The Weekly Coaching Clinic: Process Training

By Coach Chad

Former College Coach/USATF LDR Committee, Health and fitness corporate  - consultant/speaker.  

Masters Degree in Human Performance and PhD in Behavioral Psychology expected in 2013.

As a former collegiate and post-collegiate runner and through many years coaching young and older runners, two significant aspects about the coach/athlete relationship have come to the forefront.  The first is that the coach must create a program, a philosophy, an environment that is conducive to success. – a process.  The second is the athlete must come to wholeheartedly trust that process, without question.  Sounds easy right?  I wish it were that easy, but the fact is that training philosophies can be found in many venues – magazines, conventions, books, blogs, etc.  It is much easier these days for a coach to create a successful philosophy, but with that said, why isn’t every coach successful?  If you look at the most successful programs over the past decade or so, you will find that the two aspects mentioned above are vital and apparent.  I will use Catholic High and Pete Boudreaux as an example.  Coach Boudreaux has created a program of success by creating a program and philosophy that is proven and an environment that is conducive to success and inspiring to young runners.  His runners, on the other hand, do not question his philosophy or training methods because of the many years of success.  Coach Boudreaux has created a process that breeds excellent runners.  So how do distance coaches mimic Coach Boudreaux and other successful coaches’ programs – by creating what I call Process Training?

Process Training is a system that fosters the development of the three phases of a runner – physical, psychological, and emotional.  The physical phase is what 99% of coaches focus on, which is the fitness and training philosophy.  The psychological phase is the mental aspect of running, the mental race preparation and belief in one’s abilities.  This phase has been on the rise in the past decade, as many coaches understand that even talented runners may fall short of their goals if not mentally trained.  The emotional phase is rarely ever mentioned in training programs, but it is as important as the other two phases.  This is the phase that coaches like Pete Boudreaux and Eddie Cole and Kelly Lamaison have been successful and the reason that their programs continue to develop amazing runners.  

Let us start with the physical phase of process training.  As mentioned before, there are many avenues to find successful training programs, so I won’t spend time talking about my entire training philosophy.  The most successful of those programs not only focus on training, but on the “little” things that are often overlooked.  In working with corporations, such as Shell and BP over the past decade, I created a lifestyle behavior management system called Blackjack, which focused on 21 objectives to keeping a person healthy and balanced.  The same methodology can be applied to training.  Some of those objectives that are often forgotten in a program are nutrition, sleep habits, stretching routines, core building, form running and resistance training.  

Nutrition is so important to athletes, but especially to distance running.  It is extremely hard for a coach to tell their teenage runner to eat healthy every day.  What I do suggest is to give runners some key principles to follow.  The first is to fuel their body with healthy carbs, lean meats and proteins, lots of fruits and veggies, and drinks 64 ounces of water.  I would advise athletes to stay away from refined sugars, “junk” food, and fast food restaurants.  The purpose of nutrition is to aid in recovery and bring more oxygen to the working muscles.  

Sleeping habits are often ignored altogether.  Most runners believe that all they need is a great night’s sleep the night before a race or workout.  That is definitely important, but what is more important is the runner getting an excellent night’s sleep two nights before a race or workout.  This recommendation is following along on the 48 hour rest and recovery cycle that Dr. Kenneth Cooper researched decades ago.  But instead of worrying about what nights to sleep well, it would be better to get our runners in a habit of getting a great night’s sleep every night or most nights.  I would advise my athletes that they spend hours upon hours honing their skills so that they can get the most out of their workouts when it comes race time.  I ask them if it is worth the risk to chance sleeping just 4-5 hours a night or going to bed at midnight.  The season is just 3-4 months long, so the commitment is short if they truly want success.  

Stretching routines have changed dramatically over the years.  I remember stretching for an hour before races.  I would focus on both dynamic and static stretching, plyos, strides, etc.  Better research studies have now proved that a nice slow run and 15-20 minutes of dynamic stretching is appropriate for workouts and races.  What is difficult to instill in runners is the importance to take time to stretch for 20-30 minutes after a run or race.  Runners are tired after a hard workout or a race and normally they may shorten their cool down and post-stretching routine.  The most important stretching is done after a run, so instilling this to young runners so that it becomes habitual is vital.

How many coaches take the time to look at different running forms, do technique drills, and correct bad running form?  I remember being blessed with a varied amount of talented runners with really bad running forms.  In high school, Walter Whitfield and Adrian Garcia ran as though they may fall forward on their faces.  Brett Aucoin ran so vertical that, when tired during races, he looked as though he may fall backwards.  Sorry guys!  Once a coach finds that a runner has a running form discrepancy, he will not do that runner justice by ignoring the problem, especially for a young runner.  Changing running form for a young runner is much easier than trying to work with a college runner’s form because habits become harder to break as a person ages.  So, how do you change form?  It is very difficult for a runner to try and cognitively change his entire form during a few runs.  Once a coach notices bad form, there are certain drills that could be practiced so the runner understands what it feels like to run correctly.  Now, the trick is not to have that runner change his form abruptly, but during easy training runs, advise the runner that when he thinks of it, to focus on correct form, even if it is only for a few strides.  Also, the coach could have a key word – ‘form’, for instance – that he calls out during runs that reminds the runner to revert to correct form.  Over time, changes will slowly occur and eventually the form will be corrected.

Plyometrics, core building, resistance training all play a huge part of the physical phase of training.  The core is the most important.  Performing sit-ups, crunches, sidebars, etc. are all important to developing a solid core.   For resistance training, I always advise low weight and heavy reps to increase muscular endurance.  I am not a huge fan of lifting weights for legs, just because the legs get enough training.  I am, however, a huge proponent of arm workouts, because without the arms, the legs can’t propel.  Now, for you older runners reading this, let me warn you of something.  Cardio workouts build muscle up until about 38-41 years old on average.  At that age, cardio workouts actually tear down muscle.  My advice for older runners would be to start a lifting program, especially for legs, to keep those muscle groups toned.

For workouts, I am a supporter of fartleks.  I believe fartlek training is the cornerstone to a solid running program.  Morning runs should not be ‘junk miles’, but runs to recovery from a previous day’s intense workout.  I also believe that long runs should account for 20-25% of your previous week’s average.  With that said, I think adding other cardio workouts are important, such as lap swimming, roller blading or cycling.

The psychological or mental phase of training has become very important over the last decade.  Coaches now understand how vital it is to prepare runners for the many challenges they will encounter during a season, especially during races.  Failing to prepare your runners will ultimately prepare your runners for failure.  Part of a successful psychological phase is to individualize workouts.  When a runner understands that his program is ideally prepared for his success, his confidence will begin to blossom.  During individualization of workouts, it is recommended that a coach meet with each runner individually.  During these meetings, a discussion about goals, training plans, obstacles to success, etc. can be achieved.  This helps the runner gain confidence in himself and trust in the process his coach is establishing.

Another important part of the psychological phase is scenario planning.  During scenario planning, coaches have a list of various scenarios that could play out in a race or even a workout.  Over time, this scenario list becomes very comprehensive.  During workout planning, the coach discusses with his runners the objective of the workout and why it is so important.  I can’t emphasize the importance of explaining workouts to runners.  When they understand why a workout will enhance their race, they will be that more successful.  For example, if they are running in a meet where their chief rival slacks during the 2^nd mile of a 3 mile race, create a scenario during practice.  For instance, I may have them run 6 x 800 meters.  I would tell them to run slightly below pace for the first 200, then surge for 200-300 meters before resuming pace.  This creates mental and muscle memory so that they will be able to react during a race as they have done in practice.  

The last phase is the emotional phase.  This phase is rarely ever focused on.  This phase focuses on confidence building, inspiration, crisis management and the many obstacles that could either benefit or impede a runner’s emotional state which affects their workouts and races.  It is easy to tell which coaches instill this phase in their programs.  When talking to athletes, they talk positively about their coaches, talk about how their coach helped them deal with a crisis, or just consider their coach a huge part of their success, both in running and in life.

Confidence building is huge in running.  One bad race could crush a young runner’s confidence; whereas, a great race could skyrocket a runner’s career.  Confidence building starts with goal setting.  Being honest with runners about their abilities and what they can achieve now is the first step.  Once a runner knows what their capabilities are in relation to the goals set, they start to trust the process.  This trust factor helps them to believe in themselves.  Once goals are achieved, the runner’s confidence continues to escalate.  What happens when they do not achieve their goals?  The coach needs to handle this situation very delicately.  They need to sit down privately with the runner and break down their training log and question the runners on eating habits, sleep habits, etc.  If the goals were set at achievable levels and they are working their tails off, the problem will become visible during this meeting.  Once the issue becomes visible, the coach should set up specific goals to rectify the situation to achieve the goals set out for that runner.  Do not let a runner bask in a negative environment.  As soon as you notice his confidence starting to wane, jump on the situation immediately.

Inspiration is so important to me.  Life’s challenges, successes, and definitely failures are good teaching points for runners.  Let them know how other people, not just runners, overcome their barriers to success.  I think one of the practices that I use to do that inspired my runners was bringing back alumni and always keeping alumni part of the program.  When young runners see the past successful runners continually supporting the program, a family environment starts to exist.  Young runners look up to the ‘older’ alumni runners, so use that to your advantage.  This phase should be rather simple, because there is an abundant of ways to inspire runners.  For example, music is such a psychologically stimulating and inspiring method.  Watching movies, such as Without Limits, Running Brave, and Chariots of Fire are another method of building team camaraderie, as well as inspiring individuals.  

In today’s world, crisis is abundant.  It definitely does not escape the lives of our runners.  Coaches have to be aware of what’s happening outside of the practice arena and be there to assist their runners in times of crisis.  There is no single more empowering method of getting a runner to trust in the process you are building than helping them through a crisis.  

The main focus of this article was to get coaches to start focusing on all three phases of a comprehensive training program – Process Training.  The philosophy is quickly moving to the forefront with top coaches and top running programs.  Many coaches have been doing this by accident for years.  Once you build the infrastructure of your program, then it is time to add the meat of the program.  The meat is the individual workouts and meetings needed to become successful for each runner.  Take the time to build a program and success will eventually follow.  I didn’t want to spend time on different training philosophies, as far as examples of workouts, levels of rest periods, periodization of training, etc.  There is enough information on those philosophies already.  My goal was to give an overall infrastructure of a program that I have used and several other coaches have used.  On a final thought, keep running interesting and always keep it fun.  The journey of a thousand miles truly begins with the first step.  Those steps, baby steps if I may say, are the building pieces of longevity in running and continual success of a running program.  Good luck to all!