The best resource for runners and running coaches
by Jay Johnson
I’m fortunate to be a part of this inaugural clinic. Here are the resources I referenced during my presentation.
Summer 2020 General Strength Progression: Explanation PDF and Exercises PDF.
YouTube Channel with all the videos referenced in the progression – click here.
Running Circuits videos – click here.
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And to purchase my book Consistency Is Key, click here.
If I can ever be helpful please email me at jay@coachjayjohnson.com.
by Jay Johnson
Tony Holler is the boy’s track coach at Plainfield North H.S. (IL). In 2018 Coach Holler’s team swept the sprints – 4x100m, 4x200m, 100m, 200m – at the IHSA State Meet, setting two state records. He’s been coaching high school athletes for 38 years.
Tony is the owner of “Feed the Cats,” a system for training sprinters that is being implemented throughout the United States by high school track coaches. He is also the co-owner of Track Football Consortium, a site where he not only writes on the topic of sprinting, but he’s also written articles on distance running, such as the profile of John O’Malley (episode 002), which you can read it here.
In this interview we go into detail about the elements Coach Holler uses with his sprinters that he believes distance coaches should be implementing. There are some specific questions, such as how he views someone like Peter Snell doing 20-mile long runs as part of middle distance training. He’s got a great answer to that question.
Tony and I discuss what needs to be done to improve track and field in the United States – a subject that may well deserve a follow-up episode.
If you are interested in purchasing Tony’s videos use this link to ensure that Tony gets the full royalty. (I’m not affiliated with Tony or Championship Producations)
Thank you, Tony, for your time and energy.
You can find Coach Holler on Twitter at @pntrack
by Jay Johnson
What follows is an excerpt from the Geek Out section of my book, Simple Marathon Training. Enjoy!
Use Imagery to Run Your Best Race
I strongly believe that runners need to use mental imagery to run to their potential on race day. Using imagery isn’t complicated. Find a quiet space and imagine yourself going through the race. A quiet spot and 3-10 minutes is all it takes. I used imagery on and off during my collegiate career. There is no doubt that my best two races (a 14:20 5k on Friday night, and a 8:20 3k on Saturday afternoon, at the Big XII Indoor conference championships) were the result, in some part, of the mental imagery I used to prepare for the race. There were countless races where I didn’t use imagery in the days leading up to the race, and, in retrospect, I think my performance suffered.
I recommend you start this process ten to fourteen days out from your marathon. Start with just 3 minutes a day, and as you get closer to the race, work your way up to roughly 10 minutes. As weird as it may sound, I find that sitting on the toilet in a bathroom is an ideal place to do this work. That said, don’t use the port-a-potty as your quiet space on race day, keeping your fellow runners waiting to take care of their important business. You won’t be very quiet, calm, or popular if you do.
The idea of mental imagery is to see yourself in the race: running the race and grooving the pace in the opening 20 miles, grabbing water and sports drinks with ease, taking a gel and having it go down easy, seeing runners pass you in the opening miles (runners who are going out too fast and will not doubt come back to you in the last 6.2 miles of the race), hearing the music at the start line, passing dozens of runners in the last 6.2 miles, and the crowd cheering at the first mile. You should be able to tune in to how your legs are going to feel, how your respiration will feel, and how your posture will feel. This all should feel good as you envision the first 20 miles. In the first few imagery sessions you want to envision everything going well. Once you’ve made this positive picture in your head, it’s time to envision things going wrong. See yourself going through a tough mile, or coming to a full stop at an aid station to get your water or sports drink. The key here is to envision something going wrong and then seeing yourself positively dealing with it.
Finally, what self-talk are you going to use in the final 6.2 miles of the marathon to help you grind out the last section? You can come up with your own version of Cindy Kuzma’s, “You do hard things.” The key is that you use imagery to hear yourself using positive self-talk to grind out the last 6.2 miles. Imagery is a powerful tool, so make sure to use it in the final ten days leading up to the marathon.
by Jay Johnson
What follows is an excerpt from the Geek Out section of my book, Simple Marathon Training. Enjoy!
Growth Mindset, by Travis Macy – Ultra Endurance Racer, Author of The Ultra Mindset
Years of experience as an athlete, teacher, and coach have taught me that a subtle distinction in mindset can lead to a significant difference in improved performance, health, and enjoyment in running.
I learned about growth mindset vs. fixed mindset when I read Carol Dweck’s excellent text, Mindset. The book made such an impact that I started teaching about it every week in my high school English classes. I subsequently wrote about the growth mindset as related to endurance training/racing and life in general in The Ultra Mindset: An Endurance Champion’s 8 Core Principles for Success in Business, Sports, and Life.
Someone with a growth mindset, simply put, focuses on getting better; one who adopts the opposite—the fixed mindset—focuses on being good. The difference is subtle, yet revolutionary. [Read more…]
by Jay Johnson
In Finish Your Marathon Strong: Part 1 I discussed how runners should execute race plans for distances from the 5k up to the marathon. What I didn’t talk about was the training needed to execute those race plans. Now, I’ll share what you need to do in training to run to your potential.
The original question asked was “How do I keep from bonking from 18-26.2 miles in the marathon?” Great question.
The first thing a marathoner needs to do is be honest about the race distance. It’s a long, difficult race. If you think that running long runs of just 16 miles is going to prepare you to run to your potential for 26.2 miles, you’re wrong. Yes, you can run a solid marathon with just a 16 mile long run, but you won’t run to your potential in the race.
I firmly believe that in a marathon cycle you need to run 18, 20 and at least one 22 mile long run. If you follow my 20 week plan, you will have ample time to build from an 8 or 10 mile long run to the 22 mile run (with several 18s and a couple of 20s as well). A staple workout for Kenyan marathoners is 38k, ending very fast. That’s 23.6 miles…ending very fast….
The long run teaches your body to utilize fat as a fuel source and the more efficient you become at this process, the better you can run those last 6-8 miles, just as the original runner asked.
But what about the role of the long run for shorter distances? What follows are the minimum distances needed to run well, followed by the ideal distances.
For the half marathon you need to be able to run at least a 10 mile long run in your preparation. But to be honest, that’s not nearly enough if you want to run a great race. If you really want to run a great half marathon, 13, 14, 15 and even 16 mile long runs should be your goal.
10k runners need to run at least 8 miles on their long run to race the distance well. But again, the serious 10k runner will shoot for a two hour long run, trying to get in several of those long runs in a training cycle.
The nice thing about training for a 5k is that you don’t need to commit to more than 90 minutes for your long run. …but you do need to commit 90 minutes to your long run. Anything less and you will fail to run to your potential.
If it makes you feel better, I ran the 5k in college (14:20 PR) and ran 20 miles every Sunday morning that I was healthy. The mentality on the run was easy for a mile, then I ran as hard as I could for the next 19. I have little patience for the 5k runner who says they want to PR, but can’t find time for a 90 minute run.
After you get in the long run each week, you need a solid aerobic workout. Fartleks are versatile and one of my favorite workouts. Threshold runs are obviously great. Aerobic repeats are just as they sound – repeats that don’t have you producing much lactate. An example would be 4 x 8 min at a challenging pace, with 3 min steady between. That’s 41 minutes of solid aerobic running.
The key for all the solid aerobic workouts is to run via minutes and not miles. This way, you know how much time you need to carve out of your work day to be able to do the run.
In the weeks leading up to the race you need to do some race pace work. The longer the race, the more work you do at that pace. You can do 5,000m of race pace work in 5k training, but after that you don’t need to do quite as much (though the 10k runner probably wants to do 8,000m of race pace work).
I’d like to end with the two components that most runners aren’t doing. You need to do strides on your easy days. They don’t have to be fast – 5 x 20-30 seconds at 5k pace, with 60-90 seconds of recovery jogging is all you need.
You also need to do core strength, hip strength and hip mobility. I have some good resources you can check out here and here. This spring I will be shooting new videos that will be great resources for you. Bottom line is you need to do this type of work every day that you run.
So there is your bare bones training plan. Focus on those elements and give yourself enough weeks to build up the long run.