I coach a decent small school group of sprinter/jumper/hurdle combo athletes and our season here in Western Oregon starts in about 3 weeks.
We’re on the fringe of breaking school records in the 4x400 plus other long sprints and hurdles. So I really want to optimize their hydration and nutrition on meet days especially in between races. We got 4 guys who do both relays and also do a combo of the open 1,2 or 4, 300h, and long or triple. our meets usually go 3:30-7pm theyll have anywhere from 30-50 minutes between races.
I was hoping to gather tips on what has worked well(ie- liquids, foods, supplements, therapy, etc) for other coaches who have gone through something similar or have to manage athletes through multiple rounds or events in 1-2 days of competition. Also what are some of your main priorities/goals in guiding athletes towards a more consistent performance driven lifestyle off the track and during the week? I want to create change without information overload. If yall could point me to any other resources or threads where there has been discussed i would really appreciate it
Have you heard of the Chinese Proverb “The best day to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the next best day is now”?
If you want change without information overload this might give you some insight.
If you want to optimize nutrition and hydration on competition day the habits must long be entrenched into their daily training schedules. High school aged kids are both highly impressionable yet they are still living at home. I am assuming you are coaching high school but you don’t really specify.
The best you will be able to do is supply information, lead by example and find creative ways to supply information routinely. It’s not any different that what you are likely already doing as a coach only now you need to add into the sessions information that is outside of exercising.
One way might be to introduce recipes for meals or foods that are nutrition power house meals.
Another way might be to organize a water supply at practice the same way some teams do this. When my son first started playing soccer they had parents rotate bringing snacks. The kids were very young but you get the idea. Money might be an issue.
It would not be a bad idea to get a small amount of spare change going in the group and as a coach you might pick up carrots or celery or apples and raw almonds to consume upon finishing practice. You could do some low key fundraiser and maybe get their parents to help.
Maybe others have some ideas on execution. My background comes from the land of do it yourself if you need it to happen successfully. I would not recommend that as a first stop as teaching athletes to innovate, look after themselves or at least try is both a short and longer term goal worthy of teaching.
I guess the philosophy of doing all things yourself as a coach vs give a person a fish and they eat for a day vs teach them to fish and they eat for the rest of their life is what I am attempting to summarize. If and when people want something enough it’s incredible how resourceful they become.
It sounds like an exciting time for you as a coach and exciting also for your athletes. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
1: Educate at the start of each season and always touch on it daily.
2: Instead of worrying about meet days - let’s focus on daily habits.
3: Many schools in the “south” use part of their booster club funding for post workout drinks. I would highly recommend using some of your booster club funds and provide post workout drinks after each workout…