XC Training System
When Kids Are Running Two Races Have Them Do This Warm-up

Published April 2, 2025 

One of the biggest questions coaches and athletes have during the track season is how to properly warm-up when the athlete is running two races (aka "doubling").

Great question! Here's my concise warm-up for running track races on the track.

Quick Mobility Routine 

After finishing the first race of the day, the athlete should take 10-15 minutes until they feel mostly back to normal. They can choose to jog for 2-3 mi...

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The Perfect Workout for This Time of Year

Published March 26, 2025 

It’s the last week in March and it’s a great time of year to be a track coach!

There’s a very good chance you have athletes on your team who either didn’t train this winter or had a very inconsistent winter, or, as we talked about in a previous email, they might have been basketball players or swimmers for whom you have to be really cautious with the training in the first few weeks of the season.

It’s tempting to want...

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1600m Racing: When Should Your Athletes Make A Move?

Published March 19, 2025 

I hope the season is going well and that your kids are staying injury-free.

Let's talk about the 1600m...

One of the reasons I love seeing kids run this distance is that the race can unfold so many ways.

From sit and kick races to races where kids run fast from the gun and the winner speeds up just a touch in the last 100m, to a race that starts fast, slows in the middle, then gets fast the last 400m, 200m, 100m.

B...

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Here’s How You Help Your Athletes PR

Published March 12, 2025 

We’re changing gears a bit this week. I’m sharing an article on my site that’s written for your athletes, with tips that you’ll likely agree with.

Here’s the article:

 ​Running A PR in Track: 12 Tips for a Breakthrough Performance​ 

I’ve pasted it below as well.

Next week I'll have a list of tips for you.

I hope the season is off to a great start!

Let’s go!

Jay

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This article is for high school...

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Should Your Kids Run A "Rust-Buster"?

Published March 5, 2025

This is a short email about a term we’ve all heard, and likely used ourselves: the “rust buster” race.

The rust buster is the first race of the year, one where both the athlete and coach have low expectations. The rationale is that the athlete hasn’t raced in months and that they need to “get a race under their belt” before they can chase PRs.

I’ve used this term for many years, and for younger athletes and athletes new...

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How To Ensure They PR This Year

Published February 26, 2025 

The official outdoor track season started on Monday here in Colorado. Let's go! 😀

Today I want to talk about one of the most important things you can do this outdoor track season to ensure that in April and May your kids are running PRs and running to their fitness level.

If you don't read the rest of the email, please make sure you do the following:

When you have a break in the weather and it's nice, make sure yo...

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Three Ways to Help Your Athletes

Published February 12, 2025

It’s mid-February, and most coaches have a variety of athletes that they are trying to help.

You’ve got some athletes that started running in December and have been fairly consistent over the holidays and all of January. You’ve got other athletes who will be joining you later this month or in March who are playing winter sports.

Today, let’s focus on the athletes who’ve been consistent this winter and what you can d...

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How Challenging Should Hard Days Be?

Published February 5, 2025 

One of the chapters in ​Consistency Is Key​ that is both overlooked and misunderstood is this: Do Easy Days Easy and Hard Days Hard. I want to spend today talking about the second part of this maxim.

But first, I hope you'll join me tonight for a free live class. It's technically for coaches from the Michigan Coaches Association, but they're opening it up to anybody who wants to join live.

It'll be a concise, fast-...

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Run By Feel: A Game-Changing Skill

Published January 22, 2025 

I learned so much from this past weekend's Boulder Running Clinics. It may have been the best one yet, and the 215 coaches from 33 states learned a great deal.

Every year we record the videos of the clinics so that people who can't attend can get all the information.

The videos go on sale this next Monday, January 27th.

I only sell these videos for four days every year.

This year the sale ends next Thursday, Jan...

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Long Runs Explained

Published January 15, 2025 

Below, I explain how I assign long runs, why athletes do strides in the last 20 minutes of the run, and how you can "extend the aerobic stimulus."

If these ideas are new to you, you'll want to read below (which will take about 8 minutes to read, yet it's worth it).

But first...

This Weekend's Boulder Running Clinics

It's going to be a fantastic weekend even though it's going to be extremely cold and we'll have a ...

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Mastering the 800m: Sub-2:00 and Sub-2:20 Training

Published December 6, 2024 

Here we are on day three of learning about the training your kids need to do from December through May. If you missed the first two emails click ​here​ and ​here​ to read them.

Today, we’re going to talk about 800m training, specifically how you can help boys break 2:00 and girls break 2:20 in the months of April and May.

But first, two things
 Don’t forget the live class this Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern / 5 p.m. Paci...

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Keep Your Athletes Injury-free This Season

Published December 5, 2024 

You might be wondering, “Wait - Jay emails me on Wednesday and today is Thursday.”' Yes, that's true!

The reason I'm emailing you today is I've got specific instructions and workouts for how you can keep your kids injury-free when the season starts. Tomorrow, I'll follow up with an in-depth email about 800m training. While it's more emails than usual, these strategies could save your season.

I'll dive deeper into t...

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