In college, Dan Durante was my coach. Dan was a fine sprinter in his youth (and as a master). Dan was also an engineer. To describe Dan, I would like to borrow a line from Kenny Moore, who, in describing Ron Hill (one of GB’s finest marathoners, and author of Long Hard Road), noted that Mr. Hill “was possessed by the scientific method.” That aptly describes my coach.
We had these Tuesday workouts, in off season and in cross country, where we ran 20 repeat hills, about five miles, and we would get sore. Dan began washing our legs down with this terribly cold water from a hose. The next day, our legs would be fully recovered. Long runs werer 18-22 miles through the Santa Cruz mountains, where we might catch upon Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple), on his Vespa, chatting along side us on the deserted Santa Cruz roads.
Galen Rupp, 2020 Olympic Trials Champion, photo by Kirby Lee
These memories inspire me to this day, as did Dan Durante. He taught us to use our minds and spirit. Coaches are educators, cheerleaders, confessors, and role models. I was lucky. My coaches were all role models, and I go back to their memories for wise counsel.
Sunday, March 8, 2020: Long runs, 75-80 minutes.
2020 RunBlogRun Spring Track & Field Training program, Week 10, Day 6
Monday: Hilly run, 50 minutes, include 10 uphill runs of 2 minutes each, cooldown
Tuesday: Easy 50 minutes, 6 x 150 m strideouts
Wednesday: 30 min warmup run, 16 x 200m, Mile pace, 100m jog between each, 2 x 400m, 200m jog between each, 20 minute cooldown
Thursday: Easy 50 minutes, 6 x 150m strideouts
Friday: Fartlek, 50 minutes, 8 x 3 minutes at 2k pace, 3 minutes easy, 1 x 1 minute, 1k pace, 1 minute easy,1 minute easy, gentle cool down
Saturday: Easy 50 minutes, 6 x 150 m strideouts
Sunday: Long runs, 75-80 minutes.
