Sunday, May 2, 2010

the broken egg

One of JD's most consistent messages is: Don't be the broken egg. This is a reference to the "throw a bunch of eggs against the wall and hope that a few don't break" philosophy. Such an approach might work if you're coaching the Kenyan marathon squad and are blessed with fifteen 2:10 runners and can only take three to the Olympics...

If, like me, you are coaching a team of one, the broken egg approach makes little sense -- which isn't to say that I've always avoided it. Daniels is right; the smartest path to reaching your potential is through very small, controlled, incremental increases in training stress.

Every time runners head out to practice their craft, and I do mean every single time, they should ask: What is the smallest possible amount of effort I can expend what will improve my fitness?

And then not run one step more. Don't be the broken egg.

Marathon training starts tomorrow.

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