Coach Mickle

11/11/2021

So this High School XC runner in the final race of his senior year season has a breakthrough performance and in a moment of excitement shouts out profanity. The runner is DQed per NHSF rules.

https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2021/11/student-disqualified-from-cross-country-state-meet-for-swearing-at-the-finish-line.html?fbclid=IwAR1iTAue3Z2tRwIOqsdy1rFBZYMOYc-7rgi-4rehZLmrrgdlCseCvr8zvOI

To paraphrase Maya Angelou, people can forgive you for what say but never forget how you make them feel. This is bad PR for high school sports and HS XC specifically. You send the message that the rules are there to punish not regulate. How many people will react negatively once they read this story? You have to be some kind of heartless to not feel for this kid. Seasons of hard work and hard-fought fitness negated by an instance by a zero-tolerance policy.

Yes, we understand this is the rule but the feeling of injustice is strong and doesn't sit well here. What is the purpose of having this rule? What are we trying to teach here? Are we really trying to teach good sportsmanship or punish people for breaking social norms?

Rules that have nothing to do with performance but reflect the social norms of when they were instituted need to be reviewed on a regular basis. Also, these rules should allow discretion to take into account the situational context.

It seems draconian to DQ a kid for a brief emotional instance where a warning and a lecture (actually teaching) would serve the spirit of the rule better. A DQ would be warranted if the athlete continued with the profanity after being warned not for the first instance of it.

The Michigan high school runner set a personal best, but was disqualified for 'unacceptable conduct.'

06/30/2019

His last lap was 🔥🔥🔥! Just .05 short of the win.

Today was for you Gabe. Sorry I came up short. I’ll make it up to you next time.
All gave some. Some gave all. Left everything I had on the track today. Another step in the right direction towards September.
📷:

03/19/2019

Saw this article and immediately was SMH with the short sightedness by the IAAF. Then I start to ponder the opportunities that this kind of move presents.

First, I think they should treat these distance events like the awards shows at Diamond League events. The non "exciting" events can still be part of the circuit but keep them non-broadcast and ran before the live event in broadcast TV. You could live stream the for the pure track junkies out there who are already paying for streaming packages. That way if something significant happened you can rebroadcast the last 1k of the event.

I've long thought that the 3k should be an Oly and World Championship event. I'd love to see the 1k contested more since most of the world can relate more to a 1k than 800m. The 5k and 10k and 1/2 Mar should also be added to the Worlds and Oly games but as ROAD events. So many more casual fans could relate more to these events since they would have a relatable experience.

Lastly, we should be looking at trying to do more distance only events. Some city have these distance festivals. If I were the Africans I would be looking to do this, especially somewhere on the African continent or at-least trying to schedule a competing circuit in Europe or Asia (especially the Middle East) that are looking for international visibility.

Kenyan athletics chiefs said they would oppose the decision by the sport's world governing IAAF to cut the 5,000m and 10,000m from the Diamond League.

09/16/2018

Today's workout: 105x400@ 69 sec w/0:00 recovery

Congrats to Eliud Kipchoge for setting a new worlds record for the marathon in 2:01:39

09/13/2018

Probably the greatest 5k races ever run and it was won by 18-year-old Selemon Barega who ran the 4th fastest time in history: 12:43.02, which is now a World Junior/U-20 record. Barega's mark was 6 second slower than the Men's World Record of Kenenisa Bekele with 12:37.35.

The average for the first 6 laps of this Diamond League Final in Brussels was 62.25 seconds per lap which would be pretty quick pacing for any race.

Then the real racing began.

The average for the last 6 full laps was 60.3 seconds per lap. The last 2600m were run at an average of 29.96 per 200m, or 59.92 per lap. Sub four minute mile pace for 1.61 miles, negative splitting just 100m more than the later half the race distance.

This is one of the deepest high quality fields in history. The one runner that didn't PR (Cyrus Rutto) who finished 45 seconds behind the winner in 13:28. American, Paul Chelimo (2016 Olympic 5k Silver Medalist) finally went sub- 13:00 in 12:57.

A truly remarkable race that has slipped under the radar.

04/06/2018

Shopping for Track Spikes for Youth Athletes

General guidelines
⁃ Spikes are a seasonal demand for stores so typically they don’t stock a large inventory and stock depletes significantly after the first few weeks of the season.

⁃ Racing Spikes are the shoes; the metal items that screw into the shoe are called elements. Some retail associates may be confused with what you are looking for so be sure to be clear with them so that they aren’t confused about what you want.

⁃ Spikes are challenging to find especially for smaller sizes shorter than size 6. Best to call first if you are going to try to shop locally to make sure they still have inventory and the size shoe you need. For sizes 6 or smaller, your best bet is to order online.

⁃ Spikes need to fit snug no more than a thumbnail’s length from the edge of the shoe. You don’t want to lose power with the foot slipping in the shoe. Some brand fit more snug than other. I find the Nike spikes to be tighter than other brans so maybe best to go up .5 size to accommodate sock thickness as well. Start with reg shoe size.

⁃ Most spikes are typically unisex so don’t be afraid to cross “gender” to find shoe

⁃ Locally, the stores closest to the city typically don’t sell spikes or a very limited selection of them. Suburban stores will likely have a larger selection

⁃ No need to purchase specialty shoes for throws or LJ, regular training shoes are just fine for the kids at this level

⁃A lightweight trainer is still a good shoe to use if you don’t want to buy a separate shoe for racing. If you are having trouble finding spikes this is the next best option.

ONLINE STORES
First to the Finish
http://www.firsttothefinish.com/
This would be my first choice for looking for racing spikes, especially for shorter sizes (

03/12/2018

A ton of records fell under the roof this past weekend in College Station, TX. Makes the World Indoor Championships from the previous weekend look weak by comparison.

Granted indoor track seems to be more of a US thing and lots of people are just coming out of their base phase and are looking to peak this early in their macrocycles.

No live TV but thank God I could watch it live via the ESPN app on my Apple TV.

I knew that folks would be trying for records this year since there is no world level major champ meet. I wasn't expecting the running to get this hot this early.

An avalanche of all-time marks, from NCAA records to world records, fell today at the 2018 NCAA DI Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.

02/19/2018

A common misconception when athletes are caught taking a PED is that all PEDs are steroids. PEDs cover a spectrum of substances used to enhance performance.

The drug that they caught the athlete on is not a steroid. Meldonium was once legal and was put on WADA's banned list last year. This is the same drug that Maria Sharapova was given a 15-month drug ban for taking so it was common for Russian athletes to take before it was on the banned list.

I'm still scratching my head about the performance enhancement use. I can only speculate that it like a beta-blocker that calm the nerves so that your hand-eye coordination is enhanced. That what they usually catch the biathlon (skiing-shooting) and the archery folks on.

This highlights one of the problems with WADA's banned list. No one knows what they will add or take off the list. So if you are taking something that's legal you and it gets banned you could get pinched if the then legal but now illegal substance is still in your system. No one know how long Meldonium takes to clear the body so it could be one that stay in your system for more than a year and still produce a positive test.

On a side note for those on a Keto diet one of Meldonium's uses is a treatment for Diabetic ketoacidosis to force people to burn blood sugars by blocking the cell's ability to use fat as a fuel source. So not something you want to take if nutritional ketosis is desired.

It's a potential major blow to Russia’s efforts to emerge from a drug-cheating scandal.

12/11/2017

As the weather turns colder in the northern hemisphere an old friend gets renewed interest: the treadmill.

Some deride this noble machine as:
- the Dreadmill
- the Hamster-mill
- Satan's Belt
- the endless loop of hell

For me it's a conveniently useful and invaluable tool for keeping runner's fit year round

Here are 7 great reasons why treadmills are great:
1. Timeshifting runs when it's too dark or weather is bad outside

2. Running at a consistent pace, especially good for tempo runs, cruise intervals, and long interval repeats (so you can't run fast at the beginning)

3. doing hill work; you don't have to do the downhill portion so you can do longer hill intervals at a consistent grade with shorter rest.
4. conveniences are within reach. Need to go to the bathroom. No problem, it's near by. Need to eat or drink during the run? Just sit it near you, no need to gear up to take it with you.

5. Less sweaty and stinky clothes to wash. Same stuff you always use when outside. Hell I can crank up the heat and run shirtless with my belly hanging out (see #7 below)

6. Allows you to build up your running pace. Start as slow as you need until you get faster.

7. No people judging. No one at the gym is gonna be looking at your speed on the console and you don't have to worry about drive-by-insults from sh*t-brained scum. A treadmill will likely be in supportive environment either at home or in a gym with other people to focused on getting fit...just like you.

Pro tips
- Use a distraction. Part of the hatred for running on a treadmill is the boredom. You can counter this by listening to your favorite tunes or bring an iPad and watch a movie or show. I like to binge watch my favorite TV series or catch up on movies on Netflix or stream network channels.

- My latest trick is to actually gamify running on the treadmill using Zwift (https://zwiftblog.com/zwift-running-easter-egg/). Most people use it for cycling but you can also use it with you treadmill. You will need a Milestone (http://www.milestonepod.com/) or Stryd (https://www.stryd.com/) footpod and your iPad or computer to put you in a virtual world.

- Use a fan to move the air around you and cool your body temp

- Calibrate your treadmill. The pace you run outside may not be the same pace you run on a treadmill (and this will vary from treadmill to treadmill) so be sure to calibrate so that you know exactly how far you are running. How fast the belt moves is affected by bodyweight and the treadmill display speed is likely inaccurate. You need to know this discrepancy factor so that you can adjust your workout to the correct calculations. Here is a link to show you how to do it:

https://bridgerridgerun.wordpress.com/.../how-to.../

Zwift’s iOS release includes an “Easter egg” (hidden feature) granting access to Zwift’s running mode which is still in pre-beta testing phase.

10/02/2017

Here is the 2018 WADA Banned Substances list.

Look at this list and gain an appreciation to the sheer number of substances that a world-class athlete has to avoid in order to stay clean. I think you can see how someone can say they didn't know that what they took or ate has a banned substance.