Newest Technology Means Faster Performances?

The US Olympic trials are in full swing. I watched the swimming trials and aside from great competition, what caught my attention were comments regarding the new Speedo LZR swim suit. Supposedly, it provides 5% less drag in the water. Rowdy Gaines, 1984 Olympic Gold medalist, talked of the suit. He tried it on (said [...]

Getting Mentally Tough Does not Require High Altitude

Sometimes, you get the most interesting quotes and observations about sports psychology from non-psychologists or professional mental game coaches. In a Arizona Republic article on the Center for High Altitude Training in Flagstaff headed up by the legendary physiologist jack Daniels, a couple of key quotes probably overlooked by readers offer insights into performance improvement. 
Jack [...]

Distant Star Rupp to Get Sprint Training

The byline from Track & Field News: Oregon distance redshirt Galen Rupp intends to travel to Orlando this spring to work on power and accelereation under the tutelage of USATF High Performance coach Brooks Johnson. Former Stanford head Johnson, the ‘84 Olympic women’s coach, has long touted optimizing biomechanical efficiency as a cornerstone of training [...]

Aqua Running Beyond Rehab Conditioning

Here is an interesting inquiry sent to me as a follow-on to aqua jogging (or aqua running or deep water running):
I’ve just read your September 2007 Aqua Jogging posting. I was particularly interested in some of your comments in the 15 Responses, especially your “I wish I did have some concrete research based info on [...]

Do Long Miles at Low Heart Rate Build a “Better Engine”?

Here’s a summary of a question from Chris D.: I overhear an accomplished triathlete (HI Ironman) giving advice to people who want to run a marathon to spend months running below a certain heart rate to “build a big engine”.  “It’s all about aerobic capacity.”  He states you will get faster and faster at that [...]

The “Hard” Part of Hard-Easy

I previously wrote about the easy part of the hard-easy pattern of training. Here are some issues I’ll address regarding the hard part of training.
How hard is hard? How much is too much? What are the effects on your body from hard workouts? What else impacts what “hard” is?
Hard can be subjective. For some people, breathing [...]

Stop running - Start deconditioning?

We work so hard to attain solid physical and mental conditioning unfortunately, it doesn’t take long to lose it according to the research. Just how much time off from running before your fitness drops off?
Indeed it is well known that training does great things to your heart. Athletes develop a lower resting heart rate, their hearts [...]

Preparing Athletes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Note: This post incorporates technical data & information is from the USATF Podium Education Program session presented by Randy Wilbur PHD USOC.
The average runner will have no idea what goes into getting a track team to the Olympics in an optimal condition ready to medal! This is a summary on some of the preparation for [...]

Nutrition for Recovery

Note: Be sure to read the first post on nutrition. This second post incorporates technical data & information is from the USATF Podium Education Program session presented by Jackie Berning PHD, RD, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She has also been the nutrition advisor for the Denver Broncos & Cleveland Indians.
It is undeniable that poor nutritional status yeilds increased illnesses and [...]

Foot Contact Time II

Note: This post incorporates technical data & information is from the USATF Podium Education Program session presented by Robert Chapman Ph.D.
Try this exercise. Get a stop watch (you could use your chronograph watch - but take it off to do this). Now, as fast as you possibly can start and stop the watch with one [...]