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.
Adam on Twitter
Ben on Twitter
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.
Follow
Ben Rosario https://twitter.com/BenRosario1
Dean Ouellette https://twitter.com/coachdeanrun
Mark Ellington https://twitter.com/mellingt93