Sprint Training Library
Clear explanations of acceleration, max velocity, speed endurance, tempo, drills, strength, and recovery. Written to function like a living manual — not motivational noise.
Explore Program ComponentsA practical, experience-driven resource for sprint training — built to be used, referenced, and revisited.
Clear explanations of acceleration, max velocity, speed endurance, tempo, drills, strength, and recovery. Written to function like a living manual — not motivational noise.
Explore Program ComponentsA growing YouTube playlist demonstrating exercises, tempos, drills, and progressions used in real programs — organized, repeatable, and grounded in purpose.
Coming SoonPeriodization concepts, sample training blocks, calculators, and planning frameworks designed to help athletes think clearly about their own training.
Coming SoonTrue North Athletics exists to document sprint training as it actually works — not as it’s marketed. It’s built from decades inside the sport: cold outdoor tracks, crowded indoor meets, long road trips, and the slow accumulation of lessons that only experience can provide.
This site is not a funnel, a brand persona, or a collection of shortcuts. It’s an attempt to create one of the most complete, grounded, and usable sprinting resources available — especially for athletes training outside of ideal conditions.
I’m a lifelong track athlete and coach, currently training and competing as a masters sprinter (50+). The perspective that comes with that matters. Tendons, recovery, sequencing, and nervous system management aren’t abstract ideas — they decide whether training continues or ends.
One moment that still anchors my thinking came at the Dartmouth Relays in New Hampshire. The night before the meet, we warmed up quietly on the track alongside athletes whose names most people only know from record books — Bruny Surin, Edrick Floreal, Lavonna Martin.
The next day, I lined up in a heat with Bruny Surin. He accelerated smoothly for roughly 25 meters and won the heat. I finished second and advanced.
On the drive home, I read a freshly printed Charlie Francis training manual — purchased right there at the meet. By the time we crossed the border, my approach to training had fundamentally changed. I abandoned machs-style training immediately and never returned to it.
The philosophy behind True North Athletics is simple, demanding, and non-negotiable: speed is earned through sequencing, not forced through volume or intensity. Acceleration, max velocity, tempo, drills, and strength all have a role — but only when applied at the right time, in the right dose.
Especially for masters athletes, these principles aren’t optional. Respect the nervous system. Protect connective tissue. Train in a way that allows consistency across months and years — not just good sessions followed by setbacks.
Much of the recent work documented here reflects that reality: patient indoor rebuilding, careful Achilles management, refined mechanics, and tempo work performed the way it was intended — relaxed, rhythmic, and sustainable.
“True North” is about direction. It means knowing what matters and refusing to drift toward whatever is loud or fashionable. In training, clarity beats novelty. In sport — much like being a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan — commitment isn’t about guarantees. It’s about staying aligned with the process.
When a phase calls for patience, I wait. When it’s time to push, I push. When something isn’t working, it gets removed — no attachment required.
True North Athletics is for athletes and coaches who want understanding, not just programming. It’s for runners rebuilding after injury, training later in life, or simply trying to train with more intelligence than before.
The site documents training openly — including adjustments, missed sessions, and course corrections — because real progress is rarely linear and never needs exaggeration.
If you’re looking for clarity, structure, and honesty in sprint training, you’re exactly where you should be.