Magness & Marcus on Coaching

Humans have a need for explanations. When faced with uncertainty we rely on closure. The world of running is no different. When something goes wrong, as athletes and coaches we go into a panicked search for a reason why we didn’t perform at our best. Often, we perform elaborate gymnastics attempting to find the elusive explanation. When we perform a search, we often think we are taking a scientific approach; breaking down the potential causes one by one until we find an explanation. While there is merit in taking such a seemingly rationale approach, what often ends up happening is we are simply developing a story to reach closure. We can’t actually say that the warm-up or the meal you ate the night before, or the workout you performed two days before was the magical key to it all. As coaches, this plays out in real life all the time. Think of how many athletes you’ve had who you were certain were raring to go but bombed on race day. Or the athlete who you gave no shot at all to, but somehow pulled the race of their life out of thin air. Athletics by nature is variabile and try as we may, we can’t control all of the variables. In this episode of the Magness & Marcus show, we take all of this on. We look at the elaborate justifications we develop and the volatility of performance. We take on the effects of drug athletes and drug coaches which breads an entirely artificial environment and creates a false sense of certainty of performance. As pointed out in this podcast, if an athlete has a bad race, it’s often taken as if the world ends and the athlete must be out of shape or have something wrong. But in the NBA, if Lebron James scores only 10 points in a game we don’t ask where Lebron’s magic went. We say it was a bad day, and he’s still averaging 25 points a game. Perhaps we need to start looking at track like this, it’s not your best performance that matters, but how consistent you are when it counts. Thanks for giving it a listen, and if you could do us a huge favor and rate the show on iTunes that would be great! Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx Resources: Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing by Jamie Holmes Subscribe: Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSS  

In this episode, we are joined by performance coach extraordinaire Vern Gambetta. Using the performances at the recent Olympic Trials as a backdrop we take on coaches education. Where have we gone right and where have we missed the boat. We start by asking the question of what makes a good coach? Is it coaching…

In this episode, we are joined by performance coach extraordinaire Vern Gambetta. Using the performances at the recent Olympic Trials as a backdrop we take on coaches education. Where have we gone right and where have we missed the boat. We start by asking the question of what makes a good coach? Is it coaching a singular athlete to the highest level or someone who consistently develops athletes, regardless of the level? Once we have the definition in place, we turn our attention to some components that are missing in a lot of today’s training paradigms. Starting with tactics and the ability to race and not simply fall in line behind a rabbit, to the use of ‘play’ in training. In particular, we have a lively discussion on the tendency to program and enact highly scripted workouts instead of actually coaching. In this discussion, you get to hear the perspectives of a master coach who has been at the art of coaching in a wide range of sports for many years. Take a minute to soak up the wisdom and get back to your roots as a coach. Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx Resources Discussed: Athletic Development by Vern Gambetta Subscribe: Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSS

In this episode, we have a special guest, the director of Track and Field at Georgetown, Mike Smith. In an in-person conversation at the Olympic Trials we discuss innovation within coaching. With the three of us having been in the collegiate and post-collegiate world we discuss the tendency for the NCAA system to lock coaches into a stale state where we get stuck utilizing certain patterns of training. We get locked into a 7 day cycle with Saturday races and the church of the Sunday long run. We start to become reactive coaches, seeing only as far as the next race this upcoming weekend. Starting with the perils of the NCAA system and having to be ready for Cross-Country, Indoors, Outdoors, conference meets, Penn Relays, Stanford, and so forth, we then venture out into the world of coaching as a whole. This 50 minute sit down conversation is all about 3 coaches drinking coffee and asking if there is a better way. Consider this podcast an exploration on how we continue to innovate as coaches and put ourselves in position to, despite our constraints. Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx Subscribe: Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSS

In this episode, we have a special guest, the director of Track and Field at Georgetown, Mike Smith. In an in-person conversation at the Olympic Trials we discuss innovation within coaching. With the three of us having been in the collegiate and post-collegiate world we discuss the tendency for the NCAA system to lock coaches…

Coming at you in-person from the Olympic Trials, we dish on the high pressure environment that is attempting to make the US Olympic team. Jon and I take a look at the 7/8 of the field that leaves disappointed and how we should pick up the pieces after a hard fought race. The Olympic Trials…

Coming at you in-person from the Olympic Trials, we dish on the high pressure environment that is attempting to make the US Olympic team. Jon and I take a look at the 7/8 of the field that leaves disappointed and how we should pick up the pieces after a hard fought race. The Olympic Trials is a meet like no other, it’s a finish top 3 or face the reality that 4+ years of work with this meet as the goal has not ended in a wonderful Cinderella story. We discuss what it’s like to be in that position, how hard it is to be consistently great, and how to step back and gain perspective. When we face the reality of missing a long term goal, we are given the opportunity to check our assumptions, and evaluate where we are at. It’s at these points where athletes can grow from failure if they take the right mindset and developing emotional control. The best athletes who consistently make finals, tend to have a high level of emotional control where they execute their race plans without letting that moment of doubt take over. Our hope is that lessons from this episode can be transferred back to endeavors that might not be as pressure packed as trying to make the Olympic team, but carry similar demanding tasks where failure might be likely. Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx     Subscribe: Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSS

In this episode of the Magness and Marcus Podcast we discuss a quality that all runners aspire to and all coaches try to engender. The ability to dig down, fight your way through adversity, bounce back from failure, and show up consistently when it counts. As runners, we might refer to this as toughness, but…

In this episode of the Magness and Marcus Podcast we discuss a quality that all runners aspire to and all coaches try to engender. The ability to dig down, fight your way through adversity, bounce back from failure, and show up consistently when it counts. As runners, we might refer to this as toughness, but in the research world it’s referred to as Grit. Jon and I go through the latest research and thinking in developing grit. From establishing high standards of excellence to developing passion and persistence. Starting with getting away from the notion that we have to ‘feel good’ at all times to compete and creating racing situations where athletes are forced to rise to the competition even if they don’t feel perfect. It’s about sticking yourself in situations where you’re not sure you’re going to run well. Getting away from this search for perfect conditions and perfect feeling is a way we can teach the athletes to develop grit. As always, we go on a few tangents, talking about the disservice of rabbeted races and how it engages only a small portion of our racing skill, but the overall theme of this podcast is how to create anti fragile runners. We’ll take you through a few common coaching practices that may work in the short term, but creates fragile athletes in the long term. If you want to learn how to develop toughness, resiliency, and grit in your athletes, give this episode a listen! We hope you enjoy this podcast, if you are a regular listener, venture over to iTunes and rate it for us. It helps us to be able to keep delivering this content to you guys regularly!   Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx Resources Mentioned: Grit by Angela Duckworth Subscribe: Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSS

In this episode of the Magness and Marcus Podcast we discuss False Positive and Inaccurate Negatives. What are they? A false positive is when we have a great race or great series of workouts that doesn’t translate over to sustained performance. On the flip side, an inaccurate negative is when an athlete goes through a…

In this episode of the Magness and Marcus Podcast we discuss False Positive and Inaccurate Negatives. What are they? A false positive is when we have a great race or great series of workouts that doesn’t translate over to sustained performance. On the flip side, an inaccurate negative is when an athlete goes through a rough patch, but when it comes to race day, they put the pieces together and have a strong performance. As humans, we have a deep need for closure. We want simple explanations for every good or bad thing that happens. So when a race goes well, or poorly, we strive to figure it out. Coaches go into a deep dive to assess every detail that could have led to such an outcome, while athletes go over the race in their mind to see what went right/wrong. The problem is that occasionally, things go right or wrong for no known (or easily explainable) reason. In situations like this, we often come up with false reasons or get led astray by a single data point. We have a tendency to look at training from a mathematical/scientific viewpoint. If the athlete can do X in a workout then that should translate to Y performance in a race. It’s the reason why so many milers across the globe perform the tried and true 8-10×400 with 1 minute rest. They are trying to ascertain what kind of shape they are in. In the sports world, we call this concept transfer. How well do workouts transfer into performance. Throughout this podcast we discuss the idea of transfer, how it occurs, what to do when ‘transfer’ doesn’t seem to occur. We discuss what to do after a breakthrough performance and what to do after a disaster of a race. In this episode you’ll learn how to make assessments on whether to dig deeper or to call it a “fluke” performance and move on to the next one. We hope you enjoy this podcast, if you are a regular listener, venture over to iTunes and rate it for us. It helps us to be able to keep delivering this content to you guys regularly!   Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx   Subscribe:   Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSSSubscribe to get all of the podcasts via e-mail! Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner

   Running form is one of the hot button topics in the world of distance coaches. We debate, often with speed/power coaches, on where they fit into the program. How important are mechanics for a distance runner? How do we change them? Should we change them? These are the questions that wer tackle in this…

   Running form is one of the hot button topics in the world of distance coaches. We debate, often with speed/power coaches, on where they fit into the program. How important are mechanics for a distance runner? How do we change them? Should we change them? These are the questions that wer tackle in this episode. We offer a balanced view of how much importance to assign on running mechanics work and how to incorporate it into a training program. Tackling on when to work on mechanics fresh versus going against the common wisdom and practicing “falling apart mechanics.” When it comes to making changes, we discuss how it’s about conceptualizing and overemphasize.  Step one is to get athletes to conceptualize the mechanical changes that you are after, making sure they understand what they are actually doing versus what you want them to do. Our running form is so ingrained in us that, even if from the outside it looks horrible, it feels normal to that athlete. Because of this, we need to start by having understand what they are actually doing. Often this involves showing an athlete on film so that they can visually conceptualize, or taking their shoes off to change the internal feedback. As always, we take a few tangents along the way and discuss the topic of what is a scientific approach to training. We often think the scientific approach is some systematic beautifully written master plan.  It often entails isolating systems where we might work on VO2max one day and Lactate Threshold the next, with very little intermixing of ‘systems.’ It’s our view that this is a wrong interpretation of what a scientific approach is. We choose this isolationist approach as coaches because it’s the easy path. It’s much simpler to assign a isolated workout and check off that box, then to step back and think about creating a workout that accomplishes the goals you’ve set for your athlete. What a scientific approach actually entails is simple: Observation and finding out what works and what doesn’t. It’s not some fancy, systematic plan. We hope you enjoy this podcast, if you are a regular listener, venture over to iTunes and rate it for us. It helps us to be able to keep delivering this content to you guys regularly!   Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx Resources Mentioned: Vern Gambetta and Gary Winkler Podcast- HMMR media Subscribe:   Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSSSubscribe to get all of the podcasts via e-mail! Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner

In this episode of the Magness & Marcus Podcast, we talk about building Culture. While we are trained as coaches to emphasize the physiology and doc us on workout design, what separates programs that thrive and last is often the intangible dynamic of culture. In this episode, we go through our experiences in developing culture…

In this episode of the Magness & Marcus Podcast, we talk about building Culture. While we are trained as coaches to emphasize the physiology and doc us on workout design, what separates programs that thrive and last is often the intangible dynamic of culture. In this episode, we go through our experiences in developing culture in high school, college, and the professional world. There are a couple of themes that emerge when looking at culture. We start with the simplest and most important, actually caring about the athlete. The number one factor is demonstrating that as a coach you actually give a $hit about them as a person, not just as an athlete. It’s about getting to know why they are in the sport, what drives them, and their goals outside of running. From there, it’s about deciding whether you want to have an athlete centered or a coach centered program. In a coach centered program, the coach is the dictator or sets the tone. This style of coaching often gives the appearance of a disciplined and well oiled machine. It’s popular to try and copy this method and is a favorite of football coaches everywhere. Jon and I both feel that what this actually creates is artificial discipline and fake “toughness”. True toughness isn’t about putting on the facade at practice or in controlled environments. It’s not about appearing to be extremely disciplined and ‘tough’ in situations that don’t matter. It’s about when the gun goes off or the whistle blows, having the ability to execute in the way that you’ve practiced under the elements of stress the competition brings. Another downfall of the dictatorship type style is that it leads to athletes only being motivated or disciplined because of fear of the consequences. On the other hand, an athlete centered approach is all about working towards the athlete being intrinsically motivated.  They aren’t reliant on others to know how and when to get the job done. Which brings us to our final point made in the podcast, autonomy. We should work towards giving athletes autonomy, creating independent, not dependent athletes. When people are given autonomy and empowered to take control of their own work and results, you create a culture where motivation and discipline become second nature. We hope you enjoy this podcast, if you are a regular listener, venture over to iTunes and rate it for us. It helps us to be able to keep delivering this content to you guys regularly!   Steve and Jon @stevemagness @jmarpdx   Subscribe:   Subscribe on Stitcher Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe through RSSSubscribe to get all of the podcasts via e-mail! Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner