coachescorner1

Brother John Bielen is more than just a track coach. He is a good friend and great inspiration to all his runners.

Brother Bielen began his coaching career in 1962 at Leo High School in Chicago.   He coached there until 1967 when he came to Power Memorial. In Chicago his teams won the Chicago Catholic X-C Championships in 1966 and 67.   His outdoor team won the track title in 1967.

At Power, he has coached his teams to six Catholic X-C Championship titles (1967, '69, '70,'72, '73 and'74). His team won the "Eastern States� in 1970. In Track and Field, his team won the Outdoor title in 1974.

Last summer, Brother Bielen was the U.S.A. Junior Olympic Team Coach and also coached the U.S.A.- USSR dual meet. Brother is working on his doctoral degree in counseling at Fordham. He serves as a guidance counselor at Power.   His greatest disappointment has been not having enough time to spend with his teams since school takes time away from coaching.

TRE: What type of training do you have your runners do during September?

Bielen: I assume that my better runners return in fairly decent running shape. During September we try to put in some quality distance. A typical week would consist of about 8 easy miles on Sunday, 10 hard miles on Monday, an hour of hill work on Tuesday, long intervals such as 5 repeat miles or 3x2 miles on Wednesday, 8 to 10 miles at a good pace on Thursday, 5 easy miles on Friday, competitions on Saturday and we usually try not to get overly serious about them. We also do morning workouts three times a week for about 6 miles

TRE: How do you get your runners ready for a major meet?

Bielen: I guess the secret of "getting them ready" is in using reverse psychology. I attempt to prepare them in the preceding weeks with good practices, hard practices and some winning races, all focused on giving them confidence in themselves as outstanding runners.   I have found that when I personally emphasize a particular meet or race the runners get too nervous.   A runner knows himself which races are important.   I won�t help by emphasizing them.

TRE: How many times do your runners peak during the cross country season?

Bielen: I have had the opinion, with reservations, that the better runners can expect two good seasons out of three. When you look at the schedule at the beginning of the season It is very difficult to choose a particular meet---they all seem important either for seeding purposes or as confidence builders. However, such meets as the Eastern States, and the Catholic Championships are important during the cross-country season.   As for indoor the CHSAA, The Mayor Meet and Easterns generally carry us into the big relay season (New York, Queens-Iona, and Penn Relays).   After this we "hold on for dear life" until the Outdoor Catholics.

TRE: What's the greatest X-C team that you 've coached?

Bielen: They've all been great.   I find it difficult to choose one.   Each had its own personality and problems . However, 1970 had to be a good year since we were unbeaten and won the Eastern States Championships.

TRE: How many miles do your runners do during the summer and cross-country season?

Bielen: During the summer, I hope they run between 300 and 600 miles.   I hope they enjoy their summer-relax, put in some miles, go easy in the hot weather and be anxious to run in the fall.

TRE: What�s been the most exciting moment in your coaching career?

Bielen: I've had so many wonderful moments ...Tony Colon at the Golden West, Matt Centrowitz, running 4:02 mile, a 2--mile relay running 7:40 at the Penn Relays.   Perhaps my proudest personal moment was this summer as the American coach at the USA-USSR dual meet.

TRE: Who do you feel was your best runner you 've coached."

Bielen: This question is really impossible to answer... some of my slowest runners have been my best runner in terms of working hard, etc. Can one really pick from Joe Barbary, Tony Colon, Chauncy Marsh, John and Pete Lovett, Pat Rafferty, Brian Johnson, Matt Centrowitz or even Maurice Weaver.   Not to mention some of the great sprinters that I've coached such as Art Clark, Greg Little and Darryl Everett.