I'm coaching high school track this year

Published November 30, 2025

I’m fired up about what’s happening this week, and I wanted to share it with you.

But first, two things you need to know:

One: Starting Wednesday morning, I’m going to send you a series of emails about the exact training you can implement this winter so your athletes are running faster than they’ve ever run in April and May. We both know that the way they’re going to do that is by staying injury-free all winter long. I can help you do that this year, and we’re going to go into detail starting Wednesday about how to make that happen.

Two: Put this on your calendar. A week from tonight, Sunday December 7th at 8 PM Eastern / 5 PM Pacific, I’m doing a free live webinar where I’ll be sharing a 40-page PDF that covers everything you need for literally every kid on your team for the first five weeks of training. There’s QR codes to videos, color-coded workout documents, and explanations of exactly what you need to be doing. You don’t want to miss this.

Okay. Now let me tell you what’s happening this week.

I’m Coaching High School 😀

I haven’t shared this with the newsletter yet, but I’m going to be the distance coach at my daughter’s high school for the 2026 track season. This is my first time coaching high school athletes directly using my Track Training System, and I cannot wait to get started.

Tomorrow is our first meeting with the kids. I’m going to hand out a document that covers everything - what we expect from them, how practice is structured, and QR codes to the resources I have for them online. And then Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday we’re running a winter track camp with the entire team. It’s a great way to get everybody on the same page before the season really begins.

What Should We Be Thinking About on December 1st?

That’s the question I keep asking myself. What should we be thinking about on December 1st to make sure kids are racing faster than they ever have in April and May.

You may want to do something different with your team, but I think it’s worth considering that the guy behind the Track Training System is making these choices with a new team.

The kids who ran NXR are going to be in their second week recovering from that meet, which typically means three days of running that week and then a short aerobic run at the end of the week. So this winter camp fits pretty well with where they’re at.

For the JV kids, I’m not worried about them gaining a lot of fitness at this point. I just want them excited to come to practice. That’s it. Get them bought in. Get them having fun. Get them understanding that track is going to be different this year.

Here’s The Plan

Tuesday: I’m just going to focus on the warm-up and the post-run work on day one. That’s it. We’re going to learn how to do those two things really well. We'll the do the warm-up with the sprinters and jumpers, even though this won't be exactly the warm-up I'll use in the season.

Note: The head coach will do a team meeting every day during the season to start practice, and then we'll do a warm-up as the entire team.

25-year-old me would have been frustrated at both of these things. 50-year-old me thinks it's a great way to get kids who think being a distance runner means their individual sports to see themselves as a member of a team.

I can learn a lot from the head coach, who is the best track coach in our state, a state with a plethora of great coaches.

I'm really fired up about this. And if we want to do something specific to prepare for a race pace workout or do something specific for the 800 kids after that warm-up, we can do that.

Wednesday: Off. No running on their own either. Full rest.

...but they will get a copy of Consistency Is Key and I'm going to ask them to read the Car Analogy chapters. What's chance that they'll do this? We'll see, but hopefully the serious ones do.

Thursday: We’re going to do the warm-up, then go straight into strides, then straight into post-run work. Going from one to another with no break is a key part of my training, which I call "extending the aerobic stimulus." I'll explain that in Wednesday's email, and I'll explain this in detail in next Sunday's webinar.

We might have to do the post-run work indoors because it’s going to be dark at roughly 5 o’clock and the weather in December in Denver is unpredictable.

Friday: We’re going to add strides for all the kids. For some of the varsity kids who were running 60- to 75-minute long runs during cross country, we might go for a 10-15 minute run, come to the stride area, do strides, and then do post-run work. Again, I've got to teach them to extend the aerobic stimulus, so this is more of a teaching day than a workout day

That’s the whole week. Warm-up. Strides. Post-run work. Maybe a short run on Friday for some kids.

The Goal for Week One

Here’s my goal after week one.

I want them to show up the following Monday, December 8th, fired up for track, and willing to do things they never done before - the warm-up and the post run work being the primary to - to do things they've never done before - run PRs. The training is going to be different than what they were accustomed to in cross-country, and they had a fantastic cross-country season, so buy-in is really important, and it's not a given.

In my mind, “real practice” starts Monday, December 8th. We have the weeks of the 8th and the 15th to have short practices and be done before the sun goes down. That last thing I want is trying to get in long long runs when half of it is in the dark. Those two weeks are about getting comfortable with the new training.

The real fun starts the week of December 22nd, the week of Christmas. We’ll have practice at 10 a.m. each day - other than Christmas. Then we get another week of practice the week of December 29th.

And we’re definitely going to have practice on New Year’s Day. Why, you might ask?

I’m going to tell you a story about my college roommate and teammate Adam Goucher and how he always worked out on January 1st. That story is coming in a future email, but trust me - there’s a reason we’re practicing on New Year’s Day.

What I’m Not Worrying About Right Now

One question I don’t have the answer to yet is where we should be meeting for Saturday long runs. There’s a big park with a 2-mile gravel path around it that’s about 2 miles from the school, so kids would have to drive there. There are lots of great places for a long run if you’re willing to drive 30 minutes. But I don’t know if I can ask them to do that this early in the season.

Here’s the key point: I’m not going to worry about those things now because nobody’s bought into a new way of doing things yet.

It's November 30th. I don’t have to worry about Saturday long run locations until the week of December 8th. So I’m much better off getting kids bought in, getting them excited to come to practice, and learning as many names as possible before I plan where the Sunday run is.

25-year-old me would have wanted to plan all those things out now. 50-year-old me knows that's not the best use of time this weekend.

Don’t Plan Too Far Ahead

For years I’ve been trying to tell coaches not to plan ahead to what the race pace workout is going to be the third week in March. I think that’s a waste of time, and I’m practicing what I preach on this one.

I can’t tell you what the strides progression of the Thursday workout is going to be mid-January, though that is a crucial element of training. All I know is kids need to be having fun, bought into a new way of doing things, and ready to run on the track on a Thursday. What that specific workout is, 5-6 weeks from now, is the least of my concerns (because I have the Track Training System to organize the training, allowing me to get to know the kids).

What’s Coming This Week

Starting Wednesday, I’m going to share the exact training progressions that make the Track Training System work. This is the stuff that keeps kids injury-free all winter while building the fitness they need to run fast when it counts.

And remember - a week from tonight, I’m doing a free live webinar where I’ll walk you through the first five weeks of training for every level of athlete on your team. You’ll get a 40-page PDF with QR codes to videos, color-coded workout documents, and everything you need to get started.

I’m so excited about this season. I’m excited to be working with these kids. And I’m excited to share what I’m learning with you along the way.

Let’s go!

Jay

PS - A powerful phrase we'll use this season - one that might be helpful in your program - is...

"If you want to do things you've never done before, you've got to be willing to do things you've never done before."

That could mean more miles, but as I'll teach you next week, a safer way for the vast majority of kids is to change how you structure training so these kids stay injury-free. Consistency this winter - ie never missing days due to injury - really is key to running fast in April and May.