Category Archives: Coaching

Man with a Plan

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Jon Waldron

Among the final, and not unpleasant, tasks of the spring track season was having a handful of one-on-one meetings with kids who wanted a plan for running over the summer to prepare them for cross country in the fall. Before … Continue reading →

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Sixto de Mayo

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Jon Waldron

“…Hang yourself, you will regret it; do not hang yourself, and you will regret that too; hang yourself or don’t hang yourself, you’ll regret it either way; whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret both. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Animal Keepers

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Jon Waldron

In the spring of 1985, Donn Behnke was a social studies teacher at Stevens Point Area High School in Wisconsin, and already a very successful Track and Cross Country Coach at the high school level. In nine years of coaching, … Continue reading →

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True Calling

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Jon Waldron

The fall season’s over, and winter sports have begun. The die-hard runners still gather after school to run together, but the numbers are modest compared to the official practices that took place every day for almost three months. In a … Continue reading →

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‘This Beautiful Sport’

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Jon Waldron

My running friends will be happy to know that I no longer have any excuse to skip mid-week track workouts, tempo runs, and hill repeats. Saturday was the last meet for the Concord Academy team, and so, as of this … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, cross country, High School Runners | 2 Comments

Youth and Its Discontents

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Jon Waldron

Were we tougher back then? Maybe. It’s the first Tuesday in November and the last workout before the league championships. Today’s workout is a “T” run — team, tempo, and togetherness — and most of the team has, indeed, made … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, cross country, High School Runners, Weather and Seasons | Tagged | 4 Comments

Marking the Course: A Fable

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Jon Waldron

Once upon a time, there was a young and successful cross country coach. She was intelligent and energetic. She devised training plans that challenged and developed her athletes. She was up on the latest trends in using strength workouts to … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, cross country, High School Runners | 2 Comments

Contrafactual

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Jon Waldron

In an alternate universe, I ran in college.

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Back to School – 2015

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Jon Waldron

You’re back on campus, and you’re trying to remember your class schedule. You rush into a classroom, but it’s the wrong class or the wrong time… and although you were vaguely aware of it before, you’re suddenly hit with the … Continue reading →

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Always Run Through the Line

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Jon Waldron

  With all that’s happened at the World Championships in the last two days, writing about the women’s 10,000 is like writing about ancient history. It was so long ago — do you remember? It was the race when three … Continue reading →

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