Building Faster Runners: Dickinson Coach Don Nichter Shares 40+ Years of Coaching Wisdom

Don Nichter is the head cross country coach at Dickinson College, where he's built their men's and women's programs into consistent national-level contenders.

His teams have claimed 24 Centennial Conference championships across cross country and track and field and he has been named Mideast Regional Coach of the Year seven times and was voted the men’s Centennial Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year twice. During his 40+ years with Dickinson, he has coached 39 All-Americans.

Today, he shares what he's learned and how you can apply those lessons to your own running.

Coach Nichter and Jason chat about: 

• The structure of college training and its principles
• Mindset must-haves on his teams
• Rules and strategies for athlete development (i.e., how to get faster)
• The importance of having a support group around you (join ours!)

Thank you Coach Nichter for sharing more about your coaching philosophy!

If you enjoyed this episode, don't miss Jason's conversation with his own college coach, Jim Butler (Spotify, Apple).

Thanks Boulderthon!

Boulderthon is a top 10 race in America according to USA Today and one of the best fall marathons according to Runner’s World. With a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon, Boulderthon offers an amazing fall destination race weekend right at the foothills of the Rockies. Use code STRENGTH20 for $20 off the marathon or half marathon.

Join me in Boulder, one of the top running destinations in the country, on September 27th, to experience the tight knit running community here, race on the epic streets of Boulder, and finish on historic Pearl Street. While I live in Denver, I travel to boulder probably once a week to run. It’s arguably one of the best running locations in the United States.

There’ll probably be cool and crisp fall weather for racing fast, too. And don’t worry, Boulderthon is a BQ-eligible, USA Track & Field Sanctioned Event.

Boulderthon is on track to sell out again this year so don’t miss out. Use code STRENGTH20 to save $20 on the marathon or half-marathon here and I hope to see you in Boulder this fall.

Thank you LMNT!

A big thanks to LMNT for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. They are offering a free gift with your purchase at LMNT. And this does NOT have to be your first purchase. You’ll get a sample pack with every flavor so you can try them all before deciding what you like best.

And DOUBLE big news! Their newest flavor Lemonade Salt is now permanently available (it's now my favorite). They're also offering 12oz cans of sparkling LMNT water that has half the sodium concentration of a packet. Check them out.

LMNT’s products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.

LMNT is my favorite way to hydrate. I’m now in the habit of giving away boxes of LMNT at group runs around Denver and Boulder and everyone loves this stuff.

Boost your performance and your recovery with LMNT. They’re the exclusive hydration partner to Team USA Weightlifting and quite a few professional baseball, hockey, and basketball teams are on regular subscriptions. So check out LMNT to get a free sampler pack and get your hydration optimized for the upcoming season.