Movie Reviews

Middle and Long Distances

This 43 minute instructional tape from 1999 is one of four tapes in the Gold Medal Track & Field Series. The other three tapes in this series include: Sprints, Hurdles, and Relays with James Williams from Humbolt State University, Jumps with Charles Craig from Cal State-Bakersfield, and Throws with Randy Heisler from Indiana University. The producer and writer is Kam Miller, direction by Doug Fink, and brief stock footage of elite athletes competing is provided by Action Sports Adventure. The cover art is a photo from the 1996 Atlanta women's 5000 meter race featuring Elena Fidotov of Romania (wearing yellow) who finished seventh in this race (15.16,71) and Amy Rudolph, representing the United States, who finished tenth (15.19,77). There is no video action of this race present in the video. The host and content consultant for Middle and Long Distances is coach Mike Poehlein. Poehlein is in his thirtieth year as head coach of the Men's Cross County team at Purdue University. He is a national Olympic Development Program coach, and Level III Instructor, for the 800 and 1500 meter events and has served as coach for the 1990 Goodwill Games, 1994 Pan-African Games, and 1997 Pan-American Games. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1985 for cross country and again in 2001 for the indoor season in Track and Field. Poehlein's expertise is shown as he narrates the techniques as the Purdue Collegiate athletes demonstrate the described content. Although women are featured on the cover of this video, men are primarily seen demonstrating the running techniques. Much of the running is in slow motion, the transitions from different sections use music and graphics, and the main points are written on the screen to emphasize the concepts. After some introductory content this film jumps right into the examination of running form. Next, two drills are introduced prior to showing the three phases of the training season: conditioning, pre-competition, and competition. Five minutes are dedicated to training methods that include the following: steady pace training, fartlek, anaerobic threshold training, repetition, intervals, and pace-surge. The concept of "stress then rest" is discussed. The next 18 minutes outlines each of the three stages applied specifically to the 800 and 1500 meter events. Numerous conditioning drills are described and shown including plyometrics and specialty strength exercises. Training both under and over distance as well as hill work is illustrated in the pre-conditioning phase. The competition phase shows speed methods, tactics and strategies for racing. The last eight minutes of this production covers some variations of the mentioned material with specific emphasis on the 3,000 meter to 10,000 meter track events. If you are wanting to focus your training attention to the middle or long distances than this tape will have something to offer to you as you head into your season.

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