“You might not be competing against top runners from East Africa anytime soon, but you can, and should, work on your mental game. Remain relentlessly positive and focus on the things you can control in training and racing rather than be rattled by the things you can’t. And last but certainly not least, have confidence in yourself and your abilities when you step on the starting line. Without that key component, none of the other stuff really matters all that much.”
Yes, like Usain Bolt. While sprinting isn’t going to compromise a majority of a distance runner’s training, it’s worth paying some attention to every week.
* Land lightly. Avoid crashing your heel into the ground with each stride and instead “think light” and try to strike more toward your midfoot. The lighter you land with your feet underneath your center of gravity..
Though the years, members of the Project — as in any training group — have come and gone, but at any given time there has always been a group of highly motivated, extremely talented athletes working together every day in the pursuit of one common goal: improvement.
Let’s face it: we live in a results-driven world where many people subscribe to the philosophy that something needs to get done as soon as possible or else it’s not worth doing. Running, unfortunately, is no different.
“Do I give Mo 150 miles a week outside and have him face a tremendous risk? If he gets injured, he is done,” Salazar says. “We are shooting for extra miles in a safe way that will get the exact same benefits.”
