Many have asked if our strength training protocol can be used for distance runners. Rather than hearing from an old, converted throws coach [me], I thought it would be beneficial to hear what the parent of a high school track and cross country runner thinks about Bearpowered strength training and ASRspeed for his son [all bracketed comments are mine]:

"His improvement has been remarkable. It has really been just since last cross country season that he has become consistent and dedicated with your workouts. In cross country he was 25th; competing against basically the same people in last Saturday's [T&F state meet] 3200m he took 4th. Compared to last year's track season, he took off 18 seconds in the 1600m [4.45 to 4.27] and 59 seconds in the 3200m [10:35 to 9:36]. Right after the 3200m race I asked his coach what time he honestly thought at the beginning of the season Thatcher would end up running. He would have predicted Thatcher's potential at 9:50, maybe 9:45 at best. Some of Thatcher's improvement came from additional maturity, his hard work on the track, etc. But your workouts deserve much of the credit."  

The following paragraph should be read carefully by those who feel "form" correction through drills is an important and necessary part of training:

"You may recall that Thatcher has always had a pronounced heel strike. When we met at the Footlocker race in December '06 you told me that the heel strike would go away when he got strong enough (when he is able to generate and deliver sufficient ground support forces--how close am I with the terminology?). You also said that we would really start to see improvements when he got to about 2x body weight with the deadlifts. He approached that level early in the season. I think it was at the second meet of the year when I was watching him run and it hit me...he was no longer heel striking! Just during last cross country season he was still heel striking. I had to videotape the next race and compare it to some old video to make sure. Sure enough, the transformation was huge!"

Thatcher's dad ended with this statement:

"I'm not the only one who has noticed the magnitude of Thatcher's improvement. I had several people come up to me at the meet and ask what Thatcher's secret is...Thatcher's cross country/distance coach, whom you met in California, has since approached me about becoming the strength coach and working with the kids over the summer."

Thatcher has improved his deadlift to more than 2x bodyweight. The Paavolinen study made it clear that 5k runners who utilized weight training improved running economy, causing them to reduce contact times and increased stride length; similar to the improvement Thatcher realized.

You might be asking yourself how I know that part of Thatcher’s reduction in time over distance came from increased stride length and reduced contact ground time if I have not seen any of his races this past year nor did his dad make any mention of it.

I'll save the answer for another post!