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I said it was simple. Not easy.

– Dan John

Coach Dan John has many memorable quotes. And for good reason. Dan has over 40 years of coaching experience in throwing events and weight training with athletes of all ages and levels. Plus, he is an accomplished discus thrower, highland games competitor, Olympic weightlifter and holds the American record in the “weight pentathlon” (discus, shot put, hammer throw, javelin and weight throw combined).

From a coaching standpoint, below are two Dan John quotes that really stand-out to me. I have burned these two quotes into my brain and continually come back to them when reviewing my own training or that of my athletes.

1. The Goal to is to keep the Goal, the Goal!
2. The Plan is to change the Plan

Sometimes as coaches or self-coached athletes, we get fixed to a particular plan that “should” work. But it isn’t working. However, in denial of this fact, we change the goal.

You want to run a 5k in under 20min. And you’re really close after having run 20:15 in your last race. You follow a plan guaranteed to get you sub-20. After a few months, you end up slower than before. You decide you’re not fast enough for a sub-20 5k. You move up to the 10k or Half-Marathon distance instead.

Using the wisdom of Dan John’s quotes:

• The Goal is to keep the Goal, the Goal! Stick to your aspirations for a sub-20 5km.
• And, The Plan is to change the Plan. Your last training block did not work. Do a debrief. What is it about the plan that did not work? Change the plan a bit or a lot. Try again.

You can read a list of other selected Dan John quotes HERE. Enjoy!