COACH NOTES
Knowledge shouldn't be secret.
As part of our program, we promise to keep this page up date with everything our coaches are reading and learning. Below are articles our staff have found helpful throughout their journeys
TINMAN'S RUNNING CALCULATOR
A tool created by Tom "Tinman" Schwartz, Coach uses this to calculate our athlete's CV workouts and as a general guideline for easy and tempo paces.
JACK DANIELS' VDOT RUNNING CALCULATOR
A tool created by legendary coach, Jack Daniels, Coach uses this primarily to estimate equivalent race paces.
INTRO TO NEURAL TRAINING
Written by Jeff Boelé, a successful HS coach, for Training Peaks.
*Coach Notes, continue implementing days of high CNS load throughout training cycles (more intense early, replace with specific race sessions later in phase). Remember athletes don't need weight rooms/fancy tech. Get creative. No weight room? Rocks & books. Impact related injury? Throw instead of run. Like metabolic sessions, sessions with high neural load require adequate time for recovery/adaptation (Boelé suggests two week cycle, one week full, one week warmup). Do when rested, LR or W/O will diminish recruitment, day before W/O is ok as demand is different (neural vs. metabolic, however stress should likely still be measured).
BECOME A SUPPLE LEOPARD
A book by Dr. Kelly Starrett w/ Glen Cordoza. (currently on p21)
*Coach's notes, for all tools described, requires 15-20min/day for improvement.
THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE & FEMALE ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE
From Johanna Ihalainen, post-doc with Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre
*Coach Notes: highly individualized responses, Olympic Golds have been won in all phases of a cycle. Studies have shown some negative side effects of HC’s, but all are preliminary.
HOW THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE AFFECTS TRAINING
From Angie Spencer, Nurse/Coach
*Coach Notes: 4-8x more likely to tear ACL during ovulation, motivation/energy levels often lag during latter half of cycle. Luteal phase requires extra emphasis on hydration, alcohol can have an increased detrimental effect during this phase. Important for women especially to check ferritin levels regularly. Could be best to race in first few days of cycle.
Corey suggestion: I think it may be useful to make a point of attempting to simulate race efforts during different stages of a cycle so any potential effects the cycle may have on performance may be diminished. As it has been observed that Olympic medals have been won throughout all stages, there’s a lot to take into consideration when acknowledging the physical and psychological effects that perceived energy levels have on athletes. Because racing in the heat does take a physical and psychological toll on the body, so you have to prepare for it. There’s no reason I can think of that the menstrual cycle should be treated the same way.
FINDING NEUTRAL IN THE PRONATED FOOT
Dr. Emily Splichal, body movement specialist
*Coach Notes: focused on runners that “over-pronate” the movement starts with the hips, not the feet. Reinforces my current emphasis on hip/glute work built into my Strength (local) program.
CAN PARALLEL USE OF DIFFERENT RUNNING SHOES DECREASE RUNNING-RELATED INJURY RISK?
Dr. Malisoux et al. in Scandinavian Sports Med Journal
*Coach Notes: study was done with 264 recreational runners over 22 weeks (not randomized groups), data is based on a Cox regression analysis which I’m not 100% confident in interpreting. I AM 100% sure that, based on this data, rotating running shoes day in/day out is correlated with preventing injury, but I’m not sure to what extent. This study also showed that cross training/participating in other sports reduces injury risk and running longer is correlated with less injury risk (I’d hypothesize this is because these athletes likely ran longer in the past and are therefore in better shape/stronger/better able to handle training.)
Final thought: Rotating shoes may be helpful for reducing injury risk in recreational runners, not sure if applicable to elite. Need further study.
AMBER LENSES TO BLOCK BLUE LIGHT AND IMPROVE SLEEP: A RANDOMIZED TRIAL
Dr. Kimberly & Dr. Phelps
*Coach Notes: full article unavailable but results point to immediate and significant improvement of sleep quality and mood in groups using amber glasses (blue-blocking) for 3 hours prior to sleep.
EFFECT OF BLUE-BLOCKING GLASSES IN MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER WITH SLEEP-ONSET INSOMNIA: A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY
*Coach Notes: study showed no significant differences between the groups. ½ the blue blocking group did improve in sleep quality, no impact on depressive symptoms (it was only a 2 week study). It is thought that the discomfort of the glasses made the difference here.
PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF BLUE-LIGHT SHIELD EYEWEAR FOR ADULTS AGAINST LIGHT POLLUTION FROM SELF-LUMINOUS DEVICES USED AT NIGHT
Dr. Ayaki et al.
*Coach Notes: extremely small sample size (12), used blue light shield or control for 2 hours on phone/similar. Melatonin production, sleep efficacy, and sleep latency improved with blue light shield.
THE IMPACT OF LIGHT FROM COMPUTER MONITORS ON MELATONIN LEVELS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS
Dr. Figueiro
*Coach Notes: Study with students looking at monitors, 4 groups. Light creates about a 20% reduction in melatonin. It seems reducing exposure to blue light through glasses is effective, but it would be most effective to avoid blue light altogether for ~2hr prior to bedtime.
FINAL SURGE EP 114 W/JAY JOHNSON
Jay Johnson & FS Host
*Coach Notes: Talked about specific study linked here (I’ll come back to this), podcast mostly advertised his own podcast and a convention coming up.
ON COACHING #97: FATIGUE, SPEEDWORK, RACING & MORE
*Coach Notes: Talking about the days of Triples with Frank Shorter, etc. Constant exposure to running.
Value of a 20-30min siesta, elevates cognitive processes more effectively than coffee.
Discussion of Sara Hall and her unconventional approach to racing, racing all the time, upsetting the status quo. There is precedent here with Bill Rodgers, used to race all the time. Used to get beat in local 10k’s a week or so before winning Boston. (I find this more applicable for athletes that are highly trained and able to recover from races rather quickly. May be useful for Corey to de-emphasize the nerves of racing while also keeping running fun.)
ON COACHING #100 W/ ALAN BISHOP
Steve Magness, Jon Marcus, Alan Bishop
*Coach Notes: Bishop recommends doing squats through full range of motion, closing the knee joint entirely. Be able to accomplish a full range of motion before adding weight. (This will be extremely difficult for most runners due to the various points that must be mobile AND strong to accomplish this). He’s looking for movement quality before adding load.
One of his biggest tools is sprints. Believes they improve mobility/ROM while also presenting a high level of load in a practical and transferable medium. Short sprints and hill sprints. (No surprises here, exactly what Kenya & Ethiopia have been doing for decades.)