Florida Coach Mike Holloway-"much easier to double in 5 & 10K than sprints"

Buttfromaholeintheground wrote:

Ultimately, the biggest problem with this site is our niche keeps us from having a deep understanding of the other aspects of the sport. Distance runners don't understand sprinters and sprinters don't understand distance runners. If you have not done the different events at a high level it very difficult to understand how they fatigue a person equally even though the distances are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Totally agree this is a problem (in both directions) with some athletes and coaches. I knew when I graduated college I wanted to be a more knowledgeable coach that a distance background alone would make me. I wanted to understand the sport.

I wasn't a stud distance guy in college, just good enough to make my D1 team as a walk on, but I knew what it was to train hard and run moderate (70 to 75) mileage for a long season with lots of races.

So when I graduated, I decided to become a decathlete. I'm pretty terrible at some of the events, but I've made lots of progressed and learned a ton about sprints and field events along the way, in a way I never would have understood if I had just gone to coaching clinics.

Compared to that first year, I've taken my 100m time down to 11.5, my lj to 21-4, shotput to 40 feet, pole vault to 14-5, etc. All not great marks, but I've put in full seasons of hard training now, done the lifting, worked on the techniques, and discovered that some of the events are just fun on their own, even if you aren't competing.

I do believe it makes me a better coach for any event to have background in others. This is especially true in the technical events if I'm working with an athlete who does more than one event, since I can tie what I'm working with them on to the other event they do and make comparisons of what is similar or different with the skill they're currently focusing on.

Anyway, 45 minutes between finals in the 100 and 200 would suck. Going from the 100m to lj with 30 minutes break in a Dec isn't mentally hard, but you can tell your legs have lost a tiny bit of explosiveness just from that one 100m race. I think for a more explosive sprinter, a good starter type, this would be even more true. The 45 minute break will slightly shift who can do the double towards favoring a more efficient and top end type of runner over a more explosive runner.

The time allowed between is fair in that all sprinters have only 45 minutes.

However IF you want top times then it is stupid to only allow 45 minutes between the 100 and 200 dashes.

But in the big meets, all they care about is money. Hey I want to see that top guy win both of those events. But you will not see his best times.

I think he knows that it is all about money.

1. Is it harder to run 300 meters than to run 15,000 meters?

2. Is it harder to win a 100-200 double with less than adequate rest than it

is to win a 5 and 10 with almost enough rest?

I think he is right about question #2. But in a sense I am glad he said it, because he cares about his athletes and not the money!

Is it possible to move the 100 and 200 further apart and keep the 5 and 10 where they are? That is the question you should be asking.

I agree with kimani.

Some athletes will never be suited to run long distances, the same as some distance athletes will never be sprinters. It's about fiber types.

Certainly many of you have met sprinters who ran cross country, and tried hard at it, yet they could not succeed.

Track meets are not all about endurance. Sprinting is about who can run the fastest over a short distance. Cross country is for distance runners only.

But what are we really talking about here?

We are talking about money!

Plus there is no real reason why you cannot allow for more time for the 100/200 guys to rest and recover for a little longer. Except for the money!

You make a convincing point with your statistics. However, even as a distance minded guy I have to think that Holloway made a good point. It has to be about the athletes, not the money.

Why else would they risk sprinters health if not for the money.

A distance runner can run a hard 6.2 mile run, take an easy recovery day, and then run a very hard 3.1 miles. I've done it, and so have you. You might even run your personal best in one of those races!

But when you go 100/200 like that, not only do you risk injury but you have got to have that in your mind when you are running that you could pop a hammy!

How many college coaches disagree with what he said? You have got to protect our sport against the powers of the NCAA!

More brilliant reasoning from coach d(uche).

The second part of your conjunct has no relation to the first, or the sentence that preceded it. Bad reasoning.

Also:

ath·lete

ˈaTHˌlēt/

noun

a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise.

a person who is skilled in competitive track and field events (athletics).

You're literally wrong by definition.

Not surprising considering the above post came from the same bright mind that gave us the nugget found here:

Neither can you, apparently.

But as least you have the time to grace this message board with your presence and spread your pearls of wisdom.

So because Jenkins and King Ches. can double it's easy ???really Holloway lol he already has excuses for when Oregon beats Florida indoors and outdoors. Hell I could do the 100, 200 double in 45 minutes and I haven't run since high school and I never did track just cross my freshman year 16 flat pr lol damn I wish I would have actually tried oh well.

Bump

And last winter this school beat NXN champs Herriman in the 4xMile at indoor nationals.

I had a friend run at Florida and Halloway was very involved with the distance program. This was almost 20 years ago. The man understood and knew cross country in and out.

As the cost of college increased and the competitiveness across all events went up Coach H decided to focus much more on sprints and jumps. You can only be good at so many events these days.

I do think these comments were a sour grapes thing but the man does know distance

“More readily achievable”? Yes. “Easier”? No.

Mike Holloway is mentioned in this article

mainstreetdailynews.com

Buchholz boys reclaim cross country state title after 30 years

Seth Johnson

Bobcat girls finish silver in state championship.

Open link