COACH

"If you were lucky, you were blessed to have a mentor, someone who coached you, showed you the way.  In track & field, this someone more than likely enriched your career and as well as your personal life.  The coach, your mentor."

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Training Principles by Dave Milliman

Coaching Philosophy and Cost

RUN FOR FUN AND PERSONAL BESTS 
By Jeff Milliman,  Greenville’s Running Guru and the Georgia marathon record-holder (2:21:05) since 1985

“Run for Fun and Personal Bests” – this sign hung over the locker room door at the college where, as an incoming freshman, I entered on my first day of practice. I couldn’t help but snicker a bit since, as a high school runner, I averaged over 100 miles a week. Yet, as the cross country season progressed, the camaraderie of my new cross countryteammates and the infectious enthusiasm of my coach began to infuse my training. I slowly began to see the light. I realized that sign spoke the truth.

For a runner to be successful, he or she must enjoy the training. Every workout may not be fun, but the pursuit of perfection need not be a struggle. A successful runner looks forward to practice. A successfulrunner is following the dream of becoming as good as he can be. The goalis to improve, to enjoy the pursuit of personal bests.

Running is not all about rigid workout schedules and stopwatches. It isn’t just how hard and how far you can push yourself,nor about how many teammates you beat in practice. It is about maintaining a schedule which reinforces positive lifeskills, and step-by-step growth as a runner and as an athlete. These workouts must reflect both the knowledge of what works for you as an individual as well as the science of the sport developed over many years. A successful runner is a runner who has learned to balance what he wants tomorrow with what he is doing today.

If you blindly adhere to strict schedules without understanding the how and why of the workouts, you will not enjoy the journey that running affords. As the classic Nike poster says, “Running is the journey,not the destination.”Each workout must have a reason. The journey to success is most enjoyed by the runner who analyzes the how and why, then acts accordingly. The American ethos seems to be to “sod the lawn” with as little an effort as possible rather than to seed, then nurture the lawn as it grows. As runners we need to plant the seeds for our success, and “water” our training with patience, moderation and trust.

The greatest coaches have always said that the will to win means little without the will to prepare. This rings the loudest in distance running. Medals may not go to the hardest workers, but they do go tothose who work the hardest within a well reasoned training paradigm. These training schedules reflect both self knowledge, and homage to those champions who have gone before. The best athletes and coaches are those who are students of the event. Those who think before they leap into questionable training patterns, or dubious lifestyle changes.

The best distance runners are those who can delay reward, knowing the hard work they are doing now will pay off down the road. They look forward to their daily workouts as these workouts are designed to maximize their success. If a runner can find the proper balance between where he is now and where he wants to be, then the journey can be both extremely rewarding and enjoyable.

It is possible to both run for fun and achieve reward beyond your expectations.