Post-Olympic Blues, and What to Do About It...
Published: Mon, 09/10/12
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In this issue:
Greetings & Salve, I don’t know about you, but I am suffering from a case of post-Olympic blues. The Olympics is not "just another track meet". It comes once every 4 years and we witnessed athletes raising the bar and performing at the highest level with insurmountable pressure. Some performed, some did as expected, and some choked… It’s going to be a very long 4 years until Rio 2016. So what are you going to do about it? Woody Allen once said, "80% of success is just showing up" but that’s not the case of the Olympics. You have to start planning 4 years or even 8 years out. Success in sports starts with a good grassroots foundation and a great coaching program. If the average age of Track Olympians was 26 years old, then the future 2016 Olympians are currently 22, and the 2020 Olympians (wherever they may be held) are only 18 years old! You can argue the success of Team GB with Charles van Commenee of nearly achieving the predicted 8 medal count with 6 (they could have/should have/would have won 2 more relay medals, but that’s a lot of “ifs”). He was hired in 2009, less than 4 years to plan and build.. imagine if he had 8 years to build a team? 12 years? It comes down to planning and funding... devising a roadmap… and taking one year at a time. And pray not to get seriously injured to set you back. To quote Frank Dick, “If you are 10 cm short of the “A” standard in the high jump, it’s only a 2cm gain per year and an extra 2cm for the Olympics!”. How true! So good luck to all the coaches and athletes as we start planning for Rio 2016. Onwards and upwards! Most Common Requests The Top 3 request I get through personal email are (1) custom/personalized Training programs, (2) advice on changing coaches, and (3) injuries/post-injury training. I try to cover these topics regularly on the Blog and my friend Latif Thomas will be launching a 400 meter program next Monday, so stay tuned for that. It should answer a lot of questions. Best of London 2012 All London Olympic articles from the Blog (26 to date) are located in the London 2012 Olympic Category. Everything from unusual stories, splits, analysis, predictions and videos. http://speedendurance.com/category/london-2012-olympics/
Best of August 2012 Here are the rest of best of August 2012. Enjoy. http://speedendurance.com/2012/08/ Jimson SpeedEndurance.com Art of Long Hurdling: A Racing &Training Guide for 400mH 2012-07-30 11:00:00-04 The Art of Long Hurdling: A Guide to Racing and Training for 400 meter Hurdles is Jim Hiserman’s latest book. (His previous 2 were Program Design Method for Sprint & Hurdle Training and Strength and Power for Maximum Speed) Few Track & Field coaches would argue the fact that the 400m Hurdle race is among [...] read more... Lolo Jones & Justin Gatlin: The Jamaican Toe Drag Revisited 2012-08-07 10:25:00-04 Earlier in the year, I posted an article about the controversial “Jamaican” toe-scrape toe-drag technique on the second step. It’s not limited to Jamaicans now. This article is guest blogged by movement specialist and Track and Field coach Adarian Barr of Next Level Athletics and Fitness. He can be reached at [email protected]. His other contributing [...] read more... Shoulder Rotation: The Secret to Longer Stride, Faster Running 2012-08-09 11:00:00-04 Back in 2009, I wrote about Arm Action in Sprinting on how you can gain a full meter with the same number of strides by proper shoulder rotation and hip rotation. This article is guest blogged by two authors: movement specialist and Track and Field coach Adarian Barr of Next Level Athletics and Fitness, and [...] read more... Usain Bolt 20 Meter Splits at London 2012 Olympics 2012-08-09 12:00:00-04 Did Usain Bolt have a higher top end speed as compared to Berlin 2009? Did he really run 27.794 mph? I don’t have access to my high end equipment right now (it’s kind of hard to do 10 meter splits on an Android phone), but here are some recent published data from El Pais in [...] read more... David Rudisha: 800m Training, Splits, World Record 2012-08-12 12:40:00-04 Believe it or not, I missed the Olympic 800 meters in the stadium, and I didn’t even watch it on TV. Why? Because I was attending a private coaching clinic with Jessica Ennis, Toni Minichiello and Mick Hill. I’ll be posting that 60 minute interview shortly on this Blog, so stay tuned. David Rudisha 800m [...] read more... Dan Pfaff on the Importance of Rest and Recovery 2012-08-14 04:00:00-04 Last month I published an interview with Dan Pfaff on Tapering for the Big Meet. Here is a another great interview by Tom Crick with Dan Pfaff from the June 24, 2008 edition of Athletics Weekly. Be sure to read my interview with Dan Pfaff here from May 2012. Tom is now head of uCoach [...] read more... Interview with Dennis W. Mitchell: 5 Questions 2012-08-17 04:00:00-04 This is Part 15 of the weekly “Friday Five” series where I ask 5 tough questions to world class elite coaches. To recap: Jumps coach Boo Schexnayder Dr. Mike Stone of the USOC and NBA Performance specialist Henk Kraaijenhof USA’s Dan Pfaff, now with UKA Pierre-Jean Vazel of the French National Team USATF Chair for [...] read more... How They Train: Martyn Rooney 2012-08-21 04:00:00-04 At London, Martyn Rooney of Team GB finished 5th in the SF in a time 45.31. 6 days later, he ran a 44.1 anchor relay leg to help his team finish 4th. (He also anchored the 4x400m SF… so 4 races in 7 days) I really feel Team GB could have, should have won a [...] read more... Interview with Sharon Hannan, Coach of Sally Pearson [PODCAST] 2012-08-23 04:00:00-04 On Aug 11th, I missed the final day of Athletics at the stadium to attend an evening with Sharon Hannan, coach of 100mH Gold medalist Sally Pearson. I could always watch the races later on BBC, but hearing Sharon Hannan live is a rare treat. Just like Jessica Ennis and her coaches three nights before [...] read more... Dan Pfaff on Training 2012-08-29 04:00:00-04 This is part 3 of 3 in the series from Athletics Weekly on Dan Pfaff. The other two were Tapering for the Big Meet and The Importance of Rest and Recovery. Here is a another great interview by Tom Crick with Dan Pfaff from the July 31, 2008 edition of Athletics Weekly. Be sure to [...] read more... |
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