If You Do These Two Things, Your Kids Will Race Fast
Published April 26, 2026
Hello,
I know your slammed the rest of the track season, so for the next few weeks I'm going to keep these emails short and sweet.
Here’s the deal. If you follow these two pieces of advice, kids will run fast for the rest of the season.
1. Workouts must end fast
Said another way, the fastest running of the workout happens at the end of the session.
2. Athletes must have fresh legs to run fast
Training through races might have made sense in the first half of the season, but in my 20+ years of coaching, it’s clear that the best coaches have their athletes ready to run fast at each championship meet.
Let’s spend a moment making sure you have a plan for each one.
Workout Must End Fast
In the Track Training System, every workout, whether it be an 800m workout or a 3200m workouts, has kids running their fastest reps at the end.
If a 3200m runner is running 500s or 600s, and the last 100m of the final rep is their fastest of the day, they’ve accomplished the goal.
If they looked fantastic and were running close to 800m pace, then we’d skip the 2 x 120m that we’d typically end with. They just ran fast - and looked great doing it! - so why do we need to do more? Let them leave the track feeling great about how fast they just ran.
Athletes Must Have Fresh Legs To Run Fast
If you agree with this statement, then you need to look at all the training you’re assigning – the running, post-run work, and any weight room work – and make sure that their legs will feel good on race day.
Some kids are going to end their season in 10 days. Some kids will run until mid-June. The first group needs to feel good for the rest of their season, while the second group will have some days where their legs feel heavy.
The point I want you to embrace is that if you want an athlete to race to their fitness level – which will often mean running a PR – then you need to ensure they don’t show up to the meet with their quads feeling like lead.
A phrase I developed a decade ago to help adult runners who were always overtraining was When In Doubt, Do Less, and it applies to your coaching in May and June.
Keep that phrase in the back of your mind for the rest of the season, and be willing to change things mid-practice if a kid looks tired.
In Case You Missed Them...
Here are newsletters that you can refer to if you have a bit more time today to talk training – click the title to read the email, all of which are less than a 3-minute read.
1600m Racing: When Should Your Athletes Make a Move?
When Kids Are Running Two Races Have Them Do This Warm-up
Should You Be Cutting The Long Run Now?
“I’ve Got Kids Ending Their Season Soon – What Should They Do?”
At a minimum, they need two weeks, in which they run very little.
Here's a 2-page PDF, with QR codes, that clearly lays out a two-week training plan between the end of track and summer cross country training.
But if an athlete is ending the first or second week of May and they’re a rising sophomore, I’d let them take one more week where they run just three days. The summer is long, and you don’t want them to show up to practice on the first day of school in August physically fit but a bit tired mentally.
The flip side is that the PDF above - and this article - are perfect for your kids who will run at the state track meet and want to have an even better 2026 XC season.
Let’s go!
Jay
PS – If the season hasn’t gone how you wanted, know two things.
Next November, you can invest in the Track Training System like these coaches and achieve the same results.
You can get started with the XC Training System in a few weeks and get the same results as these coaches.
Like it says on my website, “There is a better way.”
