Run Like a Champion: Why Runners Should Do Dynamic Drills By Alan Culpepper—To improve as a runner—regardless of your experience or ability—sticking to a sensible training program that takes into account your current level of fitness and previous running history is key.To accomplish that, you have to be honest with yourself and make a commitment to eliminating some of your barriers to success. Here's how: Alan Culpepper January 29, 2020 There is a general misconception that the need for speed is reserved for shorter distance races such as 5K and 10K, but never for a half- or full marathon. Alan Culpepper might be the least publicized favorite to win the Olympic Trials marathon in recent history. In 1996 Culpepper was the NCAA 5K National Champion. He is a two-time Olympian—in the 10-K and marathon—and had two top-five finishes at the Boston Marathon. Get Fast First, Maintaining Your Speed During Marathon Training. Alan Culpepper’s Run Like a Champion Cooldown Routine After these moderate or harder workouts, Culpepper says that runners must perform a cooldown because skipping the cooldown sets runners up for an injury. Here is an index of individual drill and stretching videos: Introduction to Run Like a Champion Drills and Stretches with Alan Culpepper, Warm-Up Run Like a Champion Stretch: Hamstring Stretch In the Run Like a Champion Drills and Stretches video series on YouTube, Culpepper makes the case for adding warm-ups, drills, stretches, and cooldowns to your workout routine. Run Like a Champion Stretch: Sitting IT Band Stretch, Cooldown "I definitely like coming in the stealth mode," he says. In Run Like a Champion, one of America’s most versatile and accomplished runners, Alan Culpepper, reveals the best practices of the best runners.Among the many practices Culpepper covers in his book are warm-up drills and light stretches as well as cooldown stretches, all found in Chapter 8: Injury Prevention, Maintenance & Recovery. His impressive win at the Trials, coupled with wife Shayne’s bronze medal in the World Indoor 3,000m, has made the couple the First Family of American distance running. First and foremost, speed work is not all-out sprinting. Many of you are in the midst of preparing for a half or full marathon this fall. First, let me say that the phase “speed work” gets thrown around quite a bit and most people have a false understanding of what this should really look like. Local running guru Alan Culpepper, who finished second in the 2002 race and owns Solepepper Sports in Louisville, says there is plenty of time for those who haven’t started training … **** — Butt Kicks "There are definitely different facets, from the naturalistic approach of the Kenyans to the scientific," he says. It’s that same blend of intellect and instinct that led him to the forefront of American distance running, and may finally push him into the limelight, and possibly, the medal stand. Training Speed is not to be underestimated, even for marathoners. This Group Dedicates Its Miles to Breonna Taylor, 13 Essential Pieces of Cold-Weather Running Gear, How This California Woman Ran Off 120 Pounds, Allyson Felix on 100 Most Influential People List, Skimping on Shuteye? Alan Culpepper has accomplished what many of us mere mortal runners would love to do: he has run very fast at a variety of distances for a very long period of time. Run Like a Champion Drill: Hamstring Extensions — 4 sets of 90 second–60 second–30 second repeats with 1:00 recovery between each repeat and 3:00 recovery between sets [start at 5K effort and get progressively quicker with each set]. "I’d pretty much accomplished everything in high school," he explains. Runner's World participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Five Haitian runners have come to Boulder to train for the New York Marathon with Alan Culpepper.