Fast twitch cross-training

It's early Saturday morning and I'm headed to class. Yes, I said class. I am in the middle of attending an Intermediate Level coaching course for the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). I have been coaching at least one of my kids in soccer for the last nine years. This Intermediate Coaching course will instruct the attendees on soccer terminology, required skills and laws of the game. It is a 19 hour course which extends over 3 days. We started with a three hour classroom lecture last night. Today, we follow up with ten hours of field work and then conclude tomorrow with six more hours of field work and the exam.

Now, I'm up early so that I can make it across town to the Northwest Neighborhood Center by the 7:00am start time. A little bit of coffee and an Egg McMuffin on the road (I realize this is a terrible breakfast, but it will have to do). We start the day off with a little jogging and agility drills to warm-up. One of the instructors has brought some of the players from his team out to demonstrate some of the drills and skills we will be covering.

A couple of hours into the day the players are excused and it's time for the coaching certification candidates to run the drills. I have been doing endurance training for the last six months (and felt pretty good about it). This is the first time I have done any sprint work in a long (long... long...) time. We spent the next eight hours running, sprinting, jumping... playing soccer, in the hot sun. And believe me, it was hot!

I had been considering incorporating some fast-twitch work in my training, but this makes it official. It is absolutely necessary. By the time we were finished for the day I was spent. Dragged myself home in a heap. But, my day wasn't done yet. I had promised my son that I would take him to the UofA football meet the team. So a quick shower and a handful of red seedless grapes and we were out the door again headed to meet Chris, G$ and the crew at the U.