On Mentorship

An athlete asked me the other day where I got my coaching philosophy from.  Hmmm, that’s a broad question with plenty of different facets.  I didn’t have a quick answer other than it came from my experiences, research, and patterning what was effective over the years.  I realized later that night lying in bed thatContinue reading “On Mentorship”

Confidence vs. Toughness

I cringe at the term toughness when it is thrown around in athletics, and particularly in distance running.  I guess I am not very tough .  I react this way for a couple reasons.  First, I don’t think any athletic endeavor should be approached as a toughness contest.  This is not the point of the basketball game, theContinue reading “Confidence vs. Toughness”

Person > Athlete > Runner > ?????

There is an order I try to view everyone I coach from……person first, athlete second, runner third, specific event focus (miler, steeplechaser, marathoner, etc.) fourth.  The same approach works for any sport really: person, athlete, basketball player, guard for example.  It even works for non-athletic endeavors:  person, artist, musician, guitar player.  I also think ofContinue reading “Person > Athlete > Runner > ?????”

Lessons of Breaking Trail

Yesterday as I was snowshoeing up a mountain, breathing so hard I felt like I was about to spit my heart out of mouth, I had the opportunity for some serious rumination on breaking trail.  For those unfamiliar with breaking trail in snowshoeing, it simply refers to being the first one to cut a trackContinue reading “Lessons of Breaking Trail”