Transcript - 5 min read time
This excerpt is from the Mental Skills for High School Runners course.
Jay: Your girls just finished second at the 2022 Nike Cross Nationals. What are some of the things you're doing all year long?Â
Kelly: All year long to make sure that those same girls now...when we go into the track season, can run a really good 1600m. I think so much of the mile is rhythm and cadence and learning how to run a pace efficiently w...
Transcript - 6 min read time
This excerpt is from the Mental Skills for High School Runners course.
John O'Malley - MS - 800m Mentality for High School RunnersÂ
Jay: I want to start this off with a very simple question: How does the mentality change from somebody who's successful in 5k cross country who's also going to be on a state qualifying or even a state champion 4x800m relay? Â
John: Well, I think there's two significant things. There's...
Here's how you can get an athlete to run fast indoors and outdoors.Â
It's hard to strike the right balance of training and racing indoors while setting them up to faster outdoors. Do these three things to help kids PR in both seasons.Â
You know athletes need to:Â
- Build the aerobic engine
- Strengthen the chassis
- Rev the engine most daysÂ
Here's what you need to do for each of those elements to make sure athletes race well indoors and are ...
The first 4-6 weeks of training following the end of the cross-country season is a crucial time for serious high school runners. The reason is two-fold.  Â
First, athletes need to fully recover from a long race season. They need time off if they had a minor injury or a “niggle.” And they need to give their bodies time to recover and regenerate. Â
Coaches have always (rightly) insisted on some amount of time off after the season for the simple ...
Injury-free running is more than doing daily pre- and post-run work.
When I was a first-year coach, I was convinced that if I could keep athletes healthy throughout a season, they'd run PRs.Â
Twenty-three years of coaching have only strengthened my conviction.Â
Now I have a system that keeps kids injury-free. Â
I want to share it with you today.Â
You know that injury-free, consistent runners race faster. But what exactly do they do?Â
I'm go...
 This article is intended for coaches, yet the suggestions may apply to families who are looking for some guidance if their child is training on their own for post-season meets.*
Most coaches have questions about what to do after the team's last in-season meet to get ready for NXR or Footlocker. They wonder what the focus of the workouts should be. Is this the time to go back to long runs? Should the post-run work be challenging, or should it be...
If you're a serious high school XC runner, then you're no doubt excited to have your best races of the year in October and November. Here are 10 keys to remember that will help you race to your fitness level in the biggest meets of the year.
1. You Don’t Need an A+ Race
If you want to help your team advance to the next meet, or to place high at the state meet, you don’t need an A+ race. You simply need a solid race to help your team. If every a...
Here’s a phrase I love to use with athletes:Â
If you want to do things you’ve never done before, you’ve got to do things you’ve never done before.Â
You asked your kids to do things like a new warm-up or new post-run work to run PRs in May. Â
Now that it’s May you are going to ask them to do things they’ve never done before:Â
- Go out at a faster paceÂ
- Sit back longer and trust they can make a hard move earlier in the raceÂ
- Run a differe...
One of the biggest questions coaches and athletes have during the track season is what to do 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 they finish 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 minutes, though this i...
What follows is an excerpt from the Geek Out section of my book, Simple Marathon Training. Enjoy!
Use Imagery to Run Your Best Race
I strongly believe that runners need to use mental imagery to run to their potential on race day. Using imagery isn’t complicated. Find a quiet space and imagine yourself going through the race. A quiet spot and 3-10 minutes is all it takes.
I used imagery on and off during my collegiate career. There is no doubt ...
What follows is an excerpt from the Geek Out section of my book, Simple Marathon Training. Enjoy!
Growth Mindset, by Travis Macy - Ultra Endurance Racer, Author of The Ultra Mindset
Years of experience as an athlete, teacher, and coach have taught me that a subtle distinction in mindset can lead to a significant difference in improved performance, health, and enjoyment in running.
I learned about growth mindset vs. fixed mindset when I read Ca...
