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Guest

Feb 24, 2002 1:30 PM

Is this coach nuts?

Hey everyone.

I have been watching the high school track team train and they have this new guy they call their "mentor". He has a daughter my age that runs a .28 200 meters so I think this might be the reason they think he is so good. I think he is nuts but then again I could be wrong. Below is the workouts he has been putting his daughter and the high school kids through. Please let me know what you think

1 mile warmup
2 X 400 meters
2 X 800 meters
2 X 200 meters
2 X 50 meters

They do this SAME workout 5 days a week. There is not much rest and he wants them to run all out every day and every rep.

This guy also makes his daughter do high knees, butt kicks and bleachers while wearing ankle weights. If she throws up he keeps her out their running. I am worried that he is going to toally screw her up.

I know I am only 12 and have very little experience but none of this makes any sense and to me seems totally nuts. What do all of you think?
Guest
1. Feb 24, 2002 2:17 PM in response to: Guest
sounds like a nutbar to me...
that kind of workout is just going to make the team sick of running, and wheres the LSD(long slow distance)?
Guest
2. Feb 24, 2002 2:33 PM in response to: Guest
Depends on what the runner is training for. You say the girl has run a :28 200m, so if this coach is a sprinting coach and not a distance coach then I would say that workout is about right. ****, if the runners are focusing on middle distances (400-1600m) then I'd say the workout is ok. Still, the ankle weights and the throwing up would peg this guy a looney.

Alan
http://www.geocities.com/runningart2004[/URL" target="_blank">
Click to view the kenyan's profile Legend 1,166 posts since
Aug 15, 2007
3. Feb 24, 2002 5:28 PM in response to: Guest
sounds like that guy isnt one for variety. if i had a coach like that id probably quit! the workout itself isnt exceedingly intense, but i bet it gets old after awhile. and going all out every day will add up eventually. i feel bad for his foolish runners. you cant discover the true joy of running by busting out foolish repeats every single day.

------------------
LHS CROSS COUNTRY RULES!!!
GO AFRICAN ALLIANCE

PROUD TO BE A KRAZY KENYAN :)
Click to view swedechick's profile Legend 1,230 posts since
Dec 14, 2007
4. Feb 24, 2002 7:47 PM in response to: Guest
that is not a crazy workout at all. i am a high school junior and the workouts my coach has given me since last year are much harder than that. that is an easy workout.

here are some of the things that i do as a workout:

one day:12 x 400s at 82 seconds or under w/ either a 100 meter rest in between or 2 minutes recovery rest

another day:
1 x 600,1 x 500,1 x 400,1 x 300,1 x 200,1 x 100 then do the same thing again.

another day:4 x 800s, 4 x 400s

another day:5 x 500s,4 x 400s,4 x 300s,4 x 200s

another day: as many 1200s as you can do

another day:4 x 800s in the grass around the track and 6 x 300s

last week i did 12 x 300s w/ 100 meter recovery rest in between

get the picture here? i guess i'm just used to really tough workouts so i don't think that is too tough of a workout for high schoolers but having the same workout everyday can be tiresome and sometimes my coach does that. if that girl is throwing up from running that could mean she is being trained harder than her body has yet to handle. he is wrong to "punish" her for throwing up. that is just not right and not cool and she will grow to resent running.
Click to view MadXC's profile Pro 112 posts since
Jun 4, 2000
5. Feb 24, 2002 8:27 PM in response to: Guest
Some will survive, others will perish. The olypians will be the ones who survive, and the perishers will be just regular athletes. jk.
Guest
6. Feb 24, 2002 9:48 PM in response to: Guest
quote:<HR>Originally posted by swedechick:
that is not a crazy workout at all. i am a high school junior and the workouts my coach has given me since last year are much harder than that. that is an easy workout.

here are some of the things that i do as a workout:

one day:12 x 400s at 82 seconds or under w/ either a 100 meter rest in between or 2 minutes recovery rest

another day:
1 x 600,1 x 500,1 x 400,1 x 300,1 x 200,1 x 100 then do the same thing again.

another day:4 x 800s, 4 x 400s

another day:5 x 500s,4 x 400s,4 x 300s,4 x 200s

another day: as many 1200s as you can do

another day:4 x 800s in the grass around the track and 6 x 300s

last week i did 12 x 300s w/ 100 meter recovery rest in between

get the picture here? i guess i'm just used to really tough workouts so i don't think that is too tough of a workout for high schoolers but having the same workout everyday can be tiresome and sometimes my coach does that. if that girl is throwing up from running that could mean she is being trained harder than her body has yet to handle. he is wrong to "punish" her for throwing up. that is just not right and not cool and she will grow to resent running.

<HR>


What is your mile time?
Guest
7. Feb 24, 2002 11:27 PM in response to: Guest
swedechick,

I agree that the workout itself is far from the toughest workout i've seen/run, but that's not the point. Anyone who has their athletes run hard EVERY day of the week, has no idea what theyre doing. The body can not take so many consecutive days of punishment.

Even world class runners can't go hard EVERY day. Prefontaine even preferred to have 2 days of rest between one hard run/workout and the next (of course his idea of hard was probably somewhat different than most people's).

-mark

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"Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it -- It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own."

- Buz Luhmann's "Sunscreen"
Guest
8. Feb 25, 2002 1:39 AM in response to: Guest
The sad news is alot of coaches do not know what they are doing. The "I want you to give it 100% at every practice" Knuckle-Head comes to mind. He does not understand why his teams are always so wasted. But he was the worst runner on his team so truly it is not a shocker!! You can always respectfully say that you are trying the best you can..while you know if you run 100% all the time you will become a fader not a finisher!!
Click to view swedechick's profile Legend 1,230 posts since
Dec 14, 2007
9. Feb 25, 2002 3:51 PM in response to: Guest
quote:<HR>Originally posted by NomDePlume:
swedechick,

I agree that the workout itself is far from the toughest workout i've seen/run, but that's not the point. Anyone who has their athletes run hard EVERY day of the week, has no idea what theyre doing. The body can not take so many consecutive days of punishment.

Even world class runners can't go hard EVERY day. Prefontaine even preferred to have 2 days of rest between one hard run/workout and the next (of course his idea of hard was probably somewhat different than most people's).

<HR>


yeah, my coach has hard and easy days. 2 days of the week are really hard,one day is moderate, and another is easy.

i think i know what teh coach's problem is that wantnationals was talking about. he is just greedy for a good team. he doesn't care about the athletes individually. it's all win,win,win to him. i know of a particular incident that that reminds me of. there is a girl who ran a 2:15 in the 800 in 8th grade. her high school coach is training her to be a sprinter. this last track season i kicked her butt with a 2:22 and one of our girls who doesn't workout worth **** beat her in the 200 in 4x2 which goes to show this girl is no sprinter. alot of speed yes, but more of an 800 runner. the coach won't even let the girl run the open 800 just the 4x8 which is what i beat her in. it goes to show some coaches are greedy. my school has won 17 straight championships but not b/c my coach was pushing them to win. the team did it on their own w/ hard work. my coach believes in building up athletes over the years and slowly making them good.
Click to view swedechick's profile Legend 1,230 posts since
Dec 14, 2007
10. Feb 25, 2002 4:00 PM in response to: Guest
quote:<HR>Originally posted by wantnationals:
What is your mile time?<HR>


5:28.6
Click to view cougarcanyon runner's profile Pro 132 posts since
Nov 13, 2001
11. Feb 26, 2002 11:06 AM in response to: Guest
Looks pretty scary to me. Way to much interval training even for sprinters.
Cheers. PS my mile time 4:08.
Click to view swedechick's profile Legend 1,230 posts since
Dec 14, 2007
12. Dec 20, 2007 10:59 PM in response to: Guest
ah,well i think my coach is trying to build me up to my full potential like what he thinks i could be able to do someday. he thinks i have the abitity to rule distacne running. maybe he thinks i can be in the olympics someday. he has coached some really good world class sprinters at the olympic trials so i think he knows very well what he is doing.

http://This message has been edited by swedechick (edited 02-26-2002).
Guest
13. Feb 26, 2002 10:53 PM in response to: Guest
Mentally Swed-chic you sound up for it..that is important. I feel all these posts have one common thread..you can't tear down all the time..you have got to put some recovery in there. I have no idea how long you have been running or what kind of mileage you have under your belt at this point of the season. But don't forget the saying "speed kills.."if you don't put some long runs back in your bank (recovery) you may try and race and not have anything to pull from. Just a bit of advice...I have seen many a girl go out on fire only to fade when it counts..due to lack of recovery!!
Guest
14. Feb 27, 2002 12:32 AM in response to: Guest
i dont think so for soccer we would have a 2 mile warm-up followed by running.
We probably would do 2x what you did there in just are running session. Then we went and did our practice.