I first met Mark Valenti at the SWIS Conference in 2019; I believe we met in the restaurant/bar area. And I don't think we talked about training one bit. After about a year of back/forth with my beloved wife (she who handles my schedule), Mark and I finally got together in the London High School weight room and had an informal discussion about training, the psychology of why football is important for young men and even about Ron "Don't sass me, Birkus" Swanson.
Mark is a former thrower who learned under some great names. As a side note, the throwers in the United States were decades ahead of other sports in terms of training. Check out the training of Randy Matson for reference.
Anyway, it's always awesome to meet and talk to others in the field who have the love and passion of training, are tremendous people and have a "Cross Country Personality". No, that doesn't mean you have the personality to run Cross Country; it means you can take a road trip across the country and have a great time bullshitting. Thanks to Mark for making the trip to our humble town of London, Ohio and not giving up on me.
