Two sophomores sub-9:00 indoors at CT state opens

I don’t know anything about Sherry but I do know that Puffer has been training under the direction of Tom Schwartz (Tinman Elite) for several years. And I believe he runs moderate mileage/CV workouts with a very long term approach in mind.

BTC wrote:

I don’t know anything about Sherry but I do know that Puffer has been training under the direction of Tom Schwartz (Tinman Elite) for several years. And I believe he runs moderate mileage/CV workouts with a very long term approach in mind.

Gavin has not been running seriously for too long. Based on what I’ve seen racing them he’s an extremely talented runner who grew up swimming mostly and I suspect that it’s given him a massive aerobic engine to transition quite well into distance running. Remember the name, the kid is going to be great

It is correct that Aidan’s training is not hard. Nearly all of his training is critical velocity, threshold, hills, and striders. Occasionally I assign a fartlek that at t 3k effort but the reps are purposely short. Same for Josh Edwards who I also coach! Training need not be brutal to develop runners to a high level!! Staying well below your tolerance limit is a long-term approach worth embracing, and you continue enjoy the sport.

Gavin looks more impressive in this race anyway. 8:54 as a sophomore, indoors. Probably best for them to work together the next 2.5 years to keep improving times.

Tinman wrote:

It is correct that Aidan’s training is not hard. Nearly all of his training is critical velocity, threshold, hills, and striders. Occasionally I assign a fartlek that at t 3k effort but the reps are purposely short. Same for Josh Edwards who I also coach! Training need not be brutal to develop runners to a high level!! Staying well below your tolerance limit is a long-term approach worth embracing, and you continue enjoy the sport.

Look how quick Tinman is to claim credit for a fast runner.

Your boy keeps getting outkicked. Work on some speed.

CT5 wrote:

BTC wrote:

I don’t know anything about Sherry but I do know that Puffer has been training under the direction of Tom Schwartz (Tinman Elite) for several years. And I believe he runs moderate mileage/CV workouts with a very long term approach in mind.

Gavin has not been running seriously for too long. Based on what I’ve seen racing them he’s an extremely talented runner who grew up swimming mostly and I suspect that it’s given him a massive aerobic engine to transition quite well into distance running. Remember the name, the kid is going to be great

Gavin had success in middle school and i believe he won middle school states in 8th grade and was runner up in 7th. Never ran track. Pretty sure you’re right on him focusing on swimming back then.

He’s said he only did like 35mpw in the summer leading up to XC in 2019, so he has tons of room to improve.

If you could bet on high school cross country, I’d put money on him winning footlocker the next two years straight.

Damn that was blistering finish..sub-30?

We all know what the rules are like in CT. Were these actual HS sophomores, or were they a couple of collegiate runners identifying as high schoolers?

BTC wrote:

Another sub 9 Sophomore, Larry Josh Edwards (8:56) from WV, was one of 3 runners who broke 9:00 two weeks ago at Spire Indoor Track in Ohio. He wore spikes, however the kid that came in 3rd did not break 16:00 in XC this year but ran 8:58 in VaporFly’s on the track.

https://oh.milesplit.com/meets/375950/results/686471/formatted#.XlKq6CVOklR

That’s an unfair characterization of Zachary Leachman. He pretty much only ran hard courses in XC and has pretty much always been better in track and cross. Western PA doesn’t have easy XC courses like the rest of the country, so I wouldn’t recommend bringing up the fact he didn’t break 16:00 as that is irrelevant to his accomplishments as a distance runner. He ran 9:12 last year at States. That is a perfectly normal progression, whether or not he is wearing Vaporflys.

just to check wrote:

We all know what the rules are like in CT. Were these actual HS sophomores, or were they a couple of collegiate runners identifying as high schoolers?

ok that is funny but they are both 15

and Sherry will be in the seeded heat of the 2 mile at NBNI and maybe the DMR 2 days before

Both of them declared for New Englands

http://www.mstca.org/Winter_Season/Winter%202020/PerfListNEW.htm

Pittsburgh area cross country is without a doubt the hardest in the nation. the courses are unreal. A 16:15-16:30 at the district 7 course might be worth a 15:30 or below at Woodward park.

I live in Central CT and have been lucky enough to see Gavin and Aidan run a few times.

I feel like I am watching the Beatles in Liverpool.

These guys are not just great runners, but terrific kids. The Sherrys are one of the nicest families around, and Manchester (home of Wickham Park, ground zero for CT running) loves the Puffer clan.

The snarky comment about Aidan getting outkicked disrespects the amount of effort he has put in, and the fact that he would have won bunches of races were he not born at the same time as Gavin. Both Aidan and Gavin have tremendous potential and there's a lot of running left in their careers.

Both of these young men (and no, they are not prep-school grade-repeaters) clearly respect each other and congratulate each other after every race. This kind of sportsmanship is what makes our sport the best.

It's a great time to be a running fan in CT.

Actually the comment disrespect Tinman. I even called the kid fast.

Tinman's biggest criticism is that he just pounds aerobic work and never develops speed.

If you know the Puffer family, you should recommend they find another coach. Instead of running 5000m races as a 13-14 year old, he should be running 800s to work on developing some fast twitch muscle fibers.

As you can see by his post in this topic, Tinman is more interested in what Puffer can do for Tinman and not what Tinman can do for Puffer. Tinman doesn't care even a little bit about Puffer's long term potential.

Of course he does. That is a rude statement.

Point taken.

I don't know anything about Tinman, nor do I know the Puffer family.

I just hope everything works out for Aidan.

He's a cool kid -- really mature and focused for his age.

Agree! I’ve felt for years that western PA gets minimal XC respect because the courses are so brutal and times so slow. I believe only 3 runners have ever broke 16:00 on the PA District 7 (Pittsburgh) course at Cal U. I have to believe Patrick Anderson’s course record 15:41 would be sub 15 at Woodward Park. And this is a District that had only 2 runners break 16:00 all year but placed 6 in the top 13 at 3A State Meet and is sending 5 seniors to the following XC programs next year: UNC, NC State, Florida State, and Temple (2).

https://pa.milesplit.com/meets/339143/results/678093/formatted#.XlNMpCVOklQ

The kid holds multiple American records and is already one of the fastest sophomores ever.....all on a moderate training plan. And someone is criticizing his coaching because he got out kicked In a sub 9 indoor 3200??? This is the equivalent to calling for the Patriots to find a new coach because they didn’t win the super bowl this year!

Gee, what an achievement, yawn. Next, they will run it under 8:00 going downhill.