Dr. Jack Daniels, a true legend in the world of running, passed away recently, leaving behind an incredible legacy. He wasn't just a coach; he was an Olympian, author, colleague, and researcher who revolutionized how we understand and approach running training. His contributions, particularly his VDOT formula and the book Daniels' Running Formula, transformed the [...]
https://youtube.com/shorts/PhF0JXMWuns?si=54gNHsxrZgDGPTiR Dr. Jack Daniels likes to refer to racing as "simply an expression of all your hard work." Coaches will often use "the hay is in the barn," at the end of a long training block to let their runners know the work is done and they're ready to race. These are great ways to [...]
VDOT Coach now includes free sample templates by Dr. Jack Daniels. Templates in this folder include run workouts-only for the following distances (mi and km): 5k 10k Half marathon Marathon We aimed to demonstrate the utilization of Templates, but these examples can also be personalized by adding your own touch, e.g. comments/notes, videos, cross-training, rest, [...]
“An absence of direction is usually better than bad direction” - Dr. Jack Daniels Dr. Jack Daniels won two Olympic medals in the modern pentathlon but he always likes to point out that running was by far his worst event of the five. It's the reason he ended up researching exercise physiology and becoming a [...]
By Dr. Jack Daniels I learned about strides (also referred to as striders) from the elite runners who were subjects in my 45-year longitudinal study on elite distance runners, which began in 1968, in preparation for the Mexico City Olympics (and ended in 2013). A Canadian runner I worked with referred to strides as having [...]
By Dr. Jack Daniels Of the many adverse weather conditions runners face, probably the only one that every runner is confronted with at one time or another is wind - and if there's anything that interrupts training or racing more than wind, I have yet to meet it. I consider myself fortunate to have coached [...]
The following are some pre-race warm-ups that you can experiment with to determine which works best for various races and conditions. Try before a few low key race and/or to prepare for Quality Sessions as well. Easy Running Warm-Up Easy running warm-ups are a good idea before very long races, especially when the intensity is [...]
By Dr. Jack Daniels The term "warm-up" is misleading because warming up the muscles is only part of the process. In fact, "prerace preparation" might better describe what a runner goes through during the 30 to 60 minutes before a race starts. Whatever you call it, this is a time to prepare yourself physically and [...]
By Dr. Jack Daniels There is often a discussion relative to the benefits of different types of training, and usually the “types of training” compared are slower/longer training sessions (Quantity) versus shorter/faster training sessions (Quality). However, both slower/longer workouts and shorter/faster workouts can be considered “Quality” relative to the benefits they produce in a runner’s body. [...]
For me, as a coach, the easiest way to detect hypertraining (a setback from overtraining), is by knowing my athletes, each and every one of them. Here's how I look for hypertraining: When a runner is progressing through a season of training, they have scheduled gradual increases in amount and intensity of running typically every [...]