You had an amazing end of season qualifying both boys and girls team for the Nike Nationals. Want to talk about how that went for you?The boys and girls did so well, and they continue to do so year after year, it has to be a program thing. So what is it about what they are doing at Mountain Vista that is making both the boys and girls so good.

• Get everyone involved
• Over 40 athletes ran at Nike Qualifying meet

The challenge for many coaches is finishing up at State on an emotional high, qualifying for nationals then running well at nationals. So can you talk about how you planned that physically and emotionally?

• Both teams had the goal to get back to nationals this year
• Took goals of a long season into the whole season programming
• After State took a few days down then by end of next week they were back emotionally.

Do you think the 3 weeks is a little more of an advantage than the teams that need to go two weeks later?

• This year raced them a little less so they were ready to go

Southwest was extremely difficult, especially on the boy's side. Your goal was Nationals before the season when you saw how tough the SW was did any goals or plans change?

• We discussed there were no guarantees, but we stayed focused
• First two weeks were a little less intense, we backed off a little

So many good coaches out there and good programs. On the mental side, once you get there it seems it is easier to get back, is that a psychological aspect of it? Do you notice a change in the kids in their confidence once they have been there?

• Once you make it you know it is possible, where before seemed like a maybe someday dream.
• When it becomes a reality it changes the make-up of the team.

Year after year it seems the same coaches and teams are showing up. Is it the kids or is it the coaches who are instilling the belief that they can get there?

If you want more training, check out the earlier episode we did with Jonathan Dalby.

Now that nationals are done, what do you do now to transfer the kids out of cross country and really start thinking about track season?

• Different kids are in different spots depending on when they ended the season
• Everyone shuts it down for 2-3 weeks
• Between mid-Dec and early January, few are going to do more than 30-35 miles

What happens once early January comes with training?

• Their volume will not go over what they did in summer/fall
• Volume stays level for about a year before they move up
• Anyone who had injuries will move down a little
• January will add in some threshold running
• Add in hill work
• Some moderate speed work towards later in the month

How similar is Jan/Feb to your July/August

• It is similar, then add in race-specific stuff that is where it changes
• Most of the kids are trained at mile distance which gives them versatility to go up and down
• When kids are Junior/Senior if they show promise in an event will get them more specific work

Many kids live the team aspect of cross country over track. So many coaches continue to pound that type of work. How do you get the athletes to buy into the need to work on the speed which may be their weakness?

• We put emphasis on the 4x800
• Magnus and Marcus talk about the blank slate philosophy if you do the same thing over and over for an athlete who plateaued, where do you go next. What needs to be added to the slate?

One of the big difference between XC and Track is the team aspect. More people think of track as an individual sport. How do you tackle this? 

• Keep practices the same as it was in XC
• Team outings
• Recognize accomplishments and how it helped team
• Encourage them to watch their teammates compete

Do you lose some of the XC kids in the spring or do you retain them?

• Our top 50% usually come out for track, we lose some. Maybe 65%.

You said when they are older they may specialize in the 800 or one event, but how many of your kids specialize in one event vs a variety of events?

• Just a few, and usually the racing part only later in the season

If the mile is the base, what are some good mile specific workouts?

• We do 3 800’s at 1600 pace with 5-7 minutes rest, usually later in the season after midseason, but build up to it
• Earlier version may be 3-4 x 4x200 on 30seconds rest at 1600 with 3-minute break between sets.

During the track season if you have a meet on the weekend, how often do you hit on race paced work during the week?

• Depends on kid, but in a 2 week stretch may do a mile specific workout plus meets
• If could would have higher end kids race once ever two weeks and during that two weeks would touch 400-800-1600-3200 pace workouts.

For your top kids are they doubling much, and if not on race day what other work are they getting in?

• With large team hard to double
• Likes to get as many kids as possible into meet
• May have a longer 30 minute run after a race
• Dirty 800’s - If another track close will run 800 race, take a 30-minute break, run to other track and do a 500 and 300 at 800m pace, slightly faster. But need to make sure nothing else coming that is hard for a few days to do it

You have no problem admitting from your mistakes. What is something you did wrong in the past during track season and realize it was a mistake?

• One workout 10x200 on 30-second rest at mile pace, but did first one at 26 seconds and then 27. Did 5 under 30. Let it go instead of shutting it down
• You don't need to go to the well often
• Build up to intensity, ok to do early, but scale it

You have a long invitational meet, do you have everyone show up the same time and do you have them stay or do you let them cut out early?

• Most will show up on time, but if only race is end of the day then may come later
• Usually, arrive a couple hours before race
• For those racing early we pick 2-3 meets that are a big deal. We want everyone to stick around until the end on these meets

How does your XC squad look for 2018?

• Girls are young so most come back
• Boys are solid, will need to develop a few towards the back end

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Ben Rosario
Dean Ouellette
Jonathan Dably

John O’Malley is the longtime coach of Sandburg High School where he has sent two teams and a few individuals to the NXN Championship race.

John took over the program in 2003 and we talk about some of the changes and challenges he has gone through.

John coaches more than 50 boys, we talk about the staff he uses to manage that team size and how Good To Great has helped him build the coaching staff.

Culture is a big piece of the success of Sandburg High School. John talks in detail about building the culture and what that means?

John talks about recruiting and growing the team?

Before we get into training, great coaches develop their own system that works for them, but they all have influences too that have shaped them. Who are some of your coaching influences?

You throw some interesting things into your training. In the course of sound training, how do you switch things up that is specific to your team?What are some of the things you give the kids as they plan the race to set them up for success?

You are doing a lot to set your kids up for success. I’ve heard you stress before that your feet move fast every day, what does that look like for you, how are you working this into your program and is this from week one of summer running?

We talk about Dylan Jacobs who is running at NXN and Footlocker Finals.

Trina Painter

Won both the boys and girls State Titles for Arizona Division 2. Trina talks about both State meet races for the girls' team and the boys' team.

Trina talks about her running history which included several Olympic Trial qualifiers.

Trina talks about her experiences at the Olympic Trials in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Flagstaff is a D2 school with 1600 students total. They typically have 75-80 total athletes on the cross country team.

With a successful program that wins so many state titles in a row, how hard is it to make sure that fire stays lit and the kids stay motivated to win the next one?

Trina talks about how it has been coaching her own kids.

How much of a benefit is it for the high school students to be training at altitude?

Flagstaff needs to run their state meet in Phoenix, where it is often 100 degrees in the first week of November. How does she get her kids ready for that?

She mentioned that she has club soccer players on her team. How does she balance it with the kids who want to be part of the State team and play club soccer?

As a successful runner in everything from the 3k up to the marathon, how does that translate into a running philosophy as a coach?

What does a training week look like in the middle of the season, what are the workouts?

How they keep summer running interesting and keep participation high with fun activities.

Trina discusses what it is like to train in Flagstaff with all the world-class talent that makes their way there.

Teams down in Phoenix head up to Flagstaff in the summer for team camps, what do Flagstaff teams do for summer camps?

Trina shares her experience of running with the team at Buffalo Park.

Does Flagstaff have a staple workout they do a few times during the season?

How often do varsity race?

What type of race strategy does she have with her athletes and does it differ in a regular meet vs. the State meet?

How often does she run with the kids?

Chris Hanson - Head Boys Coach Desert Vista Cross Country and Track

Chris has been the head coach at Desert Vista High School since they opened in 1994. DV has 3,000 kids and about 60 boys a year for cross country.

Chris discusses what his coaching staff looks like to handle such a large team and the important role they play.

They had three state titles in a row coming into this year, Chris discusses what the goals were coming into this year.

What the summer looks like with Desert Vista and what their participation was like and we discuss their training schedule and how they deal with the desert heat in Phoenix.

We talk about the mental side of the game and keeping those outside of varsity engaged.

Hanson uses 3 training groups and he talks about how they vary and the importance of morning practice.

We talk to Chris about the State meet and how the meet which resulted in the 4th straight title went for DV.

Chris discusses the training and how they are getting ready for Nike Regional after a big high at State.

We discuss how HIITs have been added to his program over the last year and how he works them into the week.

What is a long run for the Desert Vista varsity boys program?

Larry Weber was named as a Washington State High School Cross Country coach of the year in 2011, 2012, and 2015 by the Washington State High School Cross Country Coaches Association. He was also named as the Division 2 National Coach of the year for the girls in 2014 and for the boys in 2014, 2015, and 2016. His teams won national cross country championships in 2014 (boys and girls), 2015 and 2016. Coach Weber has served as the head coach of 8 Washington State High School State Championship cross country teams in the last 7 years. In addition, he has coached 3 individual state cross champions during the last 7 years. 

We discuss:

His career as a runner and how it lead into coaching

How at such a small school he recruits and keeps a successful program

How does he use what he learned as running at an elite level and use it in his program

Who did he learn from and what did he read that helped him in his coaching

What does he do to individualize programming to get the maximum out of each kid while not overtraining

How does he break up his team in workout groups

How does training vary year-to-year based on the group

His 30k foot overview of what the training cycle looks like for the season

How does he set pacing for his workouts

How he prescribes recovery workouts and paces

How he works on a mindset where they know they can compete with large schools

How often his athletes race during the season

What specific work he does to get ready for the state meet

Fun traditions he does during the season to build team bonding

He gives advice to coaches on how to build a larger program

His all-time record for the ultimate runner competition

His staple workout for the team

How he structures a week during a race week to get in enough quality

Coach Joe Porter St Louis University High School

Joe Took over a very successful program and we discussed what it was like taking it over when things were already going so well.

When there is a regime change, sometimes the new coach forces changes, Joe talks about how he built the trust of the team.

Joe talks about the one thing that all successful programs do.

With an average of 3.5 hours of homework a night, plus up to a 45-minute drive to school one way, Joe faces some unique challenges with his school.

Joe discusses how he gets his team to run the best race of the year at the State meet and how that changed over the years.

During the season Joe focuses not on team results, but on what they can learn from that race.

We talk about goal setting and how he keeps his athletes accountable by having a copy of their goals on a notecard.

Joe talks about a bounce week, what is it, when is it used and why do they call it a bounce week?

What is a staple workout that St Louis does, and why is Ben so invested in it?

How is tempo pace determined?

Adam Kedge Albuquerque Academy

AA won boys and girls state title last year. Kedge has over 20 State Titles at AA and was the 2011 National Boys Coach of the Year. Kedge is a member of the NM Sports Hall of Fame

Only 650 kids at the high school, yet have made Nike five of the first six years.   

Won both the boys and girls state crowns last year, we talk about the expectations this year.

We talk summer structure and how it differs between upperclassman and newer runners.

Coach Kedge discusses how often his kids race and how he works on race strategy with the kids.

“If you don't work recovery into every aspect of your training you will run into a snag somewhere.”

Coach Kedge sets up his weeks so he can have success on the weekend for his races. Monday is usually a workout day with a long run on Wednesday with the race on Saturday which will give them three hard days a week.

“You tell me your Monday, I will tell you a lot about your program.”

Coach Kedge has a running times workout which is a staple workout for his team. 1-mile warmup, 1st 1.5 miles of 5k tempo pace, take 2-3 minutes then next mile of 5k course at race pace. Then 2-3 minutes and last half mile at sub-race pace.

A track workout called finding pace is 90 second repeats. Puts tape on track for 3200 paces. Try to hit the pace every time, 10x90 seconds with 90 seconds rest.

Kedge discusses how he handles State week, what he does different and what he does the same. He discusses what his training looks like and how it differs depending on the team.

Kedge@aa.edu

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Dean on Twitter

Mark was the coach of Carmel High School in Indiana for 8 years. 7 of those years his team made the Nike Cross Nationals meet. 

We talk to Mark about culture, his summer program, what it was like taking over an already successful program and we dig deep into his training. 

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Ben Rosario https://twitter.com/BenRosario1
Dean Ouellette https://twitter.com/coachdeanrun
Mark Ellington https://twitter.com/mellingt93

Mark took over the successful Wayzata High School program two years ago and has continued building on what they already had.

Mark gives is his background and how he came into taking over one of the most successful programs in the country.

Mark shares with us some things he added to the program such as strength training, hip mobility and lunge matrix.

Mark also shares with us some ways he is always working on recruiting and growing the program.

We then walk through what Mark’s training looks like from summer build up through the championship season and how he works yoga, speed training and strength into his training.