I love fartleks because they develop the aerobic metabolism and they teach athletes to run by feel, which is much better than learning to run by a watch or GPS.
I love long runs because long runs develop the aerobic metabolism, long runs strengthen the mind and long runs improve the athlete’s ability to concentrate while uncomfortable.
I love progression runs for their simplicity. Start a run and speed up as the run progresses. That’s it – just keep speeding up as the run processes. After a successful progression run the athletes has greater confidence in their ability to speed up at the end of a race, to run faster when they’re extremely uncomfortable.
I love the 2k section of Marshall Road in south Boulder. With lines every 400m on the road we can do a variety of workouts. 3 x 400m with 400m float, then a short rest of, say, 2 minutes, then another set. Or 800m/400m/800m where the 800m are at a touch slower than threshold pace and the 400m is faster (often at a specific race pace that we are targeting…but often it’s just by feel). This stretch of road is about 5 seconds per 2k slow on the way out due to very slight incline, then about 5 seconds fast on the way back. I love going to Marshall, then heading back up to the track for some 1% grade hills at 1,500m pace or some work on the track.
I love ending a session with General Strength (GS) and Active Isolated Flexibility (AIF) because these elements help keep athletes healthy. A healthy athlete misses fewer training days, which leads to consistency in training. Consistency in training is one of the major keys to running faster. A runner with great consistency over a six month period almost always runs PRs.
I love coaching. It never feels like work. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy or always fun, but it never feels like a job.
What do you love?