Best Running Advice Ever
Top runners share coaching pearls of wisdom that have led them to greatness.
Published July 31, 2013
Their coaches' names don't often appear in the headlines, but make no mistake -- the best athletes don't rise to the top on their own. The brains behind those gold medals, national titles and world championships are lurking on the sidelines, stopwatches in hand, inspiration and high-fives at the ready.
It's not always about injury rehab or splits. Often what coaches impart to their athletes has more to do with integrity, values and beliefs. The best of them have a knack for bringing out the best in us -- not just as runners, but also as human beings. They're the source of humor and tough love. They're also the masterminds of race strategy, fueling and cross-training plans. They tally the miles, they write the workouts. They ask if you've eaten your vegetables. And when the work is done, the race is won or lost, they teach the lessons that help us grow.
"Coach Joe Vigil led me to my life philosophy: If you have it, share it," says Deena Kastor, 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist. "Anything -- from a sandwich, money in your pocket or knowledge-through-experience -- is not worth having unless you can share it with others. He lives by these words, and I have used this as my sounding board for every decision I make in regard to pursuing my goals and living my life."
So, in tribute to all those who dedicate themselves to making us stronger, faster, more confident and, let's face it, smarter runners, RT put a call out to some top athletes in the sport to find out which nuggets of knowledge have made all the difference. Read on to find out what they said.
Dathan Ritzenhein, 2012 U.S. 10,000M Olympian
On his High School coaches, Brad Prins and Mark Nessner:
"They shaped the way I confronted challenges with injuries later in my career. We had so much fun, but we also worked harder than anyone else. We would meet at the pool at 5:30 a.m. for extra cross-training, and they were always trying new methods: sprints, drills, plyometrics, or any other additional training I could do. Now anytime I have an injury, I put my full energy into finding a way to stay fit. It was 15 years ago, but it is something I carry with me every day of training."
DON'T RUSH - THINGS DONT HAPPEN OVERNIGHT
Meb Keflezighi, 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Silver Medalist
On Bob Larsen, his coach for almost 19 years:
"You don't know what's ahead, but keep doing the right things and make small progress. Don't rush -- things don't happen overnight. He always reminds me that if somebody ever said to me at UCLA that I could be a national champion, I wouldn't have believed them. I wouldn't have believed I could have an American record. But keep doing the right things over time, and progress comes."
THE PROGRAM SHOULD FOLLOW THE ATHLETE, NOT THE ATHLETE FOLLOW THE PROGRAM.
Ryan Hall, U.S. Olympic Marathoner
On his father during the early years, and Renato Canova, his former coach:
"'If it's not fun, it's not worth doing it.' My dad used to always tell me this [before races] growing up. I used to put an incredible amount of pressure on myself before races and workouts, to the point that I wasn't enjoying myself anymore. This simple reminder has stuck with me to the start line of two Olympic marathons. It is often the last thing I think before the gun fires. I have to remind myself to not take myself so seriously. This is just sport after all, and the point of sport is to have fun.
"Coach Canova says that the program should follow the athlete, it's not the athlete who should follow the program. This is so huge because runners tend to get so married to a program that if they deviate from it they see that as a failure, when in actuality it is the program that should be adjusting continually for the athlete's changing day-to-day needs."
Aaron Braun, 27:41.54 10,000M Runner
On Damon Martin, his coach at Adams State University:
"Run for something greater than yourself! A lot of people consider running to be an individual sport, which in all physical aspects it is. But the mental aspect doesn't have to be, and Coach Martin and I believe that your performance is enhanced if you go away from the individual aspect of it. The main benefit of thinking this way is late in the race, when your body is screaming at you to just slow down a little. If you're only running for yourself, you're likely to accept what your body is asking you to do and back off a bit. If you're running for something greater than yourself, your brain will tell your body to shut up [and] keep pushing with all you have until you cross that finish line. What is something greater than yourself? You just have to find something you believe in. In college, it was my team. My new teammates are my wife, Annika, and little girl, McKenzie. They count on me to run tough for them, and late in races when I'm tired and want to slow down, I try to think of them. It becomes clear that I am running for something much greater than myself."
RUNNING IS SIMPLE
Molly Huddle, 5,000M American Record-Holder
On her current coach, Ray Treacy:
"I remember one of the first meetings I had with Ray. He asked, with five years of my old training logs in hand, if there was anything he should know that Tim Connelly, my Notre Dame University coach, hadn't told him. 'I can be stubborn,' I said. He laughed and said he could handle that. I think he has deftly coached some similarly intense athletes by standing back enough to not interrupt their strengths but stepping in enough to prevent them from getting in their own way. He reminds me that running is simple and to mostly leave the worrying to him. That has saved me a lot of energy and let me run fit and free."
Sara Hall, 2012 USA Cross Country Champion
On Dena Evans, her coach at Stanford University:
"Dena Evans became -- and is still to this day -- a friend and mentor of mine. She had a unique way of communicating using metaphors that sometimes really brought clarity to the task at hand and sometimes took some thought to figure out, but once you did they stuck with you in a greater way. I remember before cross country season one year she sent the whole team a long email comparing us to ears of corn, the goal being to have no bad kernels."
Kate Grace, 2013 USA 1 Mile Road Champion
On Mark Young, her coach at Yale University:
"Before a race, don't be afraid to get moving. My college coach would insist on top-quality strides before a race -- very fast and longer than my inclination, at least 100m, around 15 minutes from the gun. My impulse is to save every drop of energy for the race, but that meant my body was still warming up in the first 200m and wasn't as efficient. I learned to not fear a real warm-up."
EVEN PACE IS NOT EVEN EFFORT
Matt Tegenkamp, 2012 U.S. 10,000M Olympian
On Jerry Schumacher, his current coach:
"Even pace is not even effort. This applies more to cross country and road racing than the track. During an uphill or muddy patch, you are going to have to grind with an increase in effort, but on the downhill try to float and let the terrain do some work for you. The focus is to work on this concept in training and practice so it becomes second nature within a race setting."
Alissa McKaig, Distance Runner for ZAP Fitness
On Pete Rea, ZAP fitness coach:
"He was up with his newborn son one night at 3 a.m. and he was watching an ESPN documentary about Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers. I grew up in Indiana, and I do love basketball. The next morning Pete told me this long story about Reggie Miller and how early in his career, when it came to playoff games, Reggie didn't want the ball. He would just pass it off; his scoring went way down. He feared failure. I would do that with racing, too. So now, that's what I usually think of when I run races: 'Want the ball.' This is the part where you get to celebrate all the work you've done. Now let yourself enjoy it and want the ball."
Visit Coaches' Choice Workouts for a Confidence Booster workout from Pete Rea.
LISTEN TO SENSORY DATA
Renee Metivier Baillie, 2:27 Marathoner
On Mark Wetmore, her coach at the University of Colorado:
"'Listen to sensory data.' It took me years to fully understand and appreciate this wisdom. In this technologically driven age of heart rate monitors and GPS watches, people forget that the most important thing to pay attention to is your body. Instead of getting hung up on numbers, focus internally on the feedback provided by your senses. How is your breathing? How do you know you're relaxed? Does your stride feel smooth and comfortable? When you learn to read your body; you become more present and your running flows organically. You become much better at finding that sweet spot of running hard enough, but not too hard, and that's when you have your best performances. I've unintentionally sabotaged myself in many races and workouts by stressing out about time, pace and position. My best races have come when I stayed relaxed and present by 'listening to sensory data.'"
Constantina Dita, 2008 Olympic Marathon Champion
On her husband and coach, for most of her professional career, Vali Tomescu:
"We made a really great team, and he could adjust my training very well by being together all the time. Even when we disagreed, we always had the same goal. We were in Beijing for two weeks, and every day we talked about strategy. He kept telling me to hold back the first half of the race. He told me, 'From the beginning, see how it is every 5K. After the half, or at the latest 25K, if you see the pace is slow, increase your pace, but just a little, a few seconds per kilometer.' And that is exactly what I did."
THE RACE ALWAYS HURTS
Lauren Fleshman, 2010 U.S. 5,000M Champion
On Mark Rowland, her current coach:
"'The race always hurts, luv. Expect it to hurt. You don't train so that it doesn't hurt. You train so you can tolerate it.'"
STAY HUMBLE & HUNGRY
Diane Nukuri-Johnson, 2012 Olympic Marathoner Representing Burundi
On Layne Anderson, her coach at the University of Iowa and current coach:
"He taught me how to run a little conservative at first, especially when I am not ready to go out and hammer workouts or races. He tells me, 'Run fast, relaxed and controlled.' How do you run 4:52 1-mile repeats and still look relaxed doing it? Easy for him to say, right? Now I know what he is talking about. I've been working with him for seven years, and I learned that training is not about racing in workouts. Layne Anderson's new words are: 'Stay humble and hungry. Keep everything the same: simple and fun.'"
Kara Goucher, 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathoner
On Mark Wetmore, her coach at the University of Colorado:
"I used to get really nervous before races and he told me, 'Act like a pirate.' Pirates never seem scared, even though they probably are. But they never let you see any fear; they are just ready to do the job. I used to get so nervous, but I'd try to 'act like a pirate' and keep focused and not let anyone see my nerves. It helps me to realize that probably everyone is nervous, but that we are all acting confident and not giving anything to our opponents before the race."
Neely Spence Gracey, Hansons-Brooks Middle-Distance Runner
On her dad, Steve Spence, her former coach and the 1991 World Championship Marathon Bronze Medalist:
"When I first began competing back in middle school, my dad taught me a breathing rhythm that I use during every run, workout and race. Syncing my breathing rhythm with my strides helps me stay relaxed, focused, and base my effort more accurately. I breathe in four strides and out four strides at a very easy effort, in three and out three for a normal run, in two and out two for workouts, and in one and out one when I am all-out kicking at the end. Knowing my breathing rhythm and effort has really contributed toward my ability to race well and pace myself appropriately."
Ben True, 2012 15K National Champion and Two-Time Member of the U.S. World Cross Country Team
On Ruff Patterson, his Dartmouth University ski coach:
"One of the best words of wisdom -- especially useful surviving in New England -- was from my former Dartmouth ski coach, Ruff Patterson, who would always say, 'There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.' Having that mindset in the various weather New England allows you to keep getting out the door and putting the work in. Just remember to bundle accordingly!"
STOP CRYING AND GET TO WORK
Emily Brown, 2009 USA Cross Country Champion
On Gary Wilson, her coach at the University of Minnesota:
"When I was struggling to come back from injury or disappointed over a bad race, I was looking for someone to tell me, 'You are too good to give up,' or 'This is what you are meant to do.' Instead Wilson would tell me to grow up, be a woman. If I didn't want to do this, the door was open and I was welcome to walk out. If I did want to do this, then stop crying and get to work. He wasn't being insensitive -- in fact, he is a great listener -- but he forced me to address my fears and desires. I am thankful to him for not telling me what I wanted to hear, but instead what I needed to hear to make the best decisions."
Nick Arciniaga, 2:11 Marathoner
On his High School coach, Barry Migliorini:
"His entire philosophy of high mileage and disciplined training has guided me every day since high school. He started coaching me my sophomore year and immediately bumped my mileage from 20 miles to 60 miles per week. By the end of high school I had a handful of 100-mile weeks, 20-mile runs, and thanks to his training earned a scholarship to college. Barry pushed each of us to take ice baths every day, pool run, stretch and cross-train to keep us injury-free. Although his methods have seemed extreme to many outsiders -- including a few LetsRun.com message board threads -- they have worked wonders for me."
Visit Coaches' Choice Workouts for a Team Builder workout from Barry Migliorini.
Sage Canaday, Ultrarunner
On his coach at Cornell University, Robert Johnson:
"Run your longer tempo runs at an 'effortless effort' pace. Most runners go too hard and push too fast during tempo runs. He always told us to slow down, run relaxed and negative split the workout depending on how we felt on the day. It is always better to be on the conservative side of dialing into lactate threshold intensity, and you have to be patient."
Jenny Barringer Simpson, 2011 1500M World Champion
On her University of Colorado and current coach, Mark Wetmore, and her dad:
"[Coach Wetmore] always reminds us before big races, 'Dance with the girl that brung ya.' It always helps me relax and remember that no matter what level I'm racing at, I did something right to get there, and all I have to do is keep up what I've already been doing.
"My dad recently started reminding me to 'win slowly.' This means, make good decisions every day and take care of what seems like the mundane. The daily grind is the hard part, and it doesn't get a lot of attention compared to the races. But this slow progress is what makes champions."
BELIEVE IN YOUR WORKOUTS
Janet Cherobon-Bawcom, 2012 U.S. 10,000 Olympian
On Steve Guymon, her coach at Harding University, and Jack Daniels, her current coach:
"They both taught me the importance of learning how to read my workouts so that I'll know what to expect on race day. In college, because I was making great progress, I couldn't rely on prior race results to tell me what to expect in my next race. Coach Guymon didn't care that my PR for the 5,000m might have been 17:30. If the workouts indicated I was ready to run a 1-minute PR, he helped me have faith in that possibility.
"When I started working with Jack Daniels, he continued this type of coaching. When I was training for the Olympic trials marathon, he helped me understand that we weren't crazy to be talking about trying to PR by 8 or 9 minutes. Instead of seeing myself as someone with a PR of 2:37, I went into the race believing that my workouts pointed to a good chance of running under 2:30, and sure enough, that happened. I might have been tempted to say, 'But I'm only a 2:37 runner; let's shoot for 2:32,' or I might have decided to go faster than my workouts suggested I should -- and I could've crashed and burned. I chose to run an informed race, and it worked out great.
"When I ran the 2012 Payton Jordan 10,000m, my workouts suggested that I might be ready to run under 32:00 -- even though my PR was 30 seconds slower than that. I went out around 31:45 effort, felt good, and picked it up a little to run 31:33, which landed me on the Olympic team. Once again, that idea that my coaches preached to me paid off."