Tag: health

Choosing Spin Bikes and Ellipticals for Your Cross Country Team

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About 15 years ago, we started purchasing spin bikes and ellipticals for our cross country team. Initially, we bought three spin bikes primarily for injured athletes who needed a low-impact training option. It wasn’t until a few years later that we began using cross training as a way to add more aerobic volume to our overall program.

In the beginning, I struggled to find the right equipment something that was affordable, durable, and challenging enough for our athletes. After a lot of trial and error, here’s what I’ve learned about what to look for when buying spin bikes and ellipticals.

FMHS BIKE ROOM

What to Look for in a Spin Bike

There’s a wide range of spin bikes available on Amazon and elsewhere, so it’s important to know what features matter most. Here’s what I typically look for when purchasing a spin bike:

  • Adjustable seat and handlebars: Make sure the bike can accommodate both shorter and taller athletes. Proper fit is key for comfort and safety.
  • Flywheel weight of at least 40 lbs: A heavier flywheel usually means better durability and a smoother ride.
  • Chain-driven system: While many people prefer belt-driven bikes for their quiet operation, I’ve found that chain-driven bikes feel more like riding a real bicycle.
  • Comfortable seat: Since our runners don’t wear padded cycling shorts, the bike seat should have some built-in cushioning.
  • Caged pedals: These allow athletes to stand and pedal out of the saddle safely and easily.

Things I don’t consider essential: a fancy display or a mount for an iPad or phone. Most of our athletes aren’t focused on data like watts or cadence. Instead, we emphasize effort and heart rate.

The spin bike we’ve most recently purchased is from Sunny Health & Fitness for around $249. You can find solid, durable spin bikes for under $300, which is great for team budgets.

👉 Spin Bike on Amazon

What to Look for in an Elliptical

Ellipticals are a tougher purchase. You have to be careful not to buy the cheaper models they often won’t last more than a year, especially with every day team use. Assembly is also critical; even one loose screw can cause squeaking or instability.

Here’s what I recommend looking for:

  • 20-inch stride length: This stride length feels the most natural for runners and fits a wide range of athletes. It also provides a better workout because of the increased range of motion.
  • Variety of resistance and incline options: While I typically have athletes keep the incline low, having multiple settings helps adjust workout intensity and target heart rate. Be careful with some ellipticals that may be too d
  • Ease of use: The best ellipticals power on as soon as you start pedaling and have simple, intuitive displays. You shouldn’t have to explain how to use it before every workout. We have close to 100 athletes on our team and I don’t have time to teach every one of them how to use the elliptical.

Some good ellipticals that we have used in the past or currently

ProForm Elliptical

Schwinn 430 Elliptical

Final Thoughts

In closing good luck to everyone with the rest of your cross country season. Sorry I haven’t posted as much in the past few months. If you have any questions concerning cross training equipment or cross training in general you can respond to this post or shoot me an email. Also if you would like to learn more about how we use cross training in our program a presentation is available below.

Cross Training for Distance Runners

Peak Performance

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This summer I’m trying to read one book a week and improve my chess game (chess is not going well!). I’ve read Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness before, but it’s been a while, and I felt it would be good to reread it.

Here are my notes from the book:

Mental Fatigue Can Hurt Physical Performance

The authors discuss the importance of simplifying our lives and placing mental focus on what matters most. We may not realize it, but small decisions throughout the day can accumulate and contribute to mental fatigue.

When it comes to running, I believe it’s important for athletes to stay in a routine. Decisions especially on race day should be minimized to help athletes stay stress free. For example, the night before a meet, everything should be laid out and ready for the morning. Athletes shouldn’t be scrambling to find their favorite pair of socks. They should wake up and be ready to go.

They should also have a pre-race routine: knowing when to use the restroom, when and how long to warm up, and exactly what time they want to be “race ready.” Eliminating decisions and sticking to a routine allows athletes to focus on what truly matters which is running at their best.

As a coach, I think it’s just as important that we stay in a routine on meet days. I’ve seen coaches give great motivational speeches before races. If that works for you and your team, it’s important to do it consistently throughout the season.

Early in my coaching career, I made the mistake of changing my approach just because it was the state meet. One year, I told our boys right before the race that it was important to get out fast to avoid an early bottleneck. The advice was fine but the timing was terrible. I normally don’t speak to them right before races, and they looked nervous. We went out fast and, unfortunately, faded in the final mile and missed the podium. Lesson learned: be consistent and stick to the routine even as a coach!

Focus on a Single Task

In Peak Performance, the authors debunk the myth of multitasking. We’re faster and more efficient when we focus on one task at a time. They also emphasize the importance of removing distractions like cell phones when working or studying. Even having a phone in the room can make us feel like we’re missing a message or notification.

I no longer teach in the classroom, but I always felt it was important to have students put their phones away during lectures and discussions.

Growth Mindset

It’s important to believe that ability can be improved. The most successful people show up consistently. I always tell our team that consistency is the key to success. Athletes who show up to practice and give their best effort will, in the long run, see the most improvement.

Another example of a growth mindset is approaching challenges with a positive attitude. Knowing that tough situations like a hilly course or a hard tempo run will ultimately make us better runners helps shift our mindset. We should avoid thinking of these challenges as just hard or painful.

Sleep More

The book also discusses the critical role of sleep in performance. In the 1940s, the average American got 7.9 hours of sleep per night. Today, that number is down to 6.8 hours—much of the blame going to blue light from screens.

Many teams do a great job of working hard, but they fall short when it comes to resting and sleeping enough.

Quick google search came up with this study. Imagine how much healthier all of our teams would be if they could get 8-9 hours of sleep a night!

Having a Purpose

One of my favorite parts of the book is the chapter titled simply Purpose. The authors say, “Having a purpose fuels motivation, resilience, and performance.”

With our runners, I think it’s important they focus on their teammates and look for ways to help each other improve. From my own experience running at Texas A&M, I found that when I focused on pushing my teammates during workouts, I thought less about my own discomfort and instead was motivated by the team’s success.

Motivation

Perceived effort can actually be lowered through increased motivation. It’s important to remember our goals and why we’re pushing hard in workouts and races. A ten-mile run might feel easier if an athlete is thinking about how it will help them break their goal time of 5 minutes in the mile. Likewise, an athlete may run faster in a race if they know their performance could help their team win a state championship.

Final Thoughts

I thought the book was excellent and appreciated how easy it was to read. While not specifically a book about running, it covered many topics that relate directly to it. I also appreciated its emphasis on overall well-being and how we can live healthier lives.

If you’re interested in purchasing the book, you can do so at the link below:

PEAK PERFORMANCE BY BRAD STULBERG AND STEVE MAGNESS

Morning Meeting

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During the school year, we start practice at 7:00 AM, and I try to be at the school by 6:45 AM to let athletes into the building and locker room. Like all schools in Texas, our building is completely locked, and I want to make sure I’m there early enough to give athletes time to put away their things and use the restroom if needed.

Once I’ve opened the locker rooms, I head to our team room, which has two large whiteboards, a projector screen, and around 60 chairs. Our team this past year had over 100 athletes, so about half of the kids have to stand in the back. I’m okay with that and think it reinforces the importance of being on time to practice. On the whiteboard, I write the workout for the day, a motivational quote, and any other important information we need to cover.

On our team, we have seven training groups that range in weekly mileage from 15 miles per week to 65 miles per week.

Most of the time, our whiteboard looks something like what is shown below. Well need to add in the bad handwriting and smear since I’m left handed.

Why you should have a morning meeting

The morning meeting is important to me because it’s a consistent daily routine. Our athletes and coaches know what to expect each morning and it’s one less thing for them to stress about in their day. We can use the morning meeting to assess the energy of the team and prepare them for the workout that is to come that day.

One thing to note, I’m probably different from most coaches in that I don’t spend a lot of time talking. I would say on average I talk around 3-5 minutes. I try and get to the point, make my usual “dad jokes” and then get the athletes out the door for their workout. My coaches in high school and in college were great motivational speakers. I tried to follow in their footsteps, but it just didn’t suit my personality.

And good luck to all athletes and coaches this summer. I always like to say if you want to get better you should run farther or faster than you did last year.

5 Great Winter Workouts

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After a two-week Christmas break, we returned to school this past week. Excited to start preparing for the track and field season, I was looking forward to our early workouts. Unfortunately, we have had some inclement weather, and we had to cancel school for the past two days due to snowstorms (well, snow for us in Texas). Now comes the difficult challenge of preparing athletes for the track season after possibly missing three weeks of training. Some athletes have been more dedicated and are ready to “drop the hammer!” while others are far behind, and it’s a struggle just getting them to run again. During the winter, I try to start with introductory workouts that can be challenging for both groups and help us to reach our goals later in the season. Below are five workouts that I like to use during the early parts of our track and field season.

Winter in Flower Mound!

Finish fast

Finish fast workout is a 1 to 2 mile pick up at the end of a normal distance run. Athletes try and run their last miles at 1 minute slower than their mile personal record. When I want something more structured we will do the last mile fast on the track to help the athletes with pacing. For the athletes that are in shape this is a fun way for them to run fast at the end of their runs. For the athletes not in shape I’m just hoping to see an increase in effort and hope they at least run the last mile faster than their first mile. I think this is also a great workout during the summer and for longer runs.

200 meter repeats: Another great introductory workout to the track and field season is 200 meter repeats at mile pace. After a usual 1-2 mile warm-up, athletes will run 8-10×200 meter repeats on the track at mile pace. For their recovery, they slowly jog another 200 meters back to the start. This workout is usually very easy, and we will eventually build up to doing more repetitions of running 400 meter repeats later in the season. Some athletes make the mistake of running their recovery 200s too fast and end up making the workout harder than necessary. I’m looking for the fast 200s to be run at mile pace and am not overly concerned about their recovery as long as they are not walking.

Kenyan Fartlek: My favorite fartlek workout for this time of year is 1 minute on at 5k pace and 1 minute off at recovery pace. As you can see from the picture below, this is a famous workout done in Kenya with hundreds of athletes. The Kenyan Fartlek can be run in a park or on the track and is great for those windy or cold days when it’s hard to hit times in a more structured workout on the track. For our higher mileage athletes, we start our running at 30-40 minutes total, and for our lower mileage athletes, they run for 20 minutes total. Like the 200-meter repeats, I’m not overly concerned about their recovery pace and just want them running.

Threshold Reps

For those of you who have been following this website for a while know I love threshold reps. Threshold reps can be difficult especially for younger athletes. During the beginning of the track season reps can be shortened to 800-1000 meters. After each repetition athletes take 1 minute standing rest. For the threshold reps in the beginning of the season 60-75 seconds slower than their mile PR pace is a great starting point. Athletes who run more mileage (greater than 50mpw) can shoot for 8,000 meter worth of volume and athletes running less can shoot for 6,000 meters worth or volume.

Strides: This last one isn’t really a hard workout, but more of a reminder to keep in strides during the winter. Strides performed after distance runs can help athletes transition to faster track workouts, ensuring that they maintain their speed. I like to rotate between doing 6×50 meter strides and 6×100 meter strides, When we run 50 meter strides, I notice the younger athletes, especially, will run significantly faster. It’s important to incorporate these strides early in the season to help bridge the gap from distance runs to faster track workouts.

Taking a break from running

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After a long and (hopefully) successful season, most athletes and coaches are ready to take some time off. Athletes need a physical—and sometimes more importantly—a mental break from training and racing. In Texas, we start our season in August (don’t ask me why so early), and if fortunate, continue to race through the state meet in November. If we are very fortunate, we might even qualify for the Nike Cross Nationals meet in December. The big question is: Why should we take time off from running, and for how long?

The Importance of a Mental Break

During my time as a collegiate athlete, I was able to train very hard and stay healthy. Running 10 to 15 miles a day was something I could handle—and most of the time, enjoy. However, after training and racing through cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, I noticed I wasn’t just physically tired but also emotionally drained.

Training at a high level is difficult and not something we, as coaches or athletes, should take for granted. Running a hard tempo or cranking out intervals is tough on both the mind and the body. An athlete must be mentally ready for the challenge, the pain, and able to push themselves in order to improve or maintain their level of fitness.

Taking a break can help athletes avoid burnout and re-energize themselves for the upcoming season. During this time, I prefer our athletes focus on spending time with their families and friends. If they feel sluggish and want to do something active, engaging in different activities—like playing pickleball or going for a hike—is great.

How Long Should Athletes Take Off from Running?

When determining how long an athlete should take off, it’s important for coaches and athletes to evaluate the athlete’s health throughout the season. Typically, athletes fall into one of the three categories below:

1. Athlete Finished the Season Healthy and Strong

I hope most of our athletes fall into this category. For these athletes, we take a one-week break from training. Athletes are free to do other forms of cross-training, but I prefer they stay away from the elliptical and bike, as those are part of our usual training throughout the season.

After the one-week break, we start with 50% of their average mileage from the past season.

Example: An athlete who runs 40 miles a week and their first week back running:

  • Monday: 3 miles + strength training (med ball/core)
  • Tuesday: 4 miles + 6 x 50-meter strides
  • Wednesday: 4 miles + strength training (med ball/core)
  • Thursday: 5 miles + 10 bleachers
  • Friday: 4 miles + strength training (med ball/core)
  • Saturday: Optional short run or day off
  • Sunday: Off

Additionally, during the first week, the pace of the runs should be 15 seconds slower than usual. For example, if an athlete typically runs 8:00-minute pace on recovery/distance runs, it’s perfectly fine for them to run 8:15–8:30 pace. Usually, after the first week back, athletes naturally start running at their normal pace again.

2. Athlete Had a Minor Injury but Was Still Able to Compete

Some athletes may have reduced mileage due to a minor injury or had to cross-train more instead of run in order to participate. For these athletes, I prefer taking longer than a week off and using this time to focus on physical therapy and cross-training.

Once the athlete no longer experiences pain while walking, we progress to a gradual running program—usually running every other day and starting at 50% of their usual recovery run distance during the season.

Example: An athlete who typically runs 6 miles a day:

  • Start by running 3 miles a day, only on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On the off days start with 30 minutes of cross training on the bike.

3. Athlete Was Unable to Finish the Season Due to an Injury

For these athletes, we follow the advice of doctors or athletic trainers regarding how to proceed. I always aim to be extra cautious, as the last thing I want is to push them to run before they are healthy. We ensure a gradual return to running, proceeding only when the athlete is pain-free.

During this time, it’s important for athletes to cross-train to maintain their fitness. Even when they are slowly returning to running, we include workouts on the bike or elliptical.

Example: If an athlete’s running program starts with a 1-mile run, we’ll supplement it with a 30-minute fartlek on the bike.

When to Start Doing Hard Workouts

After a few weeks, we begin reintroducing hard workouts. I usually prefer starting with something manageable on the track, like 8–10 x 200 meters with a 200-meter jog at 1600-meter race pace. We also incorporate easier fartlek workouts, such as 1 minute on and 1 minute off for 20 minutes at a local park.

It’s important to be patient and build back into harder efforts slowly, preparing for the track and field season.

Next Blog Post?

If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Running In The Heat Part One

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The school year is over, and we are now officially beginning our summer training. Everyone wants to have a great summer so we can do well in the fall cross country season. Unfortunately, in Texas, the summer is the most difficult time to train. The heat and humidity can be unrelenting, and it’s easy to struggle with our training and stay motivated when the low temps for the day creep into the 80s, and the highs surge past 100 degrees.

I went to school at Texas A&M University and ran on our cross country and track teams. During the summer, I chose to run at night instead of in the morning. I found the humidity to be slightly better at night, although the temperature was higher. Somehow during my senior year I managed to run over 100 miles a week. It wasn’t particularly easy, but I don’t remember letting the weather get the best of me. I was focused on the fall and felt that the summer weather would only make me tougher.

When I graduated from Texas A&M, I began to train for marathons. I found training for marathons was easier for me during the summer when I was not teaching and coaching. I won the San Francisco Marathon three times, which takes place in late July, while doing most of my training in the hottest time of the summer.

Winning the San Francisco Marathon in 2007 (long time ago!)

.In this part one of two are some things I have done personally myself or with our team in order to train successfully in the heat.

ATTITUDE

Probably the most important thing is having a positive attitude. The heat and humidity are something that most athletes will have to face over the summer. Complaining about the weather only makes things more difficult for yourself and your training partners. I tried to look at the heat as something that was making me physically and mentally tougher. I felt if I could get in tempo runs or long runs during the summer, then imagine how fast I would be able to run once the weather cooled off.

I also feel that leaders of the team, whether they are the coach or the athletes, need to have a positive attitude. Focus on something other than the heat and humidity. Everybody knows it’s hot, and there’s no point in the leaders dwelling on that fact. For leaders, it’s a great time to focus on something else like the short list below.

Seven Great Positive Thoughts

  • Great to spend time with my friends
  • Great to be doing something I love
  • Great to be getting better today
  • Great to be doing something that makes me healthy
  • Great to be setting a positive example for others
  • Great to be focused on my goals
  • Great to be healthy and able to run each day

MODIFYING WORKOUTS

Obviously, having a positive attitude will only get you so far. When it comes to training, it’s important to adjust paces as necessary and be realistic.

Recovery Runs

For recovery runs, I think it’s best to shoot for 15-30 seconds slower per mile. If the run is to be a recovery run, it’s important that we focus on effort and not become too obsessed with pace. For example, during the spring, maybe an athlete with a 5-minute mile PR runs their recovery days at a 7:30 pace. During the summer, it may be smarter to run closer to 8:00 minutes, depending on the temperature that day.

I also know many athletes and teams have had success by going for runs based on time instead of a set number of miles. For example, that 5-minute miler we just talked about may go for a 40-minute run instead of running for 5 miles. They most likely will get in the same distance, but they will feel less pressure to push for a certain pace they may have run under cooler conditions.

Long Runs

When I was training to qualify for the Olympic Trials I would run every other long run at a hard effort and focus on hitting marathon pace for the second half. I would also run up to 24 miles in order to prepare myself for “the wall” at the end of marathons.

When training for the San Francisco Marathon I had to be realistic. I would keep the distance to 20 miles or less. I also would avoid marathon pace or harder efforts during the long runs and save that for other workouts during the week.

For high school athletes I feel it’s important to keep longs run at 20 percent of their weekly mileage. Like the recovery runs, I would also consider going for a set amount of time when the weather really heats up.

Also, it’s important to make sure there is water available every 30 minutes. Make sure to pick a loop that doesn’t get too far away from the starting point. If running longer than an hour, make sure there is water every 15-20 minutes.

Workouts

For workouts, I prefer to modify the pace, distance, or rest between repetitions to account for the temperature.

One quick example for modifying a 4-mile tempo run at a 6:00 pace:

  • 4×1600 @ 6:00 pace with 1 minute rest on the track. Athletes can stop after each repetition and get water.
  • 2×12 minutes on the road or grass with 2 minutes standing rest. Can focus more on effort and not stress on the exact pace. Athletes can run in a park with access to water.
  • Progressive out and back 4-mile tempo run. Run 2 miles out at 6:15-6:20 pace, turn around, and try to run faster on the way back.
  • 2×15 minutes on the road or grass with 3 minutes standing rest. Athletes can run for a longer time but at a slower pace.

Another way to modify workouts is to adjust paces by running repetitions at one event up from your goal pace. For example, if running a 1600 meter pace workout, maybe shoot for 3200 or 5k pace instead.

CCCAT CLINIC AND HAVE A GREAT SUMMER

I’ll be speaking at the Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas Clinic this summer. Topic is Cross Training for Distance Runners. I’ll be speaking in detail over cross training and ways to implement it into your training.

You can purchase the power point I’ll be going over https://distancecoach.gumroad.com/l/lvzpi?layout=profile

You can register for the clinic at this link https://www.cccat.org/member-form.html

I hope everyone enjoys their summer and is able to stay healthy and successfully train for their next race. I’ll try and post more this summer and stay tuned for PART II of Running in the Heat