Should sprinters run cross country (my updated theory)

106 Responses to “Should sprinters run cross country (my updated theory)”

1. Kim Townsend Says:
   August 9th, 2009 at 10:17 pm

   should cross country runners do sprint training?

   >>>> Yes. They should. Cross country/endurance running is still about who can run the fastest. And that requires some degree of actual speed development as part of a modern training program.

   For more on training endurance athletes I recommend:

   http://athletesacceleration.com/trackandfieldendurance.html

2. Howard L. Says:
   August 10th, 2009 at 12:26 am

   “A sprinter running 40 – 80 miles per week with the kids who run the mile and 2 mile…”

   Any coach that has their athletes running 40-80 miles a week, for a 2 mile race is STUPID!!! That is severe overtraining and asking for injuries.

3. Stephen Says:
   August 10th, 2009 at 8:06 am

   I am very happy to hear your opion and an explanation. I have been an advocate of this training philosophy for years. I have made many attempts to educate other coaches/trainers regarding this issue. Unfortunately, I have received more negative responses than positive. Keep up the great work!

   >>> People are resistant to change and, I find, their negativity is more about their own lack confidence in their coaching than it is about the merits of the approach itself. All you can do is keep educating yourself and your athletes. Eventually, those coaches will either conform or their programs and athletes will fall farther behind progressive programs and coaches taking a 21st Century approach to training. I’m in my 2nd year in a new program and have run into similar negativity from some circles, despite the obvious benefits to the program. In the end, it is the athletes who suffer. – LT

4. Mike G. Says:
   August 10th, 2009 at 11:55 am

   Lets change the question a little. should any one running a 5-k or less need to run 40-50 miles a week. in that being said back the mileage down, work on a little more speed work, Then you would have a lot better program for every one. Its still a race.

5. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
   August 10th, 2009 at 4:20 pm

   Here’s a dissenting opinion:

   i think you are very wrong sir because i am a sprinter and i do run cross country and cross country seems to help every aspect of my running. i also run marathons which is pretty much the opposite and i run a lot faster from all of the distance training what i do is i run everyday of the week and i only do one long run every saturday and it seems to work for me so i just thought you would like to know
   sincerely, abe

6. Mike G. Says:
   August 11th, 2009 at 9:27 am

   Abe just wondering your age and how many miles a week do you run?. And do you run the amount of miles because you run marathons. Because there is always a exception to the rule

7. Vincent Says:
   August 16th, 2009 at 8:47 pm

   I think it’s pretty deceptive to classify what you’re suggesting as “running cross-country”, and also impractical and downright unprofessional to suggest these non-competitors should be racing for a school. I’ll preface this by saying, there are some sprinters that legitimately enjoy cross-country. Maybe they like running 5ks as much as they like running the 200, or maybe they’re just friends with the distance kids in the school. But despite being sprinters, those guys are showing up to practice every day in the fall focused on their goal of being better cross-country runners. For that season they’re not sprinters. I know those athletes exist, and you are obviously not talking about them in this post.

   First off, saying that sprinters should be on a cross-country team and EXPLICITLY saying “they don’t train for cross country” is one of the most outrageous things I’ve ever heard a coach say; right up there with the craziest of crazy weight training, stretching, diet, etc ideas. Coaches get paid very little to help these kids day in and day out, and I’m not trying to say that most wouldn’t spend an entire season trying to help a group of sprinters get faster for their upcoming seasons, but I am saying it is incredibly unfair for YOU to suggest that these students should be their responsibility; both from a training perspective and also just a general guardian perspective. Maybe you’re the XC coach at your school, or you know the coach and could just walk into his office one day and say “hey is it cool if my sprinters join your team for the fall” and have him agree, but in general asking a cross-country coach to start running two programs at once, or simply asking him to baby sit (99% of HS kids eventually need baby sitting) kids running your program is unbelievable.

   Next is your suggestion that they should race. What?! Ok, admittedly you say they should race only if those are the “rules”. So you’re saying if there’s no written rule making everyone on a team compete you still think it’s a reasonable idea to tell kids to join KNOWING they won’t race? That seems like a pretty lousy thing to suggest as a professional coach. And let’s say they do race, that makes sense to you in a training schedule? Some early stage sprint workouts with two hard 3 mile efforts thrown in twice a week? Or maybe you’re the type of coach that would say “just cruise through the meet and we’ll do our real workout afterwards.” Hopefully that means you’re also the type of person that is paying for the extra seats you need to transport these kids, filling out the extra paperwork and paying entry fees that need to come from the AD’s office, and volunteering at the meets to help handle the extra runners that are there but not really trying. On one hand you have some haphazard training schedule and on the other you have a lot of extra work and costs that you’re probably OK with just because you never need deal with it. I really don’t see how you made it through writing this entire post without laughing out loud and deleting it.

   Don’t get me wrong here; the idea of sprinters training through the Fall is obviously a good idea. I don’t think there are many people waking up the day after Thanksgiving and beating out the ones that worked all Fall. But the idea that you really see kids putting their name down on the cross-country roster and then doing jump workouts is, quite simply, juvenile. Maybe the dominance-producing school you last worked at had all the pieces in place to pull the covers over someone’s eyes to actually make this plan work, but if I found out that any ounce of energy or a single tax dollar meant for the cross-country program and it’s dedicated runners ended up benefiting a long jumper, I would be outraged. Then again, maybe all the shot putters should join the Drama Club, but instead of going to rehearsals and making props, they hit the weight room and buy another copy of Complete Program.

   Do me a favor, please. Please. Read through what you wrote again. Read how you called this “basically…a college program” and then think about what college actually tells their jumpers to run cross-country. Read how you’re asking schools, teams, and coaches to support athletes that aren’t training for the sport they are a part of. Read how you say even in a “standard” program there will be different workouts based on ability and then think about how you try to use that to constitute hurdle workouts. Read how you say being a completely sedentary person with “a tub of mayo” in the fall is actually better than running 20-30 miles a week (and then think about that part one more time; Latif says: 0 miles/week in the fall is BETTER THAN 20-30 miles training for a non-primary event; if that’s really truly what you think PLEASE make next week’s blog post about the physiology behind how not running is better for a sprinter than doing a couple months of distance running). Read the entire article and then think back to the video you made about athletes not doing the same sport season after season after season. Read those parts again and then tell me you’re still endorsing cross-country for sprinters.

   By all means, get your kids to run in the fall. Even tell them NOT to sign up for another sport, and instead to concentrate on doing base work in prep. for the winter. But spend your own time and resources coaching them; don’t pawn the work off on the cross-country program. Don’t try and convince yourself, or these athletes, or their parents, or the AD, or anyone else that these “cross-country sprinters” are putting in an entire season of dedicated hard work to a team when the guys their sitting next to on the bus on the way to a meet actually have a vested interest in running that day and doing well. It is inexcusable that there’s a line it you’re post that reads, “So should sprinters run cross country? Absolutely,” regardless of the ifs, ands, or buts that come after it.

   This article should have read the following:
   “So should sprinters run cross country? If they’re also cross-country runners, then yes. Otherwise, no but I am a huge proponent of the fall program for sprinters, here’s a link to Complete Program.”

8. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
   August 16th, 2009 at 9:53 pm

   My man Vincent! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Nothing better than
   good old fashioned dissent every now and again. I give you credit for
   maintaining a mostly respectful tone throughout your response instead
   of letting it devolve into a name calling tirade.

   You came close a few times there, but you held it together and I
   appreciate that. You just wouldn’t believe how rude some people can be when
   you have the audacity to challenge the status quo and disagree with them. But
   I can see you gave your post a lot of thought and I like people who show
   initiative.

   Now, if I was a conspiracy theorist I’d say your name isn’t actually Vincent
   and then mumble something about being able to trace your IP address. But that’s
   neither here nor there, my *friend*…

   Vincent, you should be a lobbyist or a lawyer. Because your ability to take
   the things I said and twist them wildly out of context to prove your points is
   truly a thing of beauty. It’s almost like you took the things that I said,
   then purposely interpreted them in reverse and then attributed the statements
   back to me! Well played sir! I mean, do you really think I was being
   literal when I said eating tubs of mayo is better than running cross country?
   There’s even some stuff in there that I’ve never even thought of, let alone
   stated in my article. Again, kudos to you!

   In truth, you had me all the way until the last paragraph. Calling me out for
   running a business sounds pretty silly. And UnAmerican. Pointing out that I’m
   trying to sell Complete Speed Training is like pointing to the sun to remind
   people where the heat is coming from. Everyone already knows. And those that
   have it, love it. You should ask them.

   Vincent, even though when I read your email I got deja vu, as though I’d
   heard this all before, I do appreciate your comments. I disagree with your
   points based mostly on my belief that you twisted and embellished what I said
   to the point of being unrecognizable. Since I can’t respond to *every* point
   you made, which would be required, I’ll have to wait until next time.

   You’ve eloquently stated all the ways I’m wrong. What, then, is the answer? I,
   like the readers, would be interested in hearing your opinion on how it should
   be done and how you do it in your program. I’m sure I’ll be familiar with the school,
   since, after all, you live so close by.

   - Latif

9. Vincent Says:
   August 17th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

   I never meant to make it seem like I was calling you out for running a business. I’ve seen your programs have success, and I think it’s great that there are resources available to the kids in *our* area (both the program AND your own self) of this quality. I brought up the “link to Complete Program” only as a reference to the end of all your posts, not in any way to say it’s wrong of you to include your product in the materials you write. I was just trying to say “you should have skipped to the end and I would have thought the article was better.”

   Which brings me to my other point: How do I do it in my program? I have no program. I don’t coach, I run a tiny bit, and I almost never race anymore. I don’t have the first clue what a long jumper should be doing in October when the first time they’ll be jumping is probably April. If someone asked me, to be honest, the first thing I would probably do is check your website.

   In the end all I wanted to get across was the fact that it seems like you wrote a long, drawn out article about how to get (sneak?) sprinters onto cross-country team with absolutely no intention of racing, or really even being part of the team; you have examples of how you’ve done it in the past, you talk about how *maybe* *sometimes* *some* of these sprinters will run actual (you say traditional) XC workouts, etc. I just can’t see how sprinters being part of a cross-country team in this manner feels appropriate to you.

   You asked the question, “Should sprinters run cross country”. Our answers to that question are obviously very different (though I still think you should reconsider . If instead you had asked “Should sprinters run in the fall, and what should they do,” our answers would most certainly be exactly the same.

   ps: as far taking the “mayo” comment too literally, you said at least two separate times that doing nothing is better than running counter-productive miles. You talk about XC programs running 40-80 mpw, so I guess if that’s the range you’re considering counter-productive than yeah, sitting around probably is better. But since 98% of high school XC runners aren’t doing anywhere close to that, it sound a lot like you’re saying sitting around is better that the average HS XC program. Again, you said that at least twice. If it’s not what you meant I would suggest taking it out; I’m sure are kids reading this article getting the impression that they will be SLOWER come winter if they actually compete the XC season.

10. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 17th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Vincent

    Again, thanks for the email. ‘Sneaking’
    kids onto the CC team really isn’t my
    goal.

    I make no attempt to hide my goal of
    training a sub-group of sprinters who are
    training for the winter and spring seasons.
    Where I come from, this was just the
    expectation if you wanted to win big meets
    and races at the state level.

    Some teams compete to have nice dual
    meet records and win league titles. I
    can assure you that the elite HS teams
    are more interested in taking home state
    level trophies. Our girls team went something
    like 5-3 last year. Nobody remembers or
    cares. Why? Because they placed second
    at the Divisional State meet (behind the
    eventual All State Champions) and took
    home a big trophy. That’s what the kids
    remember, I can promise you that. How
    do I know the kids care more about
    winning at state meets than league
    meets? Because they tell me.

    The sprinter/CC kids are the ones who
    have no home in the fall or choose to
    specialize. (To your prior point – I
    will be posting an article in the next
    week on why I’ve changed my stance on
    ‘specializing’ in one sport vs playing
    multiple sports).

    It seems to me that you think the CC team
    is being cheapened by having kids on the
    team not training for the CC season. And
    I can understand your point. And in the
    first season or two with sprinters, that
    may be the case as the kinks get worked out.
    But, as a track coach I don’t look at
    each of the 3 seasons as entirely
    separate entities.

    I look at all 3 seasons as ‘the track
    season’. I’m looking at what’s best for
    the *program* as a whole. On paper it
    may seem unfair to other teams because
    soccer doesn’t have 3 high school
    seasons or football. But it is what it
    is. The track team doesn’t have 15
    coaches like the football team.

    Is it taking advantage of a loophole?
    Absolutely. But I dare say most people take
    advantage of loopholes on a regular basis.

    I’d prefer sprinters train through the
    fall and not be on the CC team. But using
    the CC loophole allows them to get coaching
    from their sprints coach. Otherwise, you
    can’t work with the kids. The potential
    modified CC kids on the team I coach are
    kids who want to win state titles, break
    records and/or get scholarships. They
    choose this path. They *want* to do it.
    They’re *frustrated* they can’t. (Especially
    when they know of other people breaking
    the rules and working with their coaches out
    of seson) I don’t recruit them,
    tell them to quit another sport or guilt
    them into anything. (Contrary to popular
    sentiment) It’s not as though
    I’m inventing the concept from the
    ethers.

    The best team in our league does it. And
    settling for second place isn’t the way
    I think. And the kids know they’re fairly
    screwed if the competition gets a 3 month
    head start. So how do you beat a team that
    already dominates you if you’re not willing
    to modernize your system and keep up with
    the trends?

    In terms of getting slower by doing mileage:

    Having your 55m – 200m runners run 25 miles
    per week for 3 months with no speed work,
    no plyos and no weightroom would most certainly
    make them slow by the time winter track
    started. Slower than eating mayo? OK. No.
    But I’d rather my kids (short sprinters)
    make stuff up on their own than do that kind
    of mileage. When you train your body to move
    slowly, as CC certainly does in terms of
    comparing it to sprint training, you retrain
    your neuromuscular system to move in that
    pattern. It adversely affects mechanics, teaches
    kids to run heel to toe and, depending on which
    article you read, potentially converts intermediate
    Type IIa muscle fiber into slow twitch
    muscle fiber. At the very least, it reduces
    the efficiency of these muscle fibers from
    a sprints stand point. So does running long
    slow distance make a sprinter slower?

    Yes. That’s part of the reason why it is
    so easy to outcoach most coaches here in
    New England in the sprint events – because
    most coaches are distance runners and
    treat their sprinters like distance runners.

    For 400 runners, it’s a little more gray
    area. I suppose running cross country is
    better than nothing. I have faith in the
    coaches in my school to not treat a 400
    runner (or short sprinter) like the
    mile/2 milers. But there is a kid who just
    graduated on my team (our best sprinter)
    who ran cross country after being told she’d
    be on a low volume program. The program was
    not changed, she got hurt and when I met
    her 2 seasons ago, she ran like a distance
    runner. Her first winter season she didn’t
    even make it to the final at the Divisional
    State Meet. By year two, training like a
    sprinter, she ended up being offered a
    Division I scholarship.

    I think our main disagreement is that you
    think putting sprinters on the CC team to
    train for winter and spring is cheating
    and insulting to the regular CC athletes.

    I want to help the program (and my alma mater)
    go from being a middle class/upper middle
    class program to being filthy rich. And
    doing things the same way they’ve always
    been done is simply not going to allow
    that to happen.

    - Latif

11. Vincent Says:
    August 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 pm

    Thank you for the very clear, insightful, and informative response. I totally see where you’re coming from that it makes sense that a runner who wants to win a state title should be able to work towards that goal in the fall, with their coaches, without having to worry about breaking rules.

    Unfortunately, as I just read over the MIAA rules, I don’t think it’s possible for sprinters to get away with training during the fall without breaking any rules, just as it’s not possible for a baseball player join the basketball team and train with a pitching coach all winter. The spirit and the letter of the out-of-season rules seem to imply that athletes can do sport-specific training with their coaches only during the season; running a 60m acceleration may look a lot more like XC than practicing dribbling, but at the end of the day everyone knows what’s going on. Will you get caught? No. Will your athletes ever even find out they were breaking a rule? I doubt it. Even if they post all over facebook “doing a sprint workout today” in October and all the Mansfield kids see it, they still won’t get in trouble, but it will still be just as wrong. Maybe things are just so different around North Attleboro now than when I was there that coaches will do whatever it takes to win, but given that the recent history of this sport as a whole has been riddle with drugs, cheaters and cover ups, maybe it’s also time to start from the ground up changing the way the game is played; instilling the sense that doing things right is better than doing things because you think you can get away with it. There are simply parts of the system these athletes and teams operate within that prevent conditions from being perfect. Wouldn’t it be great if your sprinters could train with you instead of taking gym class? Of course, but the school won’t allow it. Shouldn’t the star soccer player also be able to kick field goals on Friday nights? Probably, but the MIAA says no.

    I will tell you this, if any of the school-record-holding, state-title-contending, college-recruited hurdlers, throwers, or sprinters that I knew showed up to the first day of cross-country with their event coach when I was captain with this “loophole” attitude, I wouldn’t have let them put my season, my team’s season, the real coach’s respectability, or the town’s image at risk. You must be familiar, after last fall’s football debacle in the state, with how one pretty insignificant decision in these sports can impact so much for everyone involved.

    This is the end of this discussion for me. I think you’re in a tough position where you want so much to do the ‘right’ thing and train these kids to their utmost potential by bending a few guidelines, but you could also do the ‘right’ thing buy honoring the rules every athlete in the state agree to follow and the other athletes expect them to follow as well. Is my purpose in this argument to in any way hurt the chances of these kids to win? Absolutely not. If I open up the newspaper in June and see an article about another NA state champ, will the first thing in my head be “yeah, well she cheated and trained out of season last fall,” no, I doubt it will be the 1,000th thing I think of. But someday, years from now, if there’s a school record on the wall from 2010, I just might think to myself, “oh yeah, that was the year all those sprinters got ahead by training in the fall,” and some part of me will probably want to tell all the hard working athletes that came before them and have come since that they didn’t even have a chance when they toed the line. But then again, maybe life is just unfair.

12. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 23rd, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Hi Vincent

    Again, I think the issue is that we fundamentally disagree on the terms being used. And I’m not just talking about the fact that cross country runners *should* be doing 60m accelerations as part of their training in the first place.

    I don’t think anyone looks at a program utilizing that strategy and says ‘Sure they won 4 All State Titles in a row out of Class D and something like 7 Class D Titles in a row, but they cheated by running a modified CC program so put an asterisk next to those titles. Well sure, so and so was one hell of an athlete, but she trained through the fall so that 20′ long jump and 14.4 in the 100h doesn’t really count either.”

    Well, you might. But, by that definition, I guess that makes the Patriots cheaters too…

    If you asked the Hopkinton coach if he was a cheater for running a progressive program he’d just laugh at you. Actually he’d tell you to go f*** yourself and then go count his titles and the scholarships he got his athletes. Didn’t seem to cost him many MA Track Hall of Fame votes. And he liked pissing people off more than I do. (Then again, he’s one of my mentors.)

    If a 400m runner joins cross country and runs a modified training program geared toward helping him/her in winter and spring, but follows the rules of the team (shows up on time, runs the races, etc.) you call it cheating. I call it avoiding injury and providing an athlete an opportunity to not only maximize their potential, but help the track *program*. Track is different than other sports so you can’t compare it to a soccer player kicking field goals, beyond the fact they’re both in the same season.

    But to compare a 400m runner doing modified CC to steroids in track and field and say they’re on the same level of cheating is just incredibly unfair and inaccurate. (And it diminishes the eloquence of your argument.)

    I respect your ability to subtly imply that I’m immoral for wanting to run a modified CC program even though other programs do it and have done it and will continue to do it. But I run a business and think like a business person. So I’m always trying to think of ways to gain market share and provide a better service and product to my clients.

    Clearly you are old school and that’s fine. My job allows me insight and access to how sports are being coached all over planet Earth. I talk to parents, coaches and athletes all over Earth every day. From every sport. At every level from youth to professional. I’m not pulling this concept out of my behind.

    I also know that once a person makes up their mind about something, they’ll continue to hold that opinion even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. So I don’t expect you to change your mind. But running a modified program does not put anyone’s season in jeopardy. It’s simply not a true statement, though I respect your opinion because I understand your argument. I just happen to hold an opposing viewpoint.

    I’m just trying to do what I think will develop the most successful Track and Field Program possible. And when kids tell me that track is more fun now than it was before and that it’s becoming a cool sport to do I think we’re moving in the right direction. Kids are doing things they didn’t think they could do and it’s fun to watch. Modified would enhance that.

    CHange is slow, but fortunately, Vincent, the status quo isn’t going anywhere. That’s the case in most places.

    I’m sorry if you fundamentally believe I’m a cheater and will do anything to win. That is hardly the case. Kids want to win. If a kid likes (pick a sport) and football equally, but they know their football coach makes them good and their (pick a sport) coach makes them injured, some are going to want to quit (pick a sport) and focus on football. Forcing them into (pick a sport) because of the belief that playing multiple sports builds more character isn’t an effective strategy in 2009. Though I do see the merits of the opposing argument. I just happen to disagree.

    So, in terms of doing the ‘right’ thing, I’m not sure there really is a right answer in this particular case.

    Vincent, thanks for the discussion. You started out angry, but you rallied and turned this into a fun discussion. I think we just come from two different places. In that, we’ll just have to agree to disagree. But please understand, my intentions are not born out of selfishness. I get far, far more joy and satisfaction out of the heartfelt letters my athletes have given me at banquets for the impact I’ve had on their lives than I do out of winning another state title.

    - Latif

13. Phil Green Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

    Sprinters should have modified cross country seasons with the team, as long as the coaches and that athlete or athletes can be participatory and provide an effective training element to the team as a whole. I agree with a “modifed” cross country season and it’s not illegal or immoral. It’s practical and effective. What is there to argue about?

14. Casey Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    I can see where Vincent is going with his argument, though I cannot quite agree– at all. At first, I felt I didn’t have the guts to intervine, but then I gave it a thought and decided that I couldn’t possibly feel right letting a discussion such as this one left unmarked by my opinions. And so…I decided to take a little stab at it. To answer your question, Latif, you are not a cheater, and the idea most definitely is not cheating.

    Who’s crazy?
    I believe I’d need more guts for that.

    >>>Thanks for weighing in on the subject Casey. For a moment I thought maybe I was doing something immoral, even though the concept of modified cross country is not new, or uncommon. Your response (and those of others) has confirmed that I am simply doing what any coach who has the best interest of the athletes and the program would do.

    Latif

15. Harvey Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    My question is………..Is there a fundamental difference between football players (& other athletes) weight lifting during the winter & sprinters lifting & running during the winter and fall.
    My feelings are that there isn’t & shouldn’t be. They both fall under the umbrella of conditioning

    Harvey – Agreed.

    LT

16. Erik Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 1:38 pm

    This is very interesting topic! As a coach I can see both sides. But I too am on the side where if I can offer the kids a bigger opportunity to have fun, win, and possibly get a scholarship than I will do it.

    That being said. I am a jumps coach. There is no way I would start my jumpers on the first day of indoor season and have them jumping. You know as well as I do, that they are not ready to perform those tasks on day 1. I train my athletes in the fall, starting about 6-8 weeks out before their first competition! Prepping them so they are ready for the demands of the actual indoor and outdoor season.

    But we have run into the issues where we are not allowed to train for track during an off season. We came up with 3 solutions with the athletic director.

    1) have them run cross country with modified workouts

    2) have the kids “practice on their own”, while I supervise. (this is what I do)

    3) Weight lifting sessions with other teams. Then we take them outside to do plyos, accelerations, etc. As long as it falls under “weight lifting session” ( I do this also)

    And as for our sprinters, last year we actually just started our 400 runners running cross country with modified programs. They do race on race day though.

    What has this done for our program…

    We went from dead last and 10 kids on the team 2 years ago, to 80 kids on our team, section champions for indoor, and runner up for counties both indoor and outdoor. Plus we took a number of athletes to states, where we only had 1 go to states the previous year.

    The athletes enjoy it and see the benefits. So do the coaches. And we now have other coaches from other sports coming to us for recommendations on implementing these “pre-season workouts”

    If the athletes see the value, and the school and athletic director see the value, then it is absolutely worth it!

    >>> Good ideas Erik. In the school I coach in I think most people are open to compromise in terms of giving these potential modified cross country kids a chance to succeed. The boys cross country coach, for example, isn’t sold on a full fledged ‘modified’ program (the way I want it) and I understand her concerns. She has been extremely willing to try and figure out an approach that is best for the program as a whole. Neither she, or the athletic director, is the problem. As the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the bunch.

    Latif

17. Paul Wilson Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    Hey guys,
    I’ve coached high school for 30 years and just changed over to adults. My best master runner Rich Lomas #1 in Fl now runs 35 miles a week instead of 70-90 like he use to. For years that I have coached I always said that track mites should also come out for Xcountry. It will give them the stanima they need to succed in the shorter distances. I have been using a workout that I desidgned for myself when I ran elite years ago. And have modified it for all runners. My comment to Vince is why would you run 40-70 miles a week , when you are trying to run a 5K?? The idea is to run speed, power and strength which is what I teach. I coach 1mile to 15K one way and 15k to Marathon another, but I also have sprinters that work with me. I keep them at 30 miles a week, but because they are strong and get much stronger with my training the endurance and speed come naturally. The trouble with the old line of thinking is you have to run all these junk miles to be better. I trained at 6 min miles and ran 4:20 mile,15:21 5K, 32 10K and 52:01 15k on 35 miles a week when I was 47 years old. That is why my kids were also very fast no wasted workouts. Longest run was 7 miles tempo. Speed work was done no faster that 72 sec for a 1/4. This way my sprinters could handle multi repeats. Anyhow vince is off base as I had done this 35 years ago, when no one else even considered it they all beat their kids up while mine remainded fresh. CoachPaul

18. K. Brown Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    Latif I like the way you handled your business on your response to “Vincent”. I could see what you were talking about clearly. I can’t wait to hear your opinion about specializing in one sport. My son is talented in track, football and basketball that I can’t see having do one sport all year round at his age. Doesn’t an all year round single sport lead to repeatative types of injuries? That’s at least what I hear a lot of orthopedic specialists saying in my area. Thanks.

    >>>If your son has yet to get to high school, I would say play multiple sports. But once he gets to high school, if he loves a particular sport and/or he has a particularly exceptional coach in one sport and morons in the other sports, let him specialize. A year round single sport DOES NOT lead to repetitive injuries IF the coach is good at their job, i.e. invests in their coaching education. Why? Because how much time in training does one spend repeating the same activity? If he has a good coach, the majority of training will be developing biomotor skills (speed, strength, flexibility,coordination, endurance) Bad coaches only have the athletes repeatedly play the sport and/or run nonsense workouts based on what they remember doing 20 years ago when they were in high school. That’s why they are bad coaches. Good coaches focus on athletic development, which requires multilateral training across the spectrum of activities and movements. For example, if I have a talented football player who wants to play football year round once he gets to high school, how much time am I going to spend on ‘football specific’ activities during the course of training? Well, if I know what I’m doing, the answer is Not Much. He has to spend time developing strength and power in the weight room, work on multidirectional speed and agility, acceleration, improve functional mobility, improve conditioning, speed endurance, coordination AND football specific movements. There is only so much time in a training session and if he wants to be the best football player possible he has to develop a large subset of athletic skills that are NOT just playing football or running plays or patterns or playing in football games. The same could be said for every other sport. The problem is that 8 out of 10 coaches at the subcollegiate level don’t know what they are doing. The problem is, overwhelmingly, they aren’t reading blogs like this or engaging in discussions like this.

    So, an athlete will only develop repetetive injuries if their coach doesn’t have appreciable skill or knowledge in athletic development and just has the athlete repeatedly play the sport, run plays and patterns, etc. as opposed to actually developing the skill and efficiency of the athlete as a whole. Give me a kid who wants to run track year round (or football, or soccer or name a sport) and I can all but guarantee he/she will not develop repetitive injuries. But send them to a run of the mill coach and I can all but guarantee burn out, overuse injury or some sort of knee injury.

    The idea that specializing in one sport is bad is based on outdated science, as well as the fact that, on the whole, sports coaches are wildly underqualified to work with our young athletes. Most youth sports coaches’ backgrounds consist of having played that sport in high school or being a teacher in the school. That and ten cents will get you jack squat. Well, not true. It’ll get you a couple thousand dollars a season to babysit kids and coach them into the ground.

    If a kid has an opportunity to work with a good coach and specialize, they’re a lot better off than playing three different sports with three different coaches teaching five different training concepts that make no sense.

    LT

19. Shaun Tata Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Hey Latif,
    I believe that the main focus of any coach should be about safe development of the young athlete (by natural means). Simple. If it fits within the rules great, if it does’nt to bad. As for Vincent, if your not a coach why are you so upset? If you don’t have an interest in developing young athletes why so concerned? As for specializing in one sport, I have my veiws, and their are many factors to consider. I think the big question is when (age). That said I believe, it takes an athlete be a top sportsman. Looking for the next post Latif

    Shaun

    >>>Shaun – I agree with you about the main determining factor in sport specialization being age. (See the above post.)

20. Kelly Mantel Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    Being a strength conditioning coach for spint athletes for Soccer, Football, Basketballand Track. Cross Country builds a high level of personal endurance for mindset and confidence levels in my athletes. I remember competing Cross Country with Kareem Abdul Jaabar (NBA) daughter in State Cross Country she was like 6’2″ chearing her on, or shall I shouting. So if she’s in basketball training doing this by a champion of a father, I pretty sure that’s what everyone should do to PREPARE. Gives athletes a chance to keep mindset of competition and help the release the friction of the muscle fibers and build stamina.
    Coach Kelly

21. Joyce Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    Latif….Keep up the good work! I believe in you! Fitness training for sports is ever changing. Sprinters are usually sprinters because they can run fast, but they don’t like long distance. Distance runners are usually distance runners because they like it and are not good at sprinting. BUT, add some sprint training to distance runners training and they will become faster. Period. A modified program for all cross country runners is what I would like to see. Then more athletes from other sports would do it. Right now the way our coach trains, I cannot recommend that my soccer players run cross country. Both the coach and the athletes are losing out here!

22. Wayne Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    I read Vincent’s response to your article a few days ago and was very disappointed in what he stated in his note. Yes, we all have the right to our opinions but to cross the line and call you out the way he did…sends the wrong message to anyone who really wants to learn from your past and current experiences. You handled yourself in a manner that others should follow when dealing with a person that wants to undermine what you are trying to accomplish.

    Continue trying to make a difference and helping other coaches to try and become a success…and if you are able to make some money from your expertise then great. You and your team have put a lot of work into trying to teach others about our sport. If someone doesn’t like what you are doing then they should stop responding to your questions, get off your e-mail list, etc. You should not have to spend time responding to messages like this although I would say that messages such as his probably do make you stronger.

    Regards
    Coach Wayne

23. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    I don’t know where this fool is interpreting that you are advocating cheating. It’s not like you said you want kids to go on a Ben Johnson or Marion Jones “Supplement” program. “Vincent” acting like you work for Balco and want kids to order some of the clear cream and flaxseed oil Barry Bond claims he thought he was using to make him get some size. Man I think “Vincent” or whoever this fool is may be off his medication. I don’t have a problem with you advocating sprinters run cross country during the winter. What else are they doing if they are not playing a sport? Our head coach has no problem with any of our runners running cross country. If anything it keeps them in relatively good condition when the season starts. My thinking along with our head coach is why come into practice trying to get in shape when you can come in ALREADY in shape?
    He seems to think that telling sprinters to do cross country somehow taints the integrity of the sport of cross country. Is he serious? Most football coaches encourage or tell a lot of their kids to go out for track. It doesn’t make sense to me cause there are always going to be kids who participate for whatever reason. Vincent thinks that all the cross country runners run for the fundamental love of it. That may be true but some of those kids are running cross country to keep from going to a bad home or to run with friends. It ain’t all love. Latif I love your site and advice and let the haters hate. Keep doing your thing.

    K. Brown

24. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    Well personally, I dont see anything wrong with sprinters joining, or
    training with a cross country team. I believe its a good way for sprinters
    to build endurance. This may also be a boost to the long distance runners.
    Good luck !!

    Andrew K.

25. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    I started coaching on the high school level in 1987 and my first State
    Champion was in 1989 and a 400 meter runner, who also was my top cross
    country runner on McKinley High School’s first League championship team.

    In 1990, I had a hurdler also run cross country and he won the league
    championships in the 300 IH, plus he led off on the
    4 X 100 and 4 X 400 relays and “Never Loss” his leg “the entire season –
    Oh, I forgot to mention he was chinese and smoked everyone.

    Cross Country is the one sport that will make every athlete excell in their
    sport, no mater what sport they participate in.

    Ron Pate (My Real Name) *Eleven Cross Country League Titles in 16 years in
    Hawaii -

26. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    * Sent to my email

    First, I’m not a coach. I just bought your program to help train my kids
    but after reading the posts, it seems like Vincent is hung up on his own
    moral superiority. Who cares if a kid goes out for the CC team to maintain
    basic fitness until the active season for sprinting rolls around? In Texas,
    football players are STRONGLY encouraged to run track in the spring season
    by their football coaches to develop speed and agility for the fall season.

    In fact, 250lb lineman are routinely encouraged to work sprints (including
    learning how to explode out of the blocks) even though they have no chance
    to compete at an elite level on the track. Is that cheating? No, it’s just
    executing a common sense training plan to help develop portable skills in a
    safe and organized program while the athlete’s primary sport is in the
    off-season.

    Additionally, taking on a skilled athlete from another sport might be the
    opportunity to discover a skill set that he/you never knew existed. In the
    Football/Track analogy, maybe the quarterback is average in football but has
    raw ability suited to a possible scholarship in track, how would he/you ever
    know it if you limited the kid to football because that was his passion and
    he was running track just to be a better football player? It makes no
    sense.

    The key to your argument is that the kid must follow the rules of the
    program and not present himself as a distraction to the CC team/mission.
    That applies to any team or sport. Other than that, hand ringing about bus
    seats, tax dollars, and unfair advantages is taking an extreme view of the
    motivation for participation and constructing a morally superior argument on
    who should be able or not able to participate in any school sponsored
    sport……..completely ridiculous!!!

    Patrick D.

27. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:29 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    Latif first of all let me say that I appreciate all of the info that you provide. This recent article you provided me addresses an issue that has baffled me for a while. My daughter was forced to run traditional cross country by her now former high school coach and her 400 time dropped initially by six seconds. She had trained with ex olympic medalist and reputable coaches who advised her not to do it. she had help set records in the florida area both county and state at the junior high level and its been a hard struggle to get her back to form. She is a sophmore now, and I guess my question to you is what do you to repair sprinters, when thier performance has suffered after be forced to participate in traditional cross country.

    >>>In the program I’m in now I had a similar situation with my best 55/100 runner. I came into the program 2 seasons ago when she was a junior coming off of getting injured after running traditional cross country. All I could do was slowly retrain her body to move like a sprinter, so to speak. It took, in essence, the entire indoor season to minimize the bad habits she picked up. Incidentally, she improved considerably and she went from being a pretty good sprinter to receiving a Division I track scholarship.

    LT

28. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:31 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    I agree with
    your point from two different perspectives:

    1) With the exception of the minority big high schools (over 2,500
    students) it is critical for athletes to be involved in multiple sports
    for the success of their school. I am in Southern California; I have
    coached at a school with 4,500 students and now am at a school with
    2,100 so I have been on both ends of the spectrum. I also coach
    football, as well as being the head track coach. The best plan for a
    school’s athletic program is to have athletes be overly involved. I
    took over the track program 2 years ago, I brought at least 40 kids from
    football and 15 from basketball, then tapped into our girls volleyball
    and basketball teams (another 30+), and of course have boys and girls
    from cross country. We have less then 10 kids who do just track. Last
    season the program had 130 athletes, we won league titles at every level
    and the boys’ varsity team was runner-up at the CIF Championships. I
    also had a sprinter make it to state in the 100 (10.4) & 200 (21.2), as
    a senior it was his first year of track, he considers himself primarily
    a football player.

    2) Secondly, it is important for a track athlete, or sprinter in this
    case, to continue to compete throughout the year. Outside of the
    obvious cross training aspect of it, athletes are built mentally to
    compete, not train continuously waiting for the season to start. If
    your cross country coach is also on the track staff they probably know
    what they are getting with your sprinters and will cater a great workout
    for them – then let them go and compete, that is the big issue.

    To say that is cheating is an ignorant statement. Who is getting
    cheated? How is training for competition the equivalent to taking
    steroids? I am surprised you gave him the time of day; I mean I get it
    if you think you know who it is but his point is ridiculous. I guess I
    am cheating having my best female sprinter, who is my only girl not in
    another sport, train with the football team. Granted she isn’t playing
    or practicing with the football team but she is lifting and running with
    them. I guess I am a cheater as well – can I join your club

    On a side note we also get hurt by the kids who focus or get involved in
    club sports. It is another problem of losing good athletes who could
    help in various sports. I think you get where I am coming from, I hope
    it helps.

    Jeff

29. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 6:33 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    Latif,

    I have been doing for 3 years and it works. It is not cheating, it is preparing your athletes for what will be required in some or most college programs if they are on a partial or full scholarship. This particular coach is not working on preparing his athletes for the next level. He needs to think outside the box.

    Johann Odom

30. Michael Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 8:01 pm

    Absolutely not cheating any more than asking your track athletes to stay active during the fall playing any sport. It IS essential that the track coach coordinate with the xcountry coach and ask that his track runners not have to compete for points, at least most of the time.

31. Tim Graf Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 8:33 pm

    HI Latif,
    Boy, did you open a can of worms on this one! Anyway, all your points are correct about training sprinters. If the sprinters I train don’t run a mod. XC then they weight train and do I program that I write for them in the fall and winter with NO miles. I learned at I.U. being a sprinter and now a coach that the best people to learn from are those that have had the most success. Lets look at what you’ve done as a sprinter and coach. Now lets see what our pal Vince has done? I, like you having competed and trained athletes for D.1 competition know that we have to break bad habits and retrain the good ones. vince, your out of your league based on success alone. This coming from an Olympic trials qualifier in the 200m.
    Tim Graf

32. Greg Martin Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    Is it wrong for a basketball player to play AAU in the off-season? What about travel baseball?
    If a young person wants to get better, go for it,
    as long as it is not by artificial means.
    I require our track athletes that aren’t in another fall sport to run XC.
    Greg Martin

33. Enrico Knowles Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    That was the most entertaining post I’ve ever read on here. Latif you are one of the funniest people I’ve ever met bro. I was wiping tears from laughing. Oh my god, that first reponse from you to him did for me.

    Rico

    >>>I’m glad you appreciated that Rico. That’s why they call me the Peoples’ Champion. Actually, I’m the only one who’s ever called me that. But maybe we should start a trend.

    LT

34. Tom D Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 9:29 pm

    I’ve coached track for 13 years now and feel that sprinters should stick with the program that works for them. It is a disservice to those athletes as it will only hurt them when they try to run their event in the spring. Running long distances will certainly improve their endurance but will only develop slow twitch fiber. I don’t need sprinters who run slower and I don’t think the athletes themselves will appreciate it.
    Running a modified program certainly is better than the athletes not doing anything at all. Having the atletes running the regular workout with the XC team will not be beneficial for their specialty, the sprints. You train as you compete. To get faster, you have to run fast. It only makes sense to follow what works. I prefer that my sprinters don’t even go out for XC. I have a program that they follow during the offseason and it has proven to be sucessful. I’m not even sure why there seems to be such a discussion. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. So..I guess you can say that I agree with you Latif for the most part with the exception that I wouldn’t even want them running XC.

    >>> I don’t want them running cross country either. It’s against our state rules to work with athletes out of season, so having kids run cross country lets us train them without breaking the rules. But there is a ‘Vincent’ or two in my town who, literally, tried to get me fired for attemtping to implement the modified option. I’m serious, tried to get me fired.

    Latif

35. Codename Says:
    August 26th, 2009 at 10:01 pm

    Ok. A whole bunch of coaches have commented on this, but as a high school athlete shouldn’t my perspective be the most important? The comments on here make is seem like the athlete is going to do whatever sport the coach wants them to do. I think whats missing is that its the athletes CHOICE.

    If i choose to specialize, why stop me? Is it wrong that i want to work hard through the off-season and try for a state title or scholarship?

    Some (vincent) would say that this gives the specialists an edge over the kids who want to play more than one sport. Yeah it does, but they CHOSE to play multiple sports.

    In my humble opinion the MIAA and Vincent have it backwards. By limiting coached training to one season they are crippling the athletes who want to go the extra mile. (pun absolutely intended)

    >>>Good to hear the opinion of a high school athlete. I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I tried to make that argument: that teenage athletes who can get jobs, choose a college, drive a car, (and in some cases vote, join the military, gamble, etc.) somehow aren’t capable of choosing which sport to do?

    I’m simply trying to provide kids with a CHOICE. I’m not recruiting anyone or making any guarantees.

    There’s a part in the movie Malcolm X where Malcolm gets this big crowd of people to do what he says simply by waving his hand. The police captain (Captain Green if you want me to be historically accurate) watching said ‘That’s too much power for one man to have.’

    I don’t think you have to be Sigmund Freud to figure out the underlying motives.

    LT

36. A. C. Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 5:58 am

    Vincent
    Your seem to lack the understanding of the training and the work that is required to take training to the next level. Your comparisons and pseudo moralistic rationalizations and comments are asinine out totally out of touch with the main topic being discussed here.
    Furthermore, it is unnerving that you would mention this form of training in the same breath as steroids, cheating and winning at all costs.
    I rarely respond to blogs but your self motivating, audacious comments warranted a response from an outsider who believes that you have allowed your personal problems to interfere with a decent opportunity for growth and dialogue in discussing matters invloving youth training.

    >>> Wow. It would have taken me twice as much space to say what you just said. Well written and on point. Nice post A.C.

    Latif

37. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 6:23 am

    *Sent to my email

    I am 22 years old and a fairly new coach (2 years of high school Track). After reading the article and seeing the response from “Vincent” I believe that you are absolutely correct in your theory. I believe that “Vincent” needs to attend some coaching clinics and get with the times. I am a XC runner myself so I guess one could consider me bias. However, as you stated in the article, there is no hope for a team to expect to win a state title without incorperating an off season (if there is such a thing to a serious athlete) workout. That said I am definatley and advocate of MODIFIED XC for sprinters.

    Jonathan

38. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 6:24 am

    *Sent to my email

    i live in Henderson,NV and i am a Jr. at my high
    school. i do run track i am a 200m/100m sprinter at my school and yes i also
    do cross country. i think its a good to stay in shape during the off season
    for track runner to do cross country if they are not in any other sports.
    I’m doing cross country to get my self in shape because i am going to do the
    400m dash, so i do think its a good idea to have sprinter do cross country
    its a good way to stay in shape and i also kinda gets me ready for the 400m
    dash.

39. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 6:27 am

    *Sent to my email

    Base training off season, such as running cross country is essential for
    conditioning. Sprinters should spend a couple of months developing their
    base and strength. I jumped in college and we always spent the fall running
    3 to 5 miles. We didn’t compete in cross country meets but the running and
    hill training was critical to our success. This guy is clueless.

    Richard P.

40. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 6:28 am

    *Sent to my email

    Subject line: He is a fool

    This guy is an idiot, don’t waste your time on him.

    You are right, as long as the coach adjust the workout for the
    sprinters it is totally fine.

    Peter,
    Collegiate sprint coach.

41. Jason Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 6:46 am

    I love the faact that VIncent claimed a sprinter running cross country is the same as someone taking steriods. Man is he reaching at straws when he started to lose the arguement. He seems a little upset when he sent his unprovoked post. Maybe he coaches at a school around your area Latif and that’s why he is offended because his school isnt doing the same type of program?

    Anyway, I thought it was up to the kid to chose whatever sport they wanted to participate in right? The athlete can do whatever sport they are going to have the most fun and/or success in.If there is good coaching at their football program and the sprinter is going to have fun playing football then he will play football and wont be convinced to do anything else. If the sprinter doesnt have a fall sport and wants to train for track, the best way to get better at that sport would be following a coach that knows what they are doing whether that be a great soccer, football, field hockey, etc coach that knows the ins and outs of strength & conditioning and not just the skills of the sport.

    I guess if there are a bunch of soccer players quiting soccer to join the cross country team to get better at track, if I were the soccer coach I would have to take a hard look at myself and see how I can become a better coach so the team has more success and also make soccer more fun. The reason kids will leave a sport to participate in another sport, is that they are more successful in that one sport and want to commit to become even better at it, and that they are having more fun. Become a better coach and athletes won’t leave your sport.

    One last thing. Vincent if you really do not coach, why do you care at all?

42. Mark Tacchi Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 7:34 am

    As far as I’m concerned, I’ve never encouraged, or discouraged my sprinters from running cross-country. Personally, I don’t see the benefit to training as a distance runner for 3 months. I also can’t expect our cross-country coach to allow the sprinters to train as sprinters during the CC season. This certainly wouldn’t help with CC team chemistry. If they could have a speciallized program during the season would I consider that cheating? An interesting question that I hadn’t considered. I do know that athletes participate in other sports for the cross-training benefit. I have soccer athletes train with me during the indoor season. They also compete in our meets. Would someone consider this cheating? So back to the original question – is it cheating to have sprinters training as sprinters during the CC Season? My answer – if there is an expectation that the sprinters compete and participate in all CC events, then no, it’s not cheating. If the sole purpose is to train, under coaching supervision, during the off-track season, then yes, it certainly borderlines on cheating. I do know that college programs have done this for years. Is it considered cheating there? High School programs have different rules to live by and we have to ask ourselves a question. Does it violate the spirit of the rule? We can only answer that question individually.
    I’m with Latif, however, when he says “I’d rather have my sprinters sit on the couch allfall eating bon bons and buckets of mayonnaise than have them run all that counter productive mileage.” While I would not prescribe that diet, I don not see any direct benefit from CC Training. It’s actually counterproductive for a sprinter. Unfortunately, we live during the times of speciallization. I do encourage kids to participate in other sports. Many of my best sprinters also participate in volleyball and basketball. Basketball, unfortunately, ends after our indoor season starts. Those athletes miss some important training. Sometimes they get hurt. I lost my best thrower to a torn ACL. She easily was the 2nd best thrower in the state last year but was a reserve on the basketball team. While it hurt, she was participating in what she enjoyed during her only 4 years in high school. I can live with that.

    Mark

43. Coach Franklin Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 8:33 am

    I don’t normally post on blogs but I thought I needed to on this one. Vincent, you are the type of coach I have dealt with in the past. You have an old school mentality but not in a good way. You obviously do not like change at all, and once something is in your head, you are going to fight to the death claiming that your way is the best way without keeping an open mind.

    I do not intend to sound mean, but seriously go to a training conference or seminar, read some training and conditioning books, or as you said all Latif is trying to do is sell his Complete Speed Training and Complete Program Design programs, maybe you should buy those.

    But more importantly, keep an open mind as we coach for the kids, not for own egos.

    Coach Franklin

44. Joe Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:35 am

    I ran track and cross country in High School and raced and coached bicycles. Cross country runners perfrom speed training just as bicycle racers training for long distance races. Being able to run or bike fast is an advantage in distance events. Having said this, sprinters joining in on cross country runners speed training would not only help them but should push the stronger/faster CC runners to become better CC racers. I totally agree that sprinters should not be doing much slow long distance work but having sprinters workout with CC running could be fun for both and advantageous for both headed by a “SMART” running coach.

45. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:46 am

    *Sent to my email

    Anything that is used to enhance an athletes performance outside of the use of drugs, is a win win situation for the athlete, the team and the sport. Everything we train to do is to be faster, jump higher, score more goals (I’m a soccer coach) and so forth. Taking that into consideration coaches need to measure athletes objectively and subjectively on technical, tactical (team sports), physical, mental, emotional and lifestyle issues that form the pyramid of development. So if what you do helps someone achieve their goals, what is the harm? Isn’t that what we all are trying to do as coaches?

    Giorgio Cerboni, president
    RAC Milan

46. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:47 am

    *Sent to my email

    My thoughts are this-
    Sprinters for the most part should continue to train i.e as stated MODIFIED- If they are jumpers they should work on that-etc. It is my belief living in NYC that we should take advantage of the nice weather for as long as we can- So running miles NO- But conditioning yourself yes-Since sprinters are hard to get out for anything that sounds like cross-country-must be creative You can have depending on your athlete a certain amount of miles that they can accomplish for the week etc. So my answer would be if they are not doing another sport or activity during cross-country season-and they continue to come out to practice-you must come up with a program for these athletes- So I agree-some sort of modified program should be used if the athlete wants to do it-These practices should not be daily and they should not be forced either. They should definitely be doing nothing- Must remember that Track and field are actually three separate seasons-cross-country, indoor and outdoor track and of course you have your field athletes also- I believe that you should stay on the track for as long as possible-

47. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:48 am

    *Sent to my email

    Hello Latif,

    Back in 1971, track athletes I knew named Scott Skillman, CA (led the nation in the 180 low hurdles) and
    John Triplett (50 ft triple jumper) ran cross country and became track gods after attaining that incredible base. In college when they discontinued cross country training they quickly fell from (track) grace and disappeared. Another great quarter miler in my league, Rick Gonzales, had one good year (48 second quarter) after a wrestling season that involved intense strength and conditioning workouts. The following senior year he did not wrestle and was 2-3 seconds slower never regaining his 48 second form.

    To me strength and endurance is everything to a sprinter. All fast and slow twitch fibers must be incredibly fit/flexible to compete at a high level. That was when I performed my best. I learned the hard way by over-training and had many injury problems…I still work out a lot and my knowledge from running track still affects my career.

    Wasn’t Bolt a quarter-miler with a long distance, endurance training background?

    I enjoy your info!

    Nicky Shane
    Guinness World Record Fastest Harmonica Player

48. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:49 am

    *Sent to my email

    I have been doing something similar for years and have received some
    flack from similarly minded coaches. Most of the time I find that
    these types have a middle distance background and dont fully
    understand the difficulty of training sprinters. Basically, it’s
    pretty easy to send a large group of runners out on a three mile run
    and sit around waiting for them to return. One coach in paticular who
    had a long history of success in cross country and distance events
    told me he didnt like sprinters because they werent willing to work
    very hard. I tried (unsuccessfully) to gently explain to him that
    they it may be that they werent responding to that kind of training He
    retired still not getting it.
    So, when I saw your piece on this I thought it was right on target.

49. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 9:50 am

    *Sent to my email

    Hi Latif, Your’e the correct man. We don’t exist for rules, we exist to help the kids realize some of their potential-sometimes realized after they leave us -but we laid the foundation for them. I will admit I don’t like those who say you “must” play soccer or basketball or hockey or track all year round. I also hate those coaches who insist-train or play my sport off season or you don’t start next season. But masses of legalists can’t believe that baseball players don’t swing a bat or throw a ball off season. So what is wrong with a track person doing some more running in a different season-as long as it is their desire, not demanded of them. When you allow those who don’t always go the full distance on your CC team, you are really only promoting physical fitness to a larger group of kids-sorely needed in obese America! Thanks for common sense
    Latif, Coach Russ

50. kendra Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

    yea i think its a good idea im a track runner my self and im a sprinter and this year im going to do Cross country to help me out

51. Corwyn Says:
    August 27th, 2009 at 5:44 pm

    First off Vincent I TOTALLY DISAGREE with EVERYTHING you tried to mention from what I could read. (A little Harsh)

    As a sprinter and Jumper let me tell you that I did alot of cross country running for conditioning. As a high school athlete I remember 3 mile runs for conditioning. Two times per week. As a coach you should know what to give a sprinter. frankly I dont agree with “sitting out” the fall season. Thats like taking a rest and HOPING you run well next season.

    After the cross country runs you have to implement drills and workouts to keep the fast twitch muscles active. Emphasize flexibilty and form. After our hills we did 12 runs upp a hill thatwas 80-90m long.

    After College I assisted with my college coach who was more of a XC guy. After the team ran I tool over. I set their base and endurance from the XC work out to condition them and we did lots of core as well. On the days they didnt run it was drills drills and more drills with 8 easy run thrus. Needless to say we got ALOT of results the following season.

    Personally I hated XC but it did alot for me when dished out the correct way. I know many pro athletes and non pro athletes who would back me up on that. I would call names but I’ll leave that to the imagination. I am currently working out 5 days a week doing my plyos, speed work and drills in preperation for next season.

    COACHES DONT HAVE YOUR ATHLETES SITTING. Recovery is important but at the sametime you dont want them slackign up.

52. Jim Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 4:12 am

    Latif,
    I looked at your promotional material and bought your program because it made sense and jives with what’s occuring at the “cutting edge” of sports conditioning. I see your program has been recommended by Peak Performance and also see that PP has a “deal” on their their “Complete Sports Performance Library” that you should try and make available to your customers. Everyone’s knowledge would be updated and athletes would benefit from what current thinking and research have to offer.
    Having read the blog postings “AV” (After Vincent), I’m wondering how much of our thinking about “sport specific” conditioning is correct and why there needs to be “competition” between sports and rules to prevent off-season training with coaches.
    Today, any aspiring athlete can get excellent, current, free, training information via the Internet and work out on their own. To my knowledge this does not violate any rules.

53. Jim Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 4:25 am

    It seems to me that there could be more integration between high school physical education programs and high school athletic programs and among high school athletic programs and that thinking this through and implementing it would give the high school a stronger athletic base and be more beneficial to the athletes. I have some thoughts about this, but first want to see if the topic interests anyone else.

54. PJ Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 3:37 pm

    Latif,

    I’d like to comment on “Vincent’s” posting regarding sprinters running cross country. As a former cross country and track coach, I had many of my sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers run cross country. It was a great experience for both the cross country runners and the “non-cross country” runners alike. It violated no rules!!! It benefited everyone, the true cross country runners, the “non-cross country” runners and athletics in the school in general. Great friendships were forged, titles were won and most importantly my runners (both CC & non-CC) inspired each other, they formed a symbiotic relationship in some ways, one group inspiring the other to work harder, it was amazing to see. I don’t see how training different athletes differently is against any rules, perhaps the rules of, “I don’t know how to do that, so I’ll just make it sound like it’s a bad idea”. Also, this type of differentiated training is not cheating or like professional athletes taking steroids, that is one of the craziest statements I have ever heard. I believe the heart of this argument is unfortunately from one thing, fear. The fear that because there is a coach that knows what he is talking about, other coaches fear they might lose their athletes. Soccer and other fall sport coaches may start to lose athletes to a modified CC program, which they fear and think is unfair. I say if you are a good coach and you have a winning team, why would kids want to leave your team, even if I promised them the sky. Kids don’t leave those teams. They leave mediocre teams with coaches that haven’t learned a thing in the past 20 years. I say if you fear losing athletes, learn how to keep them. Go to coaching seminars, buy a video or read a journal article. Tell your soccer kids it actually makes more sense for them to play soccer in the fall and here is why and this is how I’ll make you a better sprinter. Sorry for the rant, Latif, keep up the great work.

    >>> Excellent post, sir.

    LT

55. nycjay01 Says:
    August 28th, 2009 at 5:37 pm

    I think some of the coaches here follow the lead of the of the coaches who are producing world class sprinters. Not to try and give the training program of Asafa Powell to a runner running a a 13 sec 100m… but look at the theory and try to work the theory with what is available…

    Fall training is a must for sprinters. But running mileage is a HUGE mistake. The only sprinters that should do XC runs are 400m hurdlers and thats 1x/week at most.

56. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 30th, 2009 at 12:27 pm

    * Sent to my email:

    Hi Latif,
    You sure did open a hornet’s nest when it comes to cross country training for sprinters. I must admit I would always encourage as many track athletes as possible to run cross country as I thought it would help towards building a base for my track team, especially if the athletes would continue to train on their own during the winter high schools sports season. After listening to your ideas I can see the value of modifying the workouts during the week as we would during the track season. I still think Vincent has a point, in that, I do feel the runners should be concentrating on cross country and it should not be a way to get high school athletes a way to skirt league and state rules regarding formal training during the off season. Like you I really endorse cross training and becoming more athletic.
    Thanks for all your help Latif.

    B. Resch
    Sprint Coach
    Coronado High School
    Coronado, California

57. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 30th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    *Sent to my email

    Latif,
    You could probably have the same discussions about a basketball player plays football to get in shape. A swimmer joins the diving team to stay in the water or you know the one where kids play soccer so they can develop their coordination, skills, conditioning or just to stay active and prepare for other sports. How about where kids wrestle so to stay in shape for football! These discussions can go on for awhile so good luck with “Vincent”.
    Aloha and Mahalo for all you do,
    Coach Hiram N. Akina

58. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 30th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    Definitely OK by me! You can join Cross Country to get in shape for Basketball, you can Run Track to get Faster/Stronger for Football, Distance Event Runners do Cross Country to compliment their Track ability. Why can’t a Sprinter work on his Cardio to compliment his Power? I only think you’d be Cheating if you were “Cheating the Students” by getting PAID to be the HEAD Cross Country Coach with no intention of developing the Best Distance Program you could to help them succeed in what they signed up for. As long as you not using starting blocks and working on hurdle form, running is running and the type is up
    to the coach and the goals for the athlete being trained.

59. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 30th, 2009 at 12:29 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    I agree with the modified program. After all isn’t an athlete doing
    something better than one who does nothing. The saying goes,”idol hands are
    the devils workshop”. This is very true in high school. Enjoy your blog
    and emails, keep up the good work.
    RG

60. Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    August 30th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    *Sent to my email:

    Latif: I appreciate all your coaching comments……you’re not a cheater….we should look at any technique to help our athletes improve and we should decided if its right for our program.

61. Tb Says:
    August 31st, 2009 at 10:45 am

    Just by reading I can tell that some of you guys coach teams that are consistently average and worse.

    A guy a few post up said didn’t Bolt come form a 400m (Strength and Endurance) background. Yes he was a QMiler but he didn’t do much long endurance work. How you guys equate running 5miles with strength is beyond me.

    In High School I ran Bleachers, Hills, 2 mile of Ins & Outs, and some strength drills. The Longest I went was a MILE. I had enough sense to know running 5 miles a day will not help explode out of the blocks.

    Do some Research about the Sport if you are going to Coach.

62. Tony Says:
    August 31st, 2009 at 11:50 am

    I don’t see why this thread went so far to criticize an easy concept. If I told a distance or cross country coach to run repeat 30′s or fly 60′s as the heart of their training, they would tell me to pound sand. So why is it OK to “base train” a sprinter with slower work? Speed development can come is so many different forms of strength, power, drills, technique, and endurance methods, cross country training is not necessary (even though I have allowed my sprinters to run a portion of the course which gives them a high quality endurance effort (500-1000 meters). If you just want to have a team of kids to just run and have fun, then do whatever you want. However, if you want every kid to reach their potential in their event, then you need to be specific in their training and ignore whether you are 3 months away from the start of the indoor/outdoor season.

63. Scott Says:
    August 31st, 2009 at 12:58 pm

    Hi,
    I personally think the discussion between Vincent and Latif was inspiring and would make even the worlds greatest coaches think about what they do.

    When i was a young 100m runner i ran cross country, ever school race i ran and did quite good. This definitely helped boost my training as a 100m runner in the winter. Winter training is supposed to be hard and pushing athletes hard. XC for a short sprinter and long sprinter for that matter is great. Bearing in mind that i started sprinting to build speed for rugby. My coach had no problem with that and actually encouraged it!

    A weight session in the winter helps build up a sprinters strength and so forth, Training with a guy twice your size can only help you improve and there is nothing wrong with this. That is why training for cross country can only help improve an athlete as well.

    Scott

64. John S Says:
    August 31st, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    The question of running cross country for “sprinters” is interesting in many respects. We are producing a documentary “Speed City” about the track athletes at San Jose State in the late 50’s thru early 70’s and their coach Bud Winter. Most people have never heard of Bud Winter but most track athletes remember the names Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Lee Evans. When we interviewed Lee Evans on camera we ask about his running cross country. Lee trained with the cross country team in the fall but didn’t run in the meets. Bud Winter initially discouraged him so Lee asked his high school coach Stan Dowell to help him put together a program (You can find it online) for fall training. During high school summers Lee and Tommie never trained. They worked dawn till dusk six days a week in the fields of Central California picking cotton, harvesting grapes and hauling crops.

    Given Lee was nearly undefeated in the 440 and 400 in college and he was the first man to run under 44 seconds (first time at the Lake Tahoe Olympic trials and the second time winning the gold medal at the 68 Olympics) I would find it hard to argue that a 400 meter runner shouldn’t run cross country. Lee’s world record lasted for 20 years, was set before high tech track shoes, sports nutrition, and aero dynamic clothing. You can count the number of people who have run under 44 seconds on your fingers.

    The last 100 meters of the 400 is all about aerobic and speed endurance. Lee had both. Not to mention he was the toughest competitor of his generation.

    Bud Winter (the greatest sprint coach in history bar none) was wrong about Lee’s training with the cross country team so it isn’t any wonder there is disagreement.

    On a slightly different note. When we interviewed Bob Poynter (world ranked #2 in the 100 and 200 meters in 1959 and 60) he mentioned that when he arrived at San Jose State in September to start his freshman year he asked Coach Winter when Track practice started? Bob thought he was going to say January. Bud replied “today at 2:30, see you there”. Bud Winter’s athletes trained longer but worked on specific improvements in their form, lengthening their stride, having fun and learning how to relax.

    Look at a reply of the worlds in Berlin. All the Jamaicans look as relaxed as Gumby and with the exception of Alyson Felix the Americans looked tense.

65. dr ali yousif Says:
    September 1st, 2009 at 8:36 am

    thank mr thomes

66. Matt Says:
    September 1st, 2009 at 10:22 am

    First off I must beat this dead horse and say Vincent let it go. Most of distance races use sprinters/middle distance runners as rabbits to get better times at their meets so why shouldn’t these kids use these sports to get something beneficial for themselves if it cool with the AD on down and are within the governing rules (loophole or not). If a receiver slips just in front of a referee as to get some separation so be it. It’s not cool from my point of view but well within the rules. And it’s not as though you’re going to have the entire track team out at CC just a few dedicated ones that want to do that.
    I agree with the point that athletes need to be free to enjoy other sports during the “off season” from their main sports. We as coaches need to actually coach/inform them so far as the benefits and negatives of doing such activities. And these negatives should be the actual things that are going to be counter-productive to the athlete’s main sport if he/she participates at sport B, C… not just “you might get injured”. You could just as well get injured stepping off of a curb as playing any sport (Sorry about that I work in an area where athletes are discouraged from being athletes for the simple fact that the coaches are selfish and a lot of parents buy into this). If after being informed that athlete is still set on participating in sport B (and that coach doesn’t want to have a modified practice) then I feel it’s up to me to at-least give them a plan/routine that will keep them some-what headed in the direction that they want to go in their main sport. Something quick and dirty that’ll remind that athlete’s muscles that he/she is a Corvette and not a Peterbilt while not over-training them. We’re a coach; we should use our influence as such to help them stay on track (or as close to it as possible) while their broadening their experiences as an athlete. It is high school so let them try whatever sport(s) they desire. For some kids this is the first time they will be able to do such without being a financial burden on their family. And you never know after sport B’s season you might be telling them to spend a bit more time focusing on that sport instead of the one you’re coaching. I might look at hs seniors a little differently if they have participated in the just for fun sports and need to focus on trying to get a scholarship in sport A which falls later in the school year.
    On a different note, I could only wish that we had distinct seasons down here in Florida. They’re very distinct in high school but with AAU and travel leagues most sports other than football can be done year round or at-least well past the high school season (and of course this is frustrating for me since I am a football coach, but hey if I could do it I would).

67. Max Rainsford Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 2:54 am

    Latif,I agree with your thinking on training and coaching! But i think you need to focus on what you are dong and not worry about small minded souls such as coach vincent!If you are paying attention to his blindness,you are not focusing on the job at hand.
    Max Rainsford
    1984 Los Angeles Olympian
    Australian Cycling team

    >>Fair enough. I did overreact to this post and have received a handful of emails echoing a similar sentiment. This was just a personal attack from someone I know who did not have the courage to use their real name. So I put them on blast and it was not a valuable use of my time or resources. Thanks for the input Max.

    Latif

68. Bob Mirenzi Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 2:18 pm

    Iam a XC coach, I have been a successful coach for10years. I have had my share of State bearthed teams and Top 10 State ranked runners.

    3 years ago i was getting tired of watching my athletes pour their heart out dominating the first 90% of a 5k and getting beat in the last 300 yards, out kicked by faster runners.

    That’s when I found Latif’s program,

    I started the workouts in Aug, trying to modify the jobs and jargon to the distance mindset, trying to point out where on the 5k course , sprint-float, up and over, etc applies.

    The first meet, getting my boys to think and act like sprinters paid off. everyone of them passed at least 5guys at the end of the race. The pure glee I saw was worth every penny of the program cost.
    That spring, 2 of my boys went to state in the ….100 and 200. These 2 boys were the ones I made in charge of the drills, learning them well enough to instruct them was the edge they needed to step up their short track game.

    Let me say that I have had runners in the past go to state, in the obvious 800 1600 and 3200 but also in the 400 and for 2 years STATE champ in the 4 x 400 .

    Here is what I think, right now the techniques and outline of the Latif program is giving many athletes an advantage in their leagues over the teams who are not using this program.

    Much of what theses kids are learning is that advantage. They may be thinking, ‘My coach has a secret edge and I will do better!” This sense of confidence is what we are after as coaches. The problem is, what happens when the advantage, your runners are banking on is missing, eventually, more teams will be using this stuff?

    This sense of confidence the athlete has needs to be laid on a more secure bed.
    The confidence that a runner gets by participating in a sport with all his heart only trying to better himself and win is what I am talking about. This is found by doing exactly that. Getting involved in your sport with the only goal being get better, and win.

    Encouraging runners to dip into XC to get better at something else, cultures a layer of complacency in a runners makeup.he gets used to showing up and just phoning it in.

    High school athletes are in the end teenagers, By definition, they are looking for the easiest way to do stuff and still feel good about it. Providing them this venue offers them just that. It is our job to allow them, and encourage them to participate with all their heart to strive to do their best.

    If a 200 runner s shows up on my team,I will be glad to have them, ( this year the sprint coach has sent several to me based on the last 2 seasons track results.) I will coach him in the techniques and finesse of the Latif program, but the most important thing I will try to instill in him is the developing and sharpening of the will and desire to get better and win, to be able to look over a field of competition and find in themselves the unique combination needed to persevere and excel.

    The Latif Program should be looked on as a tool that an athlete can use, one of many, to get tot eh top, not the reason. encouraging runners to XC just for more time to use that ‘TOOL’ is ignoring that. They need to be available to learn all the other tools available in XC and be available tot he most important one, understanding that they can now how to excel, with the help of all the tools not because of them.

    Bob Mirenzi
    Boys XC and Track
    Ballard HS
    Seattle, WA

    >>>Awesome post Bob! And congratulations on your success! I’m honored to have been able to provide any element of the structure (for lack of a better word) that you modified and used with truly impressive results. We can only hope more coaches take your approach to training and coaching.

    Latif

69. Jason Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    Vincent,
    Why such the ramble on the x-country team? Talking about tax dollars and such. You realize its the x-ctry team right? A sport that generates income only from maybe the snack bar? If they even have one for it. I think you missed Latifs point that if you train slow (which is basically what distance running is) then you will be slow. As long as its agreed by the X-ctry coach and understood on why those certain kids are there, then what is the problem? Its a shame that your jealousy of Latifs success and knowledge has led you to spending so much time trying to tear him down. By the way, haven’t you noticed…more people watch a sprint event than those that watch people run endlessly around the track for lap after lap after lap.

70. Mike Goss Says:
    September 2nd, 2009 at 10:08 pm

    no explosive athlete gains from endurance training; this is science based. This site is wonderful, but you must understand the nervous system and it’s complexity! Too often, coaches think of weight gain and conditioning in the wrong realm. If you study the Russian or Polish methodologies,you don’t see much about body mass………………it’s a given, you train for explosiveness, not “spandex” wonders. We need to consider rest, eccentric/concentric loads and mechanics…mostly.

71. Coach Johnson Says:
    September 6th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    I don’t think your response are very fair to coach Vincent.
    There is an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
    This is not a closed minded attituded, but an open one.
    To often we see coaches business etc. coming in and making changes for change sake. It’s new. It’s improved. Only to end up full circle back to the original process.
    The other thing to consider is that all styles, new or old don’t work for everyone. Sometimes a coach with a good niche serves his athletes best doing what he or she does best, and with high school athletes who are with us for such a short time, we hurt them by experimenting with a group that never recovers or reach their full potential because we tried something new, something unproven etc. with the athlete’s shot career in the balance.
    All that’s old isn’t bad.
    After coming back from retirement of coaching high school,1996,(international coach for 4 years) I have run into young coaches that were so impressed with my success in turning a program around that they wanted to talk shop. When speaking with these young coaches, I found many of their new concepts were old concepts under a new name. I also found some of the old concepts I shared with them they took and ran with as new concepts to them. Several are having much success with these new old methods.
    My point is, your put down of the thinking of old coach Vincent is no different than the way you feel about old coach Vincent’s response to your thoughts.
    Remember an open mind is a mind that will listen, and process the information.
    It doesn’t mean the information will always be processed in a way that is positive or accepting of the giver of the “new” information.

    >>>Thanks for the input Coach Johnson. What I’m recommending is certainly nothing new, modified cc/fall training is a staple of successful programs everywhere. And nothing I do in terms of coaching is ‘new’. I, like every other good coach, stole the major training concepts I use from far better coaches than I will ever be. I simply adapted what I learned for my particular situation.

    I will agree that we went too far with the Coach Vincent bashing. But if you look at the level of success this particular program has had in the past two years, as well as the increased interest, excitement and participation in the sport since a new approach came to town, I think you would agree this approach is what is best for the kids and the program.

    I like to think of myself as open minded. But equating modified cross country and steroids is not a reasonable argument to make while maintaining coherent, civilized discourse.

    Latif

72. Sharon Clark-Edge Says:
    September 6th, 2009 at 8:17 pm

    A modified program isn’t anything new!! If you research and read from some of the great coaches of old, they all had a “XC” preseason program. The great Ed Temple of Tenn. read his book the coach of many greats sprinters as Wilma Rudolph,. I do agree that you do not train the sprinters as if they are going to be distance runners, but to give them the soild endurance/stamina base goes a very long way.

73. Thandiwe Says:
    June 10th, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    I am not one to support young sprinters running cross country. I caution my position as a general comment as we have not established an age range for the “young” athlete. I am not also in support of early specialisation of young athletes either across a sport or within a sport.

    I also think that the requirements for aerobic development within a young athlete’s program is overstated and over emphasised.

    So I support using alternative sports, developing strength, power, balance, stability etc as far more important than slugging out the miles.

    If I use a aerobic activity within the off season program, I favour farlek type running, in trying “conditions” no more than once a week.

    In conclusion, once the determination that the child is a sprinter, is not too early a specialisation, then I don’t support them running cross country and certainly not training with the cross country team.

74. CCC Says:
    June 10th, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    Wow…I can’t believe I read thru the whole thread! Is it even still active?

    Sprinters running some version of modified XC is great if you can set up the logistics the correct way. The main problem with sprinters running XC is the mindset during practice. XC season is pretty much the sprinters off-season…they know that and you know that. Keeping the sprinters on-task and focused during my distance workouts is a challenge. Everyone knows that sprinters and distance kids are 2 totally different types of kids. In my case, 60 distance XC runners + 20 sprinters don’t mix well at times. I simply don’t want them around if the little yahoos aren’t going to focus. Also…how many coaches can even get their sprinters up at 6-7am in the morning to run? That’s probably the biggest challenge of all!!!

    Solution: My assistant track coach takes them during the athletic period and works them out during the fall.

75. Richard A. Ruiz Says:
    June 10th, 2010 at 5:54 pm

    I think everyone has missed the key question to end this discussion.
    Latif, would you agree that it would also be beneficial for xc runners
    to join the Sprinter’s Program?

76. Vincent Says:
    June 10th, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    Since Latif decided to re-publicize this topic in his last email, I decided to spend a couple minutes trying to rehash what I was trying to say last year and clear up some things after reading some of these responses. I hadn’t read them previously, simply because I never expected the conversation to have gone on at all, let alone with the verbosity that it did. I think by the end of these comments, what I was trying to say was the casualty of a bad game of “telephone”, because there are people defending ideas I never brought up in the first place.

    So, here are just a couple points I’d like to get on the record:
    - I think I said it somewhere in one of my comments near the top, but I’ll reiterate: I have a lot of respect for Latif, his programs, and his ability to get sprinters to perform very close to their absolute potential. I’ve seen the results first hand.

    - In his most recent email, Latif called me “a former colleague”. I made my posts last year under a pseudonym because at the time I knew people within the school system in question who were an active part of the issue (or a very similar issue) and I wanted to remain an outsider. I’m willing to “reveal my identity” (to Latif, at least, maybe not the whole world after some of the strong words being thrown out in these comments against me), but having only met Latif in passing maybe two or three times in my life, I would not consider us colleagues, and I expect that Latif thinks I’m someone else. Or I have a colleague I never knew about!, which wouldn’t be terrible.

    - I didn’t read every single comment word for word, but it seems like some people think I’m an “old coach” set in my ways. I’m not old (under 25), I’m not a coach (never coached anyone other than myself), and if you asked me what my “ways” are, I would probably stare at you blankly and point to either my copy of Jack Daniels or athletesacceleration.com. I never made (or tried to make) any arguments otherwise. I’ll admit I’ve never been to a coaching conference and I don’t read as my EP white papers as a “real” coach would, but I definitely try to find the best information about there about training; that what brought me to follow AA in the first place.

    - I’ll reiterate: “I don’t have the first clue what a long jumper should be doing in October”. I was neither commenting on whether sprinters/jumpers/throwers should be training in the fall, or what kind of training it should be if they are. My knowledge of sport-specialization is limited to what Latif has said in his emails over the last couple of years, and any mention I made of doing/not doing other sports was strictly in regards to making analogies about HS athletes joining teams as non-competitors.

    - I was a hurdler/sprinter in HS. I ran cross-country. I would never argue against anyone doing the same. Like PJ said, it was a valuable experience because of the friendships I made, the extra miles I got to put in, etc. I have no doubts in some ways it made me a better runner during the winter and spring. But this brings me to the retelling of the one major point I was trying to make last August…

    The issue I took with what Latif said in his original post was purely clerical. It wasn’t about the training in the fall, or stealing athletes from other sports, or ensuring kids at different ages aren’t over-specializing, or anything like that. All I disagreed with was the fact that, from my perspective, he was suggesting sprinters join the cross-country team with no intention of competing or really “doing” cross-country. To me, that (the idea of being on a team without the intention of competing for the team, NOT Latif’s suggestion of it) didn’t sit well with me. Even if Latif is very upfront with the XC coach and school AD about training this subgroup, and they all green-light it, my point is I still don’t think it’s right. Even if it doesn’t violate any league or state rules (though after checking it seemed like it did), the way I’m interpreting the program still puts me off.

    To me the whole idea of having sprinters join XC in the fall with the primary intention of training as sprinters (a clear contradiction to the idea of XC, hopefully that’s not arguable) with their own sprint coach was comparable to a HS golfer golfing in the fall on the golf team, and then joining the basketball team in the winter but just going to the range every day with his swing coach, and then joining baseball in the spring and just golfing every day with his golf coach. I understand there are differences (sprinting is a lot more like XC than golfing is like basketball; XC runners even sprint sometimes at practice! etc, etc), but I’m just using that as an extreme example. If you can look at that golf example and say “no, that’s a completely fair use of the HS athletics system. this kid just wants to be the best and this allowed him to do it” than w simply disagree on how the system should work. If to you that situation with the golfer seems a little bit fishy to you (and I think it would seem fishy to most other athletes, coaches, administrators, athletes’ parents, even college coaches), that’s the feeling I get from the albeit less extreme cross-country situation. Maybe I misconstrued what was being offered up as a program idea, but I stand by my opinion that encouraging sprinters to join cross-country and not expecting them to operate as competitive cross-country runners is a bad idea, regardless of whether that’s what Latif was really suggesting (because it seems like some commenters who came to his defense certainly were advocating that).

    All I can say is that this season that just ended, at least a couple local HS runners who I know were thinking about doing some variety of this modified cross-country system trained independently during the fall and had great spring seasons. They didn’t need to worry about working within the XC program or violating any rules by not. They simply had their goals, they had good resources and information about what kind of training to do and when. They did what they needed to achieve the goals. I would expect any athlete who wants to succeed to do the same, without needing to use XC as a crutch regardless of if they can or should or whatever. If we’re talking about giving “hardcore kdis…a chance to train like real track athletes, go after the school records, state titles and scholarships they covet”, first focus on the actual training program, and don’t worry about being able to call it a school team.

77. Owen Says:
    June 10th, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    Reading this article and comments actually causes me to have another question about training. If you are training and athlete for a sport that you aren’t the coach of how do you train that athlete when they are most likely doing a training regime designed by their coach (from my experience usually a terrible one) as well? I would think if the athlete is doing another program that adding complete speed training would do more harm than good because they wouldn’t get the proper rest. Ofcourse, I am not the expert.

78. K.B. Says:
    June 11th, 2010 at 9:44 am

    Wow. What did you do to this fool Tif? Did you beat him like Bruce Leroy did Shonuff in The Last Dragon? Did you take his girlfriend to the senior prom in 88? For a former colleague to assume a name and hate on you in an article is straight booty. Cowardly at best. Don’t even worry about this fool. You just keep doing what you do. Next time you go to Walmart and see him greeting people as they leave, you just ignore him.

79. tim graf Says:
    June 11th, 2010 at 6:21 pm

    vince, as an olympic qualifier in the 200 and a Big-10 Champion in the 100 and the original speed coach in the country
    (1988), do you even know how to coach sprinters? Can you see what a 10.3 100m looks like? Latif and I can! What Latif is saying is very accurate. I ran it by Ken Jakalski who works with Peter Wayand, the worlds authority on speed. Ken told me it was a great idea and alot more programs should be doing this. BTW, every sprinter I coached this year made it to state with 75% of them medaling at the Il. state track meets both boys and girls. vince, spend your time making yourself a better coach instead of bashing the successful ones. BTW, how many sprint titles have you won on any level?

80. Coach "C" Says:
    June 11th, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    Much to do about something so simple.. You want to be better at anyhing then you better do it year ’round!! Modified CC or just Fall training… call it what you will but it makes better athletes in the Spring…PERIOD!!!

81. Latif Thomas, Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 11:09 am

    (starting with comments posted 6/10/10)

    Thandiwe – I am not suggesting mileage for sprinters.

    CCC – Agree. To do it correctly, you have to have the entire coaching staff on board. And that requires a very progressive coaching staff *and* a staff who understands the big picture. If there are a lot of egos involved (and there usually are) it’s not going to work. The coaches I learned this idea from were progressive and they were winners. Most coaches at the developmental level are neither.

82. Latif Thomas, Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 11:20 am

    (comments posted 6/10/10 continued)

    Vincent – I think if your original post was written with the same tone as this one, it never would have gotten to the point it did. But it was judgmental, accusatory and inaccurate. I’m not sold you are who you say you are. But for blog purposes, I’ll agree with you. I’ve had enough drama this spring to last a lifetime.

83. Latif Thomas, Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 11:26 am

    (comments from 6/10 continued…)

    Richard – I would agree that distance runners should be treated like athletes, not treated like long distance running specialists. I think soccer players should do more than play soccer. Basketball players should do more than just play basketball. A distance runner who only runs distance, that is, never lifts weights, doesn’t do a dynamic warmup or any specific mobility or coordination development, doesn’t do speed work, etc. will not, in my opinion, maximize their potential.

    Owen – You modify that coach’s program if you are training the athlete out of season. If they’re in season, you can’t do much because, you’re right, you’ll overtrain them.

84. Latif Thomas, Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 11:31 am

    (comments from 6/10 continued…)

    K.B. – Well I am the Last Dragon *and* I know the secret of The Glow… If I took her to the senior prom in ’88 I’d have been the man because I wasn’t even in HS in 88.

    Tim – No matter what you do, no matter how successful you are, no matter how altruistic you are, people are going to complain and talk trash. It’s the cost of doing business man.

    Coach ‘C’ – Agreed.

85. Panama Kid Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 11:36 am

    for KB-THATS FUNNY

86. Steve Says:
    June 12th, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    Have to love a topic that can continue to be debated a year later. Maybe I am missing the point(s) but here is what I seem to understand and would love to see if I am on point or off target.
    Vincent seems to believe that its wrong to have sprinters join a team such as XC since they won’t be following the XC coaches program. That its wrong since they will be part of the XC team and be doing their sprint training with the “sprint” coach.
    Latif is saying let the sprinters run XC just follow some type of sprint training and not doing the mileage that the XC coach may want them to do.
    That seems to be the simple understanding I have of the two main points.
    That said, I don’t see problem with sprinters on the XC team talking to the XC coach saying – I (we) would like to train with you all doing our program and if you want/need we will participate in the meets. I think some of the XC kids might actually benefit from participating in the sprint training if they substitued a LSD run for the sprint day. I might even try a two a week sprint training with a small group of my XC runners to see if that benefits them over the other XC runners. Never hurts to try new things and see what works for some athletes over others. As I recall Ben Johnson use to hide when his coach wanted him to do LSD back in the day. That’s all I have to say about that.

87. KDG Says:
    June 14th, 2010 at 8:16 am

    I normally shy away from posting on blogs but I couldn’t help it on this topic. I can’t believe I read through this entire thread. Very informative and entertaining. I enjoyed every bit of this.

    I’m fairly new to coaching (5th yr). I ran in HS and at the the D2 collegiate level. One thing I have learned is that, just because you ran track that doesn’t necessarily make you a track coach and/or a successful one at that. I do believe in order to be a better anything, you need to align yourself with those that have been succesful in that anything. I want to align myself with successful people/coaches/leaders to make myself a better person/coach/leader. I coach youth ages 6 – 18 during the spring and summer. I want to provide the best training possible to get them to excell even at a young age. Can you provide advice?

    Thanks in advance – KDG

88. Michael Mueller Says:
    June 14th, 2010 at 9:11 am

    You have some excellent articles, and I like your innovation in training.

    I am a 54 year old man, who wants to vault again. I started doing sprint work outs

    and my achillies are acking me! Any advice?

89. Jim W Says:
    June 14th, 2010 at 12:44 pm

    Wow, really fun to read but trully sad to know that so many coaches, without proper knowledge of serving the CNS, are touching our kids. I’m a coach of 27 years who has had some of the fastest guys ever at the NFL combine (4.19 handtime, 4.23 electronic, or how about 4.55 40 at 278#) and my biggest challenge was ‘fixing’ college and highschool kids who had 2-3 hour workouts at 60-70-80% effort. My personal times in the 70′s ( a stubby 5’10″ white guy)of 10.6, 4.4, and a 42″ vertical, are still considered excellent. Cool huh? No, sad. Tragic. With Creatine, Plyometrics, Periodization, Specialization, Power-lifting, and freakishly fast surfaces, the times today (with a few exceptions at the elite level) are no better than meet times in the 70′s and 80′s. Why? LONG, SLOW PRACTICES.

    Latif’s point about Bob Bons and mayonaise is funny because it is basically true: fast twitch muscles are natural but easily ruined (down-regulated) by LSD, three hour soccer practises, and kids spending time running slowly.

    If a Xcountry coach wants to provide a safe place for off-season sprint guys to workout, God Bless him. Use them as rabbitts and get those distance kids to do some fast 200-300-400m repeats. Everyone wins. Personaly, i would never allow a kid (assuming he has said “I want to crush people in May and June…)to run 1-2-3 miles EVER unless it is a beautiful day and he/she stops to eat 2-3 times and nap at the 1.5 mile mark. Sprinting is the ability to over-come inertia and hold form and the Central Nervous System is the most easily ruined part of a sprinters toolbox.

    Now having said all that, every kid should have their own program anyway…

90. Frank Says:
    June 16th, 2010 at 4:22 pm

    Hello,
    This string above is, Wow. I just wanted to give an opinion and some info for those that are short sided on vision. Latif you are Correct on your Phylosophy of specified training programs by Runner Type, (Spriters, Mid-Distance, Long Distance). Others need to look at getting outside of the Box if you want to keep up. Cross Country Teams are a Team Sport. Think People. You want the sprinters on the Team for a Couple Reasons:
    1. As a Team Representing the School you want to help all of the Athletes of the School. Having the Track Team Sprinters on the team to aid in maintaining their conditioning is a plus for the school.
    2. For the CC Team you want the sprinters on the team. As a Team, you might use them to start the race fast in an attempt to get the other competeters to start out too fast and burn out, there by the focused CC Runners will pass them and improve their finishing position.

    If you think that a Sprinter can really compete with a true “Properly Trained” Cross Country Runner or that a CC Runner can really compete with a true “Properly Trained” Sprinter you are saddly mistaken. A Spriter’s Body make-up, muscle mass and muscle memory is ussually different than a CC or distants Runner. A Sprinter usually has Big Explosive Muscle Mass while a CC Runner has Lean Muscle Mass. Even the Breathing Technics Trained are different.

    As far as the amount of miles a CC runner will run a week. When I was on the High School CC Team, (Many, Many Years ago), I ran 35-50 Miles a week, so those of you that say running that much is too much, I was Ranked in the Top 10 for High School Cross Country in the State of California, my fastest Mile was in 4:54. You need to put the Miles in to be competitive. You need to Build the endurance to be able to focus the energy during a race. If you only run 1-2 miles a day, (Like a Sprinter), you won’t be able to be competitive in a 3-6 Mile Race. I am also retired from the Army and when I was doing my high speed training I was running 50-70 miles a week as well as Road Marching, (with 30-50lbs on my back), 30-40 miles a week. I was able to Run the 2 Mile Fitness Test event in 10:15-10:25min. and able to do a 12 mile Road March, (with 50lbs on my back) in less than 3 hours, at a moments notice.

    Just Something to Keep Ya All Thinking and the Fire Burning

    Frank

91. Latif Thomas, Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 2:43 pm

    KDG – I provide training advice here on an ongoing basis. So if you’re not getting emails from me, click on the top left banner with the cheetah on it.

92. paul Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 4:31 pm

    hi latif!

    These posts are really kicking off. if only we could get all these coaches/athletes e.t.c in the same room/web room and chat about our success, concerns, philosophies, and failures!!

    question for ANYONE reading this….. how much should a trained sprinter be capable of lifting (1RM) in order to aproximatley run a 10.0 100m?

    I know the answer has many variables – training age, height, weight, e.t.c. i suppose what im looking for is what the likes of asafa powell, usain bolt, tyson… lift. squat (BSS) deadlift (SLDL) and bounding x 10 or so! im working with a kid who runs 10.8 100m and BSS 105kg, and deadlifts 140kg. he’s6 foot tall and training age 0 as he’s last was doing… well, pretty horrific things lets leave it at that. any stats, training logs or here-say on the matter would give me goals and edification next year when we build up again.

    Paul Graham,
    UK Track coach

93. paul Says:
    June 17th, 2010 at 4:42 pm

    hi latif! me again lol!

    ive recently written out our MCP and i know in CST1 and CPD not to stress about/plan too much for this phase as the athlete knows what he/she needs. but i have mapped it out based on logic, science, and how we’ve performed so far. could you please scan over the race modelling workouts we have on wednesdays, i’ll not send the plyos, weight room, bodyweight circuit e.t.c just the track stuff on wed:

    week 5: 3 x 40m, 3-4 x 200m @ RP. FR

    week 6: 3 x 40m, 3 x 220m @ RP. FR

    week 7: 1 x first 200, 1 x last 200 (fly) (FR) WEDNESDAY

    week 7: 3 x 40m, 2-3 x 250m @ RP. FR FRIDAY

    week 8: 1 x first 200, 1 x last 200 (fly) (FR)

    week 8: 3 x 40m, 2 x 310m @ RP. FR

    The rest of the phase is peaking, jog stretch go home stuff mostly. Assuming all the other phases of the year are in place, does this seem like a correct/good way to progress race modelling workouts at this stage of the season?

    With much appreciation,
    Paul Graham

94. Tito Says:
    June 26th, 2010 at 5:56 pm

    Hi Latif thanks for the info about sprinters and XC, i have a question though about off season. Have you heard of P90X? a few friends of mine recommend that my son, who is a sprinter not doing XC, try it out on the course of off season.

95. Latif Thomas, Athletes' Acceleration Says:
    June 28th, 2010 at 10:55 am

    Paul – I’m not sure I buy into the idea that you can predict 100m times (with accuracy) based on strength levels. Take Allison Felix and her National Title the other day at 100m. Based on her drive phase (and feel free to disagree with me all of you reading this) I would say she clearly has low relative strength levels compared to other athletes with a 10.93PR. I think it would be more effective to focus on individual strength gains based on the particular/current levels of the individual athlete. But, my disclaimer to this idea (and, again, I invite a discussion here) is that I coach mostly at the HS level, so I don’t have this problem.

    As for your MCP progressions, assuming you are talking about a 400m runner, I don’t have any issue with those workouts except I might add some accel work to the front of the workouts (2-4 x 20-30m @ 90-95%) even though you’re doing it elsewhere in the week.

    Tito: I have heard of P90X. Do I recommend it for your son? Umm. I don’t *not* recommend it. If he has no other real access to coaching during the offseason, it provides structure and a lot of overall body training so that’s a good thing. I’m not sure it’s *ideal*, but he could do a lot worse.

96. paul Says:
    July 1st, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    With accuracy, i feel the same. There is one guy (i think frank dick or someone well known) whom does predict 100m times based on bounding 3 steps, 5 steps and 10 steps, the 10 steps was somewhere around the 36m range in his prediction chart. However, i know at least one triple jumper that would come pretty close to that mark but run 11-12 secs 100m.

    Sorry, i was talking about the 400m group. thanks for the advice here.

    As you have repeatedly said/wrote, strength levels is the ceiling to sprinters performances…… therefore i have 2 proposals for you…..

    Paul Graham

97. Brendan Murray Says:
    August 25th, 2010 at 3:21 am

    In Ireland most juvenile athletes compete in Track and Field in our short Summer, and change to cross-country running in Winter.
    Whereas, this may not be the most efficient method of realising the individual’s full athletic potential, the reason is quite simple when you consider this situation.
    Athletics in Ireland is very much a minority sport. Very few clubs own the training ground they use in Summer, and even less have any indoor facilities.
    Juvenile athletes therefore compete mainly in Summer, and only very few continue that level of training in Winter – hence, a loss in fitness and conditioning.
    The only alternative is to train and compete at Cross-country running, if only to maintain a basic level of fitness.
    This is useful in that at the beginning of the next season (our Summer), athletes are more conditioned to start speed-endurance training, and therefore better able to progress to speed training. Also they are better conditioned to avoid getting injuries from such increase in intensity.
    It is not so much that we want, or prefer to do this. We do not have much choice.

98. Robert McGimpsey ,Jr. Says:
    September 15th, 2010 at 7:27 am

    I can’t believe the amount of controversy this subject has caused. Running x-c is a way to keep the kids that are not playing a fall sport active, involved, and give them better general fitness levels. Some of your posters should remember that the training progression goes from general to specific. Increasing an athletes general overall aerobic conditioning is good for ANY sport. I’m an old school guy (graduated high school in 1975), and have been involved in track and field and athletics in general basically all my life. I found that I have done better at any sport (basketball, track, martial arts) when I did my “roadwork” for lack of a better descriptive term. I didn’t neglect any of my specific work for my event or sport (I was a TJ/Hurdler in track, guard/small forward in basketball. outside hitter in VB, WR type in FB,etc.), but my “roadwork” contributed to better overall performance; I didn’t lose any jumping ability, I could do more and better weight work…I had more stamina, and my road time helped me get my mind right about what I was training for and my motivation. I never ran much over 2-3 miles; I would get bored, but then I would do drills, jumpers, or jump rope, etc. Only after I became a coach and read coaching manuals and went to clinics and things did I understand what I had been doing. Only as I have progressed from the 70′s to now the 2000′s have I have followed the evolution of athletic training…..all this is a long way of saying that x-c type running is a basic conditioning tool for any athlete and especially a sprinter/ jumper/ hurdler. Particularly in high school. true distance x-c is in college when they go to 8-10,000 meters. That is a different kettle of fish; but for a high schooler, where you only run 5,000 meters; x-c is a fine all-around conditioner. Of course, you don’t have everyone doing the same workouts; you differentiate acording to training age and experience. Encourage kids to do x-c, you and your team will get a lot more out of it than you ever figured.

99. ROCK27 Says:
    September 19th, 2010 at 6:07 pm

    i am a track star and the fastest athlete in the 400m dash in my skool and i chose to run xcountry this year bcuz ,and especially for the 400, it will help you to maintain your full speed longer in races such as the 200 and 400 the reason being that bcuz after you run at a good pace for so many miles u get used to running longer distances and once u run the 400 it will feel much shorter and less exgausting. Same think for shorter races… it could even make the 100 feel like your running simply a 40 meter dash.

100. ROCK27 Says:
     September 19th, 2010 at 6:12 pm

     even though i said it is good to run a number of miles to help improve ur short endurance skills, i still agree with Latif in the sense that sprinters should not run “100″ miles a week and should just run faster pace short mile runs but never over 6.

101. Brad Says:
     March 25th, 2011 at 1:25 pm

     I think your exactly right! There is no way that someone who does “mileage” and XC Speed work, aka. repeat miles/1200/800, long tempos, could ever be as good as someone who does proper lactate traning, speed work and speed endurance training year round. That would be like saying Bernard Lagat could compete with Tyson Gay in the 100, 200 and 400???

102. jeff Barnfield Says:
     June 6th, 2011 at 7:02 pm

     hi Latif.
     Cross country training for sprinters is nothing new,from memory I once watched a short film on the great sprinter Wilma Rudolf running cross country.From my own personal experience running cross country will do the average sprinter little harm if the races are of a short duration/distance. I.E.5km(3 miles)Max for Those that do the short sprints,and 10km (5miles)Max for 400 metre runners.The other training very good for sprinters in the off season is Fartlek or speed play.In other words run as you feel,jog for a while,then pick the pace up for a short to moderate blast,stop if you have to,recover then repeat.We use this system in the winter in New Zealand with great success.I dont believe that good sprinters should embark on running marathons,although it will povide for great stamina, it will have a negative effect on top sprinting speed,and increase the risk of injury. Jeff Barnfield Masters athlete aged 57(Sprinting for over 37 years!).

103. jeff Barnfield Says:
     June 6th, 2011 at 7:13 pm

     hi Latif, Just spotted an error in my maths,10km converts to 6 miles not 5.
     Just to let you know our fartlek work will be even more handy next summer season especially running on grass,as our two all weather tracks have been ruined beyond repair in our February 6.3 earthquake.So we will nave to get used to running on grass tracks most of the time!

104. tangowited Says:
     September 24th, 2011 at 6:22 pm

     i run with arcadia’s cross country team and there are several sprinters like myself who joined in the past and currently. we run about like 30-50 miles per week for a 3 mile race, how come we are improving so much?

105. Billy Says:
     July 6th, 2012 at 8:50 pm

     Hey, Mr. Thomas. I’m going to be a sophomore next year, and I was a first-time sprinter in the spring and my friends convinced me to join XC for the first time this fall (training started earlier this summer). Basically what I want to know is if we do 100 yard buildups after workouts, would that help keep my explosive speed intact? Because I want to be with my friends but at the same time I do enjoy the rush of an explosive sprint, and I really do want to maintain my sprinting speed.

106. Jim Says:
     November 30th, 2012 at 4:54 pm

     Latif, I agree with you on the subject of “modified CC”. I am a former (real former, like the 1970′s) D1 hurdler. My high school had cross country,and we didn’t even have a winter track program until my senior year (and we ran our dual meets outside in the cold – big meets in NYC). You’re absolutely right that just running distance, without working in speed or weight training, does more harm than good. My track coach was a distance coach and it is surprising that I managed to get as far as I did – mostly because I spent many “distance” runs running up hills. My son is also a sprinter/hurdler and decided to run XC this year because he wanted to develop enough endurance to run some longer sprints (300, 400, 400 IH). It was a good idea from conditioning and giving him more gas in his tank, but I do think it’s essential to include speed work. We’re not sure if he will run XC next year or do a speed and strength program, or try to add to the XC program. In any event, it is hard to get people to consider a dual XC program because it is more work for the coach. And, most coaches in New England are distance coaches – don’t know how to coach sprinters. That is why it’s great that you raise these topics. Thanks.

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