Bill Aris Training Talk 4/12/2010

What kind of mileage do your top guys run? Top girls?

Alex, Baltimore, MD

What kinds of things do you do in the summer? do you have a summer training program togeather?

Justin, Cedar Rapids Iowa

how did you get alex hatz back in shape after mising xc (due to medical reasons) to run the times that he has during the indoor season

Percy Cerutty's band of 'Stotans' lived and trained to "habitually function upon the highest planes of thought and physical effort"--in effect, making a runner's athletic performances a pure expression of his or her character and philosophy of life. How do you cultivate this kind of attitude on your teams? And how do you inspire your runners to surpass the limitations placed upon them by themselves and others around them?

John, Minneapolis, MN

Where do you and your son envision Stotan Racing going in time? Will you guys focus on one race distance? Also, how do the weather conditions of the Northeast play into training and racing? It is great to see a group like this starting in the Northeast, a lot of running talents come from your area and yet it seems rare that they find options after college close to home...might be the start of a really good thing...wish you guys all the best.

one more thing in general, what advantages do your athletes get in having father/son coaching, do you handle athletes in differnt ways or are your styles identical?

Do your athletes frequently run more than once per day? Do you encourage it or discourage it? Why?

Thanks,

Joe, Southern Maryland

considering your proximity to Syracuse University and the high level that Chris Fox has brought the programs, do you see more of your athletes being attracted to SU? i.e. Molly Malone and maybe others?

what type of milage do your top girls do? hardest workout?

Richmond Va

How often do you recommend having sex?

What is your rate of improvement for runners once they reach the collegiate level (jared b as my first thought, amongst others. defend)? Are you really just another 'toga when it comes to females? So far, while not a huge program, you find athletes and push them to success, I can't disagree with this idea in general, but find me a great runner 4 years outside of FM? You've had enough time to point to collegiate athletes' progress, whether good or bad, what's the verdict? What did you expect from your grads? Are you proud of where they have gone on a whole (not individually)?

At what point during a XC season do you introduce 5K race pace training? How do you prolong peak performances given your teams typically have a long "championship" season?

Thanks

KJ--Ohio

The real questions. Answer! wrote:

What is your rate of improvement for runners once they reach the collegiate level (jared b as my first thought, amongst others. defend)? Are you really just another 'toga when it comes to females? So far, while not a huge program, you find athletes and push them to success, I can't disagree with this idea in general, but find me a great runner 4 years outside of FM? You've had enough time to point to collegiate athletes' progress, whether good or bad, what's the verdict? What did you expect from your grads? Are you proud of where they have gone on a whole (not individually)?

The statement should be find me a runner 4 years out of FM who has gone to a good running college.This is the crybaby jealous stuff that comes up from time to time, and totally bogus and unfair to a outstanding teamwhich develops for the future, thepolar opposite of your crap. Look at the limited racing done in one year for saving the kdsi legs, they are scorned for not racing enough. Smart coaching. From what I know the track is not even touched for a large part of the year. Can't argue that they tap 'em out of speed. More..another 'Toga? Seriously? first off, take a look at the last four years..all of them wins at their natl championships, and how many of thetheir scorers have graduated? The most talented scorers of teh group graduate this year correct if wrong.four or five of them in fact, the same ones for each champnsp win, so where's the examples of no success in college? There have been none yet really. Given the newness of the girls team dominance, with runners going to big time schools next year, give it time rather than bash out of jealousy and stupidity.

Your point of the guys in past years, name one college team that has taken an FM guy (aside from Greunwald) that has gone to a college program with any history. What's the coaching like at RIT, with Burdick? not really fair to claim these guys have failed or anything

Gruenwald went 14:0X in the 5k before a mission at BYU, fared well there. Mccann went 14:15 at Umass with not the best program history, and 30:00. freakin state fact not false negtivity. Hatz? MaloneCarter Lueber Chmapan fanning, hard to see at least one of them not making an olympics one day

and another question that isnt coming from stupidity, what would you have seen your graduates doing today if it was possible to keep coaching them after highschool?

crapcrap,

Listen, this is an opportunity to learn from a great coach. If all you want to do is kiss his ass for the hour or so that he is going to be speaking and answering questions for the incredible accomplishments he and his teams have done, that's fine but the best answers I have ever heard and learned from coaches are questions like, "what would you have done differently" or "do you feel like there was anything else you could have done differently to prepare at x point in the season." I don't want a walk down memory lane on the past 4 seasons from Coach Aris, I want an inside look at the philosophy, psychology and physiology of his program, both what he thinks he has done right and what he has done that he thinks could have gone better. Granted, it's hard to look at what F-M has done and find too much qrong with it.

I didn't feel like the post you quoted was totally out of line with the questions he asked and I expect Coach Aris to be mature enough to take a reflective look at his program and give an honest and sincere answer to questions like that.

Looking forward to the learning opportunity and not simply a schmoozing session applauding what Coach Aris and the F-M program have accomplished.

When working with HS kids, my guess is that you're the first major impact on these kids' lives in terms of a philosophy of running. You talk a lot about team synergy, and it seems to be your greatest strength. How have you been, or how will you, generate this kind of psychology among your club runners, who may have had a variety of influences in the past to their outlook on running?

Connor Martin - Rochester, NY

hyena,

aside from some speculation in my last sentence, I have written all facts. There was an tone of antagonism in the quoted post. There wasn't any shmoozing, I didn't state anything that isn't true, and answered a question that I expect Coach Aris answers better way thanI did. What I did was keep the balance with some off comments. If the "opinion" was kept oout of the post, and was limited to questions only, it would have been all reasonable and i'd not have responded at all. jusgt giving facts for those interested, only fair. Also looking forward to the interview and hearing from the horses mouth which is the only important one in all of this after all.

crapcrap wrote:

hyena,

aside from some speculation in my last sentence, I have written all facts. There was an tone of antagonism in the quoted post. There wasn't any shmoozing, I didn't state anything that isn't true, and answered a question that I expect Coach Aris answers better way thanI did. What I did was keep the balance with some off comments. If the "opinion" was kept oout of the post, and was limited to questions only, it would have been all reasonable and i'd not have responded at all. jusgt giving facts for those interested, only fair. Also looking forward to the interview and hearing from the horses mouth which is the only important one in all of this after all.

Your a good son, defending his dad.

If you went to a different program without the success of FM, what would be the first things that you would implement? What are the "first steps" to high level success.

Mike

Louisville, KY