Off We Go

Year 2 for our new group is off with a bang. Not only have all the athletes arrived and gotten settled in, but we are already hitting the roads. A group headed to the US 20K Championships in New Haven, CT on Labor Day. In their first races for McMillanElite, Cele Rodriguez, Ian Burrell and Paige Higgins all placed in the the top 10. Cele's 5th place was very solid and shows he is coming into form as his debut marathon approaches. Ian's 8th place was very impressive. He, at only 23 years old, held his own in his first race over 10K and showed that he is poised to challenge for national titles in the future. Paige, like Cele, is in marathon training mode but was still able to get in the top 10. I expect good things from each of them as we head into the fall.

As you've seen, we are not just a training team but a racing team. It would be easier to not put ourselves out there but that's not our style. We want to race. We want to challenge ourselves. It doesn't always go right but we keep at it. That's what runners do. You keep trying. Expect to see us on the roads frequently as we head into fall and we'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Greg

Well, That Was Interesting

Arthur Lydiard said that only 10% of Olympic competitors are prepared to compete at the Games. Only 10% are fit, healthy and have the skills (physical and mental) to cope in the pinnacle event in our sport. I guess our lackluster performances in the Games can then be taken with a grain of salt - at least we have the company of 90% of the competitors (especially the US track and field team).

While just making the Olympic team in the first year out of college was quite an achievement for Lemon and Martin, it was still important to make the Olympics a positive experience. For Lemon, that meant qualifying for the final in the 3,000m steeplechase. It seemed he was ready. Under the watchful eye of his Scottish club coach, Ronnie Morrison, Lemon's preparation for the Games while in Scotland and in the pre-Olympic camp in Macau was solid. He seemed ready to run well enough to get to the final but knew it would take a very strong race to get there. From the gun, he felt flat. No go in the legs. Was it nerves? Was it the excitement over the Games? Was it simply a big jump up in level of competition? Who knows. The bottom line is that we didn't get it done. While there are many positives that we can take from the experience, we still need to get to the point where we can compete at a consistently high level. Consistency will be our focus going forward.

For Martin, the goal was top 20 and maybe even top 12. He's talented enough to run that well but it would be a challenge given that the Olympic marathon was only his 2nd marathon. His training in Japan was very good and if he could tolerate the weather, then he had a shot. Prior to the race, the consensus was that the race would be won in 2:11-2:13 and top 20 would be around 2:20. The race was expected to unfold similar to the women's marathon where the pack would come through halfway at an easy pace then the fireworks would start. For Martin, who is a front-runner and can easily get drawn into running too fast, too soon, this would be perfect. He could sit in the back of the lead pack, come through half-way in 1:07-1:08 after a slow first 10K then hold on as the heat and humidity took their toll. It was a good plan right up until the gun went off.

As you saw, the men's Olympic Marathon was not normal. It was not relaxed then fast. It was aggressive. It was fast from the gun. It challenged everyone's race plan. For Martin, this was probably the worse case scenario. He would easily get sucked into running too fast, too early just like everyone else. And he did, running 15:00 for his first 5K (2:06 pace) and 30:19 for the first 10K (2:08 pace). WAY too fast yet he wasn't alone. The large first pack saw everyone going through way above their pre-race plan. As I followed the race online, I knew outcome before he reached 15K. He would have to drop out. The fast early pace, the heat and humidity and the marathon distance would become too much to take. Am I unhappy that he had to DNF? No way! I am not the macho “must finish” type. Running too hard in hot conditions has ruined many great runners and at 24 years old, Martin has many great races to come. Instead, I follow the advice of my friend and 1988 Olympic Marathoner, Mark Conover, who advises “live to race another day.”

Are we seeing a change in how the Olympic Marathon is run though? I suspect so. In the 1988 Olympic 5,000m run, John Ngugi from Kenyan single handedly changed how the Olympic distance track races are run. In Games prior to 1988, the 5,000m and the 10,000m were tactical affairs with the pace dawdling in the early stages then someone surging in the last 3rd of the race then a big sprint at the end (think 1972 Olympic 5,000m). Occasionally, someone would try to make the pace fast but invariably, they would simply be the pacemaker for the kickers, setting a nice smooth fast pace. Ngugi changed all of that. With only 2 and a half laps of the 12 and a half lap race gone, he surged and not just a little surge, a huge surge. He ran 58.2 (3:52 mile pace) for his next lap and 2:32 for his next kilometer (2:30 per km is 4:00 mile pace). The field didn't know what hit them and Ngugi opened up a 30-meter lead. He went on to win handily and ushered in the current fartlek-style of racing in championships.

Did Wanjuri's run in Beijing do the same for the marathon? It seems likely. After all, we are seeing the same thing in big city marathons. Athletes are simply going for it (think 1st Avenue in the New York City Marathon where in the last few years the leaders have dropped sub 4:30 miles with 8 miles of running still to go!). It's not a stretch to suggest that a more aggressive style of marathoning is coming. While World-Record attempts will likely include smoother pacing, I suspect you will see more and more fartlek-style marathoning. The pace will be fast from the start and athletes will repeatedly surge. Fartlek marathoning may become the norm in big city marathons and seems will likely become the norm in Championship races like the Olympic Games and the World Championships. After all, if they are willing to run like they did in the heat and humidity of Beijing, what will they do next year in the in the World Championships in Berlin and in 2012 in the London Olympics - both places where the weather is expected to be more conducive to marathon running?

For our group, we are happy that Lemon and Martin made it to the Olympics. They are now and will always be Olympians and that is the highest honor in our sport. But we still have a lot of work to do. We must train smarter. We must train more consistently. We must race better. We must race more aggressively. We must get ready for what is to come over the next four years which I suspect will be another step up in the quality and depth of distance runners around the world making the medal stand an even harder task than it currently is. Time to get to work.

It's a bit of a 3-ring circus around here at the moment. We have marathoners in the early stages of their fall marathon training. We have several track guys who have finished their seasons, taken their mandatory breaks and are now back in the base phase. And, we have new athletes arriving weekly. They're settling in and getting comfortable with their new surroundings, new coach, new teammates and life after college. We also have visiting athletes that come and stay plus more recruits checking out our group. All in all (and like a circus) it's quite fun and exciting for everyone involved.

Lately, we seem to have only written about racing but for most of our group, the focus now is on training. For our marathoners, they have just completed their first week of the marathon phase. As per Lydiard, we completed a base phase then a hill phase prior to the marathon phase. I described the way we do the base phase in an earlier blog but to recap, we do a leg speed session once per week, a steady state run once per week and a long run on the weekend. Leg speed sessions usually involve a series of strides run as ins and outs on the track (e.g., 10 laps of 100 on 100 off). This keeps the body ready for fast running without any build-up of lactic acid - a big no no in Lydiard base training. The steady state run builds to 10 miles at marathon effort which is 50-60 minutes for the marathoners. The idea is to run at the fastest aerobic pace and just shy of the aerobic threshold which is different (and 15-20 seconds per mile slower) than the anaerobic or lactate threshold. Aerobic threshold running is the key to maximizing the effects of the base phase and once per week seems to work well for most athletes though some more experienced runners can handle 2 steady state runs per week. The long run builds to 2-2.5 hours and is done on hilly courses and at an easy pace.

For the marathoners' hill phase, we again adapt Lydiard's concepts. We use three types of hill workouts and rotate them so that we do each workout 2-3 times. The first workout is on our Chevron Hill (named because a Chevron station sits at the base of it). The hill takes 40-60 seconds to ascend and is very steep and paved. With this hill, we work on Lydiard's explosive ankle flexion and driving the body up the hill. Speed is less important than technique and we push strongly against the ground to drive the knees forward and practice good arm swing. After a brief jog at the top, the athletes head halfway done the hill where they do a stride in a side parking lot. Next, they continue down to the bottom of the hill for another stride then hit the hill again. We start with 6-8 reps and build to 10-12. Leg strength, good mechanics, heavy breathing and lactic acid tolerance are the outcome we're hoping for.

The second hill workout is done at Buffalo Park and has been shown on Flotrack. It is like a Lydiard hill circuit in that we run up a moderate grade, dirt trail for 600m then do multiple strides before running back down briskly. At the bottom, more strides are completed before we head back up the hill. The total loop is just over 2 miles and we start with 3 loops and build to 6 loops.

Lastly, we do a Rosa-inspired hill climb. When I coached the Discovery USA team, we did a 20K run that included 10K of continual uphill running from 4000 feet to 6000 feet of elevation. So, we do a warm-up then a 10K hill climb to the top of Mt. Elden. The dirt road starts at just over 7,000 feet and ends at 9,600 feet. It is a very tough run but we've seen very good fitness jumps from it.

After building the base and mileage and completing the hill phase, they are now in the marathon phase which includes high mileage and lots of marathon-specific workouts. We'll keep you posted on how it goes. The greatest risk is that they will peak too soon so we're trying to hold them back since each is feeling very fit right now.

For our returning track runners, each took 2 weeks of no running or just easy jogging for up to 30 minutes a few times per week. My hope is that they took more off days than running days in order to recharge the batteries. Most took trips to see friends and family and lived like a 'normal' person for a couple of weeks. Now though, we are back to building the base like we did last year. I'll make a couple of adjustments to what we did last year but essentially, we'll just bump the mileage up 10-20% and include leg speed, steady state running and long runs. I always like fun test workouts and low-key races so we'll do some of that as well.

For our new runners, each undergoes a strict altitude acclimation phase which lasts 4 weeks. The first 7 days are very gentle as the body adapts then the next 21 days are a gradual return to normal mileage and the beginning of the base phase workouts. Being smart when arriving at altitude pays big dividends so we take it gentle at first. We also recognize that for new athletes, there is a lot of life stress. Most have just graduated, packed up and moved to a new place, changed coaches, training systems and teammates, found a new job and many other new stressors. We respect this and the altitude adjustment month is as much for non-running activities and stress as it is for the running. After this acclimation period, each runner and I sit down to map out the next 4-12 years. Then, they begin the training. In our group, we have 3 areas of focus that each athlete falls within. One group is purely track focused and everything points toward next spring and summer. They may race some short road races and cross country but the focus is squarely on indoor (if we do any meets) and outdoor track. Another group is track/road. The main goal is still the track but longer (and more frequent) road races plus cross country are included. This group will likely move to the marathon in a year or two. The last group is our marathon group. While they'll race some road races, cross country and track, the focus is squarely on marathon performance.

Well, there you have it. A bit more on what our training is like. I'll try to focus on our training concepts in future blogs which will hopefully be posted each week. If haven't noticed, we are going to 2 athlete blogs per week plus a coach's blog. Your feedback has been great and we've listened. More blogs, more videos and more training insights. You got it! Thanks for visiting and keep the feedback coming.

Greg

PS: As our group grows in order to help more athletes, our limited resources are strained. If you enjoy reading the blogs, watching the videos and following the group, we'd love to welcome you as part of our extended family. Your donation has a direct impact on the athletes. If you or your company would like to sponsor our group, just let me know.

It's July 19th at 10PM and I should be asleep but I'm not. I'm still reeling from today. Saturdays are our long run days and today was a particularly fine one. We ran our old standby A-1 Mountain Road and several of the new athletes had very good runs. They are starting to get acclimated to the altitude and are all excited for the upcoming year with the expanded group we have. The marathon group also ran particularly well and are building steadily toward the fall. But before we even got to the start of the long run, I received the call I had hoped for. It was Lemon on the other end of the line. He was calling from France where he just raced a PR the night prior to let me know he had been selected for the UK Olympic Team. What a thrill! We are so proud of Lemon. He deserves it. Good luck in Beijing!

Speaking of a Beijing-bound athlete, I also received a text from our other Olympian, Martin Fagan, who had flown to Dublin to run the Irish National Championships. Though in the middle of marathon training, he won handily in less than ideal conditions, even letting someone else lead (which hardly ever happens with Martin). The goal was to win as easily as possible as to limit the disruption in his Olympic preparation and that mission was accomplished. He'll do one more training run/race before Beijing and I look forward to heading to Japan in a couple of weeks to help him with his final marathon prep for the Games.

We are also excited to have our latest athlete arrive in town. Giliat Ghebray arrived last night and it's great to see him again. We've been excited for his arrival since his recruiting visit three weeks ago. Giliat is a great person and also fast runner (13:42 for 5,000m) and he's a great addition to our track-focused group. Welcome Giliat.

He's pumped and we're pumped and now I must hit the hay. Angus likes to wake between 3 and 4AM so I better get some precious sleep before then.

There's a buzz growing in our group. Something is in the air. Stay tuned as we work toward continued success in year 2.

G-Mc

PS: If you have a kilt, wear it tomorrow to celebrate Lemon's success. The Celtic Festival is going on in Flagstaff right now so I may just go and get one myself!

A driving force behind the resurgence of US distance running is the New York Road Runners Club. Period. While they don't publicize it often, they give several grants each year to US post-collegiate groups. Their support plays a key role in helping our runners advance to the top of the podium. We are one group that they have helped this year and without it, we could not provide the key injury prevention plan for our athletes. Extremely grateful is not a strong enough statement to express how they are directly helping our athletes. And, you can be part of it too (and get to run the 2008 ING New York City Marathon and enjoy some VIP perks as well).

Here are the details from NYRRC:

The New York Road Runners Champion’s Circle is an initiative by NYRR to support U.S. post-collegiate and Olympic Development training groups around the country. Your $2500 donation is directed to fund long-term development of professional USA distance runners to prepare them to compete successfully in domestic and international competition. This donation entitles you to guaranteed entry into the ING New York City Marathon 2008. For more information, please visit http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/about/champs.php

If you love the sport and are looking for a way to make a direct and profound impact on our emerging elite athletes, please take part in this program. And, please pass the word along to your running friends. The more money raised, the more help for the athletes. And that, my friends, is what it's all about.

Greg

Things just keep getting better and better. I am very excited to announce some new members of our group:

1) Giliat Ghebray is a huge talent from the University of California. He's run 4:02 for the mile, 7:56 for 3,000m and 13:42 for 5,000m. He'll be arriving in Flagstaff in mid-July.

2) Ian Burrell is a 3-time All-American, 2-time SEC Champion and 13:45 5K runner while at the University of Georgia. As a native of Colorado Springs, Ian is excited to resume training at altitude. Ian and his fiance, Courtney, arrived in Flagstaff tonight (6/30/08) and will be getting married in August.

3) Matt Clark is an All-American at 10,000m, ACC 10,000m Champion and 10,000m record-holder while at Clemson. Matt has run 13:57 for 5,000m and 28:49 for 10,000m and is eager to continue his rise in the sport with us here in Flagstaff.

On the women's side, we welcome:

1) Paige Higgins: US 25K National Champion (already in Flagstaff and training hard),

2) Becky Guyette: 3-time Big West Champion (arriving in a week or two), and

3) Lindsay Allen: Stanford Steeple record holder (4th at NCAAs and arriving in early August).

Stay tuned for more athlete announcements as McMillanElite heads into Year 2 with a full head of steam!

Things are hopping. We've added two more female athletes to our roster - welcome Paige and Becky! (We'll have photos and bios up for them as soon as Middle returns from his honeymoon.) Lemon is doing well and looking forward to more European races. Martin is in full swing getting ready for the Olympics and Trent is finding his stride as we head into summer. Bri is back to full training after her break post-Trials and Michelle will now take her break and then return to join the women for our summer/fall campaign. Brett, Jordan and Hanlon headed to the Jim Bush Meet in LA and came away with 2 PRs. We knew it would be a time trial and it was. I'm proud of them for working together, taking turns leading, and for Brett and Jordan to come away with PRs.

Fasil, James and Andrew – Models for Emerging Elite Runners

I like Fasil Bizuneh (who lives here in Flagstaff). I like James Carney (who trains in Boulder). And, I like Andrew Carlson (who trains in Minneapolis). Not only are they nice guys, they are also great models for emerging elite athletes like the ones in our group. First, none of these guys were superstars in college. They were good but none stood out. Their 10,000m times were 28:46, 28:48 and 28:56 for Fasil, James and Andrew, respectively. Good times for sure but, each knew he could be great, not just good. He just needed to do the work and post-collegiate programs were the ticket.

In 2003 after finishing their collegiate eligibility, Fasil and James joined the Big Sur Distance Project (a post-collegiate program coached by legendary coach Bob Sevene), each spending three years doing the work. Andrew joined the Team USA Minnesota post-collegiate group after graduating in 2005 and has been doing the work there ever since.

Today, some 3-5 years later, they are great. They are always contenders in every race they run. Fasil, now 28 years old, is consistently in the top 5 at National Championships and lowered his 10,000m PR to 27:50 this year. James, now 30, is our 2008 National Half-Marathon Champion and ran 27:43 for 10,000m last year. And Andrew, now 25, is our 2008 15K National Champion and has run 13:32 for 5,000m. Was it a straight line up to the top? No way. There were lots of good races and lots of bad races.

Each runner, however, shows the path for emerging elite athletes. This path involves a few years of doing the work and building toward the future with the inevitable good seasons and bad seasons that characterize athletes trying to be the best. It’s just the way it is for emerging elite runners; expecting otherwise is ignorant. Sure, if you’re a superstar in college, you can make a fairly quick transition to racing to win national championships and other high profile events the first year out of college. You’re likely to also have a six-figure endorsement deal so finances aren’t a concern. Not so for the emerging elite runner. Life often involves a part-time job and time spent doing the work as the skills are developed to compete on the national level.

As James says in the July/August issue of Running Times magazine, “I like to think I give hope to guys who come out of college and don’t have super-fast PRs. You’ve got to have perseverance, and if you stick to it long enough, you can have success.” You do give hope, James. You and Fasil and Andrew point the way for our runners. It will take some time, and part of this time will be tough. However, if young runners stay in the sport, if young runners put in the 2-3 years of training after college and if they continue to believe in themselves even when they aren’t yet the best, the results will come and we will have yet another crop of former emerging elite athletes like our role models who are now at the top of the heap.

Lemoncello in Hengelo

Big congratulations to Lemon on his opening steeplechase of 2008 at Hengelo, Netherlands. His previous best opening steeple was 8:34 and we thought something in the low 8:30s would be a great start to his track season. But, his workouts are really going well as we now enter the track training and we are very happy with the 8:28 opening race (just 5 seconds off his PR). This bodes very well for the rest of the season which we hope will culminate at the Olympic Games in August.

PR's

Just a quick note to say congrats to the athletes setting new PRs. Brianna set new PRs at 10K and half-marathon in her preparation for the Olympic Marathon Trials where she set a new PR in the marathon. Jordan ran a PR in the 1500m, Lemon ran a PR in the half-marathon and Brett ran a PR in the 10,000m. Things haven’t all been rosy, of course. We’ve certainly had our failures but hope to make the necessary changes in training and racing over the next few months so that every athlete sets a new PR and takes a small step forward as we head into year 2 of the program.

2 Down 2 to Go

Part of the master plan for the young runners in our program (the Cooper House guys) has been to spend the fall and winter working on strength and exposing them to longer distances on the roads. Maybe it was unfair of me to put them in every US road championships, taking on longer distances than each had ever run and going up against seasoned pros but I felt the experiences would help them down the line.

As of yesterday, two of them (Brett and Middle) completed the first leg of their journey – the last road race before track season. Brett has been amazing. He has had the most consistent training of everyone and his consistency in performance matches this. He carried the banner for our team with his top-10 finishes in each road race he did. I’m very proud of him for his hard work and openness to racing frequently and against the nation’s best. It would not surprise me to find him consistently in the top 5 next year and with a national championship in the near future. He’s that good and with another year of training and this year’s race experiences, he’ll be ready to not run at the back of the lead pack but to be aggressive and take his shot at victory.

Middle’s 15K performance was very important. While it wasn’t spectacular, it was solid and we needed that. After a great start to the fall with an 11th place finish at the US 20K champs and a good prep for his marathon debut at hot and humid Chicago (where I stopped him at 20 miles), we’ve struggled. I’ve not been able to fully dial in Middle’s training so we’ve had more than our share of downs. I’m hopeful I can do a better job of matching the training to his strengths and weaknesses as well as the demands and limitations of his event (10,000m). The 15K provides some positive momentum and I’m hopeful we can build on that. Training is not always cut and dry. It requires lots of tweaking but we’ll work together to dial it in.

Next up on the road race scene will be Jordan and Hanlon in the US 8K Champs and what a race that should be. The field is absolutely loaded and it should be a great event as every NYRRC event is. For these two young runners, our goal is simple – a positive race. Both are having great workouts so they are ready to run fast, it’s just a matter of smart pacing and being competitive with themselves and their competitors in the final 3K. Then, that will complete their road racing experience and we’ll get ready for track, which will begin on the 21st of March.

A Week in the Life - Mike Hanlon
March 3, 2008

Hanlon is on fire. After more than his share of rough weeks of training and racing, it seems he has finally hit his stride. It is so satisfying to see a young athlete face tough challenges, work hard and then overcome these challenges. That is certainly what Mike has done. He’s not only worked hard in his run training but he’s made the most gains in several other areas, particularly his core. Now, he’s itching for a good race and I suspect one is on the way. One thing about Mike, he’s one tough runner and a tough runner will always have success. It’s just a matter of time (think Brian Sell).

Mike’s training is nearly a mirror image of Brett’s, which I described last week. He does a leg speed workout early in the week then a stamina (lactate threshold) workout late in the week. His volume (and long run) are back to his college levels as we approach track season. He’ll race a road 8K on the 15th of March then we’ll begin track season where he’ll venture into uncharted territory, the 10,000m.

A Week in the Life – Brett Gotcher

Brett completed his base phase in the fall and his strength phase in the winter. Now, we are in the stamina (lactate threshold) phase prior to beginning race-specific training during track season. Most weeks in this phase involve some sort of light pace workout (10K pace work) or a leg speed session on Tuesdays then a stamina (lactate threshold) workout on Friday (with some light strides on Thursday). Sunday's long run is now only 90 minutes but we include some faster surges (ala Bill Squires) or a fast finish (ala Gabriele Rosa) to begin to introduce a bit more transitional running prior to the track training beginning.

While we increased his mileage by 10-25% in the fall, we are now back to the 80-90 miles per week that he ran in college. The plan is to each year inch up the mileage with some periods of a large increase (10-25%) and other times with a small increase (or no increase) so that his average weekly mileage increases by ~10% a year for the next 4-5 years.

Brett continues to respond very well to the training and his race performances have been consistently good since the fall (with the notable exception of the US Cross Country Championships last month where we mistimed our drop down from altitude for the race).

What I've learned from our conversations and from watching him train is that he responds very well to the stamina work. Armed with this information, we'll include a bit more stamina training in his track phase as compared with more of a speedster like Jordan who will have more anaerobic work in his track phase. Since we've only been working together for ~8 months, we are working closely to dial in the training that best fits his strengths and weaknesses and builds toward the future. This is the fun part of our group. Year one is filled with a lot of feedback as we determine the best pattern of training that produces the best results and also builds him into the athlete he wants to be in the future. As I've said before, we won't sacrifice the long-term for the short-term but with our open and honest communication, we are having good results now AND have an eye on the ultimate prize in the coming years.

Prescribed Performance Suppression

It may sound strange but there are times in each athlete’s career where he or she must sacrifice current performance ability for long-term benefits. This certainly was the case for our young runners this past fall. In a long-range program like ours – taking young runners straight out of college and developing them into 2012 Olympians – we are open to periods of each year where we compromise race performance in order to acclimate to certain types of training as well as to build specific components of fitness.

Our first example of prescribed performance suppression was this fall, our first training cycle as a new team. For the young runners coming out of college, our goal was to build their aerobic systems (specifically the capillary beds, mitochondria and aerobic threshold) and condition the musculoskeletal systems (muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones) in order to handle more volume as we advance each year. This base building went beyond just laying a foundation for success in this initial training cycle in 2008. It was designed to set the athletes up for 2009, which will set them up for 2010, etc. For most of the athletes that meant 10-25% more mileage than they averaged in college. Naturally, this increase in volume required lower intensity than usual and resulted in higher residual fatigue. Both of these effects meant that while the athletes were healthy and “pleasantly fatigued” from the training, racing was a little compromised. There was always a little residual fatigue in the muscles and the legs lacked that zip that we all like as we get ready to race.

This period of performance suppression ended with the Houston Half-Marathon and the athletes will now slightly reduce their volume as we begin to enter more race-specific training. Following Lydiard’s principles, we’ll do some hill training and some longer intervals before we get to track season. I appreciate that hard work the team has done and for them tolerating a bit of extra fatigue which slightly reduced their performance ability. I hope to pay them back by setting them up to race fast this spring.

The Fagan Flash

In July, I received an email from Martin Fagan, the talented Irishman who had just ended his successful collegiate career at Providence College. He was interested in working together as he entered the next phase of his running career. We set up a call, he in Belgium racing in some European meets and me in Flagstaff getting ready to start our group. I could hear in his voice his desire to be great. I could tell that he was ready to “step it up” and make the running lifestyle his everyday lifestyle. My instincts were correct. Martin Fagan is the real deal. He works hard. He does the little things that elite runners must do and I’m honored that he has faith in me.

As you probably read, Martin had troubles in the 6 weeks leading into his marathon debut in Dubai. He went through hell, mentally and physically, as we had to constantly change plans, hopes rising and falling and rising again. While this tough period would have destroyed most runners, Martin held firm to his goal – the 2008 Olympics. He was flexible and we found ways around his predicament. He used the experiences to become a better person and a better athlete – now even better equipped to handle adversity.

I am so proud of Martin. He put in the work and it paid off. He is now an Olympian – something very, very few humans will ever become. He’s a good role model for our team. He’s a good role model for young runners and he continues to mature as a professional runner as he deals with the increased media attention that comes from being the first Irish Olympic marathoner since 1992!

I shook his hand and looked him right in the eyes as I left Portugal to return to the US before his trip to Dubai. It was 3AM and I normally wouldn’t wake him but I wanted to see it. I wanted to see that resolve that all champions have. It was there as I knew it would be and I flew home to Flagstaff knowing that he’d get his Olympic qualifier, knowing that he was taking a step up in the pecking order, knowing that the man was on his way. Congrats Martin. You certainly earned it.

A Week in the Life – Brett Gotcher

Brett completed his base phase in the fall and his strength phase in the winter. Now, we are in the stamina (lactate threshold) phase prior to beginning race-specific training during track season. Most weeks in this phase involve some sort of light pace workout (10K pace work) or a leg speed session on Tuesdays then a stamina (lactate threshold) workout on Friday (with some light strides on Thursday). Sunday's long run is now only 90 minutes but we include some faster surges (ala Bill Squires) or a fast finish (ala Gabriele Rosa) to begin to introduce a bit more transitional running prior to the track training beginning.

While we increased his mileage by 10-25% in the fall, we are now back to the 80-90 miles per week that he ran in college. The plan is to each year inch up the mileage with some periods of a large increase (10-25%) and other times with a small increase (or no increase) so that his average weekly mileage increases by ~10% a year for the next 4-5 years.

Brett continues to respond very well to the training and his race performances have been consistently good since the fall (with the notable exception of the US Cross Country Championships last month where we mistimed our drop down from altitude for the race).

What I've learned from our conversations and from watching him train is that he responds very well to the stamina work. Armed with this information, we'll include a bit more stamina training in his track phase as compared with more of a speedster like Jordan who will have more anaerobic work in his track phase. Since we've only been working together for ~8 months, we are working closely to dial in the training that best fits his strengths and weaknesses and builds toward the future. This is the fun part of our group. Year one is filled with a lot of feedback as we determine the best pattern of training that produces the best results and also builds him into the athlete he wants to be in the future. As I've said before, we won't sacrifice the long-term for the short-term but with our open and honest communication, we are having good results now AND have an eye on the ultimate prize in the coming years.

Wow in ’07 and Hope in ‘08

2007 was a banner year for my wife and I. Our goal for the last few years has been to give back to the sport I love so much. In 2007, we began our labor of love - McMillanElite.

We wanted to create something that helped young people striving to fulfill their potential. We wanted something that honored the runners that have received training programs through McMillanRunning.com. We wanted something that would “pay it forward” and “pay it backward” – something that provided benefit to others who would then go on to provide benefit to even more others and also something that honored those that supported us as we worked to define our roles in life, namely our parents, families, friends, coaches, teachers and mentors. We wanted to complete the circle of giving, helping and loving.

The McMillanElite team is the result and 2007 was its birth. “McMillan” is used to honor all the runners that have used the services offered at McMillanRunning.com. They provided the financial resources that got the team started. “Elite” is used not to signify the fastest or the fittest but to signify the pursuit of excellence – your excellence, my excellence, their excellence. To be elite means to be your best and to do the thing that you do well to the utmost of your ability.

Once in a while, a new project is greater than the sum of the parts. McMillanElite certainly is. It is something more than just a group of runners. It is a team, a family.

2008 is a big year. It’s an Olympic year. It’s the first full year of McMillanElite. We are excited for 2008. We are hopeful of continued good performances and development of the young people who’ve entrusted their development to us. We are hopeful that we can continue the athletes’ pursuit of excellence and provide opportunities for more emerging elite runners. We are also hopeful that we can provide opportunities for others who love the sport like we do to get involved in supporting the McMillanElite athletes. And in the end, we are hopeful that we will simply keep putting one foot in front of the other, moving closer and closer to our goals, just as every runner across the world hopes to do this year.

Happy New Year

Greg & Tracy McMillan

A Week in the Life – Brianna Torres

Brianna is completing her base phase. As I described in an earlier coach’s blog, our team uses the Lydiard base phase and Brianna has now completed 12 weeks of base training, exactly what we wanted. With this base established, she is now ready to transition to the hill phase (also described in an earlier blog) before we begin the marathon phase for the Olympic Trials in April.

Bri is making great strides forward and every week we get a glimpse into her new fitness level. She’s running more consistently than ever and she’s built her mileage to the upper 70s, low 80s. This will make it easy to get to 90-100 miles per week (our goal for this training cycle) in the marathon phase just with the addition of a few more double runs and some longer workouts/long runs. We’ll also get a better idea of her base fitness with upcoming races like the Houston Half-Marathon. This will provide the starting point for our pace build up for the Trials. We need to make a couple of big jumps in pace before the Trials and we have good momentum for these jumps.

A Week in the Life – Brianna Torres

Brianna is completing her base phase. As I described in an earlier coach’s blog, our team uses the Lydiard base phase and Brianna has now completed 12 weeks of base training, exactly what we wanted. With this base established, she is now ready to transition to the hill phase (also described in an earlier blog) before we begin the marathon phase for the Olympic Trials in April.

Bri is making great strides forward and every week we get a glimpse into her new fitness level. She’s running more consistently than ever and she’s built her mileage to the upper 70s, low 80s. This will make it easy to get to 90-100 miles per week (our goal for this training cycle) in the marathon phase just with the addition of a few more double runs and some longer workouts/long runs. We’ll also get a better idea of her base fitness with upcoming races like the Houston Half-Marathon. This will provide the starting point for our pace build up for the Trials. We need to make a couple of big jumps in pace before the Trials and we have good momentum for these jumps.

Pure Fun

If you haven’t attended or competed in a USATF Club Cross Country Championships, make a note to get to Spokane, WA next December. This event is just pure fun. Saturday was my second Club XC Champs and like last year, it was cross country at its best.

Snow had fallen the prior few days and with 4-5 inches of snow covering the course, we jogged what we could make out as the route on Friday. The athletes then spiked up and did a few strides. Running on a snow-packed XC course would have been fun (see Canadian XC champs on Flocasts). The forecast, however, called for rain that night and the next day. If that happened, no more packed snow. Welcome sloppy, slippery mud. Sure enough, it rained that night and when we showed up to the course all had changed. No more snow, just mud. And with 3 races before Bri’s race and 4 races before the men’s race, the course was sure to be a glorious mess.

Like many runners, my first love in running was high school cross country. There is nothing like competing on a cross country team. There is nothing like racing as hard as you can over uneven, twisting, turning terrain through trees and over ravines in the rain or snow or mud or sand or hills or even in perfect running conditions (though preferable not in perfect running conditions). It’s fun to race for place instead of pace. It’s fun when doing your best is the bottom line and doing your best isn’t just for yourself but also for your teammates. That’s XC and this annual championship is our chance to do just that. With divisions for all adult age groups, it’s truly a once in a year opportunity to have some fun.

Our first Club XC as a new team was very successful. We put an athlete in the top 10 (Brett) and set ourselves up for an individual champion in the near future. Hanlon showed that if it comes down to toughness, he’s your man. Middle showed that he’ll always do his best even if his coach fries him in a workout before a big race. Jordan showed that no matter how fit you are, if you can’t find firm footing, you’ll have a tough day at the office on a course like this one. And Bri showed that even if she’s asked to race a 6K race in the middle of training for a 42K race, she’s on board. I’m so proud of each of them and can’t wait till we can field full teams next year.

Short-term Racing, Long-term Goals

As we head into a big race week for our group, it’s hard not to get ahead of ourselves.  We want to win NOW.  Our athletes are uber-talented.  The training is going well and despite the fact that we only started this team a mere 5 months ago, we feel ready to take on the world. 

It would be easy to forgo our long-term goals and focus on short-term races like this weekend’s US Club XC Championships, but we won’t.  We know our best races are coming in 2-4 years so we’ll keep to the path. We’ll keep building the runners day by day, week by week and month by month.  We’ll exhibit the patience that produces long distance running success.

We want it badly this weekend and will certainly go for it.  But, no matter how we perform, we’ll be happy knowing that we did our best. We’ll take pride in the work we’ve done thus far and enjoy the knowledge that we are building toward super-success in the coming months and years.  In running, it’s very easy to get ahead of yourself.  We won’t and hope you don’t either this winter.

The Altitude Advantage
Over the last 30 years, we learned that when a human being is born and raised at altitude, does lots of aerobic running throughout his or her youth, begins serious training in the late teens and early 20s, and has a high motivation (often to achieve a new socioeconomic status), he or she can achieve outstanding performances in distance running. This is what we think when we look at east Africans, isn’t it?

Ryan Hall’s performance in the Olympic Marathon Trials on November 3rd was and will continue to be an inspiration to all of us in distance running. But, it shouldn’t be seen as something out of the ordinary given what I said in the first paragraph.  Ryan simply fits the mold of what has produced the greatest distance runners of our time.  He was born and raised at altitude. His father used the Lydiard system with lots of aerobic development when Ryan was in high school and now he is part of our most successful post-collegiate program (Team Running USA) with good coaching and support.  And maybe most importantly, he has high motivation to use running to honor his gifts in life.  What we saw on November 3rd and hopefully will continue to see in Beijing and beyond is simply the result of the same pattern we’ve seen over the years – namely that altitude plays a large part in the success of long distance runners.

Most of us were not born at altitude but it is Coach Joe Vigil’s contention (and he knows a thing or two about running and altitude training) that by getting to altitude and laying the groundwork of lots of smart miles, the US distance runner can ‘catch up’.  We’ve seen it with Deena and we’ve seen it with others as well.  I believe this to be true and that’s why our team is based at 7,000 feet. That’s why we focus on aerobic development.  That’s why we keep the motivation high and know that with a few years of proper development, we will compete with the best in the world.  

Scientists can argue all they want about whether ‘altitude works’ but any runner who has trained at altitude and then raced at sea level knows that altitude provides an advantage.  For those of us committed to helping US distance running, it is an exciting time.  We’ve never had so many of our best distance runners living and training at altitude. We’ve never had so many of our best distance runners putting in the miles.  And it appears that we are on pace to have more distance runners performing at the highest levels by the time 2012 rolls around.  

The McMillanElite athletes hope to contribute to this resurgence in US distance running by using the altitude advantage here in Flagstaff. 

Racing Recap

Martin 2nd at Manchester Road Race
Anyone who says Martin Fagan isn’t tough will get a firm poke in the eye from me!  Martin is in fabulous shape but became very, very ill as he headed to Connecticut for the Manchester Road Race. He spent three days in bed and his first run of the week was a sluggish 30-minute run the day before the race.  And, despite feeling like “shite”, he put his best effort forward and was just nipped at the line by former champ, Andrew Letherby.  At 100% health, I’m confident that Martin would have run away with the race but that’s running.  We’ll just have to wait till next year. Next up for Martin is the European Cross Country Championships in Spain on 8 December – a tough race usually won by a tough man.  Let’s hope it’s Martin.

Brianna and Lemon Win
Using Phoenix races as workouts, Brianna and Lemon put in good efforts in different races (Bri in a 10-miler and Lemon in a 10K) both with the same results – a win and food. Brianna’s take was a pie and Lemon’s was a turkey.  Sounds like another Thanksgiving dinner is in the works!

Brett just off 5K PR in Seagate Elite 5K

Short-term Racing, Long-term Goals

As we head into a big race week for our group, it’s hard not to get ahead of ourselves.  We want to win NOW.  Our athletes are uber-talented.  The training is going well and despite the fact that we only started this team a mere 5 months ago, we feel ready to take on the world. 

It would be easy to forgo our long-term goals and focus on short-term races like this weekend’s US Club XC Championships, but we won’t.  We know our best races are coming in 2-4 years so we’ll keep to the path. We’ll keep building the runners day by day, week by week and month by month.  We’ll exhibit the patience that produces long distance running success.

We want it badly this weekend and will certainly go for it.  But, no matter how we perform, we’ll be happy knowing that we did our best. We’ll take pride in the work we’ve done thus far and enjoy the knowledge that we are building toward super-success in the coming months and years.  In running, it’s very easy to get ahead of yourself.  We won’t and hope you don’t either this winter.

Open to Change
As runners, we like a firm schedule. We like a guideline to follow.  We like formulae and equations and calculators.  As much as we say we don’t like things written in stone, we actually do. There is comfort in a set program.  Coaches are the same way.  We like routine. It makes things easy. Just follow this schedule and voila you’re a champion.  We like the rule, not the exception to the rule.

But, every athlete and every coach MUST be open to change from the usual program.  We must be ready to take an alternate route to achieve the goal.  A good example is Mike Hanlon.  Mike has struggled with the weekly steady state run.  He didn’t do any training of this nature in college and this workout has become his nemesis.  It would be easy to just throw in the towel and give up or to keep trying the same thing and expecting different results.  Instead, we adapt. We are open to change. We find an alternate route.

In Mike’s case, we simply broke the steady state run into intervals. Instead of one continuous run of 10 miles, we started by doing 5 x 2 miles with 1.5 minutes recovery jog and now progressed to 3 x 3 miles with 2 minutes recovery jog.  We are still getting the same amount of running at his aerobic threshold.  And instead of struggling with the workout, he is now excelling. This builds his confidence and puts us back on track for our goals.  It’s just another way to the same end result. All runners and coaches must be open to this.  I’m certainly trying to be.

Speaking of goals, it’s probably a good time to talk about 2008.  The majority of our team is focused on the track for the next one to three years (will vary based on the athlete). We aim to improve each athlete’s track times.  Some will focus on the 1500m/5000m and others the 5000m/10000m.  The exceptions are Bri Torres who is preparing for the Olympic Marathon Trials in April, Martin Fagan who will debut in the marathon in 2008 but who may still run some track and Mike Smith who just competed in the Olympic Marathon Trails though like Martin, he may run some track this year. 

Our long-term goals are the marathon in 2012 but we are a track-focused group for right now and are very excited about the potential for significant improvements in track times as we get to the spring.  Most collegians still have significant room for improvement in track times and our goal is to maximize this improvement.

A Week in the Life –Mike Hanlon

Respecting Your Immune System

Our trip to NYC last week accomplished several of our goals – 1) to expose the athletes to an Olympic Marathon Trials in anticipation of their Trials in 2012, 2) to expose the athletes to a big city marathon like the NYC Marathon and 3) to meet with our main sponsor, adidas, so they could put faces to names.

In addition to these positives, there were several negative stressors mainly that there was more stress – from travel, the altered sleep/rest cycle and Ryan’s death as well as more exposure to germs – on the airplane and throughout our visit to a city of millions.   Many of us were a bit under the weather from the trip, which brings up an important point for every distance runner.

We know a fair amount about the immune system, how it works and what strengthens it and what weakens it.  As an athlete, you must respect your immune system and recognize when it is compromised. When life stressors increase, you must add additional rest, more immune support and be prepared to seek medical care when necessary.

While you may be able to will yourself through workouts, you just can’t bull your way through a weakened immune system.  Illness can cut short great training progress so just like warding off injury, you must be alert to situations where your immune system is weakened. Our trip to NYC was one of these situations. You may experience this when life stress--whether from work or family obligations--seem to overwhelm you. 

When high stress, exposure to germs, and other immune system suppressors present themselves, make sure to respect this and alter your training (more easy running, less hard running) and life (more sleep, better nutrition) to balance the stress. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and for a runner this is vitally important. We took it pretty easy the week following our trip and it was definitely the smart thing to do. This decision will benefit us greatly as we head into a winter of travel and racing where our immune systems could be compromised. We’ll work hard to respect this stress and keep our immune systems strong.  As winter weather approaches, we hope you can do the same.

A Week in the Life – Brett Gotcher

Brett completed his base phase in the third week of October.  He spent 11 weeks building his aerobic system with lots of easy miles and a gradually increasing long run (reaching 20 miles by the end of the base phase).  He worked on his leg speed once per week and increased his aerobic threshold pace by a whopping 15 seconds per mile through the weekly steady state workout.  He also showed great racing performance with his 6th place finish at the US 10-Mile Championships - a performance that was achieved without anaerobic or speed work but rather through a proper base training program.  The bottom line is that any talented post-collegiate runner that executes the base phase like Brett did can expect great results. One key is to run slowly on the daily runs so as to avoid injury and burn out.

With the base established, we now turn to hill training, as we want to build leg strength, learn Brett’s best uphill running technique and also his best downhill running technique.  And, like Arthur Lydiard’s hill circuit, we want to continue our neuromuscular development through the use of strides after each uphill and downhill.

Our hill circuit utilizes Lydiard’s principles and is a figure eight loop at Buffalo Park.  The total loop is 5K (whereas Arthur’s loop was 2 miles) and we shoot for 3 or 4 loops depending on how the athlete is feeling.  Our hill is ~600m long and is a moderate slope (~6%). The athletes run strongly up the hill using good technique.  They don’t stop at the top of the hill but run strongly over the crest of the hill to the entrance to Buffalo Park.  Once at the top, the athletes alternate easy jogging for 100-300m with a 100-200m stride.  On the upper loop, they complete 5 strides before heading back down the hill.  The strides are performed at a strong but controlled pace. 

After the top loop of strides is complete, the athletes run fast but under control down the same hill.  We ask the athletes to play with their technique until each finds his best downhill technique.  The fast downhill running improves the athlete’s leg turnover and strengthens the quads.  Once back at the bottom, the athletes continue the loop with one more stride at the bottom before heading on the next loop up the hill.  Since the loop takes 17-19 minutes on average, the total workout provides a good volume of running. 

Brett will continue the weekly hill circuit for a few more weeks and he’ll also continue the steady state run during this phase as well.  He will race twice in this phase and we are hopeful that he will continue to have positive race results to match his positive training results.

Denial and Grief
I was ready for this Trials to be over before it began.  I was excited to watch the much-anticipated event that would be select our 2008 Olympic Men’s Marathon Team but was also eager to see Mike Smith get healthy and happy. Things were going as planned as Mike completed half of the race and then dropped out so as not to cause permanent damage.  He achieved the goal of the 2008 Trials, which was to qualify. Now, we can work on his 2012 goal of making the Team.

The race, too, was all it was hyped to be. It was simply a masterful display of American marathoning – a return to our history of fast times, depth of runners and athletes who can actually be a factor in the Beijing Olympics.  Our entire team (save Mike Hanlon & Martin who had obligations in Flagstaff) was on hand.  We were having a blast. That is until a phone call suggested that our friend and training partner, Ryan Shay, had collapsed and was taken to the hospital.  When suggested that it may be serious, I brushed it off.  I assumed it was a hamstring problem or something treatable. 

As I entered the finish tent, I saw a coach of one of our new Olympians. I congratulated him but he was stone-faced.  He asked if I heard about Ryan going to the hospital and I said yes. He said he heard Ryan died. I didn’t believe him.  The suggestion was so far out of my reality that I brushed it off as a crazy rumor on marathon day.  As I finally met up with my wife and Mike Smith, she gave me the unconfirmed news that he had in fact died.  I didn’t believe her.  I was in denial.  Soon, confirmation came.  We were all in shock not knowing what to do.

No one is equipped to handle a situation like this, especially when we were supposed to be having such a great time - celebrating the accomplishment of so many athletes.  Since that moment and even as I type this on the plane heading back to Flagstaff, I, like everyone else on this team and everyone involved with US distance running, have bounced from denial to grief and back again.  I suspect this will continue for quite some time.

Our collective loss, you, I and all of running, is beyond comprehension.  The loss to our running community is immediate and profound. But the greatest loss and my greatest sadness is for Alicia, Ryan’s new wife.  Her loss is unimaginable.  My eyes swell with tears and my heart aches thinking of what she is going through.  Our running community is small and we will work together to help her through this. I hope you will join us as well with your thoughts and prayers.

A Week in the Life – Andrew “Middle” Middleton

Middle has now joined our Track group and will begin the hill circuit phase that contains hill work on Tuesday and a Steady State run on Friday.  Long runs continue to be on Sunday.  This week, however, was adjusted due to our trip to New York.  We moved the Steady State to Wednesday (so we could do it on our normal course) and instead of hills, we did strides in Central Park.  Next week, it’s back to the normal routine except for a few athletes who will be racing in Phoenix.

One Tough Job

Since I don’t get paid to coach this team, I shouldn’t say “job” but I do put heart and soul into the athletes. This week has been particularly difficult for me. More times than not, I felt at a loss for words or at least the right words. I’ll be a parent this coming winter so maybe this is helping me get ready.

I think every coach/parent struggles to know what is best to do or say when their athlete/child is suffering. Obviously, you want to end the suffering but sometimes there is simply nothing you can do. That is our situation heading into the Olympic Trials. Things are not good and there is no sign that they will improve. The athlete is suffering – physically and mentally - and there is nothing I can do. I try to help but feel I fail. I can’t change the situation but can only offer support and ways to deal with the disappointment. I’m just not sure I’m doing a good job with this.

I won’t give up, however. I’ll keep trying but I just wish I were more optimistic that I’ll have good advice and helpful answers to the very difficult questions that this situation involves. Time was/is the solution but we didn’t have time. We had the Olympic Trials – a race that comes around only once every 4 years. We’ll just have to get to Sunday and then this tough time will be over. We will be able to move on to blue skies and better times. I trust we’ll learn from this but I do not enjoy the feeling of inadequacy at helping an athlete in pain. Tough job indeed.

A Week in the Life – Brianna Torres
Brianna is in her build-up phase for the Olympic Marathon Trials in April. With the injury in June, we are gradually yet steadily building her base mileage back up to the 90-100 miles per week she will run in the marathon phase. This will take another two to three months to achieve. As with all athletes in the base phase, Bri performs a leg speed workout once per week to work on body posture, proper foot plant and development of the neuromuscular system. She also performs a weekly steady state run to improve her aerobic threshold – slightly faster than marathon race pace.

A Time of Transition
I can’t believe October is nearly over. I can’t believe that a year ago, Mike Smith was the only athlete here.  I can’t believe how much this team has come together.  There is talk of ‘chemistry’ in teams.  Coaches try to figure out how to achieve it but the more you are around running, the more you realize that team chemistry is rare.  Somehow, someway, it has happened here.  This team has great chemistry and seems to truly enjoy being around one another.  I can only think of what next year will be like.

Our Training
Training has turned into a three-ring circus around here.  Middle finished his marathon prep but (thankfully) not the marathon.  Now, he’s moving to the Track Trials group.  Most of the Track Trials group moves from the base phase to a hill phase. (Except for Lemon who will stay in the base phase a bit longer as his track season will occur later than the others.)  Bri continues her base build-up toward the women’s Marathon Trials in April and Martin moves from the base phase to a short hill phase in anticipation of his winter racing goals.  Jordan Horn arrives this weekend and will start his base phase.

And lastly, we are on the final stages of piecing together Mike Smith’s training for the Trials.  Hats off to him for hanging in there. I know he is hurting more physically and mentally than he lets on. He never wants to bring anyone else down or burden anyone with his problems.  He wears a smile despite the disappointment. All Trials participants have heavy expectation whether you have a shot at the Team or not.  Friends, family, the local paper and random strangers all show up to the Trials waiting and watching and hoping.  Athletes always feel a heavy burden and put more pressure on themselves than their friends and families know.  They don’t want to disappoint and feel that anything less than the perfect race, a top placing or a PR will suffice. This, of course, isn’t true but that’s how the athletes feel.  So, we, as their friends, family and fans, must be aware of this as 3 November draws near.  There are only 3 spots available for the Olympic Team. Most athletes will have a disappointing race.  That’s how these things go. I’ve been to several marathon Trials and most athletes are unhappy after the race.  They feel a heavy responsibility to themselves and to others. It’s our job to keep their perspective straight. We must celebrate their accomplishment. Competing in an Olympic Trials is such a rare and privileged accomplishment. It is something to be celebrated no matter the results on 3 November.  One of our mantras is that trying to be the best you can is a noble endeavor no matter the outcome.  Over 100 athletes will toe the line in New York and my hat is tipped to all of them for trying to be the best they can be. We should all follow their lead. 

A Week in the Life
Friends tell me that they want to know more about our training. I’ve tried to provide some insight in previous blogs but thought a ‘Week in the Life’ section may help in understanding what we are doing. Since we’re just finishing the base phase with our Track Trials group. I thought I would provide an actual week of training to see how we do it. This week comes straight from Brett Gotcher’s log.  This week is representative of 90% of the weeks in his base program, which, per Arthur Lydiard, has lasted 12 weeks.  CAUTION: Don’t try this at home. Brett had a gradual progression to this level of running.  We didn’t just jump in and start running this much. We gradually built to it.  He ran 85-90 miles per week in college so this amount of running is just the next step in his advancement.  We also run easy on the easy days and nearly all of our running is on a soft surface in good shoes. 

Thoughts on Martin Fagan

There are a few immutable laws and one is that it is always good to have an Irishman around. It is no surprise then that we were excited to have Martin move to Flagstaff and work out with our team. He was successful as an Irish junior runner. He was successful as a collegian at Providence College and now he has his sights set on being a successful professional runner. Anytime you have a talented athlete that has worked with a great coach like Ray Tracey at Providence, you are set up for success in the years following college. We are working to build on what Martin has done before as we move into new events.
One attribute that is key to his success is that Martin simply loves to run. He seems to always be smiling and is always up for a run. He’s a fierce competitor, a natural front runner and an athlete that is very coachable – rare for many successful male distance runners. And that combination of traits, my friends, is why you should keep your eye on Martin. Me thinks good things are to come in 2008.

Our Training & Racing

Delayed fitness. It almost seems counter-intuitive but the key to being a champion distance runner is NOT getting as fit as fast as you can. It is timing your peak fitness to match up with when you need to run fast. Peaking on time is the key to success and this is what I learned from Arthur Lydiard – the master of peaking.
Here’s an example of why this concept is important. There is a very, very good runner who comes to Flagstaff for training several times per year. In 2007, a year where the World Track & Field Championships were the numero uno goal for any professional runner, this athlete mistimed his peak. From February thru April (nearly 5 months before the World Championships and 2.5 months before our Trials to determine the World team), he had a string of stellar races – winning a national championship on the roads and running exceptionally fast on the track. He achieved peak fitness. By the time the US Champs rolled around in late June – his time to make the World Team, he was toast. He got too fit too fast. He needed to delay his fitness so as to be ready to compete when it mattered. Instead, he trained as hard as he could and got as fit as he could – at the wrong time of the year. He failed to make the world team and missed a great opportunity to hone his skills in international championships competition.
With a group of super talented runners like I work with here in Flag, it would be very easy to get too fit too fast. And this is the greatest risk in our group. That’s why we are careful to control ourselves in training. We are careful to control the rate of fitness improvement so that we are always pointing toward peak fitness in our goal races. Running is not like football where you give it the ol’ 110% on every run. In running, you give 80% consistently over 4-5 years. This is the path to success – always has been, always will be. Control your training. Build the body and its energy systems in the correct order and at the correct rate. This will lead to peak performance when it matters. That’s our goal. Wish us luck.

Our Training & Racing
This is the first blog where I get to report on our racing so I'll focus on the races instead of the training. If you've been following along, you know that this past weekend was our first big race weekend with Brett Gotcher and Mike Hanlon heading to Twin Cities to compete in the US 10-mile Championships, Martin Fagan heading to Boston to run the BAA Half-Marathon and Andrew Middleton heading to the always cool, crisp air of Chicago for his first marathon.

As most everyone knows by now, Chicago did not provide the cool, crisp air we are used to but instead endured oppressive heat and humidity on marathon morning. We knew it was going to be hot but just never expected it to be that hot. I am so proud of Middle for the work he did to get ready for the marathon. His training was nearly flawless and he was ready for a great day. The weather, however, had other plans. And despite the fact that until two months ago he had always lived and trained and raced in hot/humid Texas, it is simply not possible to run fast in those conditions and in my opinion, it can actually be detrimental to an athlete's career to race a hot/humid marathon. With the Olympics and World Championships being the exception, I won't subject an athlete in this program to a marathon in the kind of conditions that occurred on Sunday. That said, it is no surprise that we stopped Middle (though he did not take any convincing) at 21 miles. Even then, he was toast and it is truly heart-breaking to see someone that you care so much about suffering like he did in that heat. As always, he didn't complain. He simply endured the long walk to the subway and the train ride back to the hotel where he could finally cool off. He'll recover over the next few days and then we'll get back to work on our next goals. Being a smart runner means knowing when to say when and we are okay with that.

(I do feel it is important to say that the conditions in Chicago and how the race ended up are in no way a reflection on the Chicago Marathon staff. I have heard runners complaining about the race but the race did absolutely everything it could to help the runners. They, like all of us, can't control the weather but took every reasonable precaution to protect the runners.)

While Middle was getting ready before the marathon, Martin was starting his race in Boston. We knew Martin was fit but he's only done base training so we didn't know what performance to expect. The BAA Half is a great race but the course is fairly demanding. Most elite runners we talked with run a minute or two slower on that course than on a flat course. With four very, very good Kenyans in the field, our p