Five Missing Things

In the first two parts of this series (found here and here), we looked at aspects of our team and training that we either crushed or made incomplete progress with.  In this final part, I want to address five things our team could still look to incorporate.  Most of these come from top-tier teams from around the country whose coaches I've gotten to know.  While I don't know that all of these either will or even should show up in our training going forward, they are things well worth considering.  

#1:  Active Isolated Stretching

I've discussed before how both research and consensus among physical therapists and elite coaches is that static stretching is at best ineffective as a pre-run warmup and at worst performance inhibiting.  That is why our team has moved to a dynamic warmup that checks more of the ideal warmup boxes.

That being said, a third form of stretching exists that does seem to accomplish the goods that static stretching intends but misses and that dynamic stretching can't achieve in a targeted way:  active Isolated stretching.  Like static stretching, active isolated stretching (AIS) focuses on specific muscles.  However, whereas static stretching involves holding stretches for extended periods of time, AIS activates muscles through short repeated motions of just a few seconds.  The idea is that these short bursts don't trigger the body's protective response of contracting the muscle, allowing for a more beneficial stretch.  Often this is done with the assistance of a rope.

Active isolated stretching is employed by runners at college powerhouse Northern Arizona University, as well as high schools like 2024 NXN Boys Team Champion Niwot High School and the girls teams at Naperville North and Minster.  I think this could be an impactful addition to our warmup procedures on certain days.

While many factors and practices contributed to an NXN team championship for the Niwot boys, active isolated stretching with ropes was one of them.

#2:  Team Camp

A team camp was one of the missing things in last year's review.  I saw the role it played in helping teams build cohesion around a unified vision while also helping each athlete work toward their goals.  It's definitely a bummer to see this on the list again in 2025.  Last year I underestimated the amount of planning that goes into making a camp happen.  Even just finding a date that works and an available location require having things in place months out.  By the time I tried to get the ball rolling in 2024, we were already handcuffed by state limits on contact days, the school calendar, and availability at lodging options.  Unfortunately the best decision was to hold off.

The good news is that things are looking much different in 2025.  Plans are well underway to have two camps this summer, one for the boys in Lawrence, KS, and another for the girls in Naperville, IL.  Stay tuned for more details on both of those in the coming weeks, but they're shaping up to be amazing experiences with education, food, fun, and plenty of running.

Our teams have some special opportunities in store with our camps this summer.

#3:  Form, Posture, and Mechanics

Form, posture, and mechanics are all interconnected terms within running.  It's true that they form a complicated equation, with a runner's own anatomy being a key variable.  This means there probably isn't one precise running form that's ideal for everyone.  That being said, some running forms are less efficient or can put individuals at greater risk of injury.  

The tricky yet imperative thing here is digging beneath the surface.  Some runners adopt a sub-optimal running form out of ignorance.  They simply never learned good technique.  But in other cases, there are deeper issues at work, such as weakness, lack of coordination, or structural movement blocks.  Forcing a runner to adopt a new running form without looking into these questions isn't the solution.  At best it won't work.  Worse, it could force a runner to load in a way its body was intentionally avoiding as a protective measure.  This could put a runner at an even greater risk of injury.  

This is largely why I shied away from addressing form and mechanics with our runners previously.  I simply wasn't knowledgeable enough to feel confident I was doing more good than harm.  This year I've tried to learn a lot more in this areas from individuals like Jay Dicharry and organizations like ALTIS.  I certainly wouldn't call myself an expert, but I do think we can now do more to assess and address the mechanics of our runners, especially those first joining our team.

World-renowned physical therapist Jay Dicharry is the man behind many of the movement screens I think can help identify underlying issues with the form and mechanics of our runners.

#4:  Hurdle Mobility

A lot of decreased running efficiency and injuries to the IT band and hamstrings can be traced back to compromised range of motion in the hips.  One of the best ways to address this for all runners is through hurdle mobility drills.  These are essentially various step and skip exercises using high hurdles.  They can either be implemented as part of a warm up for harder workouts or as a cool down after any run.

While I first learned of these drills from Jeff Boele, the man behind our dynamic warmup, they are used by numerous top high school programs and are even promoted by Olympic steeplechaser and former Missouri cross country phenom Colleen Quigley.  Hurdle mobility drills are another component I believe could be incorporated into our pre- and post-run activities.  I was able to acquire a set of hurdles and am looking forward to putting them to use this summer.

More components of our program--our warmup, neural days, and the multi-direction cool down to name a few--are indebted to Jeff Boele than any other individual.

#5:  Our Magnolia Road

Jay Johnson is the organizer of the Boulder Running Clinics.  He ran for the University of Colorado in the 90s and returned as an assistant coach there for several years.  Often during presentations, Coach Johnson will mention the importance of programs "finding their Mags".  This is in reference to a roughly 20-mile out-and-back route on Magnolia Road in the mountains outside of Boulder where the CU team would frequently complete their long runs.  Mags provides a brutal workout.  Base elevation is over 6000ft, with the first four miles being almost entirely uphill with over 2000ft of vertical ascent.  But at the same time Mags was iconic for the Colorado team, a rite of passage for new runners and a litmus test of progress for those coming back again and again.  The majority of the road is unpaved dirt, making for an exceptional experience.

Obviously most high school teams can't drive to Boulder every other week, so Coach Johnson encourages teams to find their own Mags, something iconic and ideal for their own long runs or other workouts.  At this year's clinic I heard how Lincoln High School in Portland had taken this message to heart.  For Lincoln, Forest Park became one of their Mags, so emblematic to the team that they ultimately chose it as their team name for the Nike Cross Country Championship Series. 

Our team has had some go-to routes over the years.  Names like Five-Mile Drive, Big Spring, or Green Meadows stir up memories for the majority of runners in our program's history. But I don't think any of these have quite risen to the level of a Mags for our team, nor will they likely fill that role as we move more of our running off of concrete.  We've also made regular trips to the trail at Perry County Lake, but that doesn't quite bring the right terrain and topography for the job.  I have a few alternatives in mind, and my hope is that one of them can become a defining route for our program that runners will remember for years to come!

While I don't think we'll find anywhere in Perry County with 6000ft of elevation, I believe that we can still find our Mags somewhere close to home.