Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES While the feet are being hardened and the physical condition improved during preliminary training gentle road exercise should be undertaken twice a day. Have the man work up from a couple of miles to 5 miles during the initial fortnight of training, and keep him interested in his daily work. Clock him yourself, but have him carry a watch to check his own pace at each mile. The weight chart will be kept as a matter of course, and the times returned in training must be recorded, either as a graph or in a training diary, because it is necessary to find out at what time per mile the athlete can run without experiencing strain. Steady running follows preliminary training, and balanced-time running should be introduced as the man works up from 3 to 5, 7, 15, and 20 miles. Balanced-time running is very necessary to ensure that a sufficient reserve is kept in hand for the completion of whatever distance is to be run. For example, if a man is to attempt to run 3 miles in I5l-I6 mins. the coach should tell hiin to aim at st mins. for the first mile, and to go a little faster in the second mile. The coach should check the times returned at set points, and afterwards analyse the whole performance with the athlete. Then he should set the man to runs miles in 27-28 mins., takingthefirstmile at5 mins . 45 secs ., and letting him drop a few seconds in each mile. Work at 39-40 mins. for 7 miles, I hr. for IO miles, I hr. 35 mins. for 15 miles, 2 hrs. ro mins. for 20 miles, and 2 hrs. 56 mins. for the full Marathon distance. The coach must adjust the above figures to meet individual cases. The early-season hardening and building-up process will be done best at I2 to I5 miles. When the man is right in mid-season form and near peak performance the work should be confined to runs of Io to 20 miles, and care must be taken to keep the now eager runner within the limits of time schedules designed to main– tain his reserve of energy. Here is a suggested training schedule for one week: Monday morning , afternoon Tuesday afternoon Wednesday morning. , afternoon Thursday afternoon Friday morning , afternoon Saturday afternoon 7 miles run. 15 " " 20 " " 5 " " 12 " " 15 " " 7 " " 12 " " 15 " ''