January – June 2016
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[Thursday June 2, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
TheETG training program in a nutshell……Traditional training programs focus on training up muscle, red blood cells, heart and lung capacity. TheETG focuses primarily and almost solely on the brain, nervous system, and immune system. Traditional training programs call certain days “easy days” or “recovery days”. Those have all been stripped away, replaced simply by rest. In the area of periodization, traditional training programs progress over a period of months from slow mileage and hills, to some higher velocity training, then some “speed work” and so-called “peaking”, then several weeks off and loss of fitness. TheETG training program condenses the “base building” and all other workouts into a one month period of time with all the workouts, rest days, and break periods standardized rather than making-up stuff as we go, everything changing from one month to the next, from one season to the next, from one year to the next.
This makes the design of TheETG training program pretty simple. There are 5 standardized running workouts in the training program each month all year around. In addition there are several designated weights and stretching workouts. The all workouts are done all-year-around. They -don’t- come and go from the training program as is the norm with traditional training programs. All training is spread across the -first- 25 days of each month. From Day 26 to the final day of each month is a Break Period from any and all training.
TheETG velocity oriented “all interval training all the time” training program.
1 —– Base Building Mile’s Day= 3 x 1 mile with full recovery in between each. Fartlek run placed inside an interval workout done on an hills course with surges in pace up each mega-sized hill. Usually run on the 1rst day of each month. In terms of physiological training adaptations “altitude training” is more about hills that come with mountains than the air at altitude. This workout is TheETG training program’s velocity oriented, “all intervals all the time” replacement for what practitioners of traditional training programs call “altitude training” as well as a “long run”.
2 —– Base Building 800’s Day = 3 x 800m with full recovery between each. Usually run on the 7th day of each month. TheETG velocity oriented version of what is called a “tempo run” in a traditional training program. A moderate to fast pace run, done in interval form on the track.
3 —– Base Building 600’s Day = 3 x 600m with full recovery between each. Usually run on the 13th day of each month. TheETG velocity oriented version of what is called a “tempo run” in a traditional training program. A moderate to fast pace run, done in interval form on the track.
4 —– Base Building 400’s Day = 3 x 400m with full recovery between each. Usually run on the 19th day of each month. TheETG velocity oriented version of what is called a “tempo run” in a traditional training program. A moderate to fast pace run, done in interval form on the track.
5 —– TheETG Goal Pace workout = reps run at goal pace, cumulative reps add up to the race distance. Usually run on the 25th day of each month.
Looking back at the end of each month, TheETG’s velocity oriented “all interval training all the time” training program, including warmups, etc. averages about 5 to 10 miles per week rather than the 70 to 150 miles per week of a traditional, mileage oriented training program.
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[Sunday April 17, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Its been a decade or so since some in our sport, quite wisely in my view, started discussing the subject of making our World Track & Field Championships a stand-alone focus of the sport. Doing so by making a formal separation from the Olympic Games. Achieving this by limiting participation of Track & Field athletes in the Olympics to athletes under 20 or 22 years of age.
Perhaps the current issues with the Olympic Games is the universe telling us to get on with it.
Too expensive to host. Too expensive to attend. Ticket prices out of reach of the average citizen of the host country. Fewer country’s making serious bids. Expensive venues sitting idle after the Games are over. Now in Brazil….pollution, low ticket sales, Zika virus, impeachment of their country’s leadership.
In the last 50 years the Olympic Games has been a blessing and a curse for our sport. The world stage every 4 years was the blessing. The rules of amateurism and branding issues were the curse. And in the United States in the 1970s when the NFL, NBA, and Major League Baseball were reaching escape velocity via sport promotions, branding, and athlete pay, we in Track & Field were stuck with the Olympics as a ball-and-chain around our neck. Branded in the public’s mind as a once every 4 years sport. All narratives being that any athlete training must be training for “the Olympics”, in the process of being an “Olympic hopeful”. So attached to the Olympic Games were we that we didn’t even have a World Championship.
We have a World Track & Field Championships. Even the first one in 1983 was worthy of being branded as -the- best track meet on earth. At some point we’re probably gonna have to end our codependent relationship with the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Games. To be a stand-alone sport with a stand-alone championship. Maybe this is a good time to assert the World Championships, an event we control, to be the sole focus and stand-alone Championship at the top of our sport.
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[Friday March 4, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
A congrats to USA Track & Field for what’s about to happen over the next few weeks. The indoor USA Track & Field Championships followed by Portland’s hosting the indoor World Track & Field Championships on American soil. Quite outstanding!
The congrats on the USA Track & Field Championships I give somewhat sarcastically, related to indoor championship moving to Portland and away from Albuquerque. No offense intended to hosts in Albuquerque, New Mexico but going back 3 decades I’ve never been a fan of awarding any major championship in our sport to any city located at altitude. About 20 years ago I went so far as to write into TheETG bylaws that club members will avoid competing in track meets located above 1000 feet altitude.
Promotions and business wise our championships are everything. As a sport we should take reasonable steps with our championship meets to provide conditions for good performances across all events.
Hosting championships at altitude or awarding outdoor meets to places where its cold in June. These are things we should just say to the bidding and organizing committees at those locations…..sorry-not-sorry.
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[Saturday February 6, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Until earlier today the National High School Record for the indoor mile was held by fellow former northern Virginian, Allan Webb [3:59] set 15 years ago. Today at a meet in New York City yet another northern Virginian, Drew Hunter ran 3:58 to break the record.
Prior to graduating South Lakes high school, Reston Virginia Webb broke the outdoor record set by Jim Ryun in the 1960’s, running 3:53. After college, Webb went on to become the American Record Holder for the mile at 3:46.
In the history of the sport in America only 2 high schoolers have ever run under 4:00 for the mile indoors. As of today, the 2 fastest indoor high school milers in American history come from the northern quarter of Virginia.
And last Fall, both the cross-country National Champions, both the boys and the girls champion, were from northern Virginia [Drew Hunter & Weini Kelati].
Yet another example of Virginia’s 40 – 45 years of being overly represented in producing the nation’s top high school track athletes and coaches [and in producing folks that go on to become among the world’s top athletes and coaches].
To further highlight the point of the degree to which high school track in Virginia is overly represented at the top of our country, using the current national rankings so far this indoor track season;
— One or more boys from Virginia rank among the top 3 in the nation in the following events…..60m, 200m, 300m, 500m, 1000m, mile, 3000m, 55m hurdles, long jump
— One or more girls from Virginia rank among the top 3 in the nation in the following events…..300m, 500m, 1000m, mile, 3000m, 55m hurdles, long jump, triple jump
Its been like this for decade after decade.
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[Tuesday February 2, 2016] —– TheETG Press & Media Communication
Track underway in the new year, a belated congrats to Jama Aden on last year.
He arrived to get his masters degree at George Mason University, Fairfax Virginia shortly after I left as an undergrad in the early 1980’s. He coached by and with my college coach John Cook. In the late 1980’s while I was coaching in the area at the high school level they coached one of my former college teammates Abdi Bile to be the 1987 World Champion at 1500m.
In the 1990’s Jama moved with John Cook to Portland to help coach one of Nike’s distance runner development projects. After coach Cook “retired” to Florida, later coaching several of our country’s top distance runners [Leo Manzano to an Olympic Medal at 1500m, Shannon Rowbury to a world ranking at 1500m, Shalane Flanagan to an American Record at 10,000m, etc, etc], Jama went on to establish himself as one of the top track coaches in the world.
He has since coached several male distance runners to world rankings and world championship medals. Last summer likely the most successful season of his career. His top female athlete Genzebe Dibaba took down the world record for 1500m that stood for 22 years.
1500m is about a football field short of a mile. She ran 3:50, about 4:06 mile pace……demonstrating that we’ll eventually see a woman run under 4:00 for a mile during our life time.