Foreword to Make the Leap, by Bob Larsen

Coach Bob Larsen standing on a track

If you are determined to max your potential, you need to read this book. 

I coached the author of Make the Leap, Bryan Green, at UCLA in the late 1990s. Bryan displayed a curious intellect about effective training and what it took to be successful. He was talented but had to learn to adjust to older, even more talented teammates. As he went through that process, it sparked a desire to get better at every aspect of his life, which continues to this day. 

Make the Leap is a culmination of everything Bryan learned in athletics and in a life of varied experiences. It starts with “Think Better. Train Better.” Throughout my career, I always found that mental preparation was the key to my athletes’ success. From doing the right workouts to executing in races to making good life choices, it all starts in your head. I put a lot of my emphasis on this as a coach.

This book will make you a better runner because it will help you think better about every part of your training. You will do each workout with more purpose. You will prepare better for your competitions. And you will see clearly what Bryan calls the “hidden training program.” The result is you will max your potential and make a leap.

But this book is much more than about training. Make the Leap is a blueprint for living your life at a more productive level. Reading this book will help you get more out of each day. Bryan uses the latest psychological studies to explain why we come up short of our goals, and how to change our routines and habits to increase our energy levels to achieve more. You will be motivated to plan and prioritize your thoughts and actions to operate at your highest level.

If this book was available when I was coaching, I would have strongly recommended my athletes and my assistant coaches to read it at the start of each season and refer back to it when they hit a difficult patch in training, in school, or in life in general. 

The great athletes I’ve had the good fortune to coach all had many of the attributes listed in this book. Meb, who had the longest career at the top, had them all. 

I learned a lot of useful ideas from Bryan’s book about staying motivated and focused on what’s important in life. I am confident you will have the same experience.

Bob Larsen
Four-time NCAA Coach of the Year at UCLA, Retired
Olympic Distance Coach - Athens 2004
National Track and Field Hall of Fame
Head Toad
Brentwood, CA
August 2020

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Bob Larsen joined us on the Go Be More Podcast for two amazing episodes. The first episode covered his role in three of the major advancements in distance running: threshold training, elite groups, and altitude training. The second episode covered some of the major accomplishments he had as Meb's coach.

Listen here: Part 1 - Part 2

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If you want to learn more about Bob, there are two great resources:

Read Matthew Futterman's book Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed

Watch Robert Lusitana's documentary City Slickers Can't Stay With Me: The Coach Bob Larsen Story