Jotted these down while listening to Canova speak last summer in Colorado Springs. In no particular order:
"It is not possible to produce a fast race when you run slow."
"To improve upon an athlete's personal best, we should not look at the training that he has already done; rather, we should look at the training that he has not already done."
"All training must be closely monitored within narrow parameters because small differences in training can make a large impact on the effect on the athlete's body."
"If you give an athlete a set training schedule and have him stick to it without changing it, this is evidence that you are not a coach...you must investigate the reaction of the athlete rather than creating a set program. Everybody is different...there are certainly principles of each event but each athlete requires a different kind of training."
"what is training? Training is stimuli for your body. Stimulation can either be either extension or intensity."
"Before working on speed, you must improve your specific endurance. This is the ability to reduce the level of lactate you produce while running at the same speed."
"Training does not change who you are. yet it allows you to run faster. Thus, training opens up new vessels of potential that we already have but cannot see."
"Intensity by itself cannot do anything but create injuries or burn the engine of the athlete. A big base of volume is absolutely necessary."
And then later:
"Mileage without speed is absolutely useless."
"If you don't enjoy running, why fight through it? You need to enjoy running or you won't be able to take on new challenges."
"We speak about the quality of life. For Americans, this means reducing any kind of pain or difficulty. Is this the final goal of our society? The trend of our world is to cancel the fatigue, so that is why hard working runners are so rare."
"It is good to dream big, but you also need to have middle and short term goals to fuel the fire."
"Training is not just running. Training is how we eat, how we sleep, how we recover, and how we organize our lives."
"If an athlete is not motivated, unlock the two natural motivations in humans: 1) challenge another. 2) challenge himself."
"A coach is like a parent. Your role is to teach and to help grow."