This column is an insight from one the country's most successful coaches and team mangers to give an insight into the work that goes on behind the scenes.
Dealing with top athletes on a day to day basis and getting the most out of the individual and the group, at both training sessions and race day. 'Every second counts' is applicable to every athlete running and whether you're doing a long run on a Sunday or at home eating dinner it can all have an impact on your performance come race day, but what is that like for the people behind the athlete who devise the training plans and try to squeeze every last second out.
In this column we will give you the thoughts of a coach/manager who deals with athletes daily to try and get the best out of them at the right time.
published on
Some love it, some loathe, some simply tolerate it. Cross-country running is certainly an acquired taste and some people never really acquire it. The older generation like nothing better than to remininisce about the good old days when the English cross-country championship was run over nine miles .. Read More
published on
Not if, but when..that tends to be the view of most people when the subject of a two-hour marathon is raised, prompted by Patrick Makau's remarkable 2.03.38 in Berlin. But one thing is for sure - that all logic says it will not happen for a very long time. Consider the facts. Makau averaged .. Read More
published on
Athletics coaches - in fact coaches in any sport - should improve as the years go by and if they don't there is something seriously wrong with their approach. A new young coach is, or should be, hugely enthusiastic and he or she can be very successful, but the benefit of experience is invalu .. Read More
published on
Training for athletics, as everybody knows, involved far more than sessions. After all, few runners do hard sessions more than three days a week and while they usually do a long run as well, that still leaves three days. So what about them? For a while I found that saying "easy" or "steady" for a r .. Read More
published on
Coaching a cricketer, a golfer or - in athletics - an event like the pole-vault or the high-jump can often be largely a matter of technique. In many ways that applies to coaching a sprinter, too. But middle and long-distance running it is a very different thing. Of course technique matte .. Read More