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.

Back From Texas and Thoughts on Strength

If everything truly is bigger in Texas, wouldn't it makes sense that I come home with ideas on how to get "bigger" (stronger)? I returned home from Texas early this morning (12/16), from a week spent with some of the best coaches in the world. This was my first convention and I have to thank RPI for giving me the opportunity to attend. I must say the week started off right...watching the NY Giants come back on the Cowboys, and being in Texas made it a little more sweet. That being said, most of my time was spent in symposiums listening to top coaches like Gina Procaccio (2009 and 2010 NCAA Women's Coach of the year from Villanova), James Li (Bernard Lagat's Coach) and Sean Cleary (West Virginia), but I must say my favorite presentations came from Gary Wilson of Minnesota, on coaching and managing a large team, and Boo Schexnayder, formerly of LSU, and his presetation on "Ancillary and Speed Training for Endurance Athletes." The USTFCCCA really knows how to do a convention right. Those of you that tuned in to The Bowerman Awards on Flotrack saw a show that was worthy of cable TV. The nominees and winners were so poised and professional, it speaks wonders of the programs and coaches they spent four years working with. If being in the same room as world championship medalists and qualifiers doesn't light a fire in your stomach than you don't belong in our sport!

It is great to be back to New York though and I am really excited to start implementing some of the lessons I learned from some of the best coaches. On the plane ride back I started drawing up a new mesocycle for my middle distance and distance athletes that starts when they come back to campus and ends at our indoor championships. Since Boo was perhaps the speaker I took the most from, I spent some time revamping some strength, speed and mobility work for them as well. I really feel like Boo and Vern Gambetta are two of the best minds in track and field when it comes to "athletic development."

Vern states time and time again that strength=speed. Build strength and when it becomes time to transfer that strength to the track you will be faster, if done correctly. Winter break for the college middle distance and distance runner is a tough time for strength training because you leave the college campus with the top of the line facility and return home to mom and dad. Most homes don't have a squat rack, or a plethora of medicine balls and kettlebells. Three to four weeks is a long time to do nothing though, so what should a college athlete do? My top recommendation is to join a gym and continue with what your strength and conditioning coach says. But if that is not an option, the following circuit is great. As always this is just an example of something that could be done by an athlete who has gone through many cycles of training leading into this.

Vern Gambetta Leg Circuit
1) Body Weight Squat x 20
2) Lunge x 20 (10 ea. leg)
3) Step Up x 20 (10 ea. leg)
4) Squat Jump x 10

Week 1- 2 sets w/ 30 sec between exercises and 1 min between sets
Week 2- 3 sets w/ 30 sec between everything
Week 3- 3 sets continuous inter-set, 30 sec between sets

Do exercises with speed, but with good form and full range of motion. This circuit is building power and speed, it will carry over into your running next semester.

Also an upper body/ Core circuit
1) Push up into side plank x 5 ea. side
2) Dips (50% max)
3) Front Plank and reach x 5 each side
4) Pull-ups (if available) x max or 10 at most

Week 1- 2 sets
Week 2- 3 sets
Week 4- 3 sets, increase range of motion and speed

It is simple, but it is just for some upper body strength maintenance until you can get back to a gym.

The Dog Days...Lie Ahead?

If the summer gets dog days, what does the winter get? Bear days? Either way it seems like the most extreme conditions of the year occur during the most important times of training for cross country and track and field athletes. I would like to believe it is to only make the athlete even tougher. Recently, Running Times posted an article that I shared with my distance runners about not being fearful of the conditions. In order to succeed in our sport in the northeast there is nothing more true. The Bear Days are coming and they are to be faced individually as most college/university teams are on winter break. Below I have written a few tips to focus on.

1) Every day has a purpose, stick to the script your coach has laid out for you. If planned properly you will arrive back on campus in fantastic shape. You will be ready to attack the season with confidence.
2) Adaptation takes time, for most athletes the winter break marks a time of transition from cross country training (for distance runners) or preparation training (for track and field) to more specific track training. It takes time to see results. The time you spend training by yourself whether it be 4 weeks or 6 weeks you probably won't notice a huge difference in how you feel day to day, but if you compare your workouts from week 1 to week 6 you will notice a huge difference.
3) Environment is the key to success, the best athletes surround themselves with support. If your going out until 2 am every night, chances are you won't be training consistently. If you live in a city environment it will be hard to go out and run for 100 minutes for a long run, or to do hill sprints. Plan ahead and create an environment that is positive for all aspects of your life.
4) "Little things make the big difference", make it a point to spend time doing the little things that lie outside your comfort zone. After all, competing in our sport is uncomfortable, wouldn't you think it is a good thing to be uncomfortable in practice? Spend time doing your strength and conditioning and all the funny looking drills your coach asks you to do, it will pay off in the long run.

Economy Workouts

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Here at RPI, economy workouts are used at this time of year in track training to help the body utilize its anaerobic energy pathways and to allow your body to become familiar with it's mechanics at faster paces. The goal is to turn the bodies fuel efficiency at a high speed from that of a F-350 to that of a Mustang. Jack Daniels refers to these workouts as repetition workouts or (R). For some, it is at a pace faster than race pace, for others it is at race pace depending on your event group. Usually it is good to have a coach prescribe the pace that best fits your running as it is different for distance specialists and middle distance specialists.

A standard workout that Jack has in his book is sets of (200,200,400) which have equal jog recoveries. I have prescribed 3 sets to some athletes and I have prescribed 6 sets to others. It is individualized based on the event being trained for, the overall volume the athletes is training with, as well as the training age of the athlete. A set would look like this- 200 @ R, 200 jog, 200 @ R, 200 jog, 400 @ R, 400 jog. Each set is 1 mile of running or 800m of R pace running.

The most important part to understand about these workouts is that the recovery should be full. An athlete does not want to allow their form to break down at the end, and they should end the workout feeling like they could do more if he/she were asked to. The harder more intense workouts will come in time. Athletes should not start each repetition until the athlete feels he/she can complete the next without breaking down in form.

I have found through my years of coaching that the adaptation to this type of workout is very quick. The first workout may be difficult (especially for the longer distance runner), but each consecutive workout feels more controlled and comfortable. Usually after 3-4 workouts the beginner can make their pace slightly faster.

As the season progresses this is a good workout to do in spikes or flats since running in trainers does not allow the same economy as their lighter counterparts, and it allows training to be a bit more specific towards your goal.

As always, it is important to allow for a good warmup and follow the workout with a good cool down. Be sure to stretch the calves and hamstrings after as these are two muscle groups that I have seen become sore after starting these workouts.

What's in a name?

RUNsselaer! I found out coming up with a blog name is one of the more challenging tasks around. This blog is going to cover Running, RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) XC/Track, some personal stuff, and coaching/educating. I hope to be able to use this blog as a vehicle of communication between our programs here at RPI, as well as me personally and our alumni, athletes, recruits, and fans.

 I began running in 1994 for Shenendehowa High School, and ran at Cortland under Coach Jack Daniels in college. Recently, I ended my first coaching job at SUNY Plattsburgh to come to RPI and coach the cross country team along with the middle distance and distance runners in track. I started this past September and could not be happier with my new job. The school, athletic department and team have been literally outstanding (picture Rob Lowe from Parks and Rec on NBC saying "literally outstanding" when you read it). Since I grew up close to RPI I know what the school stands for and the excellence it drives for. As a program here at RPI we are driving for the same excellence the school reaches for. I believe this past fall we started down that path. You can read up on our season by clicking on the links to the right.

One of my main goals in starting this blog up is to help the communication lines between our program and the alumni, fans, and community. I will be posting frequently, as well as through my twitter (some live updates at meets), which can be found on this page as well. Recently, with the help of recent alumnus Jeff Corelli, a facebook page was started to keep our alumni(ae) even more in the loop (If you are not a member yet please search for it and request to be a member (RPI XC/TF Alumni). As a coach I preach to my team how important communication is, I feel it is only right to communicate myself. We have seen the fan base of our sport grow in recent years due to websites like flotrack, letsrun, and runnerspace because of the opportunities they allow for communication. It is my goal to see the fan base of RPI XC/Track grow in response to more communication from our coaches, fans, and alumni! With student-athletes like we have here at RPI, how could it not!