Awaiting The Baton In The Relay Exchange Zone - Profiles Of Athletes, Coaches & Legends During The War Against Corona, Profile # 16, Elite adidas Coach, Terrence Mahon

Awaiting The Baton In The Relay Exchange Zone - Profiles Of Athletes, Coaches & Legends During The War Against Corona

Profile # 16

Elite ADIDAS Coach Terrence Mahon

By Jeff Benjamin

How is your daily training/coaching regimen going and how challenging has it been for you in this environment?

"All things considered, training has been going well for our athletes at Golden Coast Track Club. Since we heard the news about the Olympics and the Olympic Trials being postponed we took some time to step back and process what our next steps should be. The first step is to protect everyone's health and the health of their loved ones. This meant we stopped with our organized practices and took things way back in regard to training intensity. The next step was to look at the calendar and rework what our training and racing seasons are going to look like. We are planning for the possibility that our runners will be able to compete, but most likely not until the end of the summer. In working backwards from the races that now puts us in a base training phase for the next 4-6 weeks and we will then follow that up with our normal training progressions to get ready to compete. If information changes along the way to push the season sooner or further away then we have the flexibility to make those adjustments quickly and not feel like we are missing out on anything. It is all about being adaptable to the situation."

What advice can you give to runners, especially youth, HS, and collegiate athletes who are challenged during this time?

"As a long time coach what I have seen that matters most in determining the success and longevity of a runner's career is their flexibility and resiliency. Being flexible means that they don't get stuck in any one way of thinking, one way of training or one way of racing. Great athletes continue to learn and grow from each race they run, each training block the put in regardless of the outcome. Along with being flexible they are also highly resilient. They handle the difficult situations the best because they have come to understand what is in their control and what is out of their control. Anything that is out of their control is not something to stress over or worry about needlessly. It is what it is. Dealing with all that has come from Covid 19 is definitely a lesson in how to best handle a difficult situation. We must sort through all the information and understand what is important to pay attention to right now and then what will be important at a later time. Now is not the time to be worry about racing or missing out on hard training. There will be plenty of time for that for everyone soon enough.

Although training during this time is challenging, it is definitely not impossible. We have all seen on the various media outlets many creative ways in which athletes are getting in their running and their strength training. You can do it in very small spaces if you work with what is in front of you. It doesn't take much in the way of extra equipment or fancy devices. If you really want to get in a workout you will find a way to get it done with a little imagination and a lot of determination".