Minimum Running, Maximum PR

Minimum Running, Maximum Marathon

Written by: Jim Vance

Posted: Thursday, 22 May 2008

We’ve all heard the stories of an athlete who got injured but was still able to cross-train and then came back to give a great performance at a marathon, maybe even besting a personal record. Then there’s that new triathlete we all know who, despite running less now that she is dividing her time into three sports, is still setting personal records for her run times.

Nowadays it seems that these improbable success stories are seen in greater numbers than ever before. Is there really something to this “less running equals faster running” concept? Cross-training has a long history (in fact it’s responsible for the birth of the triathlon), but can it really work for you? If you’re new to running in the past few years, cross-training and other non-traditional sessions may be exactly what you need to maximize the training time you put in.

Read the rest at Competitor Magazine

Coach Vance

Swim Clinic on Sunday, June 15th - Ironman CDA

For those of you who will be in Coeur d'Alene this weekend, I am doing a swim clinic at the race venue on Sunday, June 15th, at 1 PM. Email me for more details at jvance at trainingbible dot com.

Coach Vance

A good weekend as a coach

Sunday was a great day for me as a coach. First, after my arrival to Coeur d'Alene to conduct my final preparations for the race, I held an open-water swim clinic and short Q&A on the race and it's logistics. One of the people who attended the race was a local news anchorman, Dave Erickson, who had it put on the news and on his blog...

http://blog.spokanetogo.com/blogs/news@5/2008/06/lifes_a_beach_1.html

The clinic went really well, with great response! I love the teaching moments where you see lights go on in an athlete's mind. Then, they suddenly realize the powers they have and the mental aspect of racing becomes so much clearer to them, it's like they're a different person or athlete.

Prior to the clinic, I had been out training on the bike course, and during my recoveries from intervals, I was checking the text message updates from XTERRA Southeast Championships. My client, Craig Evans, was competing, and his wife was sending me text messages on how it was going. Craig was first out of the water, first off the bike, ahead of Conrad Stoltz, (first time that's happened to Conrad in a long time), and then held on for 3rd. We have been working all year for Craig to make his mark on the XTERRA circuit, and he is certainly doing so!

http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/press_article.cfm?id=2215

The other great thing which happened was my client at Rockman, Scott Iott. Scott went to high school with me, and saw me racing Ironman online one day, contacting me. He did Wisconsin last year, and did fairly well considering it was his first. He wanted to get more serious, and signed up for coaching with me. He has improved tremendously, and won his first race OVERALL a few weeks ago, the Peanut Butter Duathlon. This past Sunday, coming off a lower leg injury from a poor choice of shoe change, won his 30-34 age-group in the cold, rainy conditions of the Rockman Half Triathlon! He finished 9th overall, and even beat a few pro's.

I also had an athlete compete in the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, and finished in the top 10% of his age group, 35-39, with a bike split in the top 50 overall!

Good weekend for me, with a lot of satisfaction.

Coach Vance