Plz help: my coaches are imbeciles

What's stopping you from running on your own?

Or getting some of your buddies to extend the runs with you?

Ashton Eating wrote:

This year, our awesome (back-to-back undefeated seasons, multiple league championships) xc head coach got hired by a local college, so now we have new coaches. I had hoped that they would be fine coaches, even if they couldn't continue our regional dominance. Unfortunately, they appear to be the epitome of hobby joggers, with terribly short practices, and almost no running (haven't done more than 2 miles per day). Today all we did was a glorified zumba class. I love xc and they are threatening to ruin the perfect program we had before. What should I do?

1. Talk to them

2. Back it up with your running logs and accolades from previous years.

3. Keep a good attitude. Whining in front of others makes their job harder and makes you look like less of a team player.

you walked into this one wrote:

What's stopping you from running on your own?

Or getting some of your buddies to extend the runs with you?

Running on my own is not an option, I work 8hrs a day, and the point of practice is that I have those two hours set aside for running. If I am going to run on my own in addition, I may as well just not go to practice.

One cannot "extend the runs" if there are virtually no runs to extend. All the runs this week have been idiotic "intervals" where we jog for several minutes, then sprint all-out for 15sec then jog again. Recipe for injury and completely under coach's supervision.

Not a Coach wrote:

Ashton Eating wrote:

This year, our awesome (back-to-back undefeated seasons, multiple league championships) xc head coach got hired by a local college, so now we have new coaches. I had hoped that they would be fine coaches, even if they couldn't continue our regional dominance. Unfortunately, they appear to be the epitome of hobby joggers, with terribly short practices, and almost no running (haven't done more than 2 miles per day). Today all we did was a glorified zumba class. I love xc and they are threatening to ruin the perfect program we had before. What should I do?

1. Talk to them

2. Back it up with your running logs and accolades from previous years.

3. Keep a good attitude. Whining in front of others makes their job harder and makes you look like less of a team player.

I do plan to talk to them about it, but how do I do it without seeming offensive? It would require a complete upheaval of their current training plan, and would likely be a shot to their ego to have a kid tell them what to do.

Ashton Eating wrote:

Not a Coach wrote:

1. Talk to them

2. Back it up with your running logs and accolades from previous years.

3. Keep a good attitude. Whining in front of others makes their job harder and makes you look like less of a team player.

I do plan to talk to them about it, but how do I do it without seeming offensive? It would require a complete upheaval of their current training plan, and would likely be a shot to their ego to have a kid tell them what to do.

Get some sort of a back up plan first, before going to them, make sure you will have a good training environment outside of the high school if you choose that route. You should also take into account the fact that if you are the only one leaving, you will seem incredibly selfish to your teammates and your best bet may be to suck it up and stay, while supplementing training as best as you can so you don't totally suck. You can do a long run on Sundays on your own and run a double on Saturday (if you have Saturday practice) with a speed session/tempo run. Just an idea.

Once you have a backup plan, ask the coaches what the long term plan is, maybe they will introduce better training further into the season. If what they suggest is not good training, or they don't have a long term plan, show them your logs from previous years. The training they suggest doesn't have to be exactly what your old coach did, but it should incorporate the bare essentials such as easier distance runs, harder speed workouts, and some sort of a long run. Explain to them why you did each workout (i.e. Just explain the benefits of tempo runs, VO2 Max workouts, long runs etc.) and see what they say. You will have to read up on this to be able to explain well, but I suggest the YouTube videos Daniels has for the basic principles, even if your old coach was working off of a different system, the basic principles and purposes of each workout are essentially the same. It's also good as a runner to be able to understand why you are doing certain workouts.

If they dismiss your ideas, kindly tell them that you won't be running for the team anymore because their training program will not be effective. You should also let your teammates know you are doing this, and maybe if enough of the talented kids leave, the coach might change his/her ideas. You should also inform the AD of this, and although they most likely won't care at all (most don't care 1 but about XC), maybe they will have a sit down with the coach after a bunch of the top kids left.

You could also see if your old coach will be willing to talk with the new ones, and give them some direction with training. If their ego is too big that they can't take advice from a much more accomplished coach, and they continue with these idiotic 15 second sprint workouts. Then I think that would warrant reason to train on your own.

Staying with training that dumb could cost you scholarship money down the road.

Best of luck.

You work 8 hours a day in addition to being in high school? wut

Thanks for the suggestion, I plan to involve a few teammates, for a stronger argument.

wut dudee wrote:

You work 8 hours a day in addition to being in high school? wut

Work 8 hrs a day in summer, and 6.5 hours of school during the school year.

Ashton Eating wrote:

wut dudee wrote:

You work 8 hours a day in addition to being in high school? wut

Work 8 hrs a day in summer, and 6.5 hours of school during the school year.

You work 8 hrs, "practice" 2hrs, sleep 8 hrs. What are you doing with your other 6 hrs? You have as much time as you WANT to devote to this.

I work 9-10 hrs/day, 1 hr total commute, have a wife & kid, and I'm running 70 mpw. But I'm up at 4:30 every day to make it work.

Don't make excuses.

Don't listen to Mr. 4:30 AM... he is an adult (if not a troll). If you are in HS you need your sleep... and make sure you get it. Otherwise your long term health will greatly suffer.

I like the log idea. Also maybe get the training plans from your old coach to show them or ask him to call them?

run with the wom wrote:

Don't listen to Mr. 4:30 AM... he is an adult (if not a troll). If you are in HS you need your sleep... and make sure you get it. Otherwise your long term health will greatly suffer.

I like the log idea. Also maybe get the training plans from your old coach to show them or ask him to call them?

He doesn't have to get up at 4:30, my point is that he has plenty of time to train, but so far he's only making excuses. If you want something, you'll make the sacrifices to get it.

Any good HSer is doing 50-60 mpw. 1 hr/day. If he gets 2 miles in at practice, that's 2 less he has to do at home.

Look, having a great coach is undoubtedly a great benefit. But ultimately, if you don't train well that is on you. Shoot, just follow the Summer of Malmo all XC season and you'll run great.

Post your school and coaches name. Email addresses for coach, ad, and principle. We'll straighten them out.

The first week of XC practice in the summer may or may not look like what practice will end up being in early October.

40 years ago, we dealt with the same thing. We got 5 or 6 of us together and went to talk to the new coach. He didn't laugh at us or take it personally but his bottom line was if we wanted to run in the XC season races, we would do his training during practice. He encouraged us to hold extra practices/pancake breakfasts on Sundays but would not open the locker room for us before school even though he was already there early enough. One of us quit on the spot, one of us stepped in a hole before the regional meet. It was no fun going 2, 4, 6, 8, 58 for 2nd in the State when we should have been sure winners.

I tell this story, not to commiserate but because if you look at our new coach's training and add in our 15 mile long runs on Sundays, it looks much more like the Summer of Malmo than our old coach's three days a week of one hour runs at whatever pace would break #7 and three days a week of either races or course reps with 3 mile warmups and 3 mile cooldowns.

Captains and leaders should talk to the coaches and ask them what's up. Explain that what you're doing is totally different than what made you successful in the past and that you don't understand what why and how you're training.

Coach wrote:

Captains and leaders should talk to the coaches and ask them what's up. Explain that what you're doing is totally different than what made you successful in the past and that you don't understand what why and how you're training.

This is my plan so far. I think our first suggestion will be for more overall mileage, and then add in more specific wkouts (VO2 max, hills, etc) as a secondary clause if all goes well.

I have not read Summer Of Malmo. Will look for it at my local library.

Ashton Eating wrote:

I have not read Summer Of Malmo. Will look for it at my local library.

Ok we've got a troll on our hands. Good job getting me to respond seriously.

Ashton Eating wrote:

I have not read Summer Of Malmo. Will look for it at my local library.

Yea this was a pretty good troll thread. Got me to bite.

Hey, this isn't a troll thread, I don't understand what led you to think that. Turns out Malmo is a philosophy, not a book (how was I supposed to know that?!).