Five Missing Things

So far in this series we've discussed both the things we got right as well as the things that needed some more progress.  In this this third and final post, I want to examine five components that weren't a part of our training but probably should be.

#1 Rotating Shoes

Up until six months ago, I pretty much only ever owned one pair of running shoes at a time.  When my old pair wore out, I might have slowly phased in the new pair.  But within a week or two, I was running in the same pair day after day.  Outside of spikes for races, this is what most of my teammates in high school did and the norm I established as a coach.  But in the last few months I’ve been learning a lot about shoe rotation.  

As mentioned in the last post, most running injuries are essentially repetitive use injuries.  Working the same muscles and connective tissues in the same ways day after day ultimately leads to fatigue and breakdown.  Every pair of shoes is constructed differently, affecting the parts of the foot and leg required to do the most work.  Wearing different shoes on Tuesday than on Monday essentially creates a different workload than the previous day avoiding repetition and thus overuse.  In fact, even wearing a different pair of the exact same shoe model can have benefits, as it gives the foam in the first pair the opportunity to decompress, making it more effective at cushioning the foot during the next run.  

One variable in shoe construction is stack height, which is essentially how high off the ground your foot sits in the shoe.  The lower the stack height, the more runners feel the ground beneath them.  This can lead to increased balance and running efficiency.  It also works the foot and lower leg muscles and tissues significantly more, as those parts of the body must handle the forces not addressed by the shoes.  In limited quantities, this can actually boost strength and reduce the risk of injuries like shin splints, plantar fasciitis, and metatarsalgia (something I know a bit about).  

Shoes with higher stack height tend to alleviate some of these forces on the foot, which can be a benefit for longer runs.  However, these maximalist shoes can also become a crutch, ultimately decreasing balance and weakening the feet.  There is also some evidence that they distribute some of the forces further up the leg, compounding issues with knees and hips.

Another aspect of shoe design that impacts strain is what is called the heel drop.  Essentially this is the difference between the stack height of the shoe at the front and back ends.  Shoes with low or no drop require the foot and ankle to flex more, often putting additional strain on the ankle, Achilles, and calf.  Shoes with higher drop tend to put more strain on the upper leg, especially the quads and hip flexors.   

Some shoe brands remain committed to a particular extreme of stack height or heel drop.  For example, Hoka exclusively manufactures high-stack maximalist shoes, while Altra makes strictly zero-drop shoes.  However, most companies have models in a variety of stack heights and drops.  Switching between shoes with different drops can avoid continuously overloading any one part of the body.

At the end of last year, following the advice of individuals like Jason Fitzgerald and Jay Dicharry, a physical therapist who specializes in runners, I expanded from a single pair of running shoes to a variety, as given below.  I've listed the stack height and heel drop for reference.

• Altra Rivera 3 (28.4mm height, 0 mm drop):  This is my primary training shoe for easy/recovery runs.
• Altra Torin 6 (25.1mm height, 0 mm drop):  This is my old training shoe.  I use it for warmups on hard days.
• Adidas Terrex Agravic Flow 2 (28mm height, 8mm drop):  This is a trail shoe.
• Adidas Adizero SL (35mm height, 8.5 mm drop):  This is my go-to shoe for long runs.
• New Balance SC Pacer (25mm height, 8 mm drop):  This is the shoe I use for road races and paved time trials.
• Asics Metaspeed LD (19mm height, 5 mm drop):  This is a spikeless shoe I use for race-pace workouts on the track or grass.​

My current shoe rotation. Within a two-week period they pretty much all see use.

Notice that the stack heights of my shoes range from 19-35mm (a 16mm span).  However, you can push further in both directions.  There are shoes with single-digit stack heights, as well as others over 40mm.  I've always gravitated away from high heel drops.  My max is 8.5mm, but you can find shoes as high as 12mm.

These new insights also changed my perspective on spikes.  While I've always recognized how the lighter weight and added traction of spikes make them favorable for racing, I wasn't sure they were worth the added cost for novice or less competitive runners.  However, the more minimalist tendencies of spikes also allow differentiation in the muscles worked, which could ultimately lower injury risk as well.  This makes me more inclined to recommend spikes for most runners.

While the skeptic might think this talk of rotation is a money-making scheme for shoe companies, that doesn’t make sense.  Using twice the shoes means they last twice as long.  For example, I currently run about 10 miles a week in my Altra Riveras.  At that rate, they will last me most of the year before they reach their 300-500 mile life expectancy.  But if I wore them for every run, they’d get closer to 30 miles a week, and I’d have to replace them within three months.  

So am I saying every runner needs six pairs of shoes?  Not at all.  The primary goal would simply be not to run in the same shoes on consecutive days.  The typical lifespan of a pair of shoes is 350-500 miles.  For average-volume runners training 5-6 days a week in the same shoes, that's approximately 10-12 weeks of life,   To get through summer training and the cross country season (22 weeks in all), two pairs of training shoes would be necessary anyway.  The idea is simply that it would be better to alternate both pairs the whole time rather than one pair for summer and one for race season.   These two pairs of trainers and some racing spikes to phase into the mix in the weeks before the first races should really be all that's necessary.

Jay Dicharry is the author of Anatomy for Runners, which has been incredibly informative in my understanding of running mechanics.

#2 Weight Training

In part one of this series, I discussed how daily strength training was something our team got right last year.  It might seem odd then to see a related aspect like weight training in this post on things we missed.  To explain, we need to talk a bit more about weight training’s role.

Nearly all of our strength training last season was the body weight variety.  In exercises like planks, squats, lunges, and pushups, it is the weight of a runner’s body providing the resistance.  At first glance this might seem sufficient.  After all, doesn’t a runner only carry their own weight during a race?  We aren’t football players having to push through members of the opposing team.   

But studies have shown that impact forces with the ground during racing speeds can exceed three times one’s body weight.  This is where weight training enters in.  Introducing additional weight to strength exercises allows a runner’s body to withstand those forces.

Some people think weight training is just about generating speed.  That’s certainly true, as stronger runners have the power to kick toward the finish line.  However, weight training does much more than that.  It trains neuromuscular coordination, allowing runners’ muscles to fire more efficiently during a race.  This, along with the added strength, allows runners to withstand the impact of high training volumes.

So does weightlifting directly produce faster cross country runners?  Possibly, although studies show mixed findings.  However, it does keep runners healthy and injury-free.  You can’t train while hurt, and you can’t get faster without training.  So in an indirect but real way, weight training allows runners to get faster.

Some people worry about weight training adding muscle and making bulky and therefore slower runners.  The truth is that running breaks down muscle, making it very difficult for muscle growth to occur in frequent runners.  At the same time, doing weight training that prioritizes higher weight and lower reps will predominantly encourage muscle strength rather than growth.  

So how did we get strength training right without weight training?  Put simply, runners have to build up to weight training.  Most runners are surprisingly weak.  Even bodyweight training can be a challenge.  If a runner can’t do a pushup or a lunge with proper form, then doing exercises with even more weight isn’t going to help them.  If anything, it will reinforce poor form and put them at greater risk of injury, not lower. Our runners who have been doing consistent body weight work for the past year are ready to ultimately graduate to added weight.

Some of this work can simply be done by adding weights like medicine balls or kettlebells to previous exercises.  However, other work might take us into the weight room.  This sort of training is not something within my background as a runner or coach, and so I see the need for outside assistance.  Some of that has come from other talented coaches like Jessie Magoto who have offered me their wisdom and resources.  However, I’m hopeful we can also find some local guides to help implement this work.

Jessie Magoto has coached the Minster girls cross country team to 15 state titles in Ohio. Like us, Minster is a small high school with many runners that play basketball or other sports. Coach Magoto is always willing to help other programs improve and has shared a lot of details with me about their weight training.

#3 Training Journals

When I attended the Boulder Running Clinics in January and listened to presenters and other coaches in attendance, I was on the lookout for common themes.  If something is done by multiple elite programs, it’s at least worth considering. 

​There were several I noticed, and the last three topics in this post are all among them.  The first I want to discuss is training journals.  Nearly every coach at the clinic mentioned providing a way for runners to document their running experiences.  The primary idea here is to give athletes some degree of ownership and ultimately autonomy over their training.  This forms runners willing to look at their training with curiosity and criticism, awareness and accountability.  It can also help runners and coaches make informed decisions, especially in light of injuries or poor performance.

These training logs look a bit different from team to team.  Some do them digitally through Google Forms or fancy apps so that they can be shared easily with coaches.  Others do them in a notebook more like a diary that generally remains private to the runner.  The simplest ones only record the miles run.  Others expand to include things like paces or perceived efforts.  The best ones in my opinion incorporate other training factors, whether that is externals like weather or internals like sleep, nutrition, emotional disposition, and any pain or soreness. 

There’s certainly no single right way to do them, but I do believe training journals could play a role in our program of building not only more successful runners but virtuous human beings.

Dan Iverson's girls team at Naperville North were the back-to-back runner-up at Nike Nationals in 2017 and 2018. Among other things, he's helped me see the value of training logs.

​#4 Helping Female Runners Understand Themselves

The last two coaches I profiled aren't just leaders of elite programs.  Jessie Magoto and Dan Iverson are experts at coaching female athletes.  There's a big difference, as numerous stories from high school to the professional level show coaches who attain success at the price of abusive and/or destructive coaching.  Sometimes this stems from evil intent, but in other cases it's simply the result of ignorance of the biological differences in female runners.

As female athletes move through puberty, they must deal with a variety of changes.  The first is the impact of their menstrual cycle on their performance.  Yet their bodies also experience transformation, as hips widen and increases in height and weight also occur.  In the short-term, this can produce a plateau/reduction in performance as well as increased risk of injuries, from ACL tears to stress fractures and more.

This leads many to the conclusion that the best years for a female runner are the earlier ones.  Some data seems to back this up.  At Class 1 State last year, 10 of the 30 all-state girls were freshmen, and 9 were sophomores.  As the common rhetoric goes, junior and senior runners will get slower, and coaches and athletes need to come to terms with that.

But is this actually true?  Without adequate adjustments, the transforming body of a female athlete is at greater risk of breaking down and producing slowed performances.  This can be a frustrating time for female runners, and it affects those of all abilities, even the best.  One need look no further than my favorite local case study, Taylor Werner.  As a freshman in 2012, Taylor won the Class 3 state title with a time of 18:20.  She followed that up with a repeat title as a sophomore while shaving off more than 45 seconds en route to a 17:31 finish.  She went on to finish fifth at Nike Nationals.  Through her first two years of cross country, Taylor finished first in every Missouri race she ran. 

Taylor Werner at XC State as a freshman.

But over the next year as her body changed, Taylor began dealing with performance struggles and injuries.  At Forest Park her junior year she was beaten for the first time.  While she managed to win a third state title as a junior, her time actually slowed to a second worse than her freshman finish.  Her body was so taxed with hip and hamstring injuries that she didn’t even attend regional races for Nike or Footlocker.  Ultimately diagnosed with a stress reaction in her pelvis, Taylor ended up taking ten weeks off just attempting to heal and rebound. 

But Taylor came back stronger, finally adjusting to her developed body.  At districts her senior year, she went sub-17 for the first time in over two years.  Taylor went on to shave seventeen seconds off her sophomore time at state as she claimed one final state title in cross country.  Fast forward four years to her senior cross country season at the University of Arkansas.  Taylor won the Chile Pepper Festival 5k with a time of 15:45 before going on to finish fourth at NCAA nationals.

Werner's senior track season.

​The truth is that with patience and appropriate training, female athletes can and often do end up stronger and faster on the other side of puberty.  This is evident by the fact that the current American records in the 1500, 5000, 10000, and marathon were set by women at ages 26, 25, 24, and 30 respectively, none of them teenagers. 

But the tendency for many female athletes experiencing the challenges of puberty is to do what I call going over-under.  They think they aren’t working hard enough and begin to overtrain.  At the same time, concerned about gaining weight, they often underfuel.  But the truth is that in order to build the muscle necessary to become faster and stronger, a woman’s transforming body often needs more energy and recovery, not less.  Working in opposition to this fact can easily send runners spiraling into what is often called the female athlete triad, the three interrelated conditions of energy deficiency, menstrual irregularities, and low bone density. 

Female runners shouldn't be missing their period.  They shouldn't be dealing with excessive fatigue or injuries.  These aren't par for the course.  They are signs of trouble that demand attention and action.  

Obviously these issues are ones I never dealt with firsthand, but they are also something largely unaddressed in the sport until recently.  Yet in the last few years, organizations like Wildwood Running have risen up to fill the void.  More and more the resources exist to help female runners understand their development and empower them toward healthy and successful running.

Interestingly, larger schools in the state might be ahead here.  In Class 5, 12 of the 30 all-state girls were seniors.  While there could be many explanations for this, it shows that the best years for a high school runner can and should be in the future.  But that requires female runners who understand themselves, along with coaches who can assist that process.

I definitely didn’t incorporate these considerations into my coaching or training last season.  But I’ve made it a goal to become better informed on the matter myself while also finding resources that can help our female runners understand their bodies.

Coaches Robyn McGillis and Marie Markham founded Wildwood Running in 2020 after seeing the lack of resources and formation for female runners. Their presentation in Boulder left me with a lot to think about.

#5 Team Camp​

A last thing I saw many of the elite programs doing was a team camp.  Generally these teams go off-site for several days at the end of summer or start of the season.  Their camps obviously involve running, but they are meant to be a fun experience with lots of enjoyable activities that allow the team to bond.  There are also opportunities to set team and individual goals for the season, as well as instruction on important topics related to training. 

​There’s actually some precedent for this within our program.  In my two years as an assistant under Coach Wood, I remember a float trip one summer and a service project with laser tag the next.  What schools like Neuqua Valley do is a bit more robust than that, but I can see some initial common elements.  We are blessed with a tremendous culture within our program.  A camp could help preserve and promote the family bond that drives our team. 

Before retiring last year, Paul Vandersteen spent 26 seasons at the helm of Neuqua Valley's cross country team. In that time he led them to a title at Nike Nationals in 2007 and multiple top-five finishes. He's also one of the main coaches to steer me toward the idea of a team camp.

Adding new things to our program takes patience and strategy.  Some we can begin implementing right away, knowing that it might take time for full implementation.  Others require further research and consideration to determine how they best fit within what we already do.  Nonetheless, I'm excited to see how they can fortify our team culture and further empower our runners toward success!