This is an excerpt from Alex's presentation at the Boulder Running Camps 2020-21 Winter Virtual Camp.  It's a fantastic presentation and both the athletes and coaches who were fortunate to learn from Alex. If you're a coach and you want your athletes to learn from coaches like Alex have them (and their parents) visit BoulderRunningCamps.com and learn about our educational offerings. We offer more than just in-person camps and serious kids, who are eager to race faster, can learn a tremendous amount from our speakers. If you have two or more athletes register for the camp then you get to register for free. Email me at jay@coachjayjohnson.com for the latest discounts for teams. And as always, please email me if you have questions, comments, or advice regarding the podcast.

Coaching Runners Podcast

024 - Alex Lyons - What Makes a Great Teammate

In this episode, Jay Johnson explains why he doesn't use the term speed work. He goes into detail about how he thinks coaches should use the term speed. It's his contention that the term 'race pace work' can often be used to assign training to athletes. Check out Jay's other podcast, Running with Coach Jay, to hear his views on why this term is also problematic for adult runners.

023 - Speed Work: What does it mean?

 Alex Lyons is a tremendous coach and I'm so happy he not only joined me on the podcast, but that's he's part of the Boulder Running Clinics 2020-21 Winter Webinar Series.  Alex is the girl's coach at Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois. The girls have had tremendous success in both cross country and track during his time as the head coach. Alex spent part of his collegiate running years at American University where Matt Centrowitz was his coach and we discuss how Coach Centrowitz's approach influenced his coaching. In this wide-ranging conversation, we spend a significant amount of time on training and why he does what he does with his athletes. Thank you Alex for being the first guest in the podcast! 

022 - Alex Lyons

John O'Malley is the boy's cross country and track coach at Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois. He is the only person to have coached two Footlocker national champions. On the track, his boys ran an average time of 7:44 in the 4 x 800m for seven consecutive years (averaging 1:56 per athlete). John is part of a panel discussion on burnout as part of the Boulder Running Clinics Winter Webinar Series. This is a series of 12 webinars, each roughly 90 minutes, that you can attend live or watch/listen to the recordings.  Visit BoulderRunningClinics.com to learn more about the webinar series and to register. Make sure to use the discount code "podcast" to get a discount on your registration.  John was the second guest on the podcast - episode 002. He has also appeared on the podcast in episode 015 with Dr. Jeff Messer and Jeff Boelé.

021 - John O'Malley - Burnout in Coaching

Jonathan Dalby is the girl's and boy's coach at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. His teams have won multiple state titles in cross country and have made multiple NXN appearances, including in 2017 when the boys were third and the girls were sixth. Jonathan is part of a panel discussion on burnout as part of the Boulder Running Clinics Winter Webinar Series. This is a series of 12 webinars, each roughly 90 minutes, that you can attend live or watch/listen to the recordings.  Visit BoulderRunningClinics.com to learn more about the webinar series and to register. Make sure to use the discount code "podcast" to get a discount on your registration. 

020 - Jonathan Dalby - Burnout in Coaching

Kim O'Malley is a former high school coach - nine years in both California and Colorado - who is a content developer for Girls On The Run International.  Kim is part of a panel discussion on burnout as part of the Boulder Running Clinics Winter Webinar Series. This is a series of 12 webinars, each roughly 90 minutes, that you can attend live or watch/listen to the recordings.  Visit BoulderRunningClinics.com to learn more about the webinar series and to register. Make sure to use the discount code "podcast" to get a discount on your registration.  Finally, I spoke with Kim on episode 010 and in that episode, you can learn more about social-emotional learning and why it's so important for high school coaches to understand those concepts.

019 - Kim O'Malley - Burnout in Coaching

Jessie Magoto, the girl's cross country and track coach at Minster High School, in Minster, Ohio, is my guest on this episode. We discuss burnout in both coaching and teaching. Jessie explains how she keeps her energy high throughout the year. Jessie is part of a panel discussion on burnout as part of the Boulder Running Clinics Winter Webinar Series. This is a series of 12 webinars, each roughly 90 minutes, that you can attend live or watch/listen to the recordings.  Visit BoulderRunningClinics.com to learn more about the webinar series and to register. Make sure to use the discount code "podcast" to get a discount on your registration.  Finally, I spoke with Jessie on episode 011 and if you want to hear how a coach at a small school has created a successful program, check out that episode. 

018 - Jessie Magoto - Burnout in Coaching

Jeff Messer, PhD, and Jay discuss how coaches and athletes can view training during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Messer references two papers and summaries them in this podcast. 1. Debunking the Myth of Exercise-Induced Immune Suppression: Redefining the Impact of Exercise on Immunological Health Across the Lifespan. Campbell JP1, Turner JE1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29713319 2. The compelling link between physical activity and the body's defense system David C. Niemana,⁎ and Laurel M. Wentzb https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6523821/ At the end of this podcast is a coupon code for $12 off any BoulderRunningClinics.com videos, clinics that Dr. Messer has both spoken at and attended.

017 - Special Covid-19 episode with Jeff Messer, PhD

Tony and Jay spend most of this episode focused on training, specifically discussing what distance coaches can adapt from the sprint world to improve performance. If you listened to episode 005 with Tony you know he strongly recommends distance coaches use wickets (aka mini-hurdles) with their athletes. He tweaks that suggestion a bit and points out that it's very common for distance runners to run a set of wickets with poor mechanics. He then goes into detail with a progression of drills coaches can use to teach proper mechanics. And just as John O'Malley said it's important to watch this video with Jeff Boele, Tony gives his reasons for why it's a must-watch for serious distance coaches. Combine this episode with episode 014 and you have almost three and a half hours with Tony!

016 - Tony Holler - Part 2

 Three former guests on the podcast discuss a variety of topics, starting with a definition of the term “speed” and how that term fits into the training of distance runners. Specifically, Jeff Boelé and John O’Malley discuss acceleration and why it may or may not be useful for distance runners. The conversation then moves on to a discussion of terminology across a spectrum of intensities, including threshold and vVo2max running. Later in the podcast John and Jeff Boelé address a question Joan Hunter submitted regarding sub-max velocity work and their answers are fantastic.  This podcast is in many ways an extension of the conversations these three men and Jay Johnson have been engaging in via a text thread for the past year.  While technical at times, the majority of the information in this podcast will be useful for coaches with two years of experience, coaches with 20 years of experience and everyone in between.  For complete show notes visit CoachJayJohnson.com. Included is the link to the 20-minute video of Jeff Boelé’s neural session practice, the video that John O’Malley says is a must-watch. If you'd like some transcribed excerpts of this podcast please join Jay’s email list by visiting CoachJayJohnson.com.  Finally, John, Dr. Messer and Jay all spoke at the 2020 Boulder Running Clinics and at the end of the podcast Jay shares a coupon code that will give you $10 off those videos. Visit BoulderRunningClinics.com to purchase the videos.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  John O’Malley   A Brooks “Top 25 Most Inspiring Coaches” award winner, Coach O’Malley has an unprecedented coaching resume. He has had the unique ability to coach the “average” runner in addition to being able to take elite runners to the highest levels in Illinois and United States history. His cross country teams at Sandburg H.S. have qualified for state 14 years in a row, which accounts for every year he’s been coaching. His teams have placed in the top 10 in state eight separate occasions out, including three top-four finishes, a runner up in 2014 and a state championship in 2015. Without their #2 runner, his team placed 4th at NXN in 2015 after qualifying and placing 16th in 2014. In addition to coaching two NXN teams, he has coached two individual qualifiers.   He coached two-time Illinois state champion, 8:29 2-miler, 3:59 miler, only double Footlocker and Nike National Champion, Lukas Verzbicas. Last year Dylan Jacobs won Footlocker Midwest Regional, making Coach O’Malley the only coach to have coached two Footlocker Midwest Regional champions. Jacobs would go on to be a double All-American at NXN and Footlocker as a junior. At Detweiller Park, the Illinois state cross country course since 1972, two of O’Malley’s runners have broken 14:00, a feat only achieved by a total of six runners in Illinois history. His ability to create a culture in which all his athletes are fully engaged and determined is perhaps best exemplified by David Gleisner who as a healthy senior did not manage to make the team’s top seven and run at state or nationals, but would run 9:16 for 3200 that spring.   On the track, O’Malley has coached five runners who have run 4:10 or better for 1600 and 15 runners 1:57 or better in the 800. His 4 x 800 relays have been most dominant. Having run 7:46 or better for the last six consecutive seasons, they placed in the top five in state seven times, including two state champion relays and setting the Illinois State Record of 7:37.3. In all, he’s had ten different foursomes run under 7:48. Additionally, Sean Torpy set the all-time Illinois State Record in the 800 of 1:47.9. His 4 x mile relay won the 2016 New Balance Indoor National title. Sean Torpy would go on to become the Illinois state champion in the 1600, Chris Torpy the Illinois state 800 meter champion, and his team won three of the four distance events at the state meet in 2016, a feat only achieved two other times in state history. Last spring, after graduating three of his four state champions from 2016, his 4 x 800 came back to place 2nd in state in 7:46 and Dylan Jacobs ran 4:07 for 1600. O’Malley has coached three Gatorade Athletes of the Year: Lukas Verzbicas, Sean Torpy and Dylan Jacobs.   The Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Coach of the Year, NFHS Coach of the Year, United States Track and Cross Country Federation Coach of the Year, Coach O’Malley’s coaching resume is perhaps only surpassed by his teaching accolades, which includes the Northwestern University Distinguished Secondary Teacher Award, the Stanford University Excellence in Teaching Award, the Illinois Education Association Leadership in Action Award and the Western Illinois University Inspiring teach award.  Dr. Jeff Messer  Dr. Jeffrey I. Messer serves as department chair and faculty in exercise physiology for the Exercise Science Department at Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona.   Dr. Messer has published research in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, The American Journal of Physiology and The Journal of Applied Physiology. Most recently, Dr. Messer and co-authors published a 2016 paper entitled “A Simple Hydraulic Analog Model of Oxidative Phosphorylation.”   Dr. Messer applies his passion for teaching and scholarly inquiry through his strong involvement in coaching both interscholastic endurance athletes and, periodically, pre-secondary and post-collegiate endurance athletes.   Dr. Messer has been recognized by the United States Track-&-Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association as the 2016 National Girls High School Cross-Country Coach-of-the-Year.  From 2006 – 2012, Dr. Messer served as co-head coach for cross-country and assistant coach (distance) for track-&-field at Xavier College Preparatory, Phoenix, Arizona. The Xavier College Preparatory cross-country program earned six consecutive (2007 – 2012) Arizona high school girl’s state cross-country championships. During the three-year period from 2010 – 2012, the Xavier College Preparatory cross-country program concluded the associated cross-country seasons ranked 22nd, 8th, and 21st in the United States. During the 2012 Arizona high school track-&-field season, Xavier College Preparatory had twelve (12) student-athletes average 5:13 for the 1,600-meter distance.   In February 2013, Dr. Messer began to serve as head coach for girl’s cross-country and assistant coach (girls’ distance) for track-&-field at Desert Vista High School, Phoenix, Arizona. The Desert Vista High School girls’ cross-country program earned the 2013, 2014, and 2016 Arizona high school girls’ state cross-country championship. In late-May 2014, the Desert Vista High School girls’ distance program was ranked by MileSplit US as one of only two girls’ high school track-&-field programs in the United States with “top ten” groups in each of the 800-m, 1,600-m, and 3,200-m events. In December 2014, the Desert Vista High School girls’ cross-country program finished fifth (5th) at the Nike National High School Cross-Country Championship and thus concluded the 2014 high school cross-country season as the fifth (5th) ranked high school cross-country team in the United States. More recently, the Desert Vista High School girls’ cross-country program finished sixth (6th) at the 2016 Nike National High School Cross-Country Championship.   Subsequent to the 2016 high school cross-country season, Dr. Messer retired from his head coaching endeavors in order to expand his community college leadership pursuits.   Most recently, Dr. Messer returned and transitioned to the Desert Vista boys’ distance program as a volunteer assistant for the 2017 cross-country season. The Desert Vista High School boys’ cross-country program earned its first opportunity to compete at and ultimately finished eighth (8th) at the 2017 Nike National High School Cross-Country Championship. During the 2018 and 2019 Arizona high school cross-country seasons, Dr. Messer served as a volunteer assistant for the Desert Vista High School girls’ and boys’ cross-country programs.   Additionally, Dr. Messer serves as the coach for professional runner Jessica Tonn. Miss Tonn recently finished as national runner-up at the October 2019 USA Track-&-Field 5-K Championships and hopes to compete at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Track-&-Field Trials.   Jeff Boelé  Jeff has a unique background as a coach. In his near 20-year career, he has worked with middle school, high school, collegiate, professional, and masters athletes.  With a background as an endurance athlete, Jeff got his start coaching distance athletes at Greenville College in Greenville, IL in the summer of 2000. Upon moving to Boulder, CO in 2005, Jeff's coaching exploits started to diversify. He started working with a small group of post-collegiate athletes and eventually began helping at Lyons middle/senior high school (Lyons, CO) a few years later. It was at Lyons that Jeff's coaching acumen was refined. Brought on to coach the high jump, Jeff took the challenge of becoming a great jumps coach seriously, and that meant taking a deep dive into the speed/power world. Eventually, Jeff handled programming for the cross country team and all event groups (sprint, jump, throw, distance) for the track and field team. He had direct oversight of the jumps and distance events.    In 2015, Jeff met renowned coach Dan Pfaff at the ALTIS training enclave in Phoenix, AZ. Through this mentorship, Jeff was inspired to pursue a massage therapist license.  Becoming a licensed therapist in 2017 was one more skillset Jeff added to his coaching toolbox. The combination of sports therapy, speed/power and endurance training have equipped Jeff well for his current role of working with professional and semi-profession distance athletes in Boulder, CO.    Jeff has a proven track record of fostering a culture where athletes of all ages and abilities are able to develop and see continued progress in their athletic pursuits. Jeff holds USATF Level I and II (endurance) certifications and a jumps event specialist certification from the USTFCCCA. Additionally, he is a licensed massage therapist in the state of Colorado  Jeff works with or has worked with a number of notable athletes and teams.  Paul Roberts - 2 x Nike Cross National qualifier, 5th place Footlocker Cross Country (2015), IAAF World Cross Country qualifier (2015)  Katie Mackey - Multiple time US national champion, IAAF Indoor World Championship and Diamond League participant  Lyons high school - 16 team state championships (cross country/track) and numerous individual state champions since 2010  

015 - John O'Malley, Dr. Jeff Messer and Jeff Boelé

Note: Explicit content in this episode. Tony Holler (@pntrack) is the head track coach at Plainfield North High School in the Chicago area. Tony Holler has coached track for 38 years, football for 28, and basketball for 15. In June of 2019, Tony retired after his 38th year of teaching (Chemistry). He remains as the head track coach. Holler’s teams have won three state championships. In 2018, his Plainfield North team swept the sprints in Illinois, winning the 100m, 200m, 4x1, and 4x2, setting new state records in the 100m and 4x1. In 2019, Plainfield North again featured the state champion in both the 100 and 200. Tony Holler and Chris Korfist own the Track Football Consortium, providing education for coaches twice a year (December and June). TFC will expand in 2020 to Dallas (Jan 25-26) and St. Louis (Feb 7-8). Tony Holler is the originator of “Feed the Cats” and speaks at clinics and seminars from coast to coast. In September of 2019, Holler did a five workshop “Feed the Cats Tour” in England and Ireland, hosted by Jonas Dodoo. Tony Holler produced a track and field video for Championship Productions in 2019, Feed the Cats: A Complete Sprint Training Program. The DVD/VIDEO was the #1 seller of all the videos sold for Championship Productions, ALL SPORTS. Holler is also the author of nearly 200 articles about coaching, high performance, and education.

014 - Tony Holler - Part 1 of 2

Scott Steffen is the boy’s and girl’s coach at Concordia Lutheran High School in Fort Wayne, IN. His boys team won the state cross country championship in 2019. Indiana has a single classification championship and Concordia Lutheran has an enrollment of just over 700 students. His boys went on to finish 4th at the NXR in unquestionably one of the toughest regions. In this podcast Scott talks about the challenges of coaching at a small school and the challenges of having a small team. Scott is a member of all three seasons of High School Running Coach and he talks about how that resource, and Jay’s Fundamentals Education course, have impacted his coaching. Finally, go to CoachJayJohnson.com and the Coach Runners Podcast page to find a link to the notes for this episode. Included in this episode are transcribed excerpts of the highlights of this episode. Enjoy!

013 - Scott Steffen

Just a quick update to let you know that a new episode will be released every Monday. Most episodes will be interviews, but every so often Jay will do a Q&A. Jay goes into a bit of detail about the 2020 Boulder Running Clinics, which is an example of the only ads that will be on the podcast - ventures that help Jay keep the podcast going. Please join his email list by going to coachjayjohnson.com. If you have a question that you'd like him to answer on the podcast please send it to jay@coachjayjohnson.com with "podcast" in the subject line. Finally, if you're on iTunes and would be willing to rate the podcast that would be greatly appreciated.

012 - Jay Johnson - New Format

Jessie Magoto is my guest on this week’s podcast. She is the girl's coach at Minster HS in Minster OH, a town of 3,000 people. Minster has won four state championships in a row in cross country and won the track championship 2019. She has coached at Minster for 21 years. She coaches Sunni Olding who finished 10th and 5th at the Footlocker nationals. In this podcast we talk about the importance of athleticism and why she has her girls in the weight room. She strongly believes is one of the keys to her team’s success. Jessie is speaking at the 2020 Boulder running clinics and I asked her how she approaches clinics and how she uses information from a clinic in her program. I’m very fortunate to work with Jessie at the Boulder Running Camps and we talk about her experience as a staff member and as a coach who brings her team to the camp. It’s always fun to interview a friend and I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I enjoyed recording it.

011 - Jessie Magoto

Kim O’Malley is a Youth Development Specialist with 20 years of experience designing and delivering leadership curriculum in a wide range of settings. Kim has been a public high school teacher, head cross-country and track coach, an outdoor trip leader, a parent education facilitator and a professional development coach, blogger, public speaker, mom, and seasoned ultra-marathoner. Kim’s coaching career began as an undergraduate student at Northwestern University when upon discovering the university lacked a running program- started her own. She co-founded Northwestern’s running club, served as its president and coach, and eventually elevated the program to varsity status at which it remains today. Kim has successfully led large co-ed cross-country and track programs with diverse populations in California and Colorado. She led the North Monterey County girls’ cross-country team to the first sectional championships for any girl’s program in the school’s history while focusing on holistic coaching practices that prioritized personal wellness, character development, and leadership. As a program manager for the national non-profit organization Girls Leadership and a curriculum specialist for the Girl’s Athletic Leadership School network ( GALS INC), Kim is committed to equipping teachers, coaches, parents and students with the tools they need to bring holistic, relationship-based teaching and learning into the arena. Kim’s career reflects her life-long passion for connecting leadership, athleticism, and social-emotional development. In this interview Kim discusses how coaches can “coach the whole athlete,” a topic Kim will cover in detail at the 2020 Boulder Running Clinics. She also discusses Social Emotional Learning and how coaches can use that framework when working with their athletes.

010 - Kim O'Malley

The Coaching Runners Podcast helps coaches hone their craft via in-depth interviews with elite coaches and accomplished athletes, as well as sports scientists and strength and conditioning coaches. Jay Johnson hosts the show. Links and notes from each episode can be found at www.coachjayjohnson.com.

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Coaching Runners Podcast

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