This is the 13th in a series of RunSmart videos. The series is on-going, with a new video released on a biweekly basis. These videos complement the material presented in the book “RunSmart: A Comprehensive Approach To Injury-Free Running”. The full series of videos can be found here. A compilation of the first 10 videos will be available on Vimeo as well.

For those of you that are interested in a more interactive learning environment, consider attending a Level One (half day), Level Two (one day), or Level Three (two day) RunSmart program. The Level One program is 4 hours and focuses on basic training principles and running mechanics. The Level Two program is 8.5 hours and focuses on injury prevention and performance optimization. The Level Three program is a two day, 15 hour program that includes a comprehensive approach to running injuries. The next Level One program will be offered in Austin on June 3, 2012. The next Level Three program will be offered in Reno, Nevada on May 5 – 6, 2012 at the University of Nevada.

In this video, I discuss the issue of training principles and how they are consistent regardless of the race distance. Many coaches and athletes continue to focus on the variation of energy systems with race distance. However, the training principles that are underlying the plan should remain consistent across all race distances.

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It’s been many years since I have been to the Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL). I think the last time I set foot on Zilker Park for ACL was to see Al Green in 2003. In the same breath, it has been even more years since I have gone to the South By Southwest Music Festival (SXSW). I think that would take me back to the Tragically Hip at the Liberty Lunch back in 1995 (3/18/95 to be exact). I can say that I remember the days when Austin was a cool, funky music place that nobody really knew about. I remember the times when you could go to SXSW with a $25 wristband and take in 15 unsigned bands over 2 or 3 nights and be totally stoked about each of them. It was all about the vibe, the raw edge, the soul.

For fear of sounding like some old curmudgeon, it has become easy to make note of the obvious commercialization with both SXSW and ACL. Living in Austin, being a part of the music scene here, has always been a great thing. But when you buy a wristband and have virtually no access to much of anything – without tremendous lines and huge numbers of people – it loses its edge, especially when most bands have passed through here before and have played smaller venues in the process. Nowadays, ACL jams Zilker Park with 60,000 of your closest friends. The times, Dylan once said, are a’changin’.

In the midst of all this, it was easy to lose sight of that which drives it all – the music itself. That was until ACL this past October 2010. I was provided with an opportunity to return to the vibe, to the purity of the music, to the beauty of sharing it, and experiencing it. It took me back to a time of great discovery and exploration.

And you know what? It really is about the music.

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The recovery run is a pretty common training session in a runner’s arsenal. It will almost certainly be found in the majority of training programs and approaches to training.

The concept underlying the recovery run – active recovery – starts out with some good sport science to support it. The theory underlying active recovery is simple - recovery post-workout can be facilitated if the athlete continues to perform lower intensity activity during their cool-down process.

This assumes that the active recovery is done immediately after the completion of the main training session.

What it has become in today’s training regimes is far from the original intent of the activity.

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The challenge has been laid down in front of him. If Mack Brown is truly the coach that everyone claims that he is – if he is really more than just a CEO figure in a multi-million dollar corporation – now is the time to confirm it.

Within days of Greg Davis “resigning” from the Longhorns, defensive coordinator – and “head coach in waiting” – Will Muschamp headed on to greener pastures. The SEC now welcomes Will as the next head coach at the University of Florida. I suspect a lot of 2011 opponents may be salivating right now.

Muschamp was at the University of Texas for three seasons. Total defense numbers looked great in years one and two. Last season, the Longhorns were 3rd in the nation in total defense. But this year took a tremendous nosedive. The pre-season talk was of “the best defense in the Mack Brown era”, with plenty of talented athletes, especially in the secondary. But as they say, talk is cheap. At home, the Longhorns could only muster #56 in the country (#3 in 2009) – never the best place to play your worst. The defensive secondary was consistently burned for big play after big play. The blitzing defense of years past became a rather pedestrian unit this year that really wasn’t that good at much of anything. Scratch that – they were very consistent at giving up at least one big pass play and one big run play per game – at the minimum. And they made a lot of mediocre offenses look pretty darn good. Can you say “UCLA”?

Muschamp used the role of “coach-in-waiting” to leverage his salary to double what he would have normally made, putting him at $900,000. This was with no guarantee of him ever sticking around to take the head coaching position. I am sure there was a pretty significant dose of “good faith bargaining” involved. But the bottom line right now is that the “coach-in-waiting” concept was a total failure, and an expensive one at that.

However, I would suggest that perhaps the loss of both Muschamp and Davis may in fact be a blessing in disguise.

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