My guest on the podcast this week is my friend Randy Ashley, one of the most incredible, unassuming, and relatively unheralded coaches I know. He’s worked with—and continues to work with—athletes of all ages and ability levels, from beginners to Olympic Trials qualifiers, and national champions. He spends most of his time these days as the head track and cross country coach at Christ School, a private boys institution in Asheville, North Carolina, where he’s had 8 kids win 24 state championships along with 4 state team titles in the eight years he’s been at the helm. Just a few weeks ago, one of his athletes, Rocky Hansen, became the 18th American high school boy—and first from North Carolina—to break the 4-minute mile. Beyond his charges’ amazing athletic achievements, Randy teaches them the skills they need to be successful in the rest of their lives as well. His kids aren’t just great racers, they’re top-notch human beings too. In this conversation, Randy and I talk a little about how he got into coaching before discussing all things related to working with high school athletes: keeping it fun, building and maintaining team culture, dealing with the pressures of social media, interacting with parents, generalization versus specialization, how he thinks about training, and a lot more.This episode is brought to you by:— Tracksmith. Tracksmith's new Spring Collection is now available, featuring a colorful refresh of some of my favorite training staples. If you buy anything on Tracksmith.com, and you’re doing so for the first time, use the code MarioNEW to save $15 on your order of $75 or more. If you’re already a Tracksmith customer, use the code MarioGIVE and you can get free shipping on your next order and 5% of your purchase will go to support the Friendly House in Worcester, Massachusetts, an organization that is near and dear to me.— Goodr. Goodr sunglasses are just the best! They don’t bounce, they don’t slip, they’re polarized to protect your eyes, and they come in a nice range of styles and fun colors. They’re also the most affordable performance shades on the planet with most pairs costing only $25 to $35 bucks a piece. If you want to support the morning shakeout and treat yourself to a pair of goodrs, head over to goodr.com/MARIO or enter the code MARIO15 at checkout to get free shipping on your order. Look good, run goodr!Click here for complete show notes, sign up here to get the morning shakeout email newsletter delivered to your inbox every Tuesday, and/or join our growing community on Patreon, where you'll also gain access to exclusive content and other perks that pop up from time to time.Music and editing for this episode of the morning shakeout podcast by John Summerford. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 223 | Randy Ashley on Coaching High School Runners

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