Yes. Weather predictions for this winter in New England are excellent for runners. If you're running Boston or another late winter or spring marathon, or any of the classic road races from January through April, this will be a great winter to train.
Maintenance Training
Not running a marathon? No big races on your schedule? Winter is the perfect time to establish a fitness level that will be your foundation for all of 2016. With good running ahead, give yourself a maintenance program and goal with either Fernando's Seasonal Program or the One-on-One coaching model.
Marathon Training
All marathon training programs use the One-on-One coaching model. If you are running a marathon in April or earlier, you should begin training in December. For Boston and earlier marathons, select the 4-month program option. If you have questions on which program to choose, contact Dave.
This past summer the GTD cross-country program included about a dozen college runners. In this issue of The Little Things, we hear from Riley Dowd, Connor Wolff, Emily Weigand, and Lexi Buonfiglio.
Five of the college athletes. From left: Connor Wolff (Stonehill), Cory Jordan (UMass/Dartmouth), Riley Dowd (Stonehill), Jason Karakaedos (UMass/Dartmouth), Eric Loehle (BU)
Riley Dowd and Connor Wolff
Riley Dowd
GTD: You trained in the GTD XC program this past summer. Was this your first time training with Coach Braz?
Riley:My first time training with Coach Braz was the summer before my freshmen year of high school. I trained in the All-Sports summer program in order to get in shape for soccer. That winter, I began the first of four years running under Coach Braz on the track team. I trained in the Al-Sports program for one more summer before starting the Cross Country Program after I decided to run cross country.
GTD: What did you expect from the program? Was it what you expected?
Riley: Having trained with Coach Braz for four years, the program had the same intensity and structure that I always expect from it. With that said, Coach Braz always finds new exercises and drills to keep improving us.
GTD: As a college runner, you may have had a summer program from your college coach. How did you and Coach Braz make this work?
Riley:Coach Braz made it easy to accomplish the summer program from my college coach. He understands that with college runners, our primary goal is to follow our coach’s program. Once I got my program, I forwarded it to Coach Braz and every week he would communicate with me on how my week of training would play out. Majority of the time, the workouts my college coach planned for the week would match up with what Coach Braz had planned for the training sessions. If not, Coach Braz would accommodate me and have my specific workout set up. Executing the program from my college coach was made easier just by being at the program because it gave me people to train with and the motivation to do exercises that I might not do on my own.
GTD: The last phase of each conditioning session this summer was devoted to core work, flexibility, and strength. Tell us about it. What did you like and didn’t like. Did feelings about this phase change over the length of the program?
Riley: Having trained with Coach Braz for four years, I have grown to love and understand the benefit of core work, flexibility, and strength. Although they can be uncomfortable and hard at times, they definitely enhance training in a way that simply running more miles can’t do.
For core work, we do a lot of exercises such as planks and 6-inches. This year, a new exercise and one of my favorites was medicine ball work. Coach Doyle organized these workouts and I felt they were a welcome and more active change from the normal core exercises. For flexibility, we do a lot of stretching. Coach Pete will teach stretches that are beyond any stretch you have ever done. On top of that, we do a lot of hurdle work. I have a love-hate relationship with hurdle work but in the end, they are very important for hip flexibility. To improve strength, we often work with bands.
GTD: What was the most important thing you learned from the summer program?
Riley:The biggest things I have learned from this program and Coach Braz is to be patient with summer training and to never forget about the little things like core and stretching.
GTD: Tell us about your fall xc season.
Riley:My fall xc season went very well. The training in college was definitely very intense but I felt that Coach Braz’s program prepared me well for it. The jump up to an 8k race was not as drastic as I expected and after one race, it became normal. I was in my team’s top 7 and we finished second in our conference and third in the region. This past weekend we competed in the NCAA Division 2 Nationals in Joplin, Missouri.
GTD: Are you running winter and/or spring track?
Riley:Yes I will be running both winter and spring track at Stonehill.
GTD: Have you decided on an academic focus (major)?
Riley:Right now I am still undecided on a major.
Onsite session disciplines include core, circuits, base building, plyometrics, resistance training, threshold work, technique and form, concentration, focus, and racing strategies.
"Focus" may or may not include commanding the medicine ball to float (Riley) or levitate (Connor).
Floating is easier than levitation, though the technique is the same.
2014, Connor in the all-sports program: bands essential, hardhat optional
Connor Wolff
GTD: You trained in the GTD XC program this past summer. In past years you trained in the GTD all-sports program. Why the change?
Connor:In years past I was always training to play soccer in the fall which required the need for speed. I was able to get this type of training with the all-sports camp from the work with ladder drills and other quick and rapid speed drills we performed. I switched to the XC camp this past summer because I am not playing soccer now in college but rather I am running. I was trying to build a better base with more strength focused training and then work on speed once I got to school and got into season and practices. Coach Braz knew I would benefit more working with more distance oriented drills rather than the speed drills over the summer with the camp.
GTD: What did you expect from the program? Was it what you expected?
Connor: I was not really sure what to expect at first. I knew the XC program was going to require longer runs and have longer durations of drill times since XC requires a much longer race than track and field. So in that case I knew I would be getting in a lot more miles over the summer compared to past summers and I got exactly that. The drills were not as fast as the all-sports camps ones were, but rather they paced out over a longer period of time, helping build the base I was hoping to get.
GTD: As a college runner this winter, you may have had a summer program from your college coach. How did you and Coach Braz make this work?
Connor:I did have a summer program my college coach, Coach Karen Boen, sent me to work off for my summer training. When I received the schedule I brought it to Coach Braz and he really helped me understand what my coach’s objectives were for the summer for me and how to go about training based off it. What Coach Braz did for me, and for many others, was he took my college coach’s schedule and made it into a day-by-day workout schedule so that the days where I had to do a workout, such as a fartlek or track workout, he would make those days be on days of the GTD camp. Then making my days off from camp be recovery run days, this way I would have others to work out with and coach would be available to watch and monitor my workout.
GTD: The last phase of each training session this summer was devoted to core work, flexibility, and strength. Tell us about it. What did you like and didn’t like. Did feelings about this phase change over the length of the program?
Connor:I loved ending camp days with all that. Core work is something I feel always needs to be incorporated into training and it helps build a stronger runner and athlete. The hurdle walk-overs was something that Coach Braz introduced to us during the high school season, I thought they were a big help in becoming more flexible, and keeping the hips and legs loose. The medicine ball work was something I found very helpful too, I liked the fact that upper body strength was being incorporated into the ends of the days. These feelings remained the same throughout the time.
GTD: What was the most important thing you learned from the summer program?
Connor:I’ve learned, not just from this past summer but from the past 5 now that I’ve been working with Coach Braz and the GTD camp, that there is always an area of which any athlete can improve upon and to never be afraid to reach outside that comfort zone to work on it. There have been many times in my training that I felt like I wouldn’t be able to do something or hit a certain time, but I learned that by trusting the system and going outside that comfort zone great things can and will happen.
GTD: Tell us about your college athletic plans.
Connor:I am currently running track for Stonehill College, a Division II program. We compete in the Northeast-10 conference. My plans for events right now are undetermined, but I am currently training as a “long sprinter.” So it looks like I’ll be focusing in on the 800m for my main event but also running more speed events such as the 600m, 500m, and 400m.
GTD: Have you decided on an academic focus (major)?
Connor:Right now I am a business major with a focus in marketing.
Three of the collegiate women in this summer's xc program: Tia Patterson (BC), Emily Weigand (American University), Lexi Buonfiglio (Stonehill)
Emily Weigand
GTD: What did you expect from the program? Was it what you expected?
Emily: Coming into the GTD XC program this summer, I knew of a number of fellow athletes from my area going off to college, along with me, who were doing the program, so I knew that I would be training alongside runners every day who would push me to the best of my ability. I definitely experienced this from the program, and felt lucky to have been able to run with people going through the same transition as me, that I could relate to.
GTD: As a college runner, you may have had a summer program from your college coach. How did you and Coach Braz make this work?
Emily:-My college coach told me that I needed to gradually build my mileage base this summer in preparation for my college program, and that was something Coach Braz definitely worked with me on this summer. Coach Braz created a great outline on an adjustable week to week basis for me, that provided me with a balance of speed and conditioning that simultaneously helped me build my mileage.
GTD: The last phase of each training session this summer was devoted to core work, flexibility, and strength. Tell us about it. What did you like and didn’t like. Did feelings about this phase change over the length of the program?
Emily:The last phase of the training session was the hardest physically, but Coach Braz and the rest of the coaching staff prepared us each week for it, by gradually increasing our volume in different areas, so it didn't seem impossible or unreasonable for us to achieve. Strength is an element that I have always found the most difficult, but by the last session, I felt like I had a comfortable foundation going into school with. The program forced me to exit my comfort zone when it came to strength, and I really enjoyed how Coach Braz broke all of the conditioning up into stations, making the exercises of core, strength, and flexibility doable.
GTD: What was the most important thing you learned from the summer program?
Emily:The most important thing that I learned from the program was learning how to collaborate with others of different skill sets to become an all-round better athlete. I pushed myself with fellow athletes with some whose strength was doing weight exercises, as well as stayed with other runners who were used to doing more mileage than I had ever done before. This made training feel more effective, and I finished at the end of the summer feeling completely well-rounded as a runner in all ways that would benefit me.
GTD: Are you running winter and/or spring track?
Emily:I am running both winter and spring track, and am very eager for the indoor season to begin.
GTD: Have you decided on an academic focus (major)?
Emily:I am currently undecided in the school of communications, with a desired minor in creative writing. There are so many opportunities for communication studies that I am very excited about, being in Washington, D.C.
hurdles, bands,and (yes) running
Lexi Buonfiglio
GTD: You trained in the GTD XC program this past summer. Was this your first time training with Coach Braz?
Lexi:Summer 2015 was my first time training with Coach Braz. My friends Tia Paterson and Emily Weigand had done the program and had success, so it seemed like something I could benefit from. My mom also trained with Coach Braz last spring and encouraged me to sign up.
GTD: What did you expect from the program? Was it what you expected?
Lexi:I knew the program would challenge me by providing me with talented runners to train with. I think it is important to have people to push you over the summer months when you are away from your school team. All of the girls in my group were amazing. Emily Weigand and I did all of our workouts together, and we made each other stronger every day. I also knew the program would help me work on my speed, core strength and flexibility. I benefited a lot from the plyometric sessions, medicine ball sessions, and hurdle drills. Core sessions with Coach Braz were brutal, but they were worth it.
Lexi and Emily Weigand
GTD: As a college runner, you may have had a summer program from your college coach. How did you and Coach Braz make this work?
Lexi:Coach Braz took the time to look over my college coach's training program. He made sure I got everything done, but he also made adjustments to the GTD program when necessary. He was able to make those adjustments based on our frequent conversations about how I was feeling. This summer, he coached me to build a strong base while still maintaining my speed.
GTD: What was the most important thing you learned from the summer program?
Lexi:One thing that stuck with me after this summer was my memory of our last hill workout. We learned how to get up and over hills efficiently during races. I used what I learned at that practice in every single XC race this season.
GTD: Tell us about your fall xc season.
Lexi:This season I beat my best 6k time by 11 seconds (22:18), earned first team All-Conference for the NE-10, earned All-Region honors in the Northeast, and improved my place at NCAA D2 Nationals by 21.
GTD: Are you running winter and/or spring track?
Lexi:This winter I will run middle distances for Stonehill.
GTD: Have you decided on an academic focus (major)?
Lexi:I am an Education and Psychology double major.
Previous Issues of The Little Things
Please go to this link for previous issues of The Little Things.
Going the Distance is a coaching service for runners at all levels.
If you know someone who might benefit from the Going the Distance program,
tell them about us, and forward The Little Things to them.
Visit our website -- Going the Distance
Head Coach -- Fernando Braz
Assistant Coach -- Annie Starrett
Webmaster and Director -- Dave Smith
For more information, contact Dave at dave@goingthedistancefb.com
