Monthly Roundup: Remembering Michael Colgan (1938–2025)
March 2026: My Sports-Performance Guru Has Passed, His Legacy Lives On
Welcome to the first roundup from the Ferg Running newsletter. My guess is your email inbox is as overloaded as mine, so I will endeavor to keep releases to no more than once per month. That means I will compile all content from the previous month and add related content and updates in this post on Substack.
This month, I want to pay my respects to Michael Colgan, since I have just learned of his passing in late 2025. One of his daughters wrote a stirring obituary, and it is a tearjerker for me.
I still remember coming across Optimum Sports Nutrition by Colgan in the late 1990s, and I have a copy on my shelf that I turn to as a reference. The book that most impacted me is The New Power Program. It inspired me to travel to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, and spend a week with him in 2006. This forms the underlying foundation for my strength training, and I recommend it highly.
Colgan remains an intellectual hero for me. I want to thank him for inspiring and challenging me over my many years in the sporting world.
The Coach-Athlete Pathway to High Performance
James Mangan: Build the System with Four Phases in Mind
Optimize the Coach-Athlete Relationship | James Mangan
PODCAST (47 minutes): Crafting Potential through a Tailor-Made Journey
Featured Products
Classic leather skipping/jump rope. This is my favorite way to warm up, and recently I updated my old rope, which had torn after 10 years. If you are taller than six feet, you might want to consider a 10-feet option, available through Ring to Cage. There is a calculator here that helps you choose the right length.
All-cotton tank tops (singlets) by Hanes. I am taking steps to reduce plastic exposure in my life, and one way is to return to natural-fiber clothing. These cost-effective ones are 100 percent US cotton and have a sleek design for training.
Around the Web
“Maintaining Muscle Mass while Aging” (lecture), Lynn Bellmore, Colorado State University Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and Extension.
“The Power of Awe,” Drew Ginn, Leadership in Every Seat.
“Exercise to Treat Depression Yields Similar Results to Therapy and Antidepressants,” Mia Parkinson, Cochrane Library.
“Physical Exercise as Standard Care in Mental Health Medicine,” James Nuzzo, Nuzzo Letter.
“Rethinking Deli Meat: What the Research Says about Colon Cancer Risk (and What to Eat Instead),” Kierston Murphy, Proactive Nutrition.
“Breaking the Sugar Cycle with Dulsa Founder Natalie Nicole” (podcast) John Odermatt, Finding Freedom.
“Abrupt Training Changes Cause Injury” (podcast), Rebecca Caroe, Rowing Chat.
Upcoming Events
I will seek to bring together useful and appealing endurance-related events in the Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming vicinity—at least those that catch my eye.
Horsetooth Half Marathon, Fort Collins, Colorado, April 19, 2026.
Colfax Half and Full Marathon, Denver, Colorado, May 17, 2026.
Pilot Hill Trail Run (25K or 10K), Laramie, Wyoming, May 30, 2026.
FireKracker 5K, Fort Collins, Colorado, July 4, 2026.
Monument Marathon, Gering, Nebraska, September 26, 2026.