Brendan Kane

I started coaching straight out of college at East Longmeadow High School then to Minnechaug Regional High School primarily focusing on high school level coaching. Coaching a range of distances from 400m up to 5k cross country races with athletes seeing improvement and a healthy development. I then focused more on post collegiate athletes who were looking for more longer distances (10k, half marathon, marathon). Now I am back at the high school level as a head coach for XC/Track at Westfield High School. I've completed multiple certifications from NHS.com to be able to teach and educate high school aged student athletes as a teacher coach rather than just a coach. I've also attended multiple clinic with some of the best distance running coaching minds in the USA there sharing their wisdom.

As a kid I was always on a basketball/baseball team until high school where I found potential on the track&field team. Sophomore year I started cross country and cemented myself as a varsity runner by the end of the season competing at the Western Mass Cross Country Championship finishing in the top 50. Junior year I finished 19th and got to compete at the State Championship Meet while being nominated to the second team All Western Mass. Senior year I came in 23rd after injury problems throughout the season missing States by a few spots. After high school I was fortunate enough to get into a school with Division III athletics and I joined the team. Throughout my career in college I always placed top 30 at the Landmark Conference Meet and got to compete twice at the NCAA Mid-East Regional Meet. Through track I learned more about the importance of season after season improvement, development and preventing injuries. Post college I've focused more so on becoming a better coach I have lowered my 8k/5 mile time and have won a couple local road races.

As a coach I focus more so on the warm up/cool down with post workout core/stability exercises at the beginning. For the warm up concentrating on engaging, waking up muscles/muscle groups that are otherwise not used during everyday life but absolutely crucial to healthy and stronger running. For example, waking up the core muscles, and glutes before the run is needed to shift the pressure away from the weaker quads/IT band to the bigger, more durable muscle groups. The cool down will focus more on flexibility (rope stretching/walking drills), and more muscle activation (resistance bands) for reinforcement. The core exercises will focus on standard activities like planks and the like but also involve med ball work for improvement at better balance and control through different ranges of motion.