Make Fit Happen
NAU has a great young group of runners who are going to be contributing to the success of the team this year. He believes that they will progress and work to peak at the national meet -an event he believes his team can place top 10, if not make a run at the podium. Heins is quick to give credit to the successful tradition that exists at NAU as well as training at altitude in Flagstaff.
At NAU, Eric Heins doesn’t really push for blood testing his athletes to gauge their health. Instead of opting for a blood test for a given athlete who may not feel well competing at altitude, he simply recommends this supplement to improve his/her overall health and performance.
Coach Heins talks about “finding that sweet spot” as runner. He discusses how he pushes for gradual increases in mileage from his runners but pinpoints a specific example where one of his most talented athletes never ran more than 40 miles/wk. Each athletes has/her right amount to where he/she is going to get out of the workout what is necessary to be successful.
Coach Heins adjusts training regiments for his incoming freshman runners. He mentions having his athletes put in 65-70 miles a week before coming to school, and then as they get to Flagstaff, he brings them down to about 55 m/wk. Heins goes in depth about the struggles that many athletes encounter when 1st training at altitude, but he points out that these struggles end up paying dividends for his athletes in the future.
NAU Head Coach, Eric Heins, discusses adjusting to altitude, in particular, how altitude training affects the body. He points out how his runners get used to hurting while training at NAU, but doing so gives them a mental edge when competing at sea level against the competition.
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