The Peak Performance Sports Science Library

The Peak Performance Library is an excellent source of information and research on the latest training techniques, nutrition, and fitness programs for track and field (and many other sports) Take a look at the web site http://www.pponline.co.uk/
as well the library (See link above).

They also have a FREE sports training library with hundreds of articles. (See the link below.)

Leadership: Bo's Lasting Lessons

I just picked up a great book "Bo's Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership." by Bo Schembechler and John U. Bacon. Yes, He is the legendary coach of the University of Michigan football team who passed on just last year. I couldn't put it down. It is filled with stories from his coaching days and through them he tells you how he lead his team and lived his values, values that even after football, his players are living out in life, in business, education, whatever. This is a great book for coaches and leaders of every stripe (business, athletics, education, etc.) He was a man who didn't just talk about leadership, he led!

I give this book two thumbs up!

Eating Right to Improve Performance?

All of our young athletes want to improve their performance. That's a given. They train hard, practice technique. Listen to their coaches (hopefully?) Yet, when it comes to filling the gas tank, they put the equivalent of sludge into their gas tank and expect to get great gas mileage and Indi car speed out of their bodies.

I want to spell out a simple way to begin the process of eating well, for athletic performance, and for life in general.

#1 You need to sign up for http://www.fitday.com/ This FREE website will help you accomplish the following:

A. You need to monitor what you put into your body. This will help you access how to make changes in your diet intake that will be beneficial. Keeping a daily log with fitday.com will allow you to do just that. It will measure the calories, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats as well your vitamin and mineral intakes.

B. Fitday will help you estimate your caloric intake and your daily caloric needs. This will help you neither over or under consume food. This will vary for individuals based on age, weight, gender, training regime, and base calorie needs (for your regular work/school activities)

C. Fitday will measure your balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, for the athlete these should be in the range of:

Proteins - 25-30%
Carbohydrates - 50-60%
Fats - 20-25%

D. Fitday will help you measure you need to supplement vitamins and minerals which are lacking in your daily diet. For most this will simple mean taking a multi-vitamin. More on supplements later.

E. Once you have recorded what you eat for at least a week, you will be able to see the patterns emerge and begin to make adjustments. One at a time is best. Some will be obvious, like to much saturated fat (solid at room temperature) vs. good unsaturated fats (like olive oil) and omega 3 oils (in many kinds of fish).

F. Fitday can also be used as a daily workout journal in which you can record your running, speed work, weight (resistance), isometric, and plyometric training regime, both in season and out. You should also record how you feel. Then you can correlate your performance in training/competition with dietary variations. Learning when to eat what is also import, especially prior to competitions

G. Lastly Fitday allow you to monitor your water (H2O) intake. This one of the least considered elements for young athletes, but it can have a devastating effect on your performance. Cramping, lack of endurance, and rapid fatigue, among other things, can often be linked back to poor hydration.

So that will give you a start down the road to better performance through good eating habits. I plan to write more about each of these aspects in the days to come.

Coach Smith

Say it isn't so...Marion?

Sadly, I am beginning this blog intent on helping young men and women to improve their training, nutrition, and performance in track and field, on the same day as multi gold medalist, Marion Jones, has admitted to taking "the clear", a performance enhancing steriod. I am saddened that we thrilled to see her run so fast, only to now find out that she used these enhancements. Not that we don't use every legal means to improve our performances, but these are endangering and can be life threatening in later life, if not before. Certain wrestlers, and a football player named Lyle, come to mind.

I hope that we can help steer young people, especially those in our coaching charge, in the direction, of making the most of what God has given them, by all natural means.




The three-time Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones cries as she addresses the media during a news conference outside the federal courthouse Friday, Oct. 5, 2007 in White Plains, N.Y. Jones pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs,. She also pleaded guilty to a second count of lying to investigators about her association with a check-fraud scheme. Looking on in the background is her mother Marion Toller. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)