Friday Ramble 11/05/21

Links for a tough week

Have you ever had one of those weeks? I’d go into detail about all the things that have gone awry during the past 4-5 days but at some point it would start to sound comical. A brief (and by no means complete) timeline. 

• My son got a cold and had to stay home from school, and then I got sick and have spent the last few days feeling like I was run over by a truck. Both of these were non-COVID related illnesses, thankfully.  

• Speaking of trucks, a construction vehicle somehow managed to take down our cable and internet lines, which stayed down for 48 hours and required numerous phone calls to our provider until a guy just randomly showed up and fixed it in 10 minutes. 

• Also, my beloved 2005 Subaru Forester suddenly sounds like a drag-racing funny car and emits a stench somewhere between: oh-my-god-it’s-on-fire, and whatever is found in the darkest depths of Mordor. 

• Plus, I have freelance deadlines piling up on account of being sick and not having any internet. 

So! We’re trying something a little different for today’s Ramble. As fate would have it, there have been numerous running pieces that have come out during this period that are worth your time. I’ll link to a few of them here. 

Ken Goe of the Oregonian wrote a disturbing story about training practices at the University of Oregon under coach Robert Johnson where six female athletes have left the program amid allegations of “body shaming.” I put that phrase in quotes because it’s become a catch-all in running circles to describe numerous patterns of destructive behavior. 

As Goe writes: 

The issues of weight-shaming, body image and body fat percentage testing have become more common in recent years. Longtime Washington track coach Greg Metcalf lost his job in 2018 after accusations of body-shaming and verbally abusive treatment of female athletes. Former Nike Oregon Project star Mary Cain and other women who competed for the NOP have made similar accusations about former coach Alberto Salazar. 

The anecdotes shared by the runners are tough to read. At the core of the complaint is Johnson’s reliance on a data-driven approach that they say stigmatizes their bodies and has led to eating disorders and mental health issues. 

Goe again:

Under Johnson the Ducks increasingly have embraced expensive and advanced technological tools such as blood tests, hydration tests and DEXA scans. A DEXA scan is a medical imaging test that uses X-rays to precisely measure bone density and body fat percentage.

DEXA scans, in particular, have become a flashpoint for some athletes, who say the precise body fat percentage measurements can trigger unhealthy behaviors.

Johnson contends his scientific approach largely removes human bias from judgments about athletes and allows the UO coaching staff to design workouts precisely tailored to each athlete’s needs.

“Track is nothing but numbers,” he says. “A good mathematician probably could be a good track coach.”

If we were measuring coaching strictly on achievements, Johnson would be one of the very best in the business. Since taking over at Oregon in 2012, he’s won 14 national championships in track and cross country. And since Oregon is the preeminent track program in the country, what happens there tends to have an outsized influence on the rest of the sport. 

In response, David Roche wrote a strong rebuttal to Johnson’s approach for Trail Runner magazine. 

There is absolutely no place in this sport for program-wide bodyweight and bodyfat monitoring that dictates subsequent interventions to hit arbitrarily low numbers. For performance, it’s questionable at best and disastrous at worst. And for health, it’s dangerous for everyone.

As Roche writes, the link between specific training adaptations and performance outcomes is not a given. One of the ongoing themes with this newsletter is that even with all of the metrics and cutting-edge science we have at our disposal, running is still an art that is not easily quantified. 

Roche again: 

Athletic performance is not a math equation, and athletes are not calculus proofs with a pesky brain. Mental health can’t be summarized in an Excel sheet, and any workbook that isn’t charted out over multiple years is woefully incomplete. Athletes are humans, and coaches have a responsibility to support the full human, on and off the track. 

Many miles away, in the Kenyan town of Kaptagat, Cathal Denney visited Eliud Kipchoge at his training camp. Kipchoge is a fascinating man, but what stood out to me about the piece is the juxtaposition of coaching philosophies between Johnson and Kipchoge’s coach, Patrick Sang. 

As Denney writes:

Sang has a husky voice that makes him sound like a village elder, and the advice he dispenses is just as wise. His athletes don’t wear heart rate monitors or measure blood lactate, as so many do in Europe, but he instills the need to gauge effort via their internal monitor — challenging yet controlled.

During workouts, Sang doesn’t talk much but he’s constantly watching, absorbing, and he’ll tweak each athlete’s programme based on what he sees. His coaching principles don’t change, but the specifics vary by athlete.

“Different people use energy systems differently so if you don’t understand them and train them equally, you’re training one incorrectly,” he says. “It starts with understanding them.”

To me, this seems like a basic and unassailable truth that all runners should consider whenever they embark on a training program, whether it’s with a coach or self-directed. We’re all unique individuals. Honor yourselves. Listen to your bodies. 

Yes, there are universal training guidelines that can help runners at all levels meet their goals. But there is no one way to get there, and performance should never come at the expense of physical and mental health. 

Have a great weekend everyone. Be kind to yourselves and each other.