Track & Footprints
Nearly ten years ago I was hired as the head sprint coach for a high school track team. Having been around the program for a few years I had a pretty good idea of how the old coaches had run the program and subsequently what had been working and what had not.
Unfortunately the team was in despair, funds were low, moral was down and the kids were injured, over trained and generally beat up. Fortunately I was able to figure out what wasn’t working and rather quickly I implemented some immediate changes.
Due to the fact that 40% of the entire team had shin splints the first thing I did was change the running surface (high impact sprints & plyometrics on a very hard surface is usually not a good idea) plus I suggested that the majority of athletes try a different brand of running shoe. Next I cut their running volume by 50% and increased their intensity and speed. I knew that in order to run fast they had to train fast. At the beginning of the season I brought the kids into the weight room and worked on increasing their muscular strength. I also implemented a very specific warm up and stretching routine which the entire team did in unison. The idea behind this was to increase moral and team unity. I encouraged the kids on the team with positive feedback which in no short order became contagious and they started doing it to each other. I would also give nutritional talks and mandated that each athlete bring a water bottle to practice. These were just a few of the changes that were implemented. Overall I figured out what wasn’t working and then I implemented simple and basic changes within program.
Guess what happened?
The kids got healthy, we reduced injuries by 80%, team moral shot up, they started having fun again, they started running much faster and yes, we also started winning. In short, I was no genius…but I was smart enough to figure out what wasn’t working and by changing it and running a back to basics approach we had a good deal of success. All in all, we took 17 athletes to CIF (more than at any point in the school’s history), half a dozen went on the Masters level, we set more school records than I can remember, and our girls JV team went undefeated in the relay. My point is not to impress you with this story but to rather impress upon you the idea, that when properly applied the basics really do work.
I did not go out and buy a bunch of fancy equipment, hire a witch doctor, or have the athletes take magical supplements. What I did do was implement a simple program which stopped them from getting hurt (injured athlete’s can compete), started them eating better foods and helped change their mindset and team moral to one that was more positive.
There’s an old saying that success leaves footprints. “If your goal is a journey of success, it’s easier to follow the footprints which are already in the sand, rather than make your own path”.
Footprints of success:
1) Change your nutritional intake! Get yourself on a healthy nutrition plan filled with foods which come from Mother Nature.
2) Change your physical movement regime! Get yourself on an exercise plan which is custom tailored to your body, your needs and your goals.
3) Change your thinking. ~ “When you have control over your thoughts, you have control over your life”. ~ Remez Sasson
4) Find a coach or mentor who has already done what you want to do.