The modern-day child is less active and has less ‘free play’ than those of yesteryear. Imposing a technical speed training system, derived from adults, upon children is likely to fail: they simply lack the physical and cognitive capabilities to cope.

By observing how children play, and using my technical knowledge of what good sprinting looks like, I try to create training sessions that are fun and purposeful. The ideas may be of use to coaches and teachers of children and also to those who coach adults in different sports who have not got a ‘sprint’ background.

In this article I shall outline why ‘how’ you coach is as important as ‘what’ you coach and give examples of speed training sessions that I use with children.

Children learn through play

Children need to learn to run fast: it doesn’t just happen. ‘Learn’ does not mean that they have to be ‘taught’ by a coach: the learning can be implicit. But, in many societies, this implicit learning does not take place because the children have limited play time (Jamaica seems to be an exception).

A child playing 3 hours of video games a day instead of playing outside for 3 hours a day, will not develop speed as well. If children are allowed and encouraged to play with each other, in safe spaces, then they will start to move faster.

Hopscotch and jumping rope in the playground improve foot mechanics and strengthen bones and muscles. Games of tag and evasion as well as pick-up basketball require a repeated burst of acceleration that is the foundation of top-speed running.

When I dropped my children at school I spent hundreds of hours observing them play before being called to lessons and hundreds of hours after school when they went to the park next door with their friends. They punctuated their high-energy bursts of movement with some chatting or cartwheels. They changed games frequently and changed groups too: people came and went as the games evolved or new equipment such as a ball or rope arrived. Not once did I see children stand in a line and wait for an adult to tell them what to do.

And yet, that is what happens at many sports clubs.

I decided to change how I coach and make the sessions more child suitable: based on how they play and interact with each other. I called these, ‘Games with a purpose.’

Restructuring your training session

If children have fun and they feel like they are getting better, then they will come back to your sessions. Here is an example of a sequence that I follow. The drills are less important than why/when I do them. You will have a couple of drills that you feel help the children and that they understand. You will also have lots more game ideas. The important point is to know how and when to implement them.

Warm Up 10 mins: get moving, wake up, and shake off the school shackles.

Either: A restricted area game of tag/ follow my leader

or: Play on the equipment parkour-style

or: Coordination challenges with balls and objects such as juggling or passing/moving.

Fundamentals 10 mins: Speed-related activities.

We keep the same ideas but change the directions and orders in which we do things.

Skipping: forward, backward, sideways. With/without arms. In lines or in a square with a change of direction at each corner.

Change of movements either on command, at a cone, or following or matching a partner: walk-skip, skip-run, run-skip, hop to skip, walk to skip, and so on. 5-10m for each.

Foot taps (ankling) on the spot/ moving forward. “Happy feet”.

Hip locks: stationary to walking, singles to doubles. Using sticks/ ropes/ bands. “Push to the sky and pause”.

The hip locks are the most technical that we get with the younger children and they are put in once the children are warm and receptive.

The theme of the day is 20 minutes: Drills to work on one aspect of speed. Competitive element.

Starts, acceleration, repeat speed, reactive speed, and top speed.

I always handicap any competitive element: I select the pairs to match them evenly or if they select, I give one a head start. The idea is to get each child racing as fast as they can, regularly. If I have done it correctly, there is a close finish each time. The pairs are working concurrently for part of the session and consecutively for the remainder.

I don’t want the fast children to become complacent and I don’t want the slow children to become disheartened. I swap the partners as necessary to avoid potential conflicts. The fast children need to learn how to lose and the slower children need to feel what it is like to win. My aim is to help young people strive to be better and also learn how to overcome obstacles.

Jumping and throwing 10-15 minutes: all-around skills.

This has nothing to do with speed but all of our young athletes try everything. The throwing takes longer due to the recovery of the implements.

Game 5-10 minutes: unwind and express personality.

We play a final game that allows the children to organize and compete in small groups. This could be a relay, a pass-and-catch team effort over 400m, paired hare/ hounds tag, or even dodgeball.

Summary

As the children mature and gain confidence and understanding I add a technical point or two in the sessions. I am in no rush to demonstrate my technical knowledge to them. I have learned to be patient and draw upon it when the children have shown that they are receptive and that their bodies are ready for specific work.

I do not want children to drop out from our sessions because the early maturers are winning every race and drill that we do.

Below is a complete workout for throwers that will make you stronger and more powerful. There are three phases—off-season, pre-season and in-season—and two versions—one for high school athletes and one for college athletes, both of which are designed to challenge you at your stage of development and which take your schedule into account.

Javelin Off-Season

The off-season generally runs through fall. It’s the perfect time to develop a fitness and exercise technique base and to begin increasing strength and power. With that in mind, high school throwers will train three times a week; one day focused on strength and power and two on increasing muscle mass. Collegiate athletes have the benefit of training for an additional day.

High School Off-Season Thrower Workout

Day One

• Hang Clean – 3×3-6 at 60-70% (above knees)
• Back Squats – 3×8-12 at 70-80%
• Romanian Deadlifts – 3×8-12
• Bench Press – 3×8-12 at 70-80%
• Barbell Bent-Over Rows – 3×8-12
• Standing Military Press – 3×8-12

Day Two

• Rest

Day Three

• Hang Snatch Pulls – 3×3-6 at 50-60% of Power Clean (above knees)
• Front Squat – 3×8-12 at 60-70%
• Lunges – 3×8-12 each leg
• Goodmornings – 3×8-12
• DB Back Raises – 3×15-20
• Calf Raises – 3×15-20

Day Four

• Push Jerk – 3×3-6 at 50-60% of Power Clean
• Incline Press – 3×8-12
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows – 3×8-12 each arm
• Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3×8-12
• Triceps – 3×12-15
• Biceps – 3×12-15

Collegiate Off-Season Thrower Workout

Day One

• Hang Clean – 3×3-6 at 60-70% (above knees)
• Back Squats – 3×8-12 at 80-85%
• Romanian Deadlifts – 3×8-12
• Bench Press – 3×8-12 at 80-85%
• Barbell Bent-Over Rows – 3×8-12
• Standing Military Press – 3×8-12

Day Two

• Rest

Day Three

• Hang Snatch – 3×3-6 (above knees)
• Front Squats – 3×4-8 at 70-80%
• Lunges – 3×8-12 each leg
• Pistol Squats – 3xMax
• Goodmornings – 3×12-15
• DB Back Raises – 3×15-20
• Calf Raises – 3×15-20

Day Four

• Push Jerk – 3×3-6 at 50-60% of Power Clean
• Incline Press – 3×8-12
• Superset: Dips – 3xMax + Push-Ups – 3xMax
• Pull-Ups – 3xMax
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows – 3×8-12 each arm
• 3-in-1 Shoulders – 3×15-20 each exercise
• Superset: Bicep Curls – 3×12-15 + Tricep Extensions – 3×12-15

Pre-Season

The pre-season runs from around November into January. This is the time to focus on increasing strength and power. For the high school athlete, one training session is devoted to maximal strength, one to power, and one to both. For the collegiate athlete, two days are devoted to strength and two to power. The college athlete begins to see advanced training tools like wave loading and split lifts for specificity.

High School Pre-Season Thrower Workout

Day One

• Back Squats – 3×4-8 at 80-90%
• Romanian Deadlifts – 3×4-8
• Bench Press – 3×4-8 at 80-90%
• Barbell Bent-Over Rows – 3×4-8
• Standing Military Press – 3×4-8

Day Two

• Hang Clean – 3×3-6 at 50-60% (at knees)
• Push Jerk – 3×3-6 at 50-60%
• Hang Clean Pulls – 3×3-6 at 60-70% (below knees)

Day Three

• Dumbbell Hang Clean – 3×3-6 (above knees)
• Hang Snatch Pull 3×3-6 at 60-70% of Power Clean (above knees)
• Front Squats – 3×4-8 at 70-80%
• Goodmornings – 3×4-8
• Incline Press – 3×4-8
• Pull-Ups – 3xMax

Collegiate Pre-Season Thrower Workout

Day One

• Back Squats – 1×4-8 at 80%, 1×2-6 at 85%, 1×1-4 at 90%; 1×4-8 at 82.5%, 1×2-6 at 87.5%, 1×1-2 at 92.5%
• Goodmornings – 3×4-8
• Bench Press – 1×4-8 at 80%, 1×2-6 at 85%, 1×1-4 at 90%; 1×4-8 at 82.5%, 1×2-6 at 87.5%, 1×1-2 at 92.5%
• Single-Arm Dumbbell Rows – 3×4-8 each arm
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3×4-8

Day Two

• Hang Clean – 3×2-4 at 60-70% (below knees)
• Clean Pulls – 3×3-6 at 70-80%
• Push Jerk – 3×3-6 at 60-70% of Power Clean

Day Three

• Rest

Day Four

• Front Squats – 3×2-6 at 80-90%
• Deadlifts – 3×2-6 (from knees)
• Incline Press – 3×2-6
• Barbell Bent-Over Rows – 3×2-6
• Seated Military Press – 3×2-6

Day Five

• Hang Snatch – 3×3-6 at 60-70% (at knees)
• Split Hang Clean – 3×2-4 at 50-60% of Power Clean each leg (above knees)
• Dumbbell Hang Clean – 3×3-6 (above knees)

In-Season

In-season begins in January and lasts until the last outdoor meet is over. Due to the demands of travel and competition, throwers have less time to train, so the focus is on getting as much bang out of training as possible. Lifts are done from the floor, they are heavy, and in the case of college throwers, they involve complexes and specific movements like Pause Squats and split lifts.

High School In-Season Thrower Workout

Day One

• Power Clean and Push Jerk – 3×3-4 at 70-80%
• Clean Pulls – 3×2-6 at 80-90%
• Back Squats – 3×2-6 at 80-90%
• Bench Press – 3×2-6 at 80-90%
• Pull-Ups – 3xMax

Day Two

• Dumbbell Hang Clean – 3×2-6 (at knees)
• Hang Snatch Pulls – 3×2-6 at 70-80% of Power Clean (at knees)
• Front Squats – 3×2-6 at 80-90%
• Incline Press – 3×2-6
• Dumbbell Rows – 3×2-6

Collegiate In-Season Thrower Workout

Day One

• Clean-Grip Deadlift + Power Clean + Push Jerk – 3×3 at 60-70% each
• Pause Squats 3×2-6 at 80-90% + Squat Jumps – 3×10
• Single-Leg RDL – 3×8-12 each leg
• Pause Bench Press – 3×2-6 at 80-90 + Med Ball Chest Pass – 3×10

Day Two

• Snatch Pulls 3×4 at 60-70% + Power Snatch – 3×3 at 60-70%
• Split Hang Clean – 3×3 at 70-80% of Power Clean (at knees) + Split Squats – 3×3-6 each leg
• Dumbbell RDL – 3×4-8 + Dumbbell Hang Cleans – 3x 3-6 each leg
• Barbell Bent-Over Rows – 3×4-8 + Med Ball Behind Back Toss, 3×10

A race strategy is critical to effective training, and it should shape your overall preparation. Design your training program to provide a basis of consistency from which you can make real improvements.

Below are six phases of the 400m race and a strategy for getting each one right. The phases have been selected because track markings or visual cues are easy to work with, but as you become more experienced, you will be able to vary this either way.

Start to 50m

The start and the drive phase should be executed the same for any sprint: “go ugly early,” to coin a phrase. The reason to drive hard and not hold back at the start is that you are using your alactic energy system, and since it burns out pretty quickly (in roughly seven or eight seconds), you might as well take maximum advantage of it. Holding back will not stop it from burning out. Also, acceleration is technically difficult, especially in sprinting, and if you try to pull back to 95% of your maximum speed, for example, who can judge that? Save your adjustments for the next phase.

Transition

The next 50m constitute the transition phase. You are coming off the bend and getting into your stride, and this is where you set the pace and cadence for the next stage.

Float

You can’t run a 400m flat out all the way around. Those who try will blow up at around 250m and start going backward. Getting the float phase absolutely right is the most important strategy in the race because it covers the 100m to 200m sections. If you go too slowly, you’ll lose too much time, but if you go too fast, you’ll flame out. It’s like Goldilocks’ porridge—not too hot, not too cold, just right. Latif Thomas calls it running “at the edge of insanity.” You need to be fast but relaxed.

Acceleration

This is not real acceleration, nor is it even re-acceleration, but it will feel like it. (Read Five Methods to Maximize Acceleration.) Here, you should start to wind up the speed over the course of the bend. Actually, what happens is that you slow the rate of deceleration; but it will feel like you are accelerating because you will be pushing instead of floating. The trick is to increase speed gradually through the course of the bend. Don’t try to kick at the 200m point, as this will waste considerable energy.

Kick

This phase varies depending on the athlete and the race situation. But in general terms, I like my athletes to accelerate off the bend and start their kick at the 100m marker. (See How Texas T&F Improves Their Kick.) This is because if they accelerate at this point, they’ll be pushing as they straighten up off the bend. It feels like this gives you an extra shot of speed, and you get the jump on competitors who straighten up first before kicking. This can be a particularly good time to use the Valsalva technique.

The Final Phase

This is where things can start to get messy, especially if you didn’t get the other phases right. However, no matter what went down previously, the final phase is hell on earth. Sprinting when your body is racked with lactic pain and screaming at you to stop is difficult to say the least. Each athlete has to find his or her own way through it, but believe it or not, the best way is to run faster. It’s obviously counterintuitive, but continuing the kick changes the reaction of the body for a short time after the first 300m. It also provides a psychological edge, bringing the finish line toward you faster, so the race will be over sooner. But be assured, these mental tricks have no more than marginal effects. It will hurt. There is no way around it.

For more 400m training advice, check out A Faster 400 With Baylor Track.

Both of those things can help, but there’s one speed enhancer that people rarely talk about—relaxation. As an Olympic sprinter, it took me over a decade of training to understand and master this concept. The reason it’s difficult to unlock the power of relaxation is that it feels counterintuitive to trying to run your fastest. We have ingrained in our minds that trying hard always produces a better result. However, this isn’t the case with sprinting. Here are five tips that can help you relax and run faster during your next sprint.

1. Relax your face

One of the first places to look to know if you’re relaxing or not is your face. If you are super tight in the face, that tension works its way down to your neck, hands and into the rest of your body. It can restrict your arm action and tire you out faster.

You may think your face is relaxed, but is it really? Is it so relaxed that your cheeks and lips can flap where they choose? Is it so relaxed that your face may jiggle or move while you’re running? Because that’s the amount of relaxation we’re going for. If you achieve that, the tension in your face and neck will have disappeared.

You will feel weird doing this for the first time, because it will feel as if you are not trying hard enough and hence, running slow. One of the fastest races I ever run as an NCAA athlete was at the University of Texas. I was about a meter behind a sprinter from ASU who was on my right, and I remember just relaxing and letting my cheeks be loose as he got tighter and tighter, and I blew right past him.

2. Keep your hands open

Another way to run faster and improve speed via relaxation is to open up your hands. A lot of athletes run with a closed tight fist, which is not optimal for running your fastest. Closed fists immediately create tension through your arm and shoulders. If you look at the end of any 400-meter race, you’ll typically see the winner is the one who is the most relaxed coming down the home stretch. Some will have closed hands and look tense and look like they are fighting themselves to finish. Others will be smooth as butter and look like they are finishing without even trying.

Trying too hard to run fast and forcing it can also increase your risk of injury. You end up overdoing it and straining yourself too hard. When you are relaxed, you can go faster without having to work as hard.

3. Keep your shoulders down

Allowing your shoulders to rise up toward your ears is one of the most detrimental mistakes you can make when trying to run fast. As soon as your shoulders start to raise up to your ears, there is almost nothing you can do to reverse the situation.

When you raise your shoulders, it puts your arms in a dangerous position, as it does not allow them to swing and move freely. The results are increased tension and slower sprint times. Some athletes run like this so often that they’ve become accustomed to it and have no clue just how much it might be harming them. When you focus on sprinting relaxed, you want to have your shoulders wholly relaxed and as far down as they will go.

4. Step onto the track free of stress

One area a lot of people don’t think about when trying to run fast is your mental state. If you have a lot going on mentally, or your heart is just heavy with the stresses of life, it can be harder to relax when sprinting. It depends on the athlete though, because some athletes thrive under more pressure or are better at compartmentalizing their stress.

But many athletes, especially young athletes, struggle with this skill. If you have a lot going on mentally during your sprints, it may frustrate you because you cannot relax your body the same way. You want to go into every rep, or sprint with a 100% clear mind. Even if it means just clearing your mind for a few minutes before practice or the race, it is very worth it! Being able to clear your mind before you step on the track is what separates many great athletes from their competition.

5. Remember the arms control it all

The last important thing to know and remember about running fast is that you sprint with your arms on your legs. Meaning your legs do the work, but your arms are what control it all.

If you want to run faster, you don’t think about moving your legs faster. What you do is focus on moving your arms faster. If the arms move quicker, the legs will automatically move faster as well. That is why there is so much focus on the upper body in this article. The upper body will control what the legs do, but they can’t move optimally if they are in positions with constant tension.

Mentally, you need to rewire your brain to focus on your arms and getting them operating smoothly and efficiently. Once you accomplish this, it will make every aspect of sprinting easier.

Putting it all together

This may seem like a lot of information to keep in mind while running really fast, but many of these tips can be achieved with a single controlled breath. If you are in the middle of the 100-meter dash, and you need to hit that next gear, it just takes one controlled breath.

When you exhale quickly with some power, you will be able to relax your face, drop your shoulders, and focus on your arms all in a single step. In a race, you won’t have time to do all those things one by one. The goal is to practice this exhale during training and get used to the feeling of getting it right all in one breath. Doing this will increase your confidence of hitting it in the heat of the moment.

Sprinting is really about doing the little things right. You are fighting for hundredths of a second, and strategic relaxation can help you gain an edge.

Photo Credit: IPGGutenbergUKLtd/iStock, Paul Bradbury/iStock, PeskyMonkey/iStock, baona/iStock, Jacoblund/iStock

READ MORE:

• Improve These 3 Physical Skills to Sprint Faster
• Run Faster and Longer With Better Breathing Technique
• 3 Breathing Techniques for Athletes to Improve Focus and Relaxation

Track and field are often one of the most accessible sports. Equipment needs for entry are minimal – a pair of shoes. Often for athletes joining the middle school track and field team, this may be their first foray into an organized school sport. This is an opportunity for them to be an athlete and an opportunity to develop skills, learn how to be part of a team, self-organization, and work with a coach.

As a coach for a middle school track and field program you have three main objectives: teach the athletes the foundations of the sport, expose them to a wide range of track and field events, and engage the athlete – make them want to stay in the sport.

And as a middle school track and field coach, you must be a master at communication. You need to set clear goals and expectations for your athletes. You will also need to communicate with parents. These young athletes will rely on and friends and family for transportation to and from practices and meets. Be sure parents understand times and locations for practices and meets. And be sure they understand the needs and expectations of their track and field athlete including uniform and equipment needs, commitment time, and what should be done outside of the team to fine-tune skills.

Your role as the coach of a middle school track and field team should focus on the following:

Establish the Track and Field Foundation

There is a lot of ground to cover and little time to do so. Often practices are short as well as the attention span of your athlete. Middle schoolers have a lot going on and you need to keep your practices, drills, and talks short, focused, and fun. Hard work is definitely important here, but this can be done in engaging ways to keep the interest of your athletes. It should be a balance of strength, skill work, and some “play” time that serves as team building and conditioning. It may be worth setting aside the last portion of practice, or one practice day a week for fun. This could include games such as capture the flag, ultimate frisbee, an obstacle course, or spike ball.

Other ways to work on some foundational skills include:

1. Get up and go drills from various start positions. Have your athlete start flat on their stomach, kneel, cross-legged, on back, tuck and roll, push-up position, two-point, two-point deep crouch. When signaled, they explode up, sprint for a set distance, and then work on controlled deceleration.
2. Accelerations relay races in small teams (3-5 athletes). Choose a distance (10-30 yards) on the turf. Pick a start position and on your signal, they begin. The athlete tags the outgoing runner’s hand and continues until reaching the finish line. The coach uses the time between races to review acceleration cues and feedback between races.
3. Skip races, hop races and gallops over 10-15 mini hurdles for a time as you observe mechanics.

Focus On Athlete Development, Not the Events

This is a time of building the foundational skills of your athletes. While winning meets and events is an ultimate goal of a track coach, this should not be the main focus for middle school-aged athletes. It is important at this phase to instruct the track and field athletes on the rules of the game, key movement patterns, and reinforcing drills so they can explore movement patterns. Have your athletes try out events such as shot put, javalon, discus or pole vaulting – not just sprinting. This is often a period of physical development in young men and women and while they may have been an active child athletes, their bodies may need time to improve strength, function, and prevent injuries.

Rhythm Before Speed

There is an old saying: learn to walk before you run. This concept can be made when it comes to track and field. Developing a proper rhythm along with gait mechanics is far more important than speed. Once your track and field athlete understands how to properly move, speed can be applied. It is far more important to have this done slow and steady, versus fast and messy. You want your athlete to look good and move fast, not just fast. As your athlete ages and their developing bodies can better adapt to the neurological inputs, speed will come along.

There are four points to look for and work on with rhythm:

1. Legs that switch (remove and replace) at the same time.
2. Arms that move up and down contributing to the movement.
3. An ability to run at different tempos or shift through first gear to the fifth without any coordination issues.
4. Forward lean and a long spine.

You can accomplish this by manipulating running tempos using animal references for different speeds:

• Cheetah = sprint
• Deer = fast-paced run
• Horse = easy run
• Elephant = race walk
• Dog = jog
• Turtle = walk

As a coach, you could mix and match the animals so your athlete can adjust speeds while working on rhythm mechanics. For example, have an athlete perform the following:

• Dog 10 seconds
• Cheeta 10 seconds
• Horse 20 seconds
• Cheeta 5 seconds
• Turtle 1 minute

Remember, this is an important time to develop a young track and field athlete foundation. If you instill hard work, expose them to all elements of the sport, and develop basic skills, it can set up the athlete for success in high school, college, or beyond. A middle school athlete who moves into high school with a solid foundation will be more coachable and safely advance through the sport. Your job as a coach is to build the framework on which future coaches can build upon. For additional lessons, resources, and tools visit NFHS.org

Elliott is a sprinter for the University of Washington Men’s Track team in his senior year. While his best race is the 400m hurdles, he also runs the open 400m, 800m, distance medley relay, and the 4x400m relay.

His track career is studded with records and success. He demolished the competition at the 3A Washington State meet his junior and senior year in high school, setting the record for the 300m hurdles at 37.11. He represented the USA in the 2019 Pan American Games in Costa Rica. His college career is also studded with appearances at Indoor and Outdoor National meets. And most recently, he was down in TrackTown, USA to run in the Olympics Trials.

How has he achieved such success on the track for someone who wanted to be a pro football player? In August, before he headed back to campus, I had the chance to sit down with him and ask.

STACK: So, how did you get into track?

Cass Elliott: My freshman year of high school, I wanted to play football in college. So I was planning on lifting in the spring to get stronger. But my parents said I needed to participate in an organized activity, so I chose track as a backup.

Then I had a coach say, ‘Hey do you want to try out hurdles?’ So I tried them out and progressed through the season. I ran one of the fastest first races my coach had seen, and by the end of my freshman year I was 9th in state. So I thought, ‘shoot I should probably pursue this a little more.’

STACK: How’d you make the transition from high school to college?

CE: Oh my god thats a long story, that’s seven years worth, so I’ll go a little bit into hyper-speed mode. Alright, my second year, I improved a lot through training and working hard, and my junior year I got first in state and broke the state record. This allowed me to get attention from colleges and go on visits and from there I decided on UW.

STACK: How are the hurdles more or less challenging than other races?

CE: Physically, they are way more challenging because you have to clear ten barriers. You’re running the same all-out sprint of a 400m, but then you have to jump, lose a lot of your momentum and then completely reaccelerate ten times through the whole race.

Then there’s the technical aspect, because your body mechanics are different than straight running. You have to learn a motion that is not very natural, and then learn to do that motion on both sides, so you become ambidextrous in a way.

Mentally, some people say it’s easier, some say it’s harder. For the harder side, you have to stay focused for a full 400m, because if you lose focus, and your foot comes 1/4 inch not quite as high as it’s supposed to, then you clip a hurdle and could lose a ton of momentum. So you have to be locked in on the eight or nine different things you have to be doing over every hurdle.

On the easier side, it can be nice to have those barriers in the race because they give you something to strive for and give you benchmarks. You can break up the race into a nicely-sectioned game plan.

STACK: You’ve achieved a lot of success, which stands out as the most memorable?

CE: Oh 100% my most memorable was making the US Junior Team. I remember being in Florida, it was the finals and I had not been racing very well. I knew I just had to make the top two to make the team and get to the PanAm games.

I vividly remember coming around the final corner and seeing that I was in second, just knowing I was about to make the team. Going over the 9th and 10th hurdle I had this feeling of euphoria, and was thinking, this is the best moment of my life.

STACK: You’ve raced in a lot of high-stakes meets. How do you deal with the pressure?

CE: Okay, for starters, I always like to tell myself that it’s good to have some nerves, because that helps with adrenaline. I don’t know if that’s really true, but it helps with your mindset going in to think ‘hey, this is a good thing’.

Then I think a lot of where nerves come from is expectations. If I feel I have to be this good, or hit this mark, or proceed past this point, it’s just going to cause more anxiety. But if I tell myself, ‘I know what I can do, I know what I’ve done to prepare for this, now I just have to go out and do my best’ it’s easier to get out there without feeling like you have to vomit all over the place.

One of the best ways to deal with anxiety is to be prepared, which comes from the 9-10 months you spend before your race, getting better and making sure you’re at your best when the time comes.

STACK: What does a day in the life look like for you as a college athlete?

CE: If we have weights, which is 2-3x a week, we’ll be up at 7am, lift weights for an hour or so. Then after that, we go to class from 8:30am to 1:00pm. Then you grab whatever food you can for lunch and head back to the locker room to change for practice. We practice for another two to three hours, before showering, going to the dining hall for dinner. In the evening you have time to hang with friends or do homework, and any sort of personal things you want to do.

Practices always consist of a warmup, usually for 30min, then after that it depends on the day. Usually it’s either a speed, speed endurance or endurance training. So that could be sets of 150’s, 200’s, 300’s, 400’s or a mix. Maybe some stuff over hurdles, maybe a hill run. Whatever crazy workout that our coach cooks up.

STACK: What sacrifices do you have to make as a high school athlete and a college athlete?

CE: In high school, because you only practice for two hours a day, if you want to run in college, you need to be willing to put in more time. It’s just about what level you want to get to.

In college, you’re probably going to have to make a lot more sacrifices if you want to be good. Especially because track is a sport where you’re required to be at 100% maximum potential every time you compete, which means it’s tough to indulge in partying or drinking. You’re also going to have to spend less time with friends, less time doing what you want, because you’ll be on campus maybe 10-12 hours a day.

STACK: What inspires you to give your best?

CE: There are many times when I’m on the track and I don’t feel like doing my best, and I just have to get by. But at the end of the day, what keeps me working hard and running track from the most part is something to do post-college. I have an opportunity to be able to travel and experience awesome things while competing as a professional athlete. I would like to go pro and get paid to travel the world and run fast.

STACK: Looking back, is there anything you would do different?

CE: Either start running track earlier. Or play lacrosse or hockey or a sport that more fits my body type. I’d also invest in Bitcoin. Is this track related? In terms of track, I would focus on it sooner, because I didn’t really know. If I had the training I have now back in high school, I could have gone anywhere in the country.

STACK: What advice would you give to young athletes starting in the sport?

CE: Make sure that you really love and are passionate about the sport, because it is so tough, and a lot of times it’s not super fun. But if you are really passionate about it, and want to make it to the next level, or even just improve, just focus on yourself. Set your own personal goals and don’t worry about anything else. You can always get better and you will get better. If you keep running, keep sprinting, keep practicing, you are going to see improvement.

As Cass moves into his senior year at UW, a lot of uncertainty lies in the future. Will he be able to make nationals? Will he be able to drop his time and make it pro? Will the dream that he has been chasing for so long finally be attainable?

While all these questions remain to be seen, one thing is for certain. Track has been the best backup plan he’s ever had

It has been a good summer. You have been working part-time and finding a good balance between work and social time. However, you have just received an email from the school about registration. How did this happen? How did the summer get away from you, and now how are you going to get your summer running in before Cross Country starts?

You meant to get some miles in, but here you are. Another possibility is that some of your friends have finally convinced you to join them on the cross-country team, but you are starting from nothing in terms of fitness. Regardless of which one or some combination of both happened, you are now on the eve of the season, and you have no realistic summer mileage in your legs. Before you panic and go out in the middle of the day with 90-degree heat for a fast 7 miler to kick start your mad rush to fitness, take a breath and consider some less extreme ideas to salvage your cross country season.

Let It Go

It is straightforward to beat yourself up and feel upset and angry about the summer training that got away. However, since you are most likely not running around with a time machine, you will not be able to go back and change what the summer was. You are going to have to let it go and pick it up from where you are now. Of course, you can take a day to wrap your head around the missed opportunity, but doing it for much longer only slows you down going forward. There is an old saying in sports performance, “Control the controllable.” You can not change where you are, but you control where you go from here. So, forgive yourself if you missed the summer or even if you wish you had joined summer conditioning a month ago. Focus on going forward, and much like race day, “Don’t look back!”.

Be Patient

Some athletes get so concerned about all the training they missed they want to make it all up in one day or one great monster week of training. Not only does this dramatically increase the chances of getting injured, but it also is not an effective training plan for safety improvement. Running, like so many sports, require general fitness to compete. One of the main reasons for summer running is to build the muscles and connective tissue (ligaments and tendons) while developing the systems that move oxygen and remove waste from the body.

While it may be painful to start so slow and for so few miles, fitness is an important part. Runners that try to force the miles may find they develop a “stress reaction” that, if not addressed, could lead to a stress fracture. You may also have to consider that cross-training like biking or swimming may have to be part of the plan to avoid a running injury. You will have to be patient and let your body absorb the training while listening to it for signs of a potential overuse injury. Talk with your coach about a reasonable plan for where you are now to where you want to be.

Be Realistic

Speaking of where you want to be on the team during the season, you may have to shuffle around the goals you had from last season or the previous track season. Those goals might have been based on a full summer of mileage. That summer did not happen, and your goals might need some tweaking. You may have missed 4-6 weeks of running, and the goal of being the #1 runner on the team or even making the varsity squad may not be as realistic at the start. Of course, you should not just scrap the goal totally, but the timeline that you might have been envisioning may be wrecked from the first practice. Look at where you are now and evaluate those goals.

A good quote to think about is often attributed to the Navy Seals, “Nothing is impossible, some things just take longer.” Maybe the pre-summer goal of being the #1 runner at the start of the summer can be replaced with being the #1 runner by the end of the season. You might also have to accept some slower early-season race times. Slower times on courses you ran on last season can be quite humbling, but they can also be quite motivating. If you are new to the sport, it is also wise to be realistic about your times. You may be going up against runners with literally thousands of miles in their legs.

Seek Guidance

You are not the first runner to miss a summer opportunity. The odds are that you are not the only person on the team who is kicking off their running with the first official day of practice. Talk to your coach about the upcoming season and where you are physical. Be honest about what you have or have not done. If you are lucky, you and your coach can come up with a plan. Some schools take returning runners that are not as fit and turn them into “tour guides” for the new runners. These guides teach the common routes for the new team members and keep them from trying to run with the fitter runners until they have some safe miles in their legs. Even if you have a new coach, another set of eyes keeping an eye on you and helping track your fitness is rarely a bad thing.

Focus On Details

If you are in a rush to get in shape, you need to be doing all the little things that can maximize recovery. You will be asking a lot of your body over the coming weeks, and you owe yourself to give it a fighting chance. This means you are going to have to get serious about your good habits. The number one priority for recovery is going to be getting all your sleep. When you sleep, your body is spending considerable resources repairing all the damage you did during the day. Muscle repair and body maintenance are one of the top priorities during the first few hours. However, if you are not getting enough sleep, your brain will put physical repair on hold in favor of memory storage and other brainpower processes. This means that during the next run, your body may not be fully recovered, and that can dramatically increase your chance of injury. You will also need to be sure you are getting proper nutrition and hydration. A truth in sports nutrition is garbage in= garbage out. If you are eating junk or an endless line of fast food and energy drinks, you are not giving your body the basic material it requires to repair itself. The same approach applies to hydration. Water makes up around 60% of your body. It helps remove waste and is needed to aid digestion. Not having enough water will slow multiple systems you are counting on for training.

Even if you did not lace up the shoes once this summer because you did not plan on joining the team or had every intention of having a summer of running that just got away from you, it is not too late to have a good season. Granted, it might take the bulk of the season to keep up with the lead pack, but a little patience and planning will go a long way. Remember that sports are more about the lessons and the time with teammates than hardware and accolades. Enjoy the time and the confidence that comes from running and being fit. Who knows, maybe next summer, you will give a copy of this article to the friend you talked into the running cross country in mid-August!

Read More:

• 5 Essential Cross Country Workouts Explained
• Strength Training for Cross Country Runners

My goal is to highlight how to create an exciting and strong female throws crew. There are four key points that I would like to highlight to create that environment and a successful throws crew and recruitment for new female throwers:

1. The coach must be somewhat competent and knowledgeable with all of the throws events, indoor and outdoor.
2. What to look for in an athlete to recruit throwers.
3. The coach must know how to train female athletes and train them properly to succeed in the throws and optimize performance.
4. A coach must create a culture and flow to have a successful team and optimize performance.

Knowledge of the Throwing Events

It is essential as a coach you know the history of the throwing events, especially for women. It wasn’t until the 1900s that women were allowed to participate in the throwing events. However, before the 1800’s, women were competing in the pentathlon, which included throwing events, such as javelin and discus. You must also know the history of your high school, the records held by the team, the individual events, and what your athlete is capable of in comparison to; set standards.

How do the track and field meet operate? It is essential your girls know this. For example, leaving the shot put or discus circle, they must exit the back of the circle, or it is a foul. What throwing events are you allowed to coach and host at your school? What is the layout like? Are you able to throw the hammer, javelin? Do you have the right circle for shot-put/discus? Is there a runway for javelin and space to even throw it? What is in your school budget? Are you able to get new equipment and training tools?

What to Look For

Ask the team if anyone wants to throw, explain what they will be doing, how the training program will be, and honestly how fun it can be! Our girls LOVE to lift and be strong. That creates incentive already, makes my job enjoyable, and just to see them happy and genuinely enjoy the sport and event themselves is beautiful to witness. Not only that, it creates inner confidence in the girls that you can’t take away, and to see them grow, learn and want to be better is just incredible. I have noticed that the best throwers I have personally been able to work with were multi sport athletes such as: lacrosse players, soccer players, and softball players. Next, we will discuss the training plan and what to measure to find these potential throwers.

Training Youth Female Throwers

When you scout out your potential throwers during the winter season, it is VERY rare to get girls genuinely interested in throwing on their own. You must create a fun and minimally intimidating environment for them. We like to get the whole team together beginning of the winter season and do some testing and measurements to see the capabilities of the athletes.

Testing:

• Broad jump
• Single-Leg Hops (linear and lateral)
• Overhead Medball Toss
• Backward Medball Toss
• 10m sprint

You will notice right away who has the strength and power to succeed in the throws or has the potential to get the technique down. Once your lady throwers have been chosen, now you must create a specific training plan for them.

Example of Training Program:

• Warmup: Mobility/Activation/Dynamic Drills
• 2x- 3x’s per week speed & plyometric training
• 2x’s per week functional strength training
• 3x’s/ week technical throws work (depends on which throws you are concentrating on)

We have the males and females training and throwing together. This creates a great culture and learning environment.

Create Culture and Flow

The best place to start is to show the girls examples of successful and strong female throwers. Ones who have maybe set the high school record and gone onto college to compete may be professional track and field athletes. Create incentives. Every week we have something called “Athlete of the Week.” When our athletes get this title, they know they deserved it due to their hard work, determination, and leadership skills. Celebrate when the girls hit personal records in the weight room or the throws events! They are elated when this happens, their hard work has come to fruition, and they continue to work hard and maybe even consider throwing in college. As a coach, you must teach them, educate them and guide them to not only be the best throwers and athletes they can be but strong, successful, positive, hard-working young ladies.

When you combine all of these foundations, your throwing program and overall track and field team will flourish. Remember, as a coach, you are influencing these young ladies. What you do, say, and show can affect them in the long run. Be the coach that creates strong, happy, and confident young ladies. They will thank you.

These common fears often lead to overtraining, which in turn can lead to decreased performance and injury. The purpose of this article is to try to provide a simple way to set up a Track & Field training schedule. The general theory behind these organizational principles can be used for other seasons and other sports.

All gains are made during recovery.

There is a saying that all gains are made during recovery. What is vital for a high school or club coach or athlete to understand is that much of their success in properly planning their training relies on implementing the proper rest and recovery periods. Track and Field is a performance sport, and all you need is a good attempt or well-executed race to win, so being able to make sure you are fresh and rested at the right time is paramount.

This is usually difficult at the high school/middle school level because the coach faces getting their athletes in shape while also in the competitive season. There is no “winning the fourth quarter” or “outworking your opponent during the contest.” Too little rest between training sessions will eventually lead to decreased performance due to overtraining. While allowing too much rest between training bouts can still allow for improved performance, but not at the rate of optimally planned performance.

When thinking about setting up training, we can talk about it from a few different perspectives. The first is from a short-term perspective that can be looked at as approaching and organizing a single training day. The next perspective can be to take a step back and decide how to organize a series of training days into a week of balanced training. Finally, an even broader view can be taken to arrange a series of training weeks to comprise a month of organized training. Properly planned training cycles can be put together in 2 to 5-week segments of continuous training, based upon the type of training and the upcoming competition schedule. There is almost always an active rest week inserted between training blocks to allow the body to recover and repair in preparation for the next training block. This active rest week will involve only a combination of technique work mixed with very light physical training. Too many weeks of consecutive training will lead to staleness and increase the possibility for injury. Therefore, rest weeks are critical for optimal performance. For example, in a typical high school/middle school setting, one will probably be able to fit in three to four training blocks during the track & field season between February and June.

Training cycles/blocks will change in intensity (how hard you are training) and volume (the amount of training) as the training year progresses. Generally, the first training cycle has a lot of volume at a lower intensity. Each successive cycle will have lowering volume levels with a matching increase in intensity. This type of adjustment of volume and intensity will allow the athlete to peak at the end of the training year when the most important competitions occur.

How to set up your training cycles (month to month training)

Setting up your series of training cycles (follow along in Figure 1, which is a hypothetical example) starts by writing out a list of all the meets you or your athletes will compete in. Next, identify which meets you would like you or your athletes to peak for. After identifying your “peaking” competitions, make sure you or your athletes are given an active rest week leading up to those competitions. The weeks between the meets that you or your athletes will peak for represent each training block/cycle. Figure 1 provides an example of how to fit three training cycles into a hypothetical high school season in California. Table 1 provides an overview of how these different training cycles are classified.

Figure 1: Full Season Meet Schedule Setting Up Training Cycles

Date Meet Peak Training

• June 1: State Meet yes Peaking
• May 25: Regional yes Peaking
• May 17: Regional Prelims no Competition Cycle week 2
• May 10: District no Competition Cycle week 1
• May 3: Conference yes Active rest
• April 26: Duel vs Marina no Competition Cycle week 3
• April 19: Duel vs El Cajon no Competition Cycle week 2
• April 12: Tustin Invit. no Competition Cycle week 1
• April 5: Mt. Carmel Invit. yes Active rest
• March 29: Duel vs Colton no Pre-Comp. Cycle week 5
• March 22: Cerritos Relays no Pre-Comp. Cycle week 4
• March 15: Duel vs Hart no Pre-Comp. Cycle week 3
• March 8: Duel vs El Rancho no Pre-Comp. Cycle week 2
• March 1: L Duel vs Troy no Pre-Comp. Cycle week 1
• Feb 22: Practice meet no Preseason conditioning

Remember that when determining “peaking” meets, not all athletes may want or need to peak for the same meet. Simultaneously, there may also be some meets that the whole team will want to peak for (such as a critical invitational or conference championship). Therefore, some athletes will have different training schedules from others. Remember that you will only want to use one active rest week between cycles. Only allow them to peak for one or two closely scheduled meets at one time. The exception to this rule would be at the end of the season after the last training cycle. Athletes can generally hold their peak for about 14-17 days, so it makes sense to back off hard training at least a week to 10 days before the biggest competitions of the year.

How To Set Up Your Training Within A Cycle (Week To Week Training)

Within a given training cycle, you will want to adjust the intensity of training every day to allow for recovery and avoid overtraining and injuries. This can be tricky during the competitive season. With the aid of Figure 2, a quick and easy way to set up a weekly training schedule that I “borrowed” from Manny Bautista of San Diego Mesa College will be demonstrated. Start off by taking a monthly planner and write in all the competition dates. Designate that all competitions are hard training days because the athletes will go 100% in these meets. Next, designate all the days that come before a hard day to be an easy day. Never have two hard days in a row if you can help it. The next step will be to make Sundays a rest (complete rest) day unless there is a competition. Using these three rules, the monthly planner (in Figure 2) will have 16 of the 28 days already designated without having to think about it. With the remaining 12 days, try to plug in a combination of hard and medium days without having back-to-back hard workout days. The result will look like what is presented in Figure 2.

Individual Considerations For Planned Training

When deciding what type of training volumes and intensities to use coach must consider the type of conditioning that the athlete has already undergone before the beginning of track and field training. Many track and field athletes enter the track and field season after completing another competitive season in some other sport. The coach or athlete must analyze this previous activity and count it as a preseason conditioning phase for Track and Field. The jump training from volleyball or basketball or soccer running can often serve as excellent cross-training for the track and field athlete. The training effects derived from other sports will often influence the length and /or intensity of the Preseason or Pre-Competition Phase.

Planning a full-season training schedule can sometimes seem like a long and complicated task. The athletes must be allowed proper times to recover between workouts and between training cycles. Failure to allow for proper recovery will lead to plateauing, staleness, and possibly injury. As the athlete becomes more advanced, choosing the proper training and recovery periods becomes increasingly more important for success.

Athletes should be exposed to the proper way to organize their training at a young age. This helps athletes understand when to work and when to rest, instead of learning by trial and error. This allows the athlete to get the most work out of their hard work and effort.

Read More

• How to Be a Great Track and Field Teammate
• Coach Ed Orgeron: Football Players Who Run Track ‘The Ones I Really Want’

Those instinctive motions you go through before a race directly reflect plyometric training. Plyometric exercises develop a muscle’s stretch-shortening cycle—when the muscle actively relaxes before a more forceful contraction. During the active relaxation phase, energy is stored and then shot off—like snapping a rubber band—to forcefully contract the muscle and tendon group.

The following workout will improve your overall race times.

Before you begin, review these guidelines:

• Each exercise should be done at full speed.
• Give yourself plenty of rest to recover between reps.
• This workout should take 45 minutes, including the warm-up.
• To effectively train plyometrically, limit the amount of time you are on the ground. Try to land and re-jump as quickly as possible.
• Think explosive. These exercises are high impact, so they should not be done for endurance training.
• Limit your ground strikes to no more than 200 in the beginning. Eventually, you can work your way up to 500 touches in a workout.
• The heavier you are, the harder it will be to recover. If you weigh 200 pounds or more, give yourself at least 3 days to recover before your next plyometric training session.

Runner’s Plyometric Workout

Always begin with a dynamic warm-up.

Ankle Hops – 3×10 (cumulative foot touches: 30)

• Jump up and down bending only at the ankles
• Keep your knees and hips in with the rest of your body

Knee Tucks – 2×10 (cumulative foot touches: 50)

• Jump up and down, bringing your knees towards your chest at the top of the jump

Bounding- 2×20 (cumulative foot touches: 90)

• Start running, but leap into the air, extend your knees and reach for as long as your stride allows

Dynamic Lunges – 2×10 (cumulative foot touches: 130)

• Start in a lunge position
• Explode up and switch your legs
• Land in a soft position with your knees flexed and out

Depth Jumps – 2×20 (cumulative foot touches: 150)

• Stand on 12- to 16-inch box
• Step off the box and touch ground with both feet together
• Make sure your knees don’t cave in and that you have proper alignment in your knees and hips
• Jump back up onto another box and land in a flexed knee position or a half squat

Kneeling to Standing Explosive Jump – 3×10 (cumulative foot touches: 180)

• Kneel on a pad or on the floor.
• Drop the hips lower and explode upwards
• Flex the knees and the hips and land on your feet in a half-squat position.

Kneeling to Standing Explosive Jump to Sprint – 2×10 (cumulative foot touches: 200)

• Repeat the previous exercise but when you land, immediately sprint forward ten yards

READ MORE:

• The 10 Best Plyometrics for Athletes
• Don’t Do Plyo Push-Ups! Do These 3 Upper Body Moves Instead 
• Everything Wrong With P90X Plyometrics
• 5 Essential Plyometrics for Speed