Distance running in this program means participating in the 1600 meter run.

If distance running is completely new to you, I would suggest starting out with the sprint group first and see how that goes.

Distance running does not require early specialization. The top distance runners are also good sprinters (key word: energy storage-power). Energy storage-power means running with integrity-you absorb the ground well at landing which allows you to push-off well, and you do not fatigue as quickly.

If you are running miles without integrity, your body will break down over time.

How Shoulder Posture Affects Running Performance

There was recently an article in the New York Times Magazine about running phenom Mary Cain that talked about how talented and dedicated she is to running and breaking records and how her coach Alberto Salazar is trying to carefully guide her to her full potential without injuring her. 

If you've seen the times Mary Cain has run, you quickly realize that she has the potential to set not only every middle to long distance American record but maybe even challenge the world records. Alberto Salazar says she has...

“As much talent as any young athlete I’ve ever seen in running in my life.”

But there is something about Mary that might hold her back from setting more records and could end her career prematurely...her posture.
The Runner's World article, when talking about the girls lined up at the starting line of the 2001 high school national championships 4x800 meter relay, said this:

With their long ponytails and soft bodies, racing numbers pinned to their hips, none of the girls looked like much — but Cain, a freshman, looked like less. She wore hot pink shorts and a black sports bra, and her shoulders slumped with the impatient awkwardness of being 15. "Slumped shoulders" is the key word, and while it might have started with the "impatient awkwardness" of being 15, Mary still has the same slumped shoulders today as a much more confident almost 19 year old. The article says when Alberto Salazar first started working with Mary he noticed her upper body: An obsessive about form, Salazar said that Cain’s lower-body mechanics were excellent, good enough to make her the best in the world, but that her upper body needed work. In particular, if she wanted to reach her potential, she needed to keep her left elbow closer to her body, swing it straight, front to back, instead of out and across her torso. He referred to the elbow as her “chicken wing.”

That "chicken wing", which Mary Cain has on both sides with the left more pronounced, is a result of the thoracic flexion and forward shoulders which do not allow proper front to back arm swing because the shoulder joint is out of position. Her coach can drill her over and over about swinging her arms straight forward and back, but it just won't happen until her upper body posture is improved. 
The posture of having thoracic flexion, rounded shoulders, and forward head is very common among runners of all ages and talents and again was clearly shown in a recent Runner's World article titled "The Runners Body". Notice the very rounded forward shoulders, winged scapula, thoracic flexion, and forward head. All very detrimental to both good upper body running mechanics and efficeint breathing. 

People often think that this body posture is prevalent in distance runners because they do not do any upper body strength training. While many runners do not spend as much time working on their upper body as they do their legs, many do lift weights including Mary Cain and her Oregon Project teammates as the Runner's World article states: The dominant philosophy now is that girls, like all other runners, should train to become very strong by lifting heavy weights.  The reason why lifting weights has not corrected the poor posture is because weight lifting will almost always strengthen a persons' imbalances. Lifting weights tends to strengthen the already strong muscles and the weak muscles get even weaker. This can be seen with athletes of all sports and "sports specific" training will always lead to more imbalances by further strengthening the primary muscles used for the particular sport.

Lebron James's normal posture is one with his feet turned out, knees rotated outward, shoulders and head rounded forward, and he has hip and shoulder imbalances. 

Michael Phelps has one of the worst postures in swimming: posterior pelvis, excessively flexed thoracic spine, collapsed chest, and his shoulders and head are rounded forward. 

​Tiger Woods has had strong hip and shoulder imbalances for years leading to his injuries. He is usually seen standing on one leg or the other, rarely squarely on both feet and hips. 

Peyton Manning's dropped left shoulder causes his head and neck to shift to the right. That along with his rounded shoulders and forward head have lead to his neck issues. 

Throughout all sports and athletes we see some very common posture imbalances: rounded kyphotic thoracic spines, rounded shoulders, forward heads, turned out feet, and hip and shoulder asymmetries. Our modern lifestyles involve a lot of forward flexion (sitting, computer use, texting, video games, driving, watching TV) and very little extension and this is a recipe for thoracic kyphosis, rounded shoulders, and forward head posture. Everyone tends to favor one side of their body and without enough balanced motion to restore function to both sides of our bodies, we tend to get a dominate hip and shoulder. This will show up in one hip and shoulder being lower or more forward than the other. 

Weight training and playing sports will only strengthen these tendencies and imbalances eventually leading to injury. The above athletes have had to deal with the following injuries:

• Tiger Woods: knee, achilles tendon, lower back
  
• Michael Phelps: back
• Lebron James: lower back, knee, elbow
• Felix Hernandez: back, elbow
• Peyton Manning: knee, neck

All these athletes, including Mary Cain, can correct their postural imbalances with specific posture exercises that restore balance, function, and symmetry to their bodies. Improved posture will lead to more efficient movement, improved biomechanics, increased performance, and decreased chance of injury. 

I do believe Mary Cain has the ability to break every American middle and long distance record and set a world record some day, but she has to stay injury free and rise to her potential, and that's all riding on her shoulders.

Parents ask me at what age or grade should my child start running longer distances which you see in cross country workouts.

The answer is basically that you are asking the wrong question. The better question is: Should I have my child screened first to see what deficiencies she or he may have? The answer is yes.

Another common question I get asked is how may miles per week should I be running during the summer/winter and during the season for cross country?
Well, first of all, I would not recommend running year around. Participate in another sport if possible. The number of miles per week will  be determined based on your Functional Movement Screen results. The number of miles one person can handle per week can be quite different from another person. Injury prevention is critical.

All distance runners (cross country runners) need to be screened (Functional Movement Screen) at least once a year, preferably twice a year. As you grow and have more wear and tear on your body, the screen will show different results. The best time to be screened is during the spring/summer. You can be screened during the Great Plains Track Club season. Members cost is $10, which is 50% off. Screens should start once you become involved in organized sports where heavy loads of practice/training start to occur.
email for more information skubisiak@bis.midco.net

Other unintended factors can become involved over time, like overuse injuries (i.e. stress fractures), burnout, addiction to running, eating disorders.

Middle school is very early to be logging (running) miles. Focusing of "one movement pattern", in this case running, is not healthy for any body. So other movement patterns should be integrated into the cross country program. Yes, that means not just "going out for a run".

Sports specific training is an outdated approach! Other movement patterns should be integrated into all sports, whether it is running, basketball, hockey, football, etc. So this means integrating other movement patterns "during the season".

Keep in mind that winning a state championship as an individual or team, has nothing to do with being healthy. So the question is, "Do you value your health?"

Why I’m Not Surprised Alan Webb Split From Alberto Salazar
March 31, 2011

Mario Fraioli takes a deeper look at Alan Webb’s coaching commitment issues over the course of his competitive career.

Alan Webb has commitment issues.

I’m not knocking the American record holder in the mile — just pointing out an obvious fact. Yesterday’s news that Webb left Alberto Salazar’s Oregon Project shouldn’t come as such a big surprise.

Over the course of his now ten-year quasi-collegiate/mostly professional career, the 28-year old has been through three coaches, making an early exit from the University of Michigan in 2002 to return to his high school coach, Scott Raczko, in his native Virginia. Then, after another nearly seven years training under the man who helped him become the fastest high school miler–and eventually the fastest American miler–of all-time, Webb packed his bags and headed west to join Salazar’s Oregon Project in August of 2009.

“With any change there’s risk,” Webb’s agent, Ray Flynn, told USA Today at the time. “For whatever reason, things weren’t working.”

Not working? In the world’s most black and white sport, the numbers don’t lie. As a senior at South Lakes High School in Reston, Virginia, Webb became the first high schooler to break the hallowed 4:00-barrier indoors, running 3:59.86 in New York City in 2001. That spring, Webb shattered Jim Ryun’s longstanding mark in the outdoor mile, running 3:53.43 to take nearly two seconds off Ryun’s 36-year old clocking. His coach? Scott Raczko. Things were definitely working.

Upon graduation from South Lakes High School, Webb left Raczko and rightfully accepted a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, joining a loaded class of  middle-distance runners led by longtime Wolverine headman Ron Warhurst. Initially, Webb thrived, winning the Big 10 cross country championship as a freshman and placing an impressive 11th at the NCAA meet. Everyone, including Webb himself, could agree that despite a new coach and a new training system that things were still working just fine.

“I felt so in control of my stride,” Webb told Chris Lear in the book Sub 4. “I’ve never felt that much in control of my body, ever, even last year at the end of outdoor [track season].”

After suffering an untimely injury to his Achilles tendon during the indoor track season, however, Webb was thrown off his game. Hurt for the first time in his career and frustrated to no end, Webb was forced to redshirt the indoor track season, a decision he was reluctant to accept. After finally putting the injury behind him, he resumed training and returned outdoors to win a Big 10 title in the 1,500 meters and finish fourth in the same event at NCAA’s, seemingly salvaging a successful season for himself given the circumstances. In Webb’s head, however, it was a sign that things weren’t working well anymore. So what did he do? He got out of dodge.

Upon Webb’s return to Virginia, Raczko made it his mission to rebuild the greatest high school miler ever to lace up a pair of spikes. He did one hell of a job.

From 2005 to 2007, Webb went on a three-year tear, winning the 1,500 meters at the 2005 U.S. Championships in a display of dominance not seen since the days of Steve Scott. That same year Webb set personal bests at every distance from 1,500 to 5,000 meters, breaking an American Record at 2 miles in the process. In 2006 he ran 10,000 meters for the first time, winning the Payton Jordan Invite in 27:34.72, the fastest debut ever by an American at the distance. One year later he finally made his mark as a potential world-beater, breaking Scott’s 25-year-old American Record in the mile with a 3:46.91 clocking. His coach? Scott Raczko. Things seemed to be working better than ever before, and then all of a sudden everything went to shit.

Webb failed to make the Olympic team in 2008, and spent the rest of the summer plagued by injuries. One year later, the story was still the same. Within two years Webb went from being one of the best runners in the world to a burned-out, broken down shadow of his former self who was looking for an answer as to why all of a sudden things weren’t working for him. Was Scott Raczko to blame? No, just as I don’t believe Warhurst was to blame at Michigan. Webb seemed to think otherwise, however, and left his longtime coach for greener-looking pastures in Swooshtown, USA.

“It gives me confidence to know that I have all the tools in place for me to push myself and we are just now starting that process,” Webb said shortly after joining Salazar’s Oregon Project, a group which included Galen Rupp, Dathan Ritznehein and Kara Goucher, amongst others.

The oft-injured but immensely talented Webb would have no excuses in Oregon: he had the talent, the coaching, the training partners, the facilities and the resources to return to his perch as the top middle-distance track runner in the U.S. Salazar, who was admittedly thrown for a loop when Webb approached him to be his coach, knew exactly what kind of athlete he had on his hands, even if he didn’t have another middle-distance runner in the group to call his own.

“I would have to say that even my athletes agree as a group — Galen Rupp and Dathan Ritzenhein — we all know he is the most talented in the whole group,” Salazar said last summer of Webb.

After recovering from Achilles surgery in early 2010, Salazar started Webb from scratch and helped him work his way back up the racing ranks. Last summer, after a less-than-impressive 1:52 800-meter opener in London in August, Webb got on a roll once again. Less than a month after that opening race, Webb ran 1:48:34 for 800 meters in Padova, Italy, and a few weeks later finished fifth amongst a loaded 1,500-meter field in Milan, running 3:36.21, his fastest time since 2008. Fast forward to Thanksgiving where Webb made a rare road racing appearance and won the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot in 13:36, beating Oregon Project teammate Galen Rupp by 3 seconds. Despite a small hiccup at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix earlier this year in Boston — where Webb ran 4:00.70 to finish a disappointing seventh in the mile, nearly six seconds back of the winner, Russell Brown — he most recently finished third in a loaded 1,500-meter race in Australia, clocking 3:37.82, a tremendous track time for early March. In short, after years of injury and under-performance, the arrangement with Salazar seemed to be working pretty well.

Today, however, Webb is a runner without a coach, and maybe even a runner without a contract. Letsrun.com is reporting that Webb’s contract with Nike has run out and he is no longer on a professional payroll. None of this is confirmed, but it wouldn’t be a big surprise, either.

So who will be Webb’s next coach? Speculation is rampant, but no one knows for sure. One thing is certain, however: who is coaching Alan Webb isn’t the issue.

Measuring the vibrations of runners' strides could help prevent muscle injuries

June 30, 2017

Despite its worldwide popularity as a form of exercise, running—whether it’s long-distance or sprinting—is grueling. It not only requires an incredible amount of mental focus and a high pain tolerance, but it’s also extremely taxing on the body. Unlike sports such as swimming or cycling, running is a high-impact activity. With each stride, your foot collides with the ground. This impact sends vibrations to every muscle you've got. Over time, that can lead to muscle fatigue and injury.

If we could understand how runners adapt to these vibrations, we might be able to better prevent the resulting injuries. That’s what a team of researchers from the University of Marseille in France is trying to figure out. What they’ve found so far is that our bodies are constantly adapting our strides to accommodate for the level of impact we experience. But overall, there is a core set of muscle movements and maneuvers that the body uses to manage these vibrations. Now the researchers hope to study these exact movements to unravel how they lead to injury.

The researchers outfitted runners with tiny accelerometers, which measure how fast a person is speeding up over a certain time period. They combined these with a motion capture system to measure the vibrational impact each stride inflicted. How could knowledge of this help runners in a practical way? Delphine Chadefaux, the lead researcher on the study, explained in a statement that not much attention is paid to this shock propagation or vibrations in other research. But with better info, running shoe companies could create shoes designed to reduce those vibrations without compromising runners’ speed. Chadefaux and her colleagues presented their work this week at the annual meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Boston.

But Chadefaux says there’s a lot more work to be done before your sneakers can perfectly protect you from dangerous vibrations. Bodies are extremely diverse, even among people who all run regularly, so it’s likely that the group of runners sampled in the study won’t be able to demonstrate all the different impacts each running maneuver can have on a person's body. Further, the runners were all running inside, under controlled conditions. It’s likely that running on uneven pavement or on trails would have some impact on the vibrations, so anyone trying to design an effective intervention would have to study those variations as well.

But with more research, the team thinks this could lead to a better understanding of vibration injuries endured not only by runners, but perhaps by lovers of other high-impact sports as well.

Compression tights might not actually help tired muscles

But you can still wear them if you want.

6/1/2017

Compression tights are an incredibly popular tool among runners, from elite athletes to amateur weekend warriors. The reasoning seems sound: When you run, your leg muscles contract to slow down the muscle vibrations that occur as you bounce up and down. These constant contractions are thought to cause much of the fatigue experienced by distance runners. Because compression tights reduce those muscle vibrations, exercise scientists have previously hypothesized that they should accordingly strengthen a runner’s performance.

Nike wanted to better understand this mechanism and see if the tights really held up to their hype. So they reached out to a group of researchers at Ohio State University to test it out. Through a small study that employed 10 male runners, the researchers found that, though the tights did significantly lower those muscle vibrations, in the end, that didn’t translate to a reduction in muscle fatigue. The researchers recently presented their results at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting.

The researchers performed the study over two different days. On the first day, they had the runners (all of whom were experienced, running at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes) wear compression socks and run a 30 minute intensive endurance run on a specialized treadmill, at 80 percent their VO2max (a measure of an individual’s peak oxygen consumption during exercise). The point of this hard run was to ensure the athletes reached—but only just barely surpassed—their anaerobic threshold. This forces the body to build up lactic acid and causes muscle fatigue, says lead study author Ajit Chaudhari, a professor of biomedical engineering at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

With the help of high-speed cameras and small reflectors placed on the thighs and lower legs (a technique called optical motion capture), the scientists were able to measure how much the runners’ muscles vibrated. They also measured the athletes’ leg strength and jump heights before and after their intense runs. On the second day, they had the runners perform the same exercises, but this time without compression socks.

Despite the fact that the compression socks did indeed reduce the muscle vibrations, this didn’t appear to have any effect at all on muscle fatigue. So are compression tights useless? Because this study was so small—just 10 runners, all of them experienced and all of them male—it’s hard to say for sure. And the researchers only measured the runners’ vibrations over the course of two days. Chaudhari says it’s certainly possible that the difference with the tights was so subtle that it would only be detectable over a longer period of time, slowly accumulating to have a measurable effect. However, he says, that type of study is a lot more difficult. You'd have to factor in variables like nutrition, hydration, variations in cardiovascular capacity, and other things that are a lot harder to control than a couple of days of monitored running.

For now, Chaudhari says, if runners do believe that compression tights work for them, there’s no reason to throw them away. The study did not find that the compression tights were in any way destructive, and some users might enjoy other benefits, such as keeping muscles warm or reducing chaffing.

In the future, he and his team want to better understand how running form changes with fatigue, even independent of compression tights. He says scientists have hypothesized that when runners get fatigued, their running form starts to falter, which could be the reason behind many overuse injuries.

“Running injuries are extremely common, especially among novice runners," says Chaudhari. “If we can get more insight into when a novice runner may be doing damage to their body, we might be able to help people stay physically active and healthier throughout their lives.”