Busy, busy, busy! Working on my MBA is about as stressful as I can recall! The hardest task is working on team projects. Since the program is online, rather than in-person, the amount of work is about triple of being in-person (note, I know because I've been a graduate student twice before; I have 117 graduate hours complete already, and the last 87 have all be "A's." So, I think that my experience on the matters confirms that online education is a lot more demanding. It is logical, however, that more work is assigned, because students aren't directly in front of the teacher, but I think online programs go overboard. We actually interact with our professor about 5-6 days a week. I interact every day with my peers, as we answer discussion questions, evaluate other student's comments, work on team projects, and so on).
Working on teams, when we are unable to sit in one room and hash-out our means of tackling assigned problems is very difficult. As usual, I've taken the lead on the project (I tend to do that because I want an "A" grade, and if I leave it up to others I risk not having a final product that's of high quality; it happened to me once in this program, and I vowed it would never happen again.). Yet, I am fortunate this time around; the people in my group are professionals. All managers at their organizations, older and full of insight, self-disciplined, and they take direction well.
The key to leading in groups is two-fold, I think. The first is using a "gentle" demeanor; nobody likes a pushy leader! Second, organization and planning. They go hand-in-hand. When I lead, I quickly organize our team, get input on ideas, quickly, and set a course for the team. I assign tasks, tell people to not worry about perfection, but get some work achieved in their area and share it with the team by a deadline, and then we adjust, work again on the project, and so forth. I believe in adjustments and revisions.
Lesson: You have to avoid trying to get the job done well in one fell-swoop! Go through cycle of organizing, planning, delegating/assigning, working on segments, and evaluating multiple times. It's like learning a sport skill. How on earth can any person learn a skill in one try? Repetition, spacing, adjusting as you learn more, and upping the challenge improves performance.
Have a great day!
Tom
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Details of Running
Hi Runners & Coaches!
If you need running advice, stop by here and check out my posts and articles. Also, you can find me at www.therunzone.com almost every day.
If you don't know me, I've been coaching 22 years (since 1989). I've coached collegiate runners, post-collegiate runners, masters runners, and I've been a coach's coach, too - meaning I have been an adviser or I've written training plans for coaches who have university or high school coaching jobs. I'm sort of a mentor if you will, to those who are looking to advance their skills of coaching runners. I also coach cyclist, triathletes, and cross-country skiers.
Today's Topic: The Details of Running
Several emails from runners in the last 3-4 days have been about illness runners have caught from their families. Joey came home with a bad cold from school and was coughing. My wife got a cold, and then I got a cold. What to do now?
First, I am not a doctor, so if I suggest what I use it's not meant as medical advice. If I get a cold, I take Elderberry tablets, and I take Umcka, which is an over-the-counter medicine that I get at the health food store or at a grocery store that sells healthy foods. Actually, I take Elderberry regularly, and in the last 2-years I've had only one cold, which was quickly cleared up by Umcka. I started consuming Elderberry when I heard a respiratory specialist being interviewed on TV in Portland, Oregon. She said Elderberry is a natural way to prevent allergies, which I used to have very badly about 3 times a year. So, in two years I've had no allergies and 1 cold that went away quickly. This is a miracle for me, as I have suffered a lot over the years!
Second, sleep! If you don't get enough sleep, regularly, it's likely you'll catch a cold from someone close to you. Sleeping more equals getting sick less!
Third, vitamins! All the nutritionist like to believe that all we have to do is eat 5+ servings of vegetables and the same amount of fruit servings per day, and all will be fine. Sorry, but most of us just don't have the time or energy to fix healthy meals regularly. Right now I am working on a MBA degree, working half-time, coaching 24 runners, applying for full-time jobs (anyone who has been filling out job application for professional positions will tell you it takes a long time just to fill out one application), answering questions from runners and coaches at www.therunzone.com and I have a family. My wife is busy too, so we are burning the candle at both ends all the time. We fix about 5 good meals a week. Otherwise, we eat leftovers, sandwiches, cereal, and so forth. Ever since I started taking really good, high-quality vitamins, I've been sick less and I feel better. My favorite vitamins are Hammer Nutrition's Premium Insurance. I'm always willing to try other good products, though. To me, it's worth the money.
Fourth, stretch! Yeah, I know research shows the people get injured stretching, and it's happened to me, as a serious runners for 26 years. But, if you stretch within yourself - meaning you don't go crazy and push your muscles to stretch in a state of pain, then you can loosen up muscles and make their capacity to perform improve. I'm not saying it's a big difference - but that's not the point of today's blog-post. It makes a small but noticeable difference, especially as the days and weeks of stretching are stringed together.
Fifth, strength! I'm not talking about bulking up. I'm talking about doing strength exercises that make you a stronger runner, not a stronger weight lifter or body builder. Lunges, heel raises, planks, and arm-swings. If you don't know what those are, read on! You can do arms swing with surgical tubing or with hand weights, which are technically called dumbbells. All you do is move your arms in a natural running motion, back and forth (forward and backward), as you would while running. But, because you have resistance from surgical tubing or from dumbbells, you stress your muscles in your shoulders.
In 2-3 weeks you'll notice that your shoulders feel stronger while you run. This may be particularly beneficial for people who have weak shoulders. By the way, heel raises are ideal for developing strength of your lower leg. Stand on the edge of a stair step and raise your body upward so that you are standing on the balls of your feet, which are just below your toes. Your heels will be several inches off the ground. Lunges, well those are step forward and down and back or in reverse. You can also perform side-lunges for strength of your adductors and abductors of your hips. Stable and strong hips are important for running fast!
Okay, that's it for today. I have MBA school work to complete.
I'll try to write posts at least 2-3 times per week, and help out fellow runners and coaches. Again, take a look at www.therunzone.com. Many runners join me every day there for conversation.
In the future, I'll post some training paces charts this blog: The Runner's Coach.
Take care,
Tom Schwartz
(runfastcoach@gmail.com)
Inquire for more information about personalized coaching.
If you need running advice, stop by here and check out my posts and articles. Also, you can find me at www.therunzone.com almost every day.
If you don't know me, I've been coaching 22 years (since 1989). I've coached collegiate runners, post-collegiate runners, masters runners, and I've been a coach's coach, too - meaning I have been an adviser or I've written training plans for coaches who have university or high school coaching jobs. I'm sort of a mentor if you will, to those who are looking to advance their skills of coaching runners. I also coach cyclist, triathletes, and cross-country skiers.
Today's Topic: The Details of Running
Several emails from runners in the last 3-4 days have been about illness runners have caught from their families. Joey came home with a bad cold from school and was coughing. My wife got a cold, and then I got a cold. What to do now?
First, I am not a doctor, so if I suggest what I use it's not meant as medical advice. If I get a cold, I take Elderberry tablets, and I take Umcka, which is an over-the-counter medicine that I get at the health food store or at a grocery store that sells healthy foods. Actually, I take Elderberry regularly, and in the last 2-years I've had only one cold, which was quickly cleared up by Umcka. I started consuming Elderberry when I heard a respiratory specialist being interviewed on TV in Portland, Oregon. She said Elderberry is a natural way to prevent allergies, which I used to have very badly about 3 times a year. So, in two years I've had no allergies and 1 cold that went away quickly. This is a miracle for me, as I have suffered a lot over the years!
Second, sleep! If you don't get enough sleep, regularly, it's likely you'll catch a cold from someone close to you. Sleeping more equals getting sick less!
Third, vitamins! All the nutritionist like to believe that all we have to do is eat 5+ servings of vegetables and the same amount of fruit servings per day, and all will be fine. Sorry, but most of us just don't have the time or energy to fix healthy meals regularly. Right now I am working on a MBA degree, working half-time, coaching 24 runners, applying for full-time jobs (anyone who has been filling out job application for professional positions will tell you it takes a long time just to fill out one application), answering questions from runners and coaches at www.therunzone.com and I have a family. My wife is busy too, so we are burning the candle at both ends all the time. We fix about 5 good meals a week. Otherwise, we eat leftovers, sandwiches, cereal, and so forth. Ever since I started taking really good, high-quality vitamins, I've been sick less and I feel better. My favorite vitamins are Hammer Nutrition's Premium Insurance. I'm always willing to try other good products, though. To me, it's worth the money.
Fourth, stretch! Yeah, I know research shows the people get injured stretching, and it's happened to me, as a serious runners for 26 years. But, if you stretch within yourself - meaning you don't go crazy and push your muscles to stretch in a state of pain, then you can loosen up muscles and make their capacity to perform improve. I'm not saying it's a big difference - but that's not the point of today's blog-post. It makes a small but noticeable difference, especially as the days and weeks of stretching are stringed together.
Fifth, strength! I'm not talking about bulking up. I'm talking about doing strength exercises that make you a stronger runner, not a stronger weight lifter or body builder. Lunges, heel raises, planks, and arm-swings. If you don't know what those are, read on! You can do arms swing with surgical tubing or with hand weights, which are technically called dumbbells. All you do is move your arms in a natural running motion, back and forth (forward and backward), as you would while running. But, because you have resistance from surgical tubing or from dumbbells, you stress your muscles in your shoulders.
In 2-3 weeks you'll notice that your shoulders feel stronger while you run. This may be particularly beneficial for people who have weak shoulders. By the way, heel raises are ideal for developing strength of your lower leg. Stand on the edge of a stair step and raise your body upward so that you are standing on the balls of your feet, which are just below your toes. Your heels will be several inches off the ground. Lunges, well those are step forward and down and back or in reverse. You can also perform side-lunges for strength of your adductors and abductors of your hips. Stable and strong hips are important for running fast!
Okay, that's it for today. I have MBA school work to complete.
I'll try to write posts at least 2-3 times per week, and help out fellow runners and coaches. Again, take a look at www.therunzone.com. Many runners join me every day there for conversation.
In the future, I'll post some training paces charts this blog: The Runner's Coach.
Take care,
Tom Schwartz
(runfastcoach@gmail.com)
Inquire for more information about personalized coaching.
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