Unleash Your Stride/Learn to Run Like a Natural, by Jim Satterfield
Chapter 1, My Story: From a Four-Year-Old Track Star to Coach
Although I was only four years old, I can still remember the day I decided to become a competitive runner. The University of Washington was hosting the 1956 Olympic Trials inside Husky Stadium. It was one of the meets the Olympic committee used that year to select the track & field team that would compete at Melbourne. After watching the meet with my mom & dad, I begged them to let me run around the track. Our neighbor, Lyle Goss, happened to be an official and overheard me asking their permission. Lyle took us down to the track and I took off. A few elite athletes joined me and pretended to race along. Some remaining fans started cheering. I thought it was a real race, so I gave them a show by running all the way around the track as fast as I could. That was a long time ago, but it made a pretty deep impression that has been with me for more than fifty years. Since that day, a big part of my life has revolved around running fast or far, then training for a chance to try again.
Chapter 2, The Coach-Runner Relationship/Sharing the Olympic Dream
After college, Ben's talent and untapped potential had many well-known coaches offering their services. The problem was ... he was listening to too many coaches at the same time. He oftern asked me and the more famous coaches the same questions about training. More and more, he found himself respecting my opinions and the rationale behind them. One day I ran into Ben and his mom at the store. I looked him right in the eyes and asked, "Have you done all you want to do in the sport?"
He said, "No."
Then I said, "Are finally ready to trust me ... and do what I tell you to do?"
He said, "Yes."
From then on Ben started calling me Coach. I later found out that he asked Sam Bell in Indiana, Arthur Lydiard in New Zealand, Dillinger and Bowerman in Eugene what they thought of the workouts I had him doing. They all agreed that I knew what I was doing, I had his best interest at heart, and that he should follow my advice.
Chapter 3, Ready ... Warm-up Exercises to Unleash Your Stride
A lot of runners seem to put on their gear, head straight out the door, and start running down the road. These runners often apear to be trying to wake up, warm up, and loosen up as they go. Even if they wait until later in the day, it can be difficult to make the transition from what they were doing to be ready to run. Masters of other activities involving movement of the whole body, such as ballplayers, dancers, golfers, and martial artists, have their own warm-up routines, and so should runners ... I have developed a warm-up routine for myself and the runners I coach. It is a series of six exercises that mimic movements and body positions used in running. These exercises start slow-and-easy, and then gradually build in intensity. The idea is to gently warm up, stretch, and train groups of muscles together; particularly the large muscles in the upper legs, butt, lower back and abdominal area, so they are ready to move a certain way when the running begins.
Chapter 4, Set ... Action Assignments to Run Like a Natural
Running well requires total-body-coordination. It's relatively easy for many people to run in some bacic manner, but very difficult to fully master total-body-coordination. It's not just a matter of getting into shape ... fundamentals need to be learned and practiced. Since most runners don't have good fundamentals, they practice bad habits every time they run, and never become naturally good. Through the followning Action Assignments, I teach runners how to find the groove in their stride, by getting them to understand and feel the difference between movements that actually help vs. movements that add resistance to forward momentum. Soon, good tendencies replace bad and a smoother more efficient stride begins to emerge. In other words, they start to become naturals.
Chapter 5, Go! Finding the Zone
The ability to focus and link mental and physical elements of an activity, with all distractions minimized, is what people have achieved when they enter a state known as being in the zone. Being in the zone ... and what runners call second wind, doesn't happen every day. This desribes the feeling we get when doing something fundamentally better than usual. It's hard to say whether there is really less effort taking place, or if the effort is being more effectively applied. It's probably a little of both, but certainly, being in the zone produces extraordinary results.
One such day of finding the zone happened the first time I ran in the Hood-to-Coast Relay, in Oregon ...
Chapter 6, Cooling Down ... The Importance of Rest and Recovery Time
If you begin a workout with the hope that things loosen up and they don't, use common sense and make the right decision about what to do next. Adapting your stride mechanics to counteract being too sore to do it the right way is a mistake. This will often lead to a more serious injury and setbacks. If the training guide you are using calls for a run that is longer or more intense than normal, and you do not feel up for it that day, go easy or take the day off. Rest, recover and be sure your are ready, before trying a big workout or a race. The amount of energy spent, along with the amount of energy you had before starting the workout, will determine how long it will take you to recover to a normal or even improved level of energy. Training is a series of progressions ...
