Scott Douglas asks, "Why Don’t More Elites Post Their Training Online?"

That's dumb for so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Ritz is about as talented as anybody the US has ever produced.

Sometimes it feels like rojo has trouble with very basic thought processes. The reason Wikipedia is so immensely popular is in large part BECAUSE it is free. Do you think Wikipedia was the first ever encyclopedia? LOL

Get with the program rojo.

Wikipedia if it was created now would be different. It would still be free but they'd create it with ads. It makes no sense that there aren't ads on there.

Same thing with a training log. It makes no sense to just give it away for free.

you realize your site pre-dates wikipedia, right?

rojo wrote:

Wikipedia if it was created now would be different. It would still be free but they'd create it with ads. It makes no sense that there aren't ads on there.

Same thing with a training log. It makes no sense to just give it away for free.

It makes no sense that you can't figure out what Wikipedia's mission is. Their stated mission is "to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally."

It functions on donations, which it solicits whenever it deems necessary. If it were beholden to advertisers, it would not be the same and it would have outside influences. Do you understand now, Rojo?

rojo wrote:

Wikipedia if it was created now would be different. It would still be free but they'd create it with ads. It makes no sense that there aren't ads on there.

Same thing with a training log. It makes no sense to just give it away for free.

There are plenty of ways in which in makes sense to give a training log away for free. For one it helps you ingratiate yourself with fans and increase your popularity at virtually no cost to yourself. Take Donn Cabral for example. I'm sure Donn has gained quite a lot of fans by making his training log available for everyone to view, and increased his value to his sponsor in the process. The effect is probably pretty minor, but again, the downsides are virtually nil.

Also, not everything has to be a business decision. Some people find utility in sharing with and helping others.

Rojo, you should email the owners of Wikipedia, I'm sure they've love to hear some tips from a founder of the World Famous Letsrun.com

Even if the best in the world posted their training online people wouldn't all train the same.

Most probably just couldn't be bothered to.

Hang on a sex I've see many people claim on here that elites do the same training as regular runners just at faster paces

I agree with Ritz here. If I were a professional runner, no way would I tell the world what my training was like.

Many, many years ago USA Cycling published training calendars. For $15 you could buy a Cat 2 road training schedule. It told you how many miles to ride each day, specific workouts including speeds.

Can you begin to guess the problems?

1) As someone charged with increasing the number and quality of cycling coaches, I looked at it and said "why pay a coach when you can buy this"?

2) My bigger issue was that the training program was based off what national team riders were doing (although reduced in volume some). And it might work great for a handful of people but for most it would likely be too much and for some it might be too little. It also assumed that everyone responds to training the same way and has the same weekly schedule.

My boss saw the same issues and we scrapped them.

I still see "cookie cutter" programs and once really railed against them (since I do derive a little income from coaching). Now I accept them (what else can I do?) but I sell my services as being able to individualize and adjust the training.

That's true. More volume too. A select few need to actually do additional special training to win tactical races.

Not much point for a mid packer to worry about tactical kicking.

rojo wrote:

Wikipedia if it was created now would be different. It would still be free but they'd create it with ads. It makes no sense that there aren't ads on there.

Same thing with a training log. It makes no sense to just give it away for free.

so it makes no sense for canova to give everything away on letsrun for free? too bad he's less entrepreneurial than nick symmonds

I agree and I'm not even a professional runner. I only run an 18:30 5k but no way I want those 20+ minute cube dwellers to crib off my plan and challenge me for the local turkeytrot!

Why don't NFL teams post their playbooks online?

I believe that Pro runners don't put their stuff on line so they can create an aura of something special.

How many ex Hansons or McMillan athletes are currently providing coaching services based on just this?

I think every athlete in NAZ elite is a coach. Interestingly, Ben Rosario ran with both Hansons and McMillan.

but NAZ posts all their training on their website..

Same thing with training. It seemed cool at first to give it away but now people realize, "Hey if everyone trains the same, then I'll lose to the most talented person."

I don't think this is a good reason, though some elites might think this way.

Coaches don't like to post training partly because they know non-elites will try to blindly emulate it and get hurt, rather than learning from the actual principles behind the training.

It makes sense to not want opponents to know what exactly you did the last couple weeks, but I doubt coaches feel like they know some big secret in training so they would never want to share last year's logs.

A key to being a good coach is tailoring the training to the individual's strengths and weaknesses and adjusting as you go based on context. No amount of others' training logs can give that secret away.