Indoor Track

I know it has been forever since I've posted anything.  With track season ending in June I knew I wouldn't post as much but I never imagined just stopping.  Then this Fall, I had some life changing things happen in my life that made things even worse.  However, I am back on track now (no pun intended), and things are looking up.  Coach Hansen cliche festival.  Anyway, I'll try and be a little better. 

These last few weeks we have been preparing our athletes for the indoor track season.  We are also working on the indoor schedule.  We have a few staples, Ohio Wesleyan, Marietta College, Mt Union, and possibly Bowling Green.  Then Akron for state indoor.  There are a few other colleges we are looking at to mix things up.

The real reason I wanted to talk about indoor track is because of the recruiting.  This is an excellent chance for track athletes from ANY size school to get noticed.  Because Indoor Track isn't sanctioned for high school athletes, all schools will compete against each other regardless of size.  In other words, D3 athletes will be racing against D1 and D2 athletes.  So if you are coming from a small school and racing against kids from bigger schools and do well in doing so, then college recruiters, scouts, and coaches can take notice.  All indoor results are posted online and can be viewed by anyone else.  One good race and you might be receiving some letters from schools. 

My favorite story from indoor track season happened last season.  It was the first or second indoor meet of our season.  I bumped into a coach from a college that we had sent an athlete to the year before.  However, he was there for another sport besides track.  I was telling the coach that he should look at the kid that was up there because he was also a solid track athlete.  I found out that this coach was down to watch a certain athlete they were recruiting.  Ironically, one of my athletes was racing against him.  I mentioned that to the coach and told him to keep an eye on him. 

When the race was over and my athlete from a D3 school beat the athlete he was recruiting from a D2 school, the coach just handed me a business card and asked me to give it to my guy. 
  

Words From Track Kids 2

I think the punishment for missing practice, should be eating burritos filled with bugs.

Coach, can I skip practice on Wednesdays? I'm in D and D club.

Why would I want to run anything over a 400? I don't want to die.

Terry Bradshaw

Mental Strength

So much is made of raw speed and power in track and field events. But there is not a single event that does not require some mental capability.

For example, the strategy that goes on in races 800m and above is intense. And it takes a lot of thought and preparation. During practices the day before meets, we simulate the race for our distance runners. Placing them on different spots on the track and letting them know what should be going on in their heads during certain times of the race. We know our opponents and how they like to approach a race. So if someone we are running against is an out and front runner, we'll make sure our team knows that. Or if someone sits back and kicks at the 300 or 200 mark, we'll remind our team of that too.

We even do this for sprinters and hurdlers. We do this for them a little less often, because strategy isn't quite as important. But we still encourage them to visualize the race in their head and making sure they always finish first.

Its so important to know your opponents, prepare, and have that mental strength to outlast who you are racing against. It's what makes good runners, into great runners.

Things to do:

1. Use the restroom well before your events. Athletes are horrible about this. It's one less thing to worry about.

2. Eat and stay hydrated, especially on hot days. High school athletes sometimes have poor nutrition. Bananas, yogurt, Graham crackers, bagels, are all great snacks for a meet. As well as having water or a sports drink around. Nutrition is a huge topic though. I encourage people to test what works best for them.

3. Meditation. I'm not talking about sitting cross legged and humming. I'm talking about finding a quiet place before your race where you can relax, close your eyes and visualize your race.

4. Take a few deep breathes right before your race. This allows you not to panic and focus on the task at hand.

Heroes

Boys Thoughts Before A Race

Follow-up to the Girls Thoughts.

Boys Thoughts Before A Race

1. How much is pizza?
2. I should not have drank that third Red Bull.
3. Oh well.
4. Have they had first call yet?
5. Maybe I should warm-up.
6. I wish we had uniforms like that team.
7. I wish I could listen to my iPod while running.
8. Second call!?!?
9. Ok well maybe a shortened warm-up today.
10. Dude. That guy looks freakin' fast.
11. What lane did Coach say I was in?
12. I guess I should pay attention to the official.
13. Third call. Let's do this.
14. How much was that pizza again?

Girls Thoughts Before A Race

1. What time is my race?
2. How many events away is it?
3. Did I take out my earrings?
4. Why can't I wear earrings?
5. Ok...I need to warm-up.
6. Why do I need to warm-up so much?
7. Shoot! I have to pee.
8. Do I have time to pee?
9. Where is Coach so I can ask him if I have time to pee?
10. Oh well. I'll go anyway.
11. I wish we had uniforms like that team.
12. Where are my spikes?
13. SECOND CALL?!?!? Oh crap.
14. WHERE ARE MY SPIKES?!?!
15. Whew.
16. Where do I check in?
17. Where is Coach?
18. AHHHHHHH!!!!
19. Ok, found the bullpen. I'm good.
20. Third call. Here we go.
21. Wait. What lane was I supposed to be in?

Win or Lose

Addiction

A lot of people in this world struggle with addiction. What matters though, is how you persevere and overcome it.

Athletics is no exception.

Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers is a former addict. Anybody who has heard of him is probably aware of his struggles. It was widely publicized on ESPN and the like. When he was drafted, he got his hands on a lot of money and fell into the wrong crowd. But soon Josh found himself to be a father and then he found Christ. Josh gave up drugs and alcohol but had been kicked out of MLB for failing drug tests.

But the Cincinnati Reds gave him a chance and they picked him up. After several seasons with the Reds and now the Rangers, Josh has become one of the best players in baseball. He is a regular All-Star and put in one of the best performances in the Homerun Derby ever.

I have a triathlon addiction. I love the sport. I love the challenge and the competition. But I also like hearing the stories.

Eddie Freas is another amazing story about overcoming addiction. In Eddie's case, it was heroin. Eddie was an avid druggy. But one day he saw a story on TV about a triathlete who was competing in Ironmans for Racing For Recovery. Eddie was instantly inspired and quickly joined the Racing For Recovery team. He got himself cleaned up. And while working 40 hours a week, he was also training 20-30 hours a week.

Eddie trained hard for his first half Ironman and competed in the Racing For Recovery Half Ironman in Michigan. While he said multiple times during the swim and bike he really struggled, and that he couldn't believe how hard it was to run after being on the bike, he never considered stopping. He fought through the pain and gave everything he had to finish, which he did, believing that maybe he too could save someone's life.

Now Eddie competes in Ironman races regularly and is still drug free.

Addiction can be a horrible thing. Please seek help, and choose your friends wisely. Don't become something you're not.

Get Spiked

During our district meet this year, we had some rain. So much rain in fact that they delayed the boys field events for a couple days because conditions were too poor. But even when the girls and boys were jumping, conditions were still slick.

The reason I tell you this, is because one of our high jumpers kept slipping each time they went to approach the bars. Fortunately we saw this problem during warm-ups. So I looked at their spikes and noticed they were all worn down and they were even missing a couple. I quickly replaced the spikes before high jump started.

This is a pretty obvious case. Having spikes in your shoes is going to help with traction and improve forward momentum. I was a little upset with my athlete because they were unaware of the poor condition of the spikes and didn't even think to check them since the ground was slick.

Spikes can help a runner, no matter what event they are doing. Throwers, especially discus, can utilize spikes just as much. While they might not be running, it still helps with traction while they are spinning. As I previously mentioned, the forward momentum improvement they can provide, makes them extremlly useful to runners, especially sprinters. And for runners who compete in events 800m and above, may consider cross country spikes, if they are legal.

You can see more about spikes and their importance here:
What Are Spikes For

Just Keep Running! Just Keep Running!

For Graduating Seniors

No matter what you do in life, make it your own. Never forget who you are and where you came from.

Congratulations and good luck!

It's A Hard Block Life

I've learned a lot about blocks over the years, some from my own previous experience and even more from coaching. You can read stuff online about feet placement on the blocks, angles of your legs and knees, block placement, height of our head and butt, etc. But what I can tell you is that a lot of that stuff goes out the window. Most of that stuff is actually recommendations of what has worked for the person writing it.

The first time I placed one of my athletes in blocks, I followed all of the recommended stuff I had found online. I made sure her feet were perfect, angles were as close as I could get them without using measuring tools, blah blah blah. But as soon as she came out of the blocks, it looked and felt so awkward for her.

Now blocks are extremely awkward to begin with. So we did it again and again and again. It never worked right for us. She said the placement of the blocks was just too far apart. We moved up her back block. When I had her get in the set position I was nervous. It didn't look right and her butt was too high. I was worried she would come out and fall flat on her face. But as soon as she busted out of those blocks, she flew. After a few minor changes of her few steps and some back and head placement, she was well on her way to beating everyone out of the blocks.

So what I learned from this, is the athlete has to do what works best for them. You can follow all the rules and guidelines you want, but it may not always work. Test your athletes in different placements. Move the blocks around. Try different angles of legs and blocks. You never know what will work for that particular athlete.

Good luck and go fast!

Track Personalities

I coached basketball for 4 years. Each kid I had was pretty similar, attitude and personality wise. They varied in skill level for sure, but all in all they acted the same. I had a bad apple or two in there, don't get me wrong. But even those kids would respond to things the same as the others.

Now that I've coached track for two seasons, I've really realized the personality differences. It could be that I coach boys and girls now rather than just boys, or maybe that it's on the varsity level whereas when I coached basketball it was 8th grade. I'm not really sure, but either way, track stars are their own breed.

So here we go. I give you the list of track and field personalities:

The Stars: You'll have alphas in nearly everything and track and field is no exception. They are the leaders, both athletically and vocally on your team. They are your captains.

The Assassins: Assassins are silent killers. They keep to themselves the majority of the time. They are very focused or a little shy (maybe both). These types are very common and successful in track.

The Coaches: Very common amongst jumpers and especially pole vaulters. They are always helping each other. They'll even give advice to their competition, which can result in setting themselves up to fail.

The Independant: Not to be confused with Assassins. They are similar to them however. They probably don't have the same focus and intensity as your assassins. Their work ethic varies greatly. They can be lazy or one of your hardest workers who spends time after practice working alone because they may not get along with their teammates.

The Teammate: Teammates are always cheering and rooting for their team. After their events are over, they might even be more excited to watch their teammates compete.

The Aggressors: These are your feisty and angry ones. Very common in your throwers. A lot of these can be on the football or wrestling teams as well. The majority of the time they are males, but I've seen several female Aggresors as well.

The Goofs: The goofs are the ones that are always cracking jokes and making others laugh. The good news is that they are always upbeat and positive. The bad news is that they may not always be the hardest workers. Although that isn't always the case. They may just want to be social while the practice or compete.

This is definitely not all the personalities in track, but it fits most. Eventually I'm going to write something on each personality and share experiences with each.

Love This

Excuses Excuses

Why do you do with a ridiculously talented athlete but he/she doesn't want to work for it? It seems like a pretty common issue nowadays.

My particular athlete is one of the best athletes on my team, but is extremely lazy. They have certain events that they specialize in, but as soon as you put them into something else, they walk across the finish line. At practice, they don't put everything into drills and try to shortcut everything. If I walk away and they think I'm not watching, they will come to a complete stop and lie to me about finishing whatever they were doing. During drills, I hear this person complain that it is helping and that it's pointless.

And now we are a week away from state and they are still shortcutting everything. This really bothers me. I hate to say this, but I know this person won't make it to state this year because of laziness.

So what do I do?

You can't rely on natural talent alone.

4x4 breakdown

I love putting together 4x4 teams. It's almost as fun as watching a 4x4 race. The reason why is because each leg has to have it's own personality. And it usually seems that way for every 4x4 relay team, or atleast close. So let's break down each leg and characteristics I look for.

1st Leg / The Starter: I like fitting seniors into this spot. Since the 1st leg is running in their lane with no cutdown, they need to have run a boat load of 400s. Getting into a lower lane works out, but if you end up in an outer lane, it's hard to tell the pace of the other runners until it's way too late. This person needs to be intelligent and experienced, which is why I look towards a senior. The person you add into this lane should also always be someone who strives to improve. They also need to be a bit of a cheerleader to push the others on.

2nd Leg / The Pacer: If you have a young runner, this is a good spot for them. Keep in mind, young does not mean weak or slow. I look at young as someone who will listen, learn, and someone who might just be inexperienced enough to not know any better. These are the ones that often surprise you in a relay because they might get a lead on a team they aren't supposed to be beating. They are too "dumb" to realize they shouldn't have a lead at this point. You never know what you are going to get. If you have an athlete who is willing to do anything, this is a great spot for them. They might not be the best 400 runner, but they are one of your best all-around athletes.

3rd Leg / The Finisher: This is my own personal favorite leg of the 4x4. This is a great spot for your best 800 runner. They know racing strategy already if they run 800s. I also like someone who is your most competitive person here. They are never content with their position. If they are in 2nd or worse, they will pull you up to the best of their abilities. If they are in first after the handoff, they will pull you out even farther. They are a fighter who has a fire in them. Possibly a sore loser as well.

4th Leg / The Punisher: Typically going to be your fastest leg, but most of the passing is done in the 2nd or 3rd leg. But you definitely want your best open 400 runner here. You'll want consistancy and a strider here. They can hold a lead that way. Biggest thing I look for is someone with mental discipline. That way they won't have a breakdown if someone pushes at a 200 mark. This also let's you know that if someone pulls along side your last leg, they aren't going to panic. They know to run their race.

Let's run track!

Or maybe not run track.

Words From Track Kids

Here's a few words of wisdom from some of athletes this season. I hope you learn something.

"My sweat does really not smell good."

"What was I thinking?" (said on the first day of practice.)

"I'm not blessed in speed. Im blessed in beauty."

Don't Give Up!

Words From Gandhi