23/06/2025
“Coach, why am I always dealing with something? A sore ankle, tight calves, my back acting up. I train smart… or at least I try to.”
Coach Davis didn’t respond right away. He looked at Maya, one of his most promising athletes, and pointed to the grass beside the track.
“Sit.”
Maya sat, confused.
Coach crouched down beside her. “Tell me about your training week.”
Maya began listing off her runs intervals on Tuesday, tempo on Thursday, long run Sunday. “And I rest on Mondays and Fridays,” she added proudly.
“Sounds solid,” Coach nodded. “Now, what do you do outside of running?”
Maya shrugged. “You know… work, sleep, Netflix.”
“No strength work? No mobility drills? No foam rolling? Stability exercises?”
She hesitated. “Sometimes… when something starts hurting.”
Coach sighed. “That’s like fixing the roof after it starts raining.”
He picked up a stick from the ground and snapped it. “Running puts a lot of force through your body seven, eight times your bodyweight every step. If your body isn’t ready to handle that, it breaks. Not all at once. Bit by bit. A tight hip here, a weak glute there. Compensations build up, and then boom… injury.”
“But I stretch!” she protested.
“Stretching isn’t enough,” Coach said. “It’s about building resilience. Strong core. Mobile joints. Stable ankles. If you neglect the foundation, the structure collapses.”
Maya was quiet for a moment.
“So… the best runners?”
“They train to run and train to support their running. Strength, mobility, nutrition, sleep. It’s all part of the program. Running isn’t just about moving forward. It’s about building a body that can handle moving forward. Again, and again, and again.”
Maya nodded slowly. “Alright. Where do I start?”
Coach smiled. “Tomorrow. Gym. I’ll show you how to train like a runner who wants to stay running.”
