Different athletes, different events and plenty happening across Cook Oval. Tuesday evening offered a rather good glimpse of what FAST Running is becoming.
There’s something about Cook Oval on a spring evening.
The grass is green, Telstra Tower rises above the surrounding landscape, and there’s enough room for everyone to get on with what they’ve come to do. It’s a relaxed setting, and on Tuesday evening it was looking particularly good.
Across the oval, FAST Running was making the most of it.
Our FAST for Sport athletes had their own coaches and plenty of space on the field. The horizontal jumpers had the pits to themselves, while the hurdlers enjoyed an entire straight. FAST Distance had the run of the track, and FAST Accelerate, FAST Track and FAST Performance came together for FAST Foundation.
Different athletes, different events and different objectives, all sharing the same training environment.
And somewhere among all that activity, we even had a visit from a very happy puppy.
Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday evening.
Plenty of room to do things properly
One of the things we’ve enjoyed about our move to Cook Oval is the freedom it gives us to accommodate different groups without everyone competing for the same space.
Horizontal jumpers need a runway and pit. Hurdlers need room to set out their barriers and work without interruption. Distance runners need space to run, while our FAST for Sport athletes have their own requirements.
Then there are our developing and competitive sprinters, who benefit from coming together for elements of their training while continuing to work towards their individual goals.
Tuesday showed how comfortably those different activities can coexist.
There was no need for every athlete to be doing the same thing, and no reason for one discipline to take priority over another. Each group had the space and coaching attention it needed, with the flexibility to work together where it made sense.
It’s a useful reminder that FAST has grown well beyond the idea of a traditional sprint squad.
Sprinting remains central to what we do, but our coaching environment now supports athletes across a much wider range of events and sports. The challenge is making sure that growth translates into better opportunities for athletes rather than simply putting more people on the field.
Cook Oval is helping us do exactly that.
A welcome visitor from EmPower Better Health
We were also pleased to welcome Emma from EmPower Better Health to Tuesday’s session.
It’s one thing to explain how FAST operates. It’s another to stand beside the track and experience it.
Emma had the opportunity to see our athletes and coaches working across the different groups, observe FAST Foundation and get a better feel for the environment we’ve been developing.
Just as importantly, our athletes had the opportunity to meet Emma and ask questions.
We value those conversations. Athletes benefit from understanding more about their bodies, their training and the different professionals who can contribute to their development. Bringing that knowledge into the training environment makes it more accessible and gives athletes the opportunity to learn from people with expertise beyond their regular coaching team.
Emma also raised the possibility of bringing VALD testing equipment to a future session, which could provide another interesting opportunity for our athletes to explore aspects of their physical performance.
We’ll leave that story for another day.
For Tuesday, it was simply good to have Emma there, sharing the evening with us and getting to know FAST a little better.
Serious coaching doesn’t need to look serious all the time
Perhaps the most enjoyable part of Tuesday was how ordinary it all felt.
Athletes arrived, found their coaches and got on with training. Groups moved around the oval, conversations happened between efforts, and there was plenty of encouragement and laughter along the way.
From a distance, it probably looked like a collection of people enjoying athletics on a lovely Canberra evening.
Which, of course, it was.
But there was also a considerable amount happening behind that relaxed atmosphere.
Different coaching groups were working towards different objectives. Younger athletes were learning alongside more experienced performers. Athletes from other sports were developing their running skills, while hurdlers, jumpers, sprinters and distance runners had the space to concentrate on their own events.
The organisation and coaching experience required to make that work aren’t always obvious from the sidelines.
Nor should they need to be.
We’ve never believed that a quality training environment has to feel intimidating or unnecessarily complicated. Athletes should be able to enjoy themselves, connect with their teammates and feel comfortable asking questions while still receiving purposeful, technically sound coaching.
For our youngest athletes, that might mean discovering what they’re capable of for the first time. For others, it might mean refining a skill they’ve been working on for years.
The expectations and challenges will differ, but the commitment to their development remains the same.
A different setting, the same pursuit
Our departure from the Australian Institute of Sport has required us to rethink where and how we train.
Rather than trying to recreate the AIS at another venue, we’ve been learning how to make the most of the facilities available to us.
Cook Oval is proving to be a valuable part of that transition.
The grass, the track, the jumping facilities and the space to accommodate multiple groups give us opportunities to deliver training in ways that suit the athletes and their events.
And the setting has its own character.
There’s something rather appealing about looking across a green athletics track towards Telstra Tower while athletes are running, jumping, hurdling and enjoying themselves.
It feels distinctly Canberra. It feels relaxed. And increasingly, it feels like FAST.
We’re still refining how we use our different training venues, and there will always be things we can improve. That’s part of building a coaching environment that continues to develop alongside the athletes who use it.
But Tuesday was a good reminder of how much is already happening.
From FAST Accelerate through to FAST Performance, from the jumping pits to the hurdles straight, and from FAST Distance to FAST for Sport, there was room for everyone to pursue their own version of Running Excellence.
Emma got to see it. Our coaches and athletes made it happen.
And the puppy seemed pretty happy with the arrangement too.
A green track, plenty of space and a little Running Excellence.
Sometimes that’s all you need for a very good Tuesday evening.
FAST Running — Evidence Based | Development Focused | Athlete Centred | Excellence Driven
Comments are closed