Got asked an interesting question: What was the 🔑 to your success as an athlete?
The ‘boring’ but true answer: I picked the right school. Loved the city, team, coach.
No fancy training, equipment, diet, etc.
...I was happy!
Forget the division, find the fit 💯
#coaching
A new trick of mine recruiting at HS track meets is to stand beyond the finishline.
I want to see how you react when you win. Or lose. Do you shake hands? Yell? Listen to your coach/parent?
Will you make the next 4 years easier or harder for your coaches & teammates?
#coaching
One of my 100m guys thought it would be funny to pretend he pulled his hamstring yesterday.
I thought it would be funny to put him in the 4x400 this weekend. 🤗
#trackandfield
#coaching
#karma
“CoAcHes pLay FaVoRites”
You wanna know who the favorite is? Point out the hardest worker in the room.
It’s not the most talented. It’s the most invested.
Work your tail off and your coach will move mountains for you, for life.
#coaching
You don’t have to:
-Sleep well
-Eat well
-Warm up properly
-Be coachable
-Study your sport/event
-Compete
But you also don’t have to:
-PR
-Be on relays
-Win
#coaching
*Wearing a Parkside S&C hoodie*
Cashier: Are you a student athlete?
No, I’m the S&C coach
“Oh like the assistant?”
No, I’m the HC
“So who is your supervisor?”
The athletic director
“Right but who is your boss?”
I am the boss.
*Scene* 🎬
S/O all my female head coaches 🤪
“Track and field is the foundation of all team sports.” -
@StuartMcMillan1
If you wanna make your team better, start talking to your track coaches on campus!
Trust me, we’re big nerds and we can talk about the benefits sprinting, hurdle mobility, etc ALL. DAY. LONG.
#coaching
Confession:
When someone follows me and I *think* they’re a track person…
I don’t google or Facebook them.
I TFFRS them.
…and suddenly I know what you ran in that home rust buster back in 2013 out of lane 3 wasn’t your best day
#coaching
Big news—I’m moving to Utah!! I accepted the Assistant Director for Sports Performance position at the University of Utah.
I’ll be working with volleyball, beach volleyball & track. Could not be more excited about this new adventure. To the mountains we go, Utes! ❤️🏔️
Passed my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist exam today!
This has been a big goal of mine for quite awhile and I’m excited to use my new ‘strengths’ to make an impact on my athletes 🏋🏼♀️
CSCS ✅
#cscs
#strengthandconditioning
#coaching
#growthmindset
My favorite quote to include in summer training programs when I send them out:
“You can’t win a championship in the summer, but you can lose one.”
Show up better for your teammates, coaches, and most importantly…YOU 💪🏽
#coaching
"Athletes who slept 10 hours per night over the course of several weeks ran faster, reacted quicker, and hit or threw a ball with greater accuracy."
See the new studies that found major performance benefits from simply sleeping enough:
As seasons begin, a gentle reminder to coaches (+ me) that taking care of you is as important as taking care of your athletes.
Sleep. Pack a good lunch. Go for a run. Unplug when you get home.
How can athletes take self-care seriously if we don’t lead by example?
Spent 9 hours at a coaching clinic yesterday and immediately opened my computer when I got home to write workouts.
This morning I couldn’t sleep in because I was too excited to keep working on my training.
Love what you do!!!
#coaching
#training
#trackandfield
Recruits:
Don’t make your prospective future coach type an email to ‘sassythang’ or ‘hotboy02’ —it’s a bad look.
Make a professional email with your name in it and CHECK IT OFTEN.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
#recruiting
#coaching
#trackandfield
All we want for Christmas is SPEED⚡️
“To be truly fast, we need to have the core of our sport programs based outside of barbell lifts and properly train speed through MAX VELOCITY/TOP-SPEED EFFORTS.(10-40m)
Run fast to be fast.
Thanks
@JustFlySports
!!
#SpeedStrength
#coaching
I’m a faithful track fan so I paid my $12 to watch US Championships…
BUT
This monetization of T&F by
@usatf
placing a chokehold on streaming/video on a bad platform is SHAMEFUL.
These athletes need MORE visibility, not less 😡
Oh & pay them a livable wage thx
#trackandfield
Took one look at this video & knew he ran track. Track coaches can just tell the difference between fast & track fast. (It’s a posture and rhythm thing)
So I looked it up. Dude ran 10.5 as a sophomore in high school 😱 Now that’s fast!!
Talked to several coaches this week. What did every single one say?
“I just wanna hug my athletes.”
Coaches & athletes are navigating this simultaneously. We aren’t robots & we don’t have all the answers.
But we LOVE our athletes and we’ll support them no matter what. 💚💚💚
Athletes—
Remember, you only train 2 hours a day.
That means you have 22 hours left. Are those hours helping or hurting you?
You can train 24 hours a day if you have the right approach.
22>2
Especially important during championship season!!
#coaching
Guy: “Are you training for anything?”
Me: “I am training to feel good.”
Not trying to bulk, cut, do a show, compete, or look any certain type of way.
I am training to be a happy, mentally-healthy human.
The end.
Tony Bennett is proof that you can be a kind, humble, soft-spoken coach in college athletics who coaches from a place of LOVE—and win a national championship. One of the classiest guys in the business.
#Virginia
#class
#coaching
Qualifying for T&F nationals is getting wild
In order to go in D3, you gotta have D2 marks
In order to go in D2, you gotta have D1 marks
In order to go in D1, you gotta have pro/world-class marks
And only going to get tougher 😅
#trackandfield
#nattys
Something cool:
A really good kid we recruited turned us down earlier this year.
But, when he saw we were recruiting this weekend, he texted me about his teammates that we should look at and offered to introduce us at the meet.
That’s a pretty good look for all of us 🤙🏼
Sometimes it catches me off guard how much I absolutely love watching my athletes compete.
It’s a lot of long days/hard workouts. Not every day is good.
But when they PR or just have a fun day racing—the look on their faces brings me so much joy.
And that’s what LOVE is. 💚🐻
Haven’t been in spikes—much less done blocks—in 5 years.
I may actually survive the alumni 55m dash tomorrow.
My PR was 6.92 in the 55m, predictions? 😂
How to talk to young women about their bodies, a 🧵:
I knew exactly 0 about my body in college and never talked to anyone about it—not coaches or even teammates.
What started as a grad school project a few years ago has turned into a point of passion for me as I realized there
Had a recruit tell me they could hear how much I love my job + how passionate I am about coaching through the phone.
That’s a high compliment in my book + a reminder to be you.
Don’t try and play it cool. Just be genuine & show you’re in this for the right reasons 💯
#coaching
(1/3) Why I love track:
Been recruiting a guy without a lot of track experience, but a naturally talented, gutsy kid. He’ll also be a 1st generation college graduate.
“Coach I didn’t know colleges looked at kids like me. I have a lot of heart but not a lot else to show yet.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it publicly again.
Sydney McLaughlin is the next Allyson Felix.
Maturity, talent, dominance.
Go watch her interviews from her first Oly trials @ 16. Innate poise.
She’s the future of USA track and field ✨
#WorldChampionships
#trackandfield
My brother-in-law of 7 years just excitedly pointed to the TV in this restaurant and said, “Look Carly, they have long jump on!”
…it was pole vault.
I have failed 🤦🏼♀️
A big one for me, but bigger for our program. In the last 10 yrs, only 1 other coach has been here longer than 3 yrs. But this entire department has made Parkside the kind of place that you stay now. Grateful for the opportunity to grow + all my people here ✅
#makegreenchoices
Uncommon habits of champions:
1️⃣ They don’t watch TV. They read.
2️⃣ They know the history of their sport/study it.
3️⃣ They journal/keep training log.
4️⃣ They meditate & visualize daily.
5️⃣ They sleep 8-12 hrs/night.
If you want to get a lot better, start here.
#coaching
How to level up as a track coach:
1. Forget wheel inside
2. Step out 50 meters for 150s
3. Bribe other coach to bring wheel out
4. Double check work and realize you measured 50.00 EXACTLY 😱
I have now unlocked the bucket hat + tucking my shirt into wind pants
#coaching
Coaches aren’t leaving due to lack of support from each other.
They are leaving b/c of traveling 9 months per year, recruiting hundreds of kids, 50-70 hours, paid 30-50k.
Coaching 4 teams/75+ kids with 2 FT = burnout.
Need two full staffs for XC & TF. It’s two sports 🙃
As I keep seeing posts in the last week it’s sad to keep seeing xc/track coaches leaving the sport. Every coach has different reasons for leaving the sport or leaving a long term gig for another one; however, as xc/track coaches it’s time to start supporting each-other. 😞
Q: “Why don’t track coaches and strength coaches get along?”
Me: “Because strength coaches are intimated by track coaches. T&F is the original strength and conditioning—so it’s more of a peer to peer relationship.”
Might hurt some feelings with this one 💃🏼
Great conversation with this week's guest
@Coach_Carlyy
about women in the weightroom, being a woman track coach and Director of S&C, and more.
Lots to learn this week!
Wait, so coaches that run their players into the ground have a higher rate of severe injury? And less trust, buy-in, and overall enjoyment? Since when?
Since always.
Clean. No exceptions. And I’ll take it a step further: no music that’s demeaning to women.
Because you never know who is going to walk in. Alums, recruits/parents, sponsors.
If our chancellor walked in hearing expletives and vulgar language about women, I’d be embarrassed.
As coaches, our job is to help prepare athletes for the adversities of life through sport.
This has never rang more true than what our world is experiencing right now.
Our seasons may be over, but we will still guide our athletes through these difficult times.
#coaching
Great job
@KulaPerformance
on “Train like a track athlete”!!
Triggering FB/sport/strength coaches in 3...2...1...💥
“The goal is to stack anaerobic work together to improve both speed and aerobic capacity.”
No wind sprints. No timed miles. No 16x200. 🤯
What is happening in Iowa? What is happening to our women? Why can’t we be safe running, on a golf course, or truthfully anywhere? This is devastating.
#CeliaBarquinArozamena
Cheers to working up the courage 5 years ago to tell the 10x Olympic medalist and 🐐 of women’s track and field that she’s my hero.
@allysonfelix
#Olympics
#TrackandField
(3/3) 2 National titles in the shot put, throw at multiple USATF Championships and the Olympic Trials in ‘16.
He threw 13.95 in his 1st college meet + now boasts a PR of 20.48. He’s ranked 57th in the WORLD right now.
Heart matters. Take a chance. Track is awesome. The end.
Coaches teach the X’s and O’s of sport everyday.
But we also need to be teaching:
-How to apologize
-Being kind
-Accountability is love
-How to be a role model
-To think of the self, less
-The importance of good friends
-Saying thank you
The X’s and O’s of life ✌🏼
#coaching
Speed is the hardest ability to develop, so sometimes it is easier to point to endurance, strength, and flexibility gains as proof of a coach’s value, says
@grahamsprints
. via
@SimpliFaster
GAs are not a resource to be depleted. They are there to HELP you, the full-time coach.
They are also there to LEARN. Mentor them. Show them what to do. Give them opportunities so they’re ready.
Stop with ‘the grind’ and ‘earning their stripes’ and take care of your people.
If you had told me as a 17 year old kid that track would fundamentally change the direction my life....nope.
I’ve hit the lottery in so many ways and I know it.
To every athlete, teammate, trainer, coach, mentor, fan...thank you.
#NationalGirlsAndWomenInSportsDay
In my 2 years at Parkside, this is the best meet we’ve ever had.
Not because of marks and times.
But because the team chemistry/love/positivity is the best I’ve ever seen.
Special things are happening here. Feels good to be a Ranger today.
#Parkside
#ForwardTogether
Appreciate all the questions and DM’s about my womens health thread last night! I’m going to create a google doc with links to everything I’m talking about including my presentation, podcasts, Ted talks, YouTube videos, and articles/books.
Stay tuned 🚺
Reporting live from Walmart:
Random Overweight Man: “Girl you need more meat on your bones.”
Me: “Looks like you’ve got enough for both of us.”
He had no further comment at this time. Stay tuned 🎤
This is so important for runners of all levels to understand. It’s impossible to PR at every meet. Gains come a lot quicker in HS, college can take time. (Adjusting to dorm life, school stress, training, new food) Professionals will have YEARS between PRs sometimes.
I think all coaches wish speed development was completely linear, but that is simply not true. Not every day will be a PR. Too many variables. However, with consistent (2-3x/week) sprint training, athletes will continue to improve. This is a junior multi-sport athlete at Central.
Someone finally DM’d me & asked why I transitioned into S&C full-time from XC/TF.
It’s simple: I get to pick appropriate training for every team on campus & spend more time with ATHLETES. Less logistics/paperwork.
I’m best at people + programming.
Do more of what you love.
A PSA after a 💚 to🖤 w/ a coach:
You get sick. Go through break ups. Gain weight. Make a bad call. Struggle. Cry.
Why? Because you’re human.
U don’t always need to shield your athletes from this truth. Be real. Nobody wants to be coached by a robot.
#authenticity
#coaching
“Athletes need to respect me.”
Yes, but no. Basic manners, yeah. Blindly follow you into a burning building, no.
I don’t chase respect with athletes. I chase LOYALTY.
Why? Because here’s the requirements of generating loyalty:
1. Being really effing good at my job.
At
@TFConsortium
tonight in Chicago. A handful of ladies in the attendance.
On our break, I noticed a long line for the men’s room, and no line for the women’s room.
I turned to the men and said, well this is a first!
#coaching
#tfc
#femalecoaches
*At Target buying food bin supplies*
Cashier: oh you coach at Parkside, what do you coach?
Me: *Trips over the cart wheel and falls to one knee dramatically in front of a large line of people*
“Oh I coach track”
🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
#trackandfield
#coaching
#embarrassing
Something cool happening in the T&F coaching world right now..
Virtual coaching collabs with 100+ attendees, presentations, sharing of training articles, workouts—from Power 5 to HS.
One thing I can say for sure—we will be BETTER coaches come fall! 💪🏼
#coaching
#trackandfield
I love winterim practices.
No one rushing off to get to class, eating on the fly, and juggling all that student-athletes do.
Just intentional time at practice, lounging around afterwards & chatting, and enjoying being together.
I’ll take more time with my athletes any day.
Been a college track coach for 6 yrs before taking over our head S&C gig this year.
I tell people all the time, T&F is the original strength and conditioning!
Don’t tell anyone I learned the ‘C’ part before the ‘S’ part…
They might not invite me to their bday party 🥳
Something I say often to our team before big meets/races when they are nervous:
Nerves just mean you care.
Today, I overheard one of our athletes calming their teammate down and said:
Nerves just mean you care.
That’s culture.
#winning
I could not be more excited & about this next chapter for myself & our department.
Ready to make a bigger impact for our student athletes + humbled to continue building on the progress we’ve made.
Let’s get to work 💪🏻
We could think of nobody better to be our new Head Strength & Conditioning Coach than
@Coach_Carlyy
! 💪 Congrats, you have earned it!
#MakeGreenChoices
*Taking distance crew through their lift*
Athlete: Coach why are we doing RDL’s?
@coach_nmaas
“So it’s easier for you to step up on the podium”
He said what he said 😂
One of The Godfather’s of track and field, Vince Anderson, speaking at
@TFConsortium
!
“Everyone has to take alegbra whether you’re good at it or not. Everyone can improve their speed, whether they are fast or not.”
#tfc
#FeedTheCats
As coaches, we’re really focused on taking care of our SA’s in these uncertain times.
But coaches: we gotta look out for each other, too.
Reach out to the people down the hall. Text your mentee. Talk to your staff. Check in. Make time.
Take care of each other.
#coaching
“If you eat like a child and sleep like a teenager, your recovery will not go well. Eat like an adult and sleep like a baby.” ⚠️⚠️⚠️
-Brandon McDaniel, S&C for
@Dodgers
I firmly believe this is why most people get out of coaching.
Don’t matter what level you coach: you are up late/early, long hours, pressure to win/recruit. Mostly underpaid outside of pro/P5.
Don’t romanticize the grind. Take care of
#1
.
#coaching
Despite all of the challenges this year…
@ParksideTFXC
had 92% of athletes on our roster have a personal best this season.
We had an injury rate of 7.5%.
Rest + focus on each other + fun = healthy, fast athletes! 🤩
Keep it simple, silly.
#coaching
#trackandfield
An in-season athlete returned to campus excited to share she hit a 10yd fly PR at her private gym.
Her coaches were impressed, asked to see her program. They said it’s better than some of the big D1 programs they see & passed along the compliment.
Big is where you make it.
I had a busy weekend at
@WISTCA
!
Thank you for the invite to speak & thank you to all who attended.
First time presenting at a clinic this large and I truly had a blast!
& plz enjoy the only picture I have of me speaking that is not cute 💚
Had an athlete text me tonight that she got accepted into a prestigious grad program and thank us for all we did to get her to this point.
If that’s not the absolute best thing you can hear as a coach, I don’t know what is.
That’s the goal. Period.
#FindaWay
#coaching
*At the gym last night in the middle of a set*
Random guy: you look like you’re going to kill someone
Me: only guys who interrupt my workout
😤😒🙄
Women aren’t here for you, bro.
We talk a lot about athletes/coaches not defining themselves by their sport. Easy to say, hard to do.
Andrew Luck just did it. At 29, the Stanford grad decided that his physical and mental health was more important than football.
Class act from start to finish.
#AndrewLuck
My grandparents have been married for 60 years.
Gramps had a minor surgery, so she had to drive the truck home.
Grams calls me and asks, how do I get gas? Your grandfather has always done it.
She hasn’t pumped her own gas since 1959. If that ain’t love I don’t know what is!
One thing I am extremely grateful for as a young coach is perspective. I hear this from mentors and coaching friends all the time.
You marry your partner, not your job. You birth your kids, not your athletes. Your home is not found in your office.
Win with family first.
UNC Coach Roy Williams was once asked, “Is there anything you’d do differently in your career if you could do it over?”
His eyes immediately welled up with tears and his bottom lip started to quiver.
“If I could do it again I would do a much better job prioritizing my family.”
It was a balmy 50 degrees for our workout today.
One of my sprinters was running in just his shorts, no tights.
I asked if he was cold and he said no coach, I’m just practicing for the weather at Drake Relays 😱😱😱😱😱
If you know, you know
@DrakeRelays
#canigetsomesun
I take this as a lesson as a young coach. You won’t always have the answers, you won’t always know what to do. Not every day or game or season will be your best. Even the greatest coaches of our generation STRUGGLE.
And that’s life. Struggle, win, lose, repeat.
#coaching
This season has clearly taken its toll on Notre Dame WBB Head Coach Muffet McGraw.
She was asked how difficult it's been and this is her reaction.
Hear more from McGraw following her team's 34 point loss to NC State tonight on
@WSBT
at 10/11
The fastest growing Dll program in the country is hiring a FT assistant for jumps or sprints/hurdles NOW!
We’re STACKED: 4 men under 1:54, 3 men under 48, a 20’ LJ conference champ, and 3 guys over 6’7” in the HJ & lots more.
Welcome to the Woods!!🌲
With seasons just around the corner, remember that:
1. Hours worked does not equal work accomplished.
2. Thinking about the work is not the same as doing the work.
3. The work is not more important than your health and family.
#coaching
#work
Excited for
@ALTIS
virtual coaching apprenticeship this week, with 100% of the proceeds going to a scholarship endowment at a HBC.
Yankees coach, pro track coaches, pro S&C coaches, and Steve Kerr. One of the coolest panels I’ve ever seen.
#1000coachesforchange
#trackandfield
Nerding out on training models, picking cool meets for our track schedule, and hearing from our athletes on how excited they are to come back made for an awesome day—can’t wait for what will be an amazing year!!
#TheFutureIsBright
What do we remember about our coaches? How do we describe them to others?
Overheard a convo about me (lol) at our alumni meet with a former athlete.
They said: she always had my back no matter what.
That’s a huge W.
Coaches, you matter!
#coaching
*Me, while eating leftover Chinese food, currently residing at 7,500 feet, who has only drank coffee today, and who has also not run in six months*
“I think I’ll go for a run today.”
...I made it a mile.
Check back for the next cardio update in six months 🏃🏼♀️
#retired
The 5 Finger Approach to Performance 👋🏼
Thumb: Sleep
Index: Food
Middle: Water
Ring: Workouts
Pinky: Stress/Life
You control 80% of your performance as an athlete. Coach is only 20% 💥
Ask a boxer how effective he is with a broken finger 👊🏾
#coaching
#trackandfield
I have a symbolic ‘first workout’ back after Xmas. Athletes know it’s coming.
It’s brutal. It’s the last ‘volume’ day we do. (700m of work @ 90%)
I’ve been doing this for 4 years....today was hands down the best I have EVER seen a group do it.
We are ready to run fast!!!
Last week in our team meeting, we reflected on our ‘why’.
While it’s important for athletes to remember ‘why’ this time of year—after long falls, school, life, competing—it’s important for coaches too.
Look around. Enjoy it. You’ll never have this exact group again.
#coaching
2022 RECRUITS:
1. Create a recruiting profile and keep it UPDATED
2. Upload a photo + transcripts
3. Put YOUR number + email, not mom and dad
4. Only use verified times/marks
Recruiting is harder for college coaches this year. Make it easier to find you!
#coaching
#recruiting