The reason why I CAN'T STAND indoor track!

[@jamesvance89]

The best thing about indoor track is the atmosphere. It's easy to see all of the events and so teams feel more connected. The throwers aren't pushed off to some other field and people cheer louder and prouder. Still liked running indoor meets without a team too. Probably brought back good memories that helped me push myself to PR.

[@drwhocrazed]

I absolutely love these reasons why you don't like indoor, I actually like indoor for most of the reasons you hate them haha. 1.) Slower times mean I don't have to worry about them as much, focus more on effort. 2.) Harder to make moves means you have to be even more tactical. 3.) I loved to use indoor as a training season, do lots of miles, then go to races to have fun and work on a little bit of speed. 4.) No one cares means much less pressure, can focus more on having fun in races! 5.) I like the consistency of indoor conditions, especially as I used to race at the same 3 venues for years. I agree on 6 though, always seemed to pick up some illness while racing indoors.

[@bonne-nuit]

great points

[@king-qi2ks]

I had faster times in indoor track tho 😂

[@lolbruhyeet4644]

Bruh.

[@Andrew-ry9be]

No cap, I actually got my first bout with COVID during this past indoor season. Granted, I was lucky enough to get it at the end and go straight into outdoor season a day behind due to quarantine and my fitness hadn’t degraded at all, so I was rather lucky with timing.

[@diniaadil6154]

One lap being only 200m makes it harder run fast times due to centrifugal force, not to mention air quality and overheating of the arena

[@tylerjohnson4]

Nice profile picture

[@PIanetal]

@@tylerjohnson4 LOL

[@thomascoder9839]

An indoor track with banked curves solves the issue of centrifugal force

[@averageytwatcher2060]

@@thomascoder9839 yes but those are very expensive. The three indoors meets my school has are flat and tougher on the ankles

[@19Kamau79]

Overheating is great for sprinting just bad for distance running also air quality doesn't stop 200m sprinting at indoors because it's not aerobic event.

[@Andrewk19837]

Ran my first indoor meet ever last Saturday. (I’m a junior but I haven’t ran on one bc of covid). I can’t wait for outdoor season to start. I felt like I couldn’t pace myself the same and it was super hot/hard to breathe.

[@Mr._Reborn]

A lot of people are. I ran my first on January 9th

[@Dame_Rod]

I found it easier to breathe weirdly

[@brainless4231]

@@Dame_Rod yea same it was definitely easier to breathe without wind

[@NickXie]

Fair points! To play the other side of the argument, what do you think about these reasons why indoors is great? 1. For 800m dudes who suck at xc, indoors is a much needed season to be competitive and put fitness to test 2. It's an awesome spectator sport and atmosphere with cheering and fans lined up along the entire track. Nothing goes as crazy as an indoor championship 4x4 3. Not for everyone but the grittiness and physicality of racing indoors is such a thrill

[@RobertMcGimpsey]

For high schoolers, Indoors helps you get through the Winter. It helps sprinters/jumpers,hurdlers, throwers coming off football to transition and get ready for outdoors. It breaks up distance runners pounding those miles and it helps college coaches to find up and coming athletes. As a coach, it gives me time to teach technique, introduce people to new stuff (especially 9th graders), and we can go to some cool places, like East Tennesse State to run that the kids have never seen, and they get to see collegiate runners there also. I use it as a fun, learning experience and it helps kids to transition more successfully to outdoors.

[@aidanbrad1709]

I agree with the whole base building idea during indoor. I did that this indoor season but still raced two or three times and I crushed my outdoor times doing only base building and 5k work

[@greghammett7894]

Your reasons are sound, Nick. Especially about the winter base building and not over racing/training. However, as a middle distance runner you should love indoors! All kinds of events like: 400m, 500m, 600m, 1000m, mile, 3000m, 4×400m, 4x800m, DMR and 4×1mile. Middle distance runner's dream! The team atmosphere can't be beat at an indoor track meet either!

[@greghammett7894]

I forgot the 800m lol

[@maximilianbennett1785]

We need indoor track up here in the northeastern US. The winters here are brutal and near impossible to run in. Indoor track at least some way to run indoors and compete during the tough winters. In my opinion it’s just as fun as outdoor especially in my experience because of the sheer amount of people packed in the arena (the Boston University track is amazing). It makes for a surreal experience when you run especially when the race is close. Without indoor track for high school students, there’s simply no way to run unless you want to run through the snow all the time and risk everything from sickness to injury. I wish we could all fly down to a warmer state to train but that simply isn’t possible for many high school students in New England.

[@D_a_yyy]

If there was indoor track in the south, what do you think the best time for it time start?

[@nickminazhetdinov8410]

As a sprinter that doesn't have an access to an indoor track (there isn't any in my town), I can tell you that an indoor track is better than running on ice for 6 months a year

[@colincrenshaw9482]

I’m just happy as a senior who hasn’t ran the best times in the past it gives me another chance to run good times to show college coaches before the rosters fill up during outdoor

[@medogerty6013]

I ruptured a tendon in my foot running on a flat indoor track. I didn’t twist it or anything. Just sprinting on the curve when I felt a sharp pop, and next thing I knew, I couldn’t sprint for months.

[@daleftuprightatsoldierfield]

As a thrower, I liked indoors a lot because it gave me a chance to get some extra shot put and overall drill work in before outdoors. You can’t go out and throw in the offseason nearly as much as you can run, especially in the Midwest where the winters can get pretty brutal, so indoor season is much more important to us. I never took indoor meets too seriously until my senior year when I was chasing my school’s indoor shot put record and even then I still lifted heavy during the season, but the extra throws really helped me get back into the swing of things by the time outdoor came around

[@Xhadp]

Another possible benefit of indoor track is the longevity of the track, you don't need to worry about the elements or stray tree roots ruining the track over time. But that also comes with a drawback and that you actually have to create a building to house the track which can get pricey so it could actually come out to have similar maintenance costs in the end though. I know this since my college actually is in the process to completely redo their outdoor track. (Oregon Tech, it could be awesome if you came down during one of the events when it opens again since it is nearby)

[@s.v.6399]

One reason to like indoor track is the atmosphere, as a full stadium for most of us isn't realistic, a full indoor facility is!

[@chloe-easton]

amazing video! i am an outdoor track athlete and i personally love outdoor track SOOO much more than indoor. today it was raining and cold so our long distance coach made us run inside and it was soo slow because we had such sharp turns and we almost had to stop to turn… definitely an outdoor track person! i’m so excited for our first meet in a few weeks!

[@mastergoatee]

I love the honesty.

[@thejellydonut7587]

I like doing 1-2 indoor meets in early February just to get an idea of my current fitness so i can set times for my workouts going into peak training for track. It's not really a competitive thing for me, just an important part of my winter training.

[@Checkerchamp]

I ran two indoor meets this year and as someone who hasn’t run a track meet in two years before my first one it helped me get back into the flow of things, not to mention that coming off of a nice cross season it allowed me to build some base times to beat for outdoor

[@zanepoenix8268]

I saw this while at my first indoor meet. I'm a high school runner that has two indoor meets this season and the rest outdoors. I personally don't mind indoor meets but you can't beat an out door one.

[@DanielCrossBoss]

I did wrestling since i was 5 and I’ve been running since 6th grade. I can honestly tell you that I am happy I did wrestling all those years instead of indoor track. I’m a senior

[@kaluker1]

did you just not run in the indoor season

[@timothymurray2282]

I loved Indoor track! I got a PR every race for two seasons and the miles were less and the workouts were not as hard. The only Outdoor season I did we had to wear masks when we were running except if we were socially distanced. I got to do the indoor seasons before Covid hit except for the last one where we didn't have any meets.

[@jackm727]

As a Heptathlete/Decathlete from the north I love indoors because the consistent weather makes it much easier to be able to get high scores without weather playing a huge factor. Decathletes normally want to compete in 1-2 decathlons before nationals, and bad weather can make it fairly hard to get those qualifying marks if you get unlucky with the weather the days of the meets. This can make running national qualifying times extremely difficult since you can't do a bunch of decathlons to try and qualify as you maybe could other events. Another reason is because the Heptathlon plays more to my strengths since there are less throws, and the shorter sprint/hurdles are better suited to my strengths as a runner. It is also less stressful on the body and the atmosphere for indoor meets is so much better than outdoors due to how the cheering is inside.

[@thomasdematteo2281]

For colleges and high schools in the Northeast and the great lakes indoors is our major season. Outdoors goes so fast but many athletes can train through races every week and still peak in late May. We train 3-4 days hard race 1-2 days and have 2 easy days plus we were already in race shape come March.

[@fat_finger3696]

"In the Northeast where indoor track is still huge, like wouldn't you rather get on a plane and fly down to Florida?" No, I don't have that type of money.

[@arcadiandj]

And you are such a MARVELOUS human being 🙏

[@thesurfnate90]

great thing about indoor is never having to worry about the wind, never have to worry about the weather

[@matiastessel8937]

Sorry coach but Imma have to disagree on this one. The atmosphere running indoors especially at the collegiate level is unlike any other the teams and the cheering are so loud and hyped up it's awesome. Now I am from Canada where we do a LOT more indoor running and racing but I still think it is something that, given the right situation, can actually be some of the best track and field to watch as a spectator where you can see everything that's going on at all times and hear everyone cheering all over

[@danielvasquez2425]

The indoor season should focus on different distances. The 60 m is great because the only time you get a chance to see a world class 60 is during the indoor season. Similarly, I wish the did more 600 m races or other non-standard distances. That would make it more distinct from the outdoor season, and might give more opportunities for athletes whose strength fits into those gaps.

[@leokashian8846]

Nick, indoor track exists because of winter in the northern tier states. Our outdoor tracks won't clear of snow until Mid April! That doesn't leave much time for meets.

[@randomwithtitan973]

Thanks for the upload again! 💪🏻 just finished my practice now :)

[@NickSymmondsToo]

I hope you had a good practice, keep training and staying active!

[@randomwithtitan973]

Thanks Nick! Your my inspiration

[@jakereuter7617]

We have indoor track because many people can't hop on a flight and fly somewhere for a nice weather meet. Here in Wisconsin, we have one heck of a D3 conference for most sports...track & field included. But, we're D3...not jumping on flights to go to Florida or California for a meet. Also, for the high school kids. We rarely have nice enough days to race outdoors until at least a week into April. So, having those indoor facilities gives those student-athletes a chance to race before almost half of their spring season is over. Overall, I agree with most of your points in this video, ESPECIALLY the one about not being able to build a base or train properly.

[@haus119]

In Illinois, at least for my school, we didn't have separate seasons for indoor and outdoor. Our first 3 or so meets would be indoor at the beginning of the season as it was too cold to have one outdoors

[@C-R-A-C-K-E-R]

As an athlete I don't like indoors for exactly the same reasons you mentioned. As a fan viewing the races I actualy preffer indoors, the laps are shorter so it's more dynamic, fans are just 20feet away from lane 1 so the atmosphere is better, shorter passing opertunities so the race is less predictable. These are basicaly the same reasons why short track speed skating is more intresting than long track if you watched the winter olympics.

[@brycecakes1ify]

Lovin da video and great insight! Thanks for your work!

[@NickSymmondsToo]

Glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for being a supporter

[@jacobkluckhohn5153]

Many highschool and even college teams can't afford to just fly to somewhere warm to race

[@believinbreezin3352]

Ran indoors-only in high school (my school didn't have indoor track). When I got to college, I felt like I finally realized what track was all about.

[@mdell-t4655]

Now I know why I had not reached my full potential in HS. I ran indoors, which means I raced way too much. Racing too much is not an ideal strategy if you want to PR, especially in mid/long distance running

[@jacobfisher2508]

The DMR in the ncaa is a saving grace of indoor track

[@slaythedragonstrackclub]

I absolutely love indoor meets. I ran at Randal Tyson track center and the place was insane

[@joyashleygarrett5866]

“Nobody is watching” LOL your funny :)

[@tazpengra]

Haha! I think the curves and banks are a fun new challenge. I knocked a guy off the top of the curve at an Oregon Indoor in the 80's in a 1000m. He shouldn't have tried to cut in on the curve!

[@stevespyder]

Running indoors it just feels faster, you can feel the 'wind' that you create. Watch the Indoor Mile Steeple at the Armoury, fantastic event.

[@its_omero6182]

Hey nick I ran 2 flat yesterday! Almost sub 2

[@gilliesuarez]

Here in Wisconsin we do a pretty short indoor season just to get racing before the temps get up to those that sprinters like to run in.

[@arcadiandj]

So interesting and educational!!! Thank wNick!!!

[@thehockeychannel8722]

Keep up the good work man love your channel

[@hharpo]

I started in indoor, which is why I think I appreciate both!

[@robinmihrshahi4760]

The main advantage of indoor track is that your performances are not impacted by wind and weather.

[@eriksteenkamp3621]

There is a outdoor track that you would love we ran a school event at this track and it straights is 110 meters instead of 100 meters

[@runforrestrun6103]

8 tight turns. Short straightaways. Narrow lanes. Bad surfaces. 3 seconds slower. Confusing periodization. What's not to hate?

[@nateroberts877]

Banked tracks like the armory can be cool but the armory and a lot of other indoor tracks are brutally hot and hard to breathe in most of the time. 200m flat tracks are pretty awful

[@matthewkoveleski9131]

Hey bro I’ve been watching your videos and I saw a beer mile video where you said if you got 10K likes you’ll do a “Whiskey 400”. Well it has 10K likes so Im subscribed to your channel now so I’ll be waiting for that video haha

[@SpencerONeil]

Nick I agree with most reasons, but the plane part has me off guard. Most people typically can’t just get on a plane whenever they like do that they can get to a meet, and then come back, and do that process repeatedly

[@Nothavoc]

Nick can you come back to oregon and go to ahs=ashland high school oregon. I need the motivation to run track this year🙏LOVE YOUR VIDS🔥❤

[@cedrikflipo]

Make more vids! 🥺🙏🏻

[@theodorekessler9218]

Worst part of Indoor track is definitely the cough u get after the race. Absolutely brutal.

[@CitrusMike]

never been this early to a nick symmonds video!

[@samvilla6290]

I love indoors because I actually do mountain bike racing in the spring so I can’t do outdoor track so it give me a chance to run track. Also personally I find the races more exciting because you see the runners more often and the action is all right there. Plus there’s something I love about that last lap knowing you only have 200m to go that lets me just absolutely rip it

[@SpartanFarron]

Personally, I love running on the raised surface mostly because so much of training workouts are on flat surfaces. Even Cross usually doesn't have that much of an angle to run on. On the other hand, I always felt kinda sick in the indoor meets. I think it has something to do with the poor air circulation.

[@veritasjustice7878]

Not gone lie. I love indoor, the experience at the youth and high school level is more exciting than the basic outdoor meet. The 400 is more exciting. The crowd is louder. And I’m in the south! We have indoor meets in Alabama, Florida (Gainesville), Arkansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Louisville KY, Texas, etc. Is JO’s better than AAU indoor nationals, sure. But for some kids (I’m think baseball athletes mostly) indoor might be the only time they get on a track; in fact it’s converted a few baseball kids into full time track athletes.

[@richardhardy4243]

Awww...I love indoor track...i enjoyed it when I ran indoor track and now enjoy watching it. Sure, it's not as fast and not as important but the strategy is more intense and fun to watch.

[@Shevock]

Ha! I like indoor track. Not the 3k or even the 1500 as much. But I like watching the 60, 400 and even the 800 Indoors. Not as much as outdoor track but I still enjoy it as a fan.

[@Merik_silba]

Dome in Alaska is 411m around snd has larger turns

[@snakey973]

I agree- indoors sucks. It messes up your training cycle completely

[@jaquaviousharris7765]

Don’t forget about the cotton breath from running indoors, it’s harder to breathe inside 😂😂

[@collinwitvoet334]

Indoor was dope for highjump, perfect environment

[@timroden6617]

I know what you mean. I never ran indoors except when the weather was miserable, we would run circles in the gym. I don't know what an indoor track feels like. That said, The Air Force Academy has an awesome indoor track. I prefer the track to be at least 200m long. Those 12 laps to a mile tracks are just too short. My Annual schedule was cross country in the fall. A marathon in December. base training until mid-January. Start doing intervals mid-January and be ready to race the first week of March. Peak mid-April for the district meet. Summers were very hot here in Texas so getting a good base in the summer was very tough. My runs were early morning or late evening. Even there I rarely ran more than 5 miles at a time. When I got to college we would use the first workout of the year to initiate freshman. It was usually a 7 to 10 mile run at 4 in the afternoon with very little water. It was brutal for the Wisconson boys.

[@smurplebrother-highlights9287]

like strait away

[@arnauarnauarnau]

Maybe it's different in the US, but in Europe people definitely care about indoor season. It's as big as outdoor season in some countries, and stadiums are always full. You have the 60m, and awesome performances in field events. And even in slower than outdoor races like the 800 and 1500m you have amazing races.

[@BerdaFN]

It’s probably because of the weather, hotter in the US

[@tylernero6671]

I've hated indoor track ever since I lapped people in the 3200m and officially got last place.

[@christopherhamill525]

The only good thing about indoor is that there are more mile races than outdoor season (Ireland). I personally didn’t run indoors this year (expect some crappy trischool meet back in December which was for the laugh) just because how bad it is for periodization.

[@alvarojrgalo926]

Lol Nick would have been an insane indoor track guy totally suited to it 800 to the mile

[@alexmiddleton5257]

I ran my 800m pr indoors of 2:10. My outdoors pr is 2:12

[@jasonfeng3888]

The BU indoor track is quite fast, even arguably faster than an outdoor track.

[@adegbenroagoro5180]

Great video

[@haydenrondy4868]

Hallelujah to that

[@CornyDookie]

I like indoor track better for both racing and spectating because the environment feels more “intense” with the track completely lined with people and all the events compacted into a much smaller area.

[@animedudeperson2699]

I only do indoor to carry the training from XC to outdoor

[@ThingSomeRandom]

Hey Nick! Got a question for ya. How do you deal with overflowing runner’s high and delusions of grandeur after good workouts? Sometimes I have a great interval workout or tempo and I start getting over-confident about my ability. I’ve gotten better at this recently but it still creeps in occasionally. How do you taper this back, if you do, to keep your expectations realistic and keep consistency?

[@maxy_padz4273]

Hey man just hold yourself back to get strong, I always felt like running long and hard; ended with a torn tendon

[@timroden6617]

I never had that problem. I always ran better on race day.

[@evandingle16]

It’s only slower if you don’t run at BU.

[@T1MB05L1C3]

I'm not really a fan of indoor track either, but I honestly like the 300m indoor tracks as they're not as bad.

[@the1ofus]

For me its the mustiness of the air. Also, i do the mile and 8 laps is too much to the point where it gets tedious

[@bored4427]

8 laps around a 200m track feels shorter than 4 laps around a 400m track (imo)

[@XxTR1D]

For my meets we had to WEAR MASKS When running. For some reason we could have it below our noses but if we had it below our mouths- DQ? I just can’t believe it, but we did it. I ran 5:44 mile best during it currently a freshman

[@pizzapirate631]

Literally no point in masks then

[@drakewells275]

This is the most savage Nick yet! Always positive and here he's got some savage in him. "NOBODY CARES".

[@NickSymmondsToo]

Had to tell the truth, glad you appreciate my savage side!

[@drakewells275]

@@NickSymmondsToo love you nick

[@shangrila73eldorado]

Isaiah Harris had a hard time getting around Hoppel because of those tight curves Nick is talking about. But if I'm not mistaken, the surfaces nowadays are getting faster. I see guys wearing spikes on the indoor tracks, right? Plus the tracks are banked.

[@lunrfrost3216]

I love that 600m tho!

[@leorunsoregon2082]

Damn the sale did not feel forced at all. I’ll probably be picking up some product

[@massimopicca]

Nick could you react to some of the world championship races when they happen?

[@NickSymmondsToo]

Race reviews are definitely going to be coming soon!

[@crazymonkee608]

Video suggestion: How should I run my tempo runs?

[@STEINE9]

I have Asthma and it never bothered me during xc or outdoor but whenever I’d run on an indoors rack I’d barely be able to breathe. Slowed my time down in the 1600 by quite a bit.

[@pizzapirate631]

Are you able to run long distances without getting asthma attacks? I don't have it I'm curious how it works

[@STEINE9]

@@pizzapirate631 Yea I almost never have any issues with it while running distance it’ll only bother me running inside

[@baconinferno2]

Never have run indoor track...idk when/if I ever will

[@williammorris8988]

Indoor sucks so much I just do xc ski in the winter which I know isn’t best for my running but it’s fun and outside

[@C123-s8h]

“Takes place every two years because no one cares about it” Outdoor wc that also takes place every two years: Am I a joke to you

[@ericlukan]

Finished my first indoor season a few weeks ago. Was good to compete, but the tracks were never that good.

[@quengmingmeow]

“The System” that gets athletes to race in the fall, winter, and spring is unhealthy and is completely 180 degrees out of phase to maximizing individual potential. There are kids that compete in HS and college, and then never again train or run a road race because they’ve been completely ground into bits by “the system”. It really bothers me. Even the summer “off season” base training isn’t even a real base training season….most state championship track meets are in the first week of June. Official XC practice starts the first week of August. That’s only 9 weeks….and if you take a week to rest/recharge, that’s only 8 weeks before practice starts up again. Things gotta change……

[@jackvales737]

Hey nick I thought you played hockey in the winter

[@BobBob-wk6bj]

Hey Nick you should race people as an eagle in washington, california or wyoming, America to be specific

[@bosnarunner6599]

Hey Nick, you ever plan on filming a challenge in Europe?

[@ty39_]

Winter/indoor track exists as an excuse for coach to keep us over the period between track and xc