THIS IS A EMAIL WHICH CAME FROM A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE - GUS TORRES. Gus is a man I admire a lot, he worked his way to become the West Regional Director for a very big pharma company. In spite of all his successes, he is a very down-to-earth person. He gives back a lot to his community.
If anyone is interested in contacting him to learn more, write to me, he will be glad to help you. He is even willing to come over here to talk to all our children with diabetes
What a feeling I had this past weekend. As many of you know, I have been coaching HS runners for a while now. Many of my seniors I have coached since they were in the 8th grade. It really has been an escape and blessing in my life! I have never charged a dime, yet I have increase in wealth!
This past weekend, I had 3 of the 10 kids I coach win their respective Cross Country Races. All of them were in the top 10! Additionally, the newest girl that I have been training was recognized as Athlete of the Week in Orange County! Amanda is only a freshman! She set the meet record for freshman girls at 17:48 for a hilly 3 mile course.http://www.ocvarsity.com/articles/gehrich-33140-amanda-freshman.html
Amanda is now the third girl that I have coached in the last 5 years to be recognized as Athlete of the Week in the County. She is also the third girl that has either set a school, meet, or county record. In the last 5 years, I have had several boys and girls win All-League and All-County honors. I also have a former athlete now running Division 1 at Arizona. I do have 6 runners graduating this year. They will all continue their careers in college. Hopefully some will go Division 1.
I am sending you this message not just because I am proud of the kids (and myself really!), but because there is a lesson here for all of us. It is about the “relationship” between a coach and their athlete. Similar to our relationship with our own teams here at Novo.
FACT is important. I document all our practice and time trial times when I coach. How do you know where you are going if you don’t know where you have been? “FACTs” are important. They document progress and encourage the achievers to perform. However, there is much more to coaching than the “documentation!” Here’s what I have learned in over 5 years training elite youth runners:
1. Talent is still key! You can’t coach a “jogger” to be an elite runner. They just don’t have the genetics! Time spent on a jogger will be time away from an elite….you can’t afford that!
2. Practice, Practice, Practice! If you don’t perform in practice, you don’t perform in races. I have never had a kid that skips practice or runs slow in practice ever win a race! There’s always a talented lazy runner….but they are not consistent winners. Hard workouts lead to faster times. How do you run fast if you never train fast? Running fast builds up the left ventricle….that allows you to pump more blood! You can’t fake that. Blood pumping capacity can only increase with hard runs! Every practice has a purpose. It’s never just “junk miles.” There are runs to increase VO2 max, Improve Anaerobic Threshold, and Aerobic Threshold capacities. There must be a training plan. Training is not an event, it’s a “process.”
3. Build a Culture of Trust….why do my runners train so hard and do all that I ask? It’s simple….they trust me! They trust that I know what I am doing. They trust that what I am asking them to do may hurt, but it will make them stronger. They trust that I want them to succeed. They trust that I keep up on the latest training techniques so that they will never fall behind their rivals. When it comes to running, they trust me more than they trust their parents! It’s not about YOU….It’s about them. The accolades are not yours….it is theirs. Only in that environment can YOU succeed.
4. Expectation of Excellence! My runners hold each other accountable. In Cross Country, the top 5 runners “score.” Their finish places determine the team score. Lowest score wins! Practice is competitive, but races are a team effort until the very end….then someone has to win! They also know that they train harder than other runners and they expect to do well. There is nothing wrong with WINNING and getting in the newspaper! “Participation Medals” suck! None of my runners want them!
5. Find your “Lieutenant.” Someone on the team has to lead the workouts. Yelling is not my style. Leadership development is. I “teach.” I don’t “tell.” There’s a difference! Once they understand, they will follow willingly. There are always kids that want to learn the “why” behind how we train. I seek them out and take the time to teach them the training regimen and physiology behind what we do. I travel all the time. I am rarely there to give hands on directives. Many times they can adjust their workouts to optimum efforts to adapt to weather, terrain, and levels of fatigue without my direction. The old adage “Teach them to fish” is key! These leaders keep the discipline and culture of the team intact when you are not around! They hold the “come to Jesus” meetings when you are not around!
6. Be accessible. All my runners know they can text me wherever I am and get a response. They can call with their school issues, injury questions, etc. I am always there. If not, my Lieutenants are around!
7. Document progress….write down all the “FACTs” and communicate them regularly. I correlate practice performance times to race times. I can predict race times based on weekly practice times. The kids KNOW how they are going to perform. Occasionally, you can have a bad race due to sickness or other factors. However, a bad week of training guarantees a bad race! One thing that I have learned though is that IMMEDIATE verbal coaching is still the most effective. Encouragement, empathy, and that “pat on the back” is difficult to put into writing!
8. Last but not least….RECOVERY! If you work hard all the time, your muscles and glycogen levels can never recover. You will actually get slower! My kids are so driven, I have had to talk to parents to actually prevent kids from doing “extra” when I am not around! Training has a purpose. The hard “loads” lead to muscle breakdown. Recovery allows for the muscles to rebuild and come back stronger!
I hope this helps you build your winning team and next star player!
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