Sebastien Locteau

I remember asking two decades ago in an international sport conference, if coaches should train women differently than men? I was laughed at, now I am laughing as recent research proved it. Portumna Forest Marathon 2017 (Credit S.Locteau) I do believe in a difference of coaching them, and do think it is highly neglected and you can see it as an example in gear made for women or sports equipment. I left the coaching of Track after the 2004 Games, simply because I felt that my skills were not good enough at the level I was coaching at. Along the way it seems that I succeed better in sports I felt I was not predisposed to coach than the one I really wanted to excel. My interest in track, running was first an enjoyment and a way to help other athletes and became a recurring job taking over my nursing career. Track training is very similar to swimming training in a pool. Of course the biomechanics and techniques are different but the core and hips motions is a very important...

Marathon has always been, for some, the ultimate achievement. There is a mythical aspect behind it. Forest Marathon 2017 by S.Locteau I receive many requests for a simple training plan, so I have published the one I give to athlete since last year. There are many plans out there on the web, people copy and replicate and most of the plans you can find are really well written. I have run about 25 marathons so far with times between 2h51 to 5h21 depending on the conditions or if it was at the end of an Ironman triathlon, but even as a coach I always listen to people’s comments about what I should do. They are not always right but I always learn new things from them, and I do appreciate that they are taking time to talk about their own experience. I do believe that sports is all about your own experience of it, like life is, we take what suit us and leave what does not, because we are all different. I usually don’t make generic plans, simply because I love tweaking things for...

"If you always train the same expect the same" My and daughters hand in perception talk in Canada In this article I will try to bring some new concept to review your training, I could do training plans or tell you exactly what to do, but with the internet I am sure you can find that information already. So let’s try something a wee bit different. It always amazed me how athletes have psychological barriers in sports. The sub 40 min 10km is one of them. Similar to the sub 4-min mile barrier in the 50 and 60's, they are the ones of those times in training that seems impossible to break, but once broken is easy to accomplish time and time again. I call them “perception time and distances issues” which in terms of goal training for a 40 min 10km a can be frustrating. Time, Distance, Skills, Physiology and Training. "Distance" When I explain this perception distance to my athletes as a self belief and educational problem I give them the ...

Mother Nature talked to me at the weekend! I went to Wicklow on the 12th of April 08, with my Friends Enda, Mark, Martin and Aoife. I went to Wicklow in the past and did some cycling and running around the mountains. I went there with the thought of testing my core capacity after my surgery 10 months ago. I went to Wicklow on the 12th of April 08, with my Friends Enda, Mark, Martin and Aoife. I went to Wicklow in the past and did some cycling and running around the mountains. I went there with the thought of testing my core capacity after my surgery 10 months ago. I went thinking that even if I am not very fit with my two runs a week of 45min that I would walk through it easy. Well there is some part of our nature that will never allow you to rest or take it easy. When you are stuck in the middle of the mountain with your calf feeling like a stone, yes you can stop, but the wind, rain and cold tell you have to keep going. This is where nature dictates to you what to ...

Practice make Perfect ! Learning is a relatively permanent improvement in performance arising practice. There are 3 stages of learning - mental stage - practice stage - automatic stage It is very important to understand these 3 stages of learning because each requires different instructional strategy. Mental stage When a technique is first being learnt the objective for the participant is to understand what is required to perform the skill correctly. To achieve this requires a great deal of mental plan of the correct technique and strategy. The best way for the athlete to understand the sequence required for the skill is through demonstration and explanation. Care must be taken not to overload the athletes learning circuits by too much teaching at this stage as the human brain can not handle too much information at one time. The goal at this stage is to help the athlete form a good plan for what they need to do. Practice stage The emphasis in this s...

It seems some known website enjoy my post to the extend to copy some of the content, flattering somehow but not very professional. (Picture Sean Bailey, Portumna Marathon 2011) In what ever way people read, replicate or interpret it most coaches would agree on the basic principle of following a program. how? by simply Training properly with quality. TRAINING PLAN HERE (Might need a newer design at some stage) Always question yourself, are my goals realistic? This is a 6:26 pace per mile after all! If your personal best is below 45min, with the correct program you can achieve a sub 40min. If your time is up around the 50 min mark, then maybe you should try to work towards a target of 45min. Of course at this stage you won’t break the 40min mark tomorrow, however if you give yourself plenty of time, say 16 weeks with a realistic date which you can work towards, set out your plan and endevour to stick to it, then you are well on the way to achieving your goal. ...

Elite running made easy (Barabara Sanchez, coach Sebastien Locteau) Your everyday, normal sort of runner, like me, will be breathless just watching. But Many of the Elites runners will make it look easy. We can run up that mountain only in our dreams, no matter how hard I work. The difference between me and them is so great that we find ourselves consumed with Curiosity over exactly how much of running fast and far is innate, and how much can be attributed to training, motivation and technique. We wonder how those remarkable athletes got to be who they are. We wonder what they know, and what, if anything, people like me can learn to be more accomplished. Researchers say elite distance runners share several inborn physiological traits, Including large hearts, an efficient way of moving and an ability to keep running When they are exerting so much effort that they are panting for breath, that make them faster than most recreational runners. Many recreational...

It's all in the head I found my athletes, that they are beginners or pros, that their environment as a huge influence on their performance. They worry about what people would think about them, or if everything happens their fault? Do they have control over the world surrounding them? Mental preparation and motivation is just as important as physical training, it can have a huge effect on your ability to stay calm, focused, and be able to enjoy the race in the moment, (even the bad moments). Before a long run I always begin with reflecting on how very fortunate I am to have the gift of fitness & endurance, the ability to enjoy a good outdoors session, the sense of accomplishment I will have when I will complete it and the freedom to do something I genuinely enjoy. The thing to remember is that your mind is a computer which is constantly being programmed by you every moment of the day - and it is always listening to your thoughts! So be careful what ...

I did Kildysart 4miles, Headford 8km, Swinford 4.5 miles, Westport 13 miles and the Streets in 14 days, to see if my body could take it and especially my back. I do not recommend to anybody to do what I did especially if you are injured like me awaiting surgery. However, we all know that sport is a drug and that my mind is trained better than my body. After the Westport and Streets of Galway dual race, I did not run or cycle for a week my back and hamstring were stiff so only did 3 swim of an hour. My preparation was very poor I trained only for 12 weeks in which I went 5 days to the European champs in France, then 5 days in Croatia for the Euro U23, then came back for 4 days to the National swimming age group Champs and then went to Lisburn to the National Open Swimming Champs so a total of 20 days out of training (did one run of 35min in Lisburn). I calculated a total of 103 hours in 12 weeks for this Ironman which is incredibly low and included 1 /2 2 hours run a w...

Athens Olympics 2004 I am just Back from Athens where I coached, the Congo National Team for the Athletics from 100m to 1500m track. As you know I had to decide to concentrate on the Olympics the last 6 months. My First Olympic Games as an Official coach, maybe the youngest this year. I felt really small when I met the best coaches in the world and no doubt I still have to learn a lot from them. But as some told me: "If they qualified, they deserve to be there as you worked to be there too". I won't write all the results, but it was amazing, to be there. The dream I had of the Olympics since I was 12 was different from the reality, events are far away from each other in the country, I suppose to promote and bring money to small town in the country, Athletes look impressive but very human, I mean by this not exceptional when you talk to them, they are only people at the end of the day with their fear of doing well.  The transport system was really well organized, s...