.

Austin Texas, Track & Field lives here!

.

Sport as we know it, Track & Field distance running in particular is changing. Humans, or some earlier version thereof, have been on earth for approximately 5 million years. There are over 7 billion people currently on the planet, and we are now in the 21rst century, the “information age”. Thus, it should be a surprise to no one at this point in human history that someone has gathered the available information across all major science disciplines to combine it and apply it.

.

.

TheETG Mission

Expand the area of what is possible in track & field distance running and competent self-care in medicine and psychology.

— TheETG Breaks world records at 800m, 1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m.

— TheETG Proliferates applied sport sciences based training information.

— TheETG Promotes growth in attendance of major USA Track & Field meets.

— TheETG Proliferates applied science based information in Competent Self-Care in medicine and psychology.

.

“….the idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it.” —–[Seth Godin]

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies, all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new.” —–[Machiavelli]

“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”—–[anon]

.

TheETG Business model —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGBusinessModel.pdf

TheETG Track & Field Promotions Project —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGTrackPromotionmasterofsport.pdf

TheETG “This Is Track & Field” document —– https://theetgtrackclub.com/documents/TheETGThisIsTrack&Fieldmasterofsport.pdf

.

.

Achieving Goals

If at first you don’t succeed…..don’t try, try again. Approach the achievement of goals as problem solving situations. If at first you don’t succeed, figure it out and get it done.

Its best to avoid approaching the achievement of one’s goals in a whilly-nilly fashion. Creating some degree of controlability is a good thing, and not something to be avoided. Much of human performance is not about finding out if you can do it, but about learning how to get it done.

Hopes and dreams are just hopes and dreams until you;

1 — learn how to achieve them

2 — grant yourself permission to aggressively implement what you’ve learned.

As you continue to acquire and apply more information, you continue to expand the area of what is possible for you to achieve.

There are no set backs or side treks, there are only experiences along the path to where you choose to go.

Goals are experiences that we would like to have. Focus on achieving the process that creates the desired experiences. Focus on task mastery, knowledge acquisition, personal improvement, and personal achievement of higher ability. Focus on improving oneself and one’s processes of pursuing personal growth. Focus on process rather than outcome.

“Self-image congruence” and its more popular description known as the comfort zone, is a major issue in sport and sport psychology in this century. When the goals one sets and pursues are beyond the self-image, thus outside the upper boundary of the comfort zone, some sort of sabotage of goal achievement is inevitable.

Do the work within yourself. In the pursuit of your goals, remove all potential self-created limitations from your path. Be aggressive. Create an unstoppable juggernaut. Think bigger. Explore your ability level [and encourage others to do the same].

Implement the process of purposely programming yourself with the beliefs, philosophy, values, and self-image that you want guiding your behavior patterns and determining your quality of life and sport performance.

–

Personal Power

The most powerful people in this world, are not those who have power over others, but those who have mastery over themselves. You are not your social status, your bank account, your grades, or your job title. You are, above all else…..Powerful. You are in this world;

— to discover that

— to grow into living it

— to overcome the distractions from it

— and to help others do the same.

Love is power. Self-love is the root of Personal Power. Show kindness and love to yourself and others by aggressively pursuing self-improvement as a way of life. Improving yourself provides more things about yourself for you to value and hold in high esteem…..producing a more powerful self-image and higher levels of mastery over self. Self-improvement is a process of improving one’s thoughts, choices, behaviors, and actions. You can never say that you love yourself while you are unwilling or resistant to change and improve yourself.

The purpose of life is not to see how many personal problems we can choose to deny or do nothing about, or to see how many limitations we can set or accept for ourselves. The purpose of life is to grow into living your personal power. Fill your life, not with the distractions of substances, things, or shallow relationships, but with the shameless pursuit of self-change, improvement, and growth.

The true source of abundant happiness, is not outside yourself, but within. All of your possessions in this world are within you. What you….choose…..to do with them, is what life is all about. The instruction to “Preach to all nations the message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”, is an instruction of Self-Change through the conscious, intentional, and aggressive pursuit of self-improvement.

“The universal human journey is one of becoming conscious of our power, and how to use that power.” [Carolyn Myss….Anatomy of The Spirit]

“The personal power that comes from principle-centered living is the power of a self-aware, knowledgeable, proactive individual, unrestricted by the attitudes, behaviors, and actions of others or by many of the circumstances and environmental influences that limit other people.” [Stephen Covey….7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, page 123]

“Not that I have already obtained, or am already perfected, but I pursue.” [Apostle Paul….Phillipians 3:12]

Your 5 Outlets Of Power

— What you are

— What you do

— What you say

— What you give

— What you pray

—————————————–

“Prosperity flows to those who can tap the genius within themselves.”

[anon]

—————————————–

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds”

[Albert Einstein]

—————————————–

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

[Albert Einstein]

—————————————–

“As we learn to abide by the laws of this creation, we learn how to use those laws to our own good…. As we use these talents, we learn how to work with, and eventually understand, the laws and overcome the limitations of this life.”

[Betty Eadie….Embraced By The Light]

—————————————–

“Society’s future depends on a citizenry that can think and reason creatively and deliberately; develop sound judgments of information, and understand and contend effectively with rapid and constant change.”

[1983 National Report On Education]

—————————————–

“As you become involved in continuing education, you increase your knowledge base and you increase your options.”

[Stephen Covey]

—————————————–

“Nothing is given automatically. Neither knowledge, nor self-confidence, nor inner-serenity, nor the right way to use your mind. Every value you need or want has to be discovered, learned, and acquired.”

[Ayn Rand]

.

.

Membership In TheETG

TheETG club membership is free and club members receive free coaching exclusively from club owner Marshall Burt [TheETG Packets are available to non-club members and coaches for free on the Packets page of TheETG website. The minimum age for membership is 14, there is no maximum. There are -no- qualifying times. Current or past performance level is never a criteria for club membership. TheETG is focused on developing American runners into elite level distance runners and moving the sport forward in the United States.

Please note that the club name is –not– the elite “racing” group. If your focus is on racing, racing, and more racing you’d be extremely unhappy in this club. The club’s focus is development of elite distance running performance rather than the all-too-typically American obsession with racing people into oblivion and running people out of our sport. Our objective is to avoid living up to the reputation American coaches [especially high school and college] have among those in the sport sciences world overseas, being referred to as “the great destroyers of talent”.

.

TheETG club members………

Founding club members are distance runners that were coached by TheETG club owner Marshall Burt directly or indirectly when they were in high school in northern Virginia. A few club members will be actively recruited into TheETG by club owner Marshall Burt.

American distance runners, male and female, can be considered for club membership…..TheETG Membership Application

.

.

TheETG Charter & Bylaws

TheETG Charter

The Elite Training Group track club uses the acronyms, ETG, and The ETG.

1 —– The Elite Training Group track club is a sole proprietorship owned by Marshall Burt. It was created in June 1990 by Marshall Burt and first registered as a National Club with USA Track & Field in March 1996. The ETG is headquarted in the city of Austin, in the state of Texas. The ETG is a group of professional and non-professional distance runners. The ETG logo is a trademark owned by Marshall Burt.

2 —– TheETG Mission is to; expand the area of what is possible for human performance in distance running, competent self-care [medicine, psychology], and parenting.

3 —– The official ETG logo is a trademark of The Elite Training Group track club.

.

TheETG Bylaws

An “ETG club member” is defined as a person who has met the criteria for membership and been accepted into the club as a member by ETG club owner Marshall Burt.

1 — The ETG track club will avoid major year to year changes to ETG race uniforms and t-shirts that impair track fan familiarity, recognizability, and stability of image.

2 — ETG club members will avoid wearing [during races] sunglasses or other items that impair recognizability.

3 — Promoting the sport -inside- the United States is difficult to achieve by competing -outside- the United States. We do not compete in track meets outside the United States other than World Cup, World Championships, Olympic Games, or other competitions with the U.S. national team, unless the meet is televised inside the United States…..on national television that airs between 9am and 11pm eastern time.

4 — ETG club members will avoid competing in Track & Field and/or road running events located above 1000 feet altitude. Exceptions are as follows —– USA Track & Field Championships — IAAF World Track & Field Championships — IAAF World Cup — Olympic Games — other competitions with the U.S. national team

5 — ETG club members will avoid joining any athlete union beyond the scope of the USA Track & Field Athlete Advisory Committee.

6 — ETG club members will adhere to the letter and intent of all provisions of ETG Endorsement services contracts.

7 — ETG club members will avoid endorsement of products containing alcohol, caffeine, ephedrine, or cortisone.

8 — ETG club members will keep to a minimum their use of agents and lawyers and put an emphasis on representing themselves in all personal endorsement contract negotiations and other personal business pursuits related to participation in the sport of Track & Field and/or road running.

9 — ETG club members will avoid ingesting, injecting, inhaling, or applying to skin any substance banned for use in the sport of Track & Field, substances collectively referred to by ETG club owner Marshall Burt as “Performance -Retarding- Drugs”.

10 — ETG club members will avoid use of methods and practices banned for use in the sport of Track & Field. Exceptions are as follows;……….Ingestion of normal, natural nutrition products such as milk and colostrum [some of the contents of which the World Anti-Doping Agency has labeled as banned substances]

.

 

 

.

TheETG Elite Coaching Support Group

.

[by Marshall Burt]

By the late 1980s, I was well convinced that world records were no where near the limits of human performance. I noticed a number of people setting records or winning medals at major championships, or performing at very high levels after down-time forced by illness or injury. Blind assertions by coaches, fans, and media that these people were training optimally and that their records could never be broken by the people that set them or anybody else seemed illogical to me. It soon became plain to me that neither athletes or coaches possessed much knowledge of human cellular function, and thus neither training or performance levels could be assumed to be either optimal or at the limits of human ability.

Following a one week trip to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 1988 where I attended the USA Track & Field’s Level II coaching education certificate course, I wrote a letter to all of the members of the USA Track & Field coaching education committee. The letter suggested that they focus on identifying the underlying mechanisms of performance of each track and field event, and then use that information to develop training programs to apply and teach. Only one person wrote back, basically saying it was a great idea……..somebody ought to do it.

It seemed plain that they weren’t intending to be the people to do it, so I decided at that time to begin pursing it [for distance events] on my own. The result of that effort is in the information contained in multiple sections of TheETG Training Packets [see that page of TheETG website].

Around that same time period I returned to Colorado Springs for the International Olympic Committee’s “First World Congress On Sport Science”. Got exposed to a wide variety of human performance research presented at the conference. Reinforced my belief that I needed to linkup in some way to great researchers and clinicians.

Around 1989, I began developing the “Elite Coaching Support Group” which consists of several researchers and clinicians [Jack Wilmore PhD, Ed Coyle PhD., Randa Ryan PhD, John Ivy PhD, Larry Abraham PhD, Marsha Beckermann R.D, Allan Besselink P.T. Dip.MDT, Dave Martin Ph.D, Ellen deJong PT] who’s work I believed would be the most helpful to me in identifying the underlying physiological mechanisms of performance, injury prevention, etc. There are people out there who are more than just “helpful”, in your knowledge acquisition. One major way to increase your access to information is to identify and locate some of those people. Around 1989, I began developing an “Elite Coaching Support Group” for myself, and I chose people…..

— (1) whose names I had come across fairly often while reading research

— (2) a few people who I knew personally and knew their knowledge would be necessary to acquire

— (3) and I chose researchers whose work was well beyond the norm in the area of sport sciences.

The researchers at the University of Texas had earned a nickname around the world as “the conglomerate”. Several of the top researchers in the world all in one place.

Several members of the University of Texas Women’s Athletics Performance Team [during 1980’s/90’s] formed by Randa Ryan PhD. have been a part of the group. At University Of Texas; Jack Wilmore PhD, Ed Coyle PhD., Randa Ryan PhD, John Ivy PhD, Larry Abraham PhD, Marsha Beckermann R.D.

All members of our ETG Elite Coaching Support Group have contributed to the development and future success of the Elite Training Group. Access to information is the foundation upon which the club and all its training programs have been built…..These people have collectively provided that access!

Jack Wilmore….Ph.D. Texas A&M University [prof. emeritus]Prior to moving to Texas A&M, Dr Wilmore was at Texas. Contributed immediately when I moved to Austin, allowing me to spend several hours a day with he and his PhD students in his laboratory. This dramatically accelerated my learning the basic information and terminology required to begin the process of developing a science based training program. Answered a large number of questions and provided information on Vo2 max, lactate threshold, and heat acclimation Most importantly…..he answered a question early on, related to sprint performance and creatine phosphate that eventually also helped lead to my focus on the 3 major mechanisms of performance [brain cell, nerve and muscle fiber recruitment, recruitment rate, recruitment duration] which our training program is now based.

Ed Coyle….Ph.D. University Of Texas at Austin Contributed by allowing me to spend a massive number of hours over the span of several years with he and his PhD students in the human performance laboratory. Answered a large number of questions, and provided huge volumes of information on training the development of mitochondria, training in the heat, fat metabolism, and muscle fiber recruitment. His information is responsible for the development of a large portion of our training program.

Randa Ryan….Ph.D. University Of Texas at Austin Contributed through her Masters degree thesis, which was perhaps the single greatest influence on the direction of the development of TheETG Training Program. Her work along with Ed Coyle’s influence, got me focused on mitochondrial development, the recruitment duration portion of the major mechanisms of performance. She also answered questions during her PhD work which helped in the development of our Sport Psychology protocols.

John Ivy….Ph.D. University Of Texas at Austin Contributed through his and his PhD students massive volume of work during the 1990’s on glucose transporters and glycogen storage. The information I gained from his work and his answers to questions, combined with info from David Martin, led to our understanding of the physiological effect of “long runs” in a training program, which in turn lead to the development of significant portions of TheETG Training Program.

Dave Martin….Ph.D., Georgia State University [prof. emeritus] Contributed by providing answers to my questions about glycogen storage that led to a major breakthrough in the area of the “mileage” question in our program. His help lead to my understanding of the physiological effect of “long runs” in a training program, which in turn lead to the development of significant portions of our training program.

Larry Abraham….Ph.D. University Of Texas at Austin Contributed through his research work with rehab patients. He also answered several questions I had that led directly to his understanding of the nervous system in a way that helped lead to my focusing on the 3 major, nervous system related, mechanisms of performance [brain cell, nerve and muscle fiber recruitment, recruitment rate, recruitment duration] which our training program is now based.

Ellen deJong….P.T.,Seaside Physical Therapy, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Contributed extensively to our strength training, injury rehab and prevention areas of our training program by educating me in the area of sports physical therapy during an informal internship I designed for myself at the Virginia Sportsmedicine Institute in Arlington, Virginia in the late 1980’s. I worked there for about 2 years. Ellen was one of (9) physical therapists and (4) orthopedic surgeons at the clinic at that time. I spent most of my educational time there, learning from her.

Allan Besselink….P.T. Dip.MDT, Smart Sport International, Austin Texas Contributes as the club’s Physical Therapist. Has provided information that led to the design of the club’s injury prevention and rehab protocols. Allan has been the ETG Physical Therapist since 1992 and is among the top Physical Therapists in the world. Born and raised in Brockville, Ontario, Canada, he moved to Austin, Texas in 1990 and is now a U.S. citizen. Physical Therapist for the United States Track and Field team at the World Cup Of Track & Field, World Championship for Half-Marathon, World Cup Race-Walk, event staff for the Olympic Games, U.S. Olympic Trials, USA Track and Field Championships, and the World Junior Track and Field Championships. Coached world ranked triathletes, duathletes, World Champion masters runners, author of the book..”RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”. Allan Besselink is one of about 500 Physical Therapists, Doctors, and Chiropractors in the -world- to have not just certification but the diploma in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy [a.k.a. McKenzie Method] from the McKenzie Institute International. Self-employed physical therapist, college instructor, and a globally recognized thought leader in the physical therapy community. Allan wrote the book titled…..”RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Pain Free Running”. A 2011 audio interview with Allan Besselink by PT Talker Business News & Ideas For Therapists

Marsha Beckermann……University Of Texas at Austin Contributes as the club’s Sport Nutritionist. Has provided information and evaluations that lead to the design of the club’s sport nutrition protocols, one of the foundations of our training system. Provided an abundance of information from her very unique combination of being a dietitian who lives on a farm, who managed one of the country’s largest collegiate athletic dinning facilities. Provides knowledge on food production, processing, preparation, and consumption. The former “Food Coach” for the University of Texas Athletics programs for 15 years, and a sport nutrition consultant for numerous professional and amateur athletes across many sports from NFL football players to world class track & field athletes.

Meeting ETG Sport Nutritionist, Marsha Beckermann……One of my numerous part-time jobs within my first few months in Austin, was working at a dining hall on the Univ of Texas campus that was for athletes only. At the time, Marsha was the assistant manager. I saw an ad for a job there and applied, so I first met Marsha during the interview. Aside from her managerial work, she also worked as a nutrition consultant to the athletes across all sports. Marsha lived [still does] on a farm, so her extensive knowledge of all things food, her hardcore Texan common sense, and her years of working with high level athletes in a setting that fed everyday, 300 at lunch and about 200 at dinner time, naturally led to lengthy conversations about the science of Sport Nutrition. That obviously led to her becoming the ETG Sport Nutritionist.

.

Meeting ETG Physio Therapist, Allan Besselink……One of my closest friends in Austin for the last quarter-century. First met Allan at one of my lectures in 1991 at a nationally known running store in Austin called RunTex. That led to a tradition of having Sunday dinner at his house almost every Sunday for nearly a decade. We attended just about every USA Track & Field Convention together through the decade of the 1990’s. A proud Canadian born and raised in tiny town Brockville, Ontario, he arrived in Austin about a year before I did, attracted by the live music scene and home of Stevie Ray Vaughn. Now a U.S. citizen, Allan is a world famous thought leader in his profession as a physical therapist.

Allan has been the Physical Therapist for the United States Track and Field team at the World Cup Of Track & Field, World Championship for Half-Marathon, World Cup Race-Walk, event staff for the Olympic Games, U.S. Olympic Trials, USA Track and Field Championships, and the World Junior Track and Field Championships.

He has also coached world ranked triathletes, duathletes, World Champion masters runners, and is author of the book….”RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”.

.

.

TheETG Human Performance Library

.

by Marshall Burt

Access to information and the ability to apply it is the major mechanism of success in human performance in track & field, in medicine, in health and wellness. As you continue to acquire and apply more information you continue to expand the area of what is possible. The purpose of TheETG Human Performance Library has been, and continues to be, to acquire, combine, and apply research information from all major areas of sport sciences.

In the late 1980’s prior to moving to Austin, I started with just following 3 or 4 journals that were published quarterly [4 issues per year]. Reading these journals caused me to discover how far behind I was both in knowledge, and in my belief system on certain subject matters. After moving to Austin, I was able to dramatically expand the list of journals I followed [moving from 4, up to 60], in having access to 4 libraries on the University Of Texas campus.

Around 1991, I started reading back issues of all the journals on my list, starting with 1987 issues. I did so because I wanted to get a 5 year review of the research, which would help me get caught up. Due to the number of journals on my list, this reading project took 2 years to complete, spending from 2 – 6 hours per day in the libraries on the University Of Texas campus. Today TheETG Human Performance library consists of approximately 30 research journals across 8-10 doctoral disciplines.

“In God we trust. Everyone else must bring data.”—[W.Edwards Deming]

TheETG Human Performance Library…….

Medical Journals……Journal Of The American Medical Association, New England Journal Of Medicine, Lancet, Nature Medicine

Sports Medicine……Journal Of Sport Rehabilitation, Journal Of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, American Journal Of Sports Medicine, International Journal Of Sports Physical Therapy

Brain…..Brain Research, Brain Research Bulletin, Nature Neuroscience

Sport Psychology…..Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Journal Of Sport & Exercise Psychology, Psychology of Sport & Exercise, Journal of Sport Behavior, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, The Sport Psychologist, Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, Journal of Sex Research,

Mind-Body Medicine…..Brain Behavior & Immunity, Nature Immunology, Immunology, Journal Of Psychosomatic Research, Psychoneuroendocrinology, Psychosomatic Medicine

Sport Biomechanics…..Sports Biomechanics, Journal Of Applied Biomechanics

Sport Law…..State Bar Of Texas Entertainment and Sports Law Journal, Entertainment & Sports Lawyer, Sports Law Reporter, Journal Of The Legal Aspects Of Sport, Marquette Sport Law Review, Sports Lawyer Journal, Villanova Sports & Entertainment Law Journal, Texas Bar Journal

Advertising, Media, etc…..Journal Of Advertising, Journal Of Advertising Research, Journal Of Consumer Marketing, Journal Of Services Marketing, Journal Of Organizational Behavior, Journal Of Sport Management, Sports Management Review, Journal Of Broadcasting & Electronic Media

Sport Business…… Journal Of Sports Economics, Sports Marketing Quarterly

Nutrition…..International Journal Of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, Journal Of Applied Nutrition, Nutrition Reviews, American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition, Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition

Physiology…….Journal Of Applied Physiology, American Journal Of Physiology, European Journal Of Applied Physiology, Canadian Journal Of Applied Physiology, Exercise & Sport Sciences Reviews, International Journal Of Sports Medicine, Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise, Journal Of Sport Sciences, European Journal Of Sport Sciences, Scandinavian Journal Of Medicine & Science In Sport, Journal Of Strength & Conditioning Research, Research Quarterly For Exercise & Sport, Journal Of Sports Medicine & Physical Fitness, British Journal Of Sports Medicine, Sports Medicine, Journal of Sport Sciences & Medicine, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance

.

To be a good track coach one must -first- be a good physiologist.

To be a good medical doctor one must -first- be a good physiologist.

To be a good physiologist one must -first- be willing to…..

— put data ahead of dogma

— put science ahead of indoctrinated tradition

— put logic and reason ahead of faulty assumptions

— put mechanisms ahead of correlations and “risk factors”

— put critical thinking and clinical reasoning ahead of a memorized set of “if–then” statement

— aggressively keep up with, read, and apply large amounts of published research

— accept outcomes as the judge and jury of your work

.

 

.

TheETG Book, Video, and Movie list

.

The items on the ETG Book, Video, and Movie list are a part of our Human Psychology & Cerebral Training Program. Anyone seeking to enter the club by way of TheETG Membership Application process is required to demonstrate some degree of applied knowledge of each item on these lists.

.

ETG Book List

1– What To Say When You Talk To Yourself —- [Shad Helmstetter]

2– Choices —– [Shad Helmstetter]

3– 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People —- [Stephen Covey]

4– Life Strategies —– [Phil McGraw]

.

ETG Video List

1 ——- Bradshaw On Homecoming

https://www.johnbradshaw.com/new-products/bradshaw-on-homecoming-reclaiming-championing-your-inner-child-pbs-10-hour-inner-child-workshop-cd

https://www.johnbradshaw.com

.

2 ——- Kung Fu [1970’s……Kung Fu: The Complete Series Collection]

http://www.amazon.com/Kung-Fu-Complete-Series-Collection/dp/B000X07TLA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346255253&sr=8-1&keywords=Kung+Fu%3A+The+Complete+Collection

.

ETG Movie List

1– The Breakfast Club

2– Dead Poets Society

3– Good Will Hunting

4– The Secret