the game for the team this season. We have taken on a new mentality and tried to instill a new culture among the 50 student-athletes on the team, and with it comes a strong sense of team through the dedication to the process.

This year the men's team has had an excellent year. Throughout the season the men have finished 1st or 2nd in every meet but one and the have started their championship campaign with two 2nd place finishes. Due to this, they have been rewarded with a national ranking in the final poll of the season. Now, it is time to prove that we belong on that starting line on November 23rd in Hanover Indiana.

All season long we have been having a gap from 1-5 of 45-60 seconds. It is no coincidence that so far our best race of the season at Liberty League's this past weekend we had a gap of 35 seconds 1-7 and 28 seconds 1-5. We were helped out by the return of strong running from captains Sean Quinn, Aldous Strother and Paul Malek. Sean had a huge race for us knocking 30 seconds off his previous season's best time. We have been led by the consistent front runners of Jake Andrews and Bobby Parker all season long over the 8k distance, and they were rewarded with their 1st ever sub 26 min clocking. Inside our top 8 this year we have some youth too who have been getting better as the season progresses- Ben Fazio and Brian Crowley have stepped right into integral roles on the team and Steve "The Hammerman" Hammar has returned from injury his freshman year to run 26:30 in his first collegiate cross country campaign.

These 8 men will lead the now 34th ranked Engineers into regionals on 11/16. They are running at their best at the right time and are poised to have a great regional race!

This year's women's team, much like last year's has been steadily improving week after week and now they find themselves in a battle for a NCAA bid. All year leading the way for the Engineers has been the only senior on the team and one of the captains Gracie Tilton. She has piled up more accolades this season then most do in all 4 years of college, but perhaps most impressively so far, her win this past weekend at Liberty League's. After being beat by 5 seconds at states by Saint Lawrence's Amy Cymerman, she turned the tables and won by 12 seconds at Liberty League's. Her time of 21:23 was a Liberty League Meet Record, a School record and a course record. Her win helped the team finish 2nd ahead of the 24th ranked team in the county Vassar College. Behind her, earning All-Liberty League for the first time was Christine Artim who boasts the BIGGEST improvement of anyone on the team this year. She has gone from being a 25 min 6k runner to running sub 23 min twice now. She has been helped and sometimes chased every step of the way by her classmate/roommate and friend Hailey Beyer who has been putting together her best season of her career. Following them has been our returning sophomores who helped the team finish 6th in the region last year Alexa Sakorafos, Emily Stickles and Shannon Trant. All three girls are running at their best now at the end of the season and have proven how tough they are by battling through summer/early season gut check points. Our team depth is a highlight as we have numerous freshman and sophomores right behind our top 6. Andrea Duncan will be rounding out our scoring 7 at regionals after a consistent freshman season, finishing inside the top 7 in every race. 

These ladies will be toeing the starting line with 40+ other teams on 11/16 hoping to better last years result of 6th place (3 points out of 5th). They are peaking at the right time and hungry for more!

What a Coach See's Watching the Olympics Part II

Part II- Dealing with Anxiety

Above is a video of Leo Manzano, bronze medalist at 1500m doing a prerace ritual of licking his fingers and making the sign of the cross on different parts of his body. I watched him do this before every round. Call it what you will, but what it most definitely is, is a way to calm down before his races. A couple other interesting calming techniques I saw during the Olympics were a Czech sprinter pulling on her ears in different directions and a US high jumper aggressively rubbing his head. If you doubt that they work, give them a try, it is almost hard to worry about anything when you do either of them.

In college part of my degree was a basic class called "Psychological and Sociological Aspects of Sport." In which we learned about many different theories pertaining to anxiety and arousal before a competition. The one that stands out is the "individual zones of optimal functioning", meaning everyone has their own zone of anxiety that will lead to their best performances. With that said both extremes are always going to be bad. You don't want to be on the line in complete boredom, and you don't want to be on the line with clammy hands and your heart racing. What Leo, the Czech sprinter and the US high jumper are doing is getting themselves to tap into their optimal zone that they have discovered over years of racing experience so they do not waste valuable energy. One of the most frustrating things I see as a coach are athlete's doing tons of sprints before a race, or doing crazy mobility, form and flexibility drills before a race that they don't do in practice. This is a recipe for disaster. Contain your anxiety, follow a script, and success will follow.

Again, what you do in the short period of time leading into the competition can be an important factor in what the result will be. When in doubt, have fun and do what you know, fun and routine is never a bad thing.

What a Coach See's Watching the Olympics; Part I.

So, my first blog back in a while (I know it is long overdue) will be part 1 of a series of posts that when complete will be a brief synopsis of things I noticed top level athlete's doing during the Olympics that not all collegiate/high school athlete's have a firm grasp on.

Part I. The Warm Up

The first, thing that stood out to me as I watched was how sweaty the athlete's were on the starting line. In particular, the sprinters. The warm up is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of performance. Look at Usain Bolt above and how sweaty he is. This guy trains in hot temperatures in Jamaica, and here he is sweating in London! Do you think it is from racing 100m? NOPE! It is from his warm up. Now of course he is racing the 100m, so he needs to be primed and ready before his race to be able to maximize power output, where as a 5k runner may not need to be quite so -sweaty... I remember the first year I coached sprints, I had a women's 4x4 that ran 4:11. For that performance they did their warm up then stood around in a circle jumping up and down and giggling for 20 min before it. Afterwards I told them they need to time everything perfectly and get on the line at the end of their warm up- no giggling and jumping in a circle. Well, they ran 4:03 the next time for a school record at the time. Was it the difference in 1 week of training? I don't think so. They started their warm up 25 min prior to the race instead of 45 min prior and eliminated the jumping in a circle and giggling. Sometimes a good warm up is the difference between a great race and a horrible race. Sometimes you don't need to look much further than what you did 45 minutes prior to the race, when assessing what went wrong and what went right.

Habitual Beings

Shark Week is a favorite time of year for me. One of the best shows during shark week is Air Jaws. During the show they speak about how Great White Sharks travel around the world during the year but at a certain time of year the same sharks migrate to the same spot on the South African coast to hunt seals. Sharks are not the only habitual animals, many animals live by habit and routine because it is how they survive.

In running, survive we must. We have to develop a routine or a habit to train and to stay healthy. Train being the ultimate word in my mind, not just run. We are now nearing the end of our final two weeks of preseason here at RPI and we have done quite a bite of movements that a lot of my athletes have not done before. They will become routine and they will be healthier and better due to that. I am confident in that because I witnessed something yesterday that made me think about habits and routine. It also shows how far they have come as athletes. We have a warmup routine that we do on easy days, it inlcudes a similar lunge matrix to Jay Johnsons (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K_CiRml-vQ). Well I decided to change it and just have them do the other exercises and no lunges prior to going in the pool. Well what happened next showed me just how habitual we are as athletes/runners. They followed the usual protocol for the easy day warmup and walked off to the pool warmed up and ready for the workout. I laughed to myself and thought "I think it is good that my distance runners now don't bat an eye at 30 lunges, yet 5 years ago if I said 30 lunges there would be carnage."

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation: we do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have these because we have acted rightly; 'these virtues are formed in man by his doing the actions'; we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."- Durrant's Summation of Aristotle's idea's

Importance of Change

Training is about adapting to change, racing is about adapting to change, heck life is about adapting to change. I love the saying here at RPI, that we are trying to produce "change agents" with our students, people that are comfortable with change and can graduate and change the world. That goal is on such a large scale that it takes little changes along the way to become comfortable with that. As a cross country and track and field coach, my goal that I stated on day one is to make the uncomfortable comfortable. Change is uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable to have a season interupted by a coaching change, it was uncomfortable to be introduced to new training and new warmups in September. But our athletes adapted to the change and became better athletes for it. Entering the indoor track and field season now there will be a lot changes, small changes, but still new challenges that we will have to overcome in order to succeed. There is an Albert Einstein saying that I used to have on my old office wall "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." In our sport there is nothing more true. I have not coached a single season or a single team the same way, there is always small changes made that make the athletes a little uncomfortable or make the athletes think a little more. The nature of our sport is adaptation, physiologically speaking or psychologically speaking. In order to get better, adaptation to change must occur. If you fail in a race, you need to change your race tactics, it could be on such a small scale that you wait 50m longer to start your kick, or you go out 1 second slower for the first 400m but you need a change to try and succeed the next time. Adapting to change is what training/racing/competing is all about. Adapting to change is what sport is all about. Adapting to change is what life is all about.