Minutes Over Miles: Why Volume Matters More Than Mileage in Cross Country

Published June 18, 2025

I got a text from a coach last weekend that made me laugh, then made me think.

His message: “Jay, why would I pay for any training system when you give away so much for free? I’ve been following your blog for three years and my kids are running PRs.”

I laughed because, yes, in last week’s emails, they got five weeks of training for free, and it really was a great amount of information for every level of athlete. But the season is 20-24 weeks long, so obviously, five out of twenty means you only have 25% of the information.

More importantly, you have the least sophisticated 5 weeks of the season. As the season goes on, the training gets more complex, and when the racing happens, you need different workouts than you need in the summer.

I’m really grateful that this coach was honest about where they are. But today is probably a pretty good day for you to be honest about where your team is too.

Miles vs Minutes: The Foundation

Before we dive deeper, let’s establish something fundamental: when it comes to cross country training, minutes matter more than miles.

Think about it this way: On a hot, humid day in August, your athletes might run 7 minutes at what would normally be 6:30 minutes on a cool morning in October. It's the same effort and training stimulus, but completely different mileage totals.

When you assign runs based on minutes rather than miles, you’re focusing on what actually drives adaptation: time spent stressing the aerobic system. You’re also giving athletes permission to adjust for conditions, terrain, and how they’re feeling that day.

This is especially crucial for long runs. As I explained in detail in this article about long runs, a 70-minute long run provides a consistent training stimulus regardless of whether your athlete covers 8.5 miles or 9.5 miles, depending on the day.

Volume: The Bigger Picture

But here’s where most coaches stop thinking, and it’s a mistake. When I talk about “volume,” I’m not just talking about the running portion of practice. I’m talking about the volume of the entire training session.

The Complete Training Session

Real volume includes the warm-up, the run, the strides, and the post-run work. This is how we can assign just a 45-minute run but provide the same aerobic stimulus as a 60-minute run.

Here’s a practical example: Your athlete does Jeff Boelé’s 13-minute dynamic warm-up, runs for 45 minutes, and immediately goes into 20 minutes of challenging post-run strength work. That’s 78 minutes of elevated heart rate - more cardiovascular benefit than a 60-minute run followed by static stretching and socializing.

The magic happens when there are no breaks between these components. The athlete’s heart rate stays elevated from the first exercise of the warm-up through the last exercise of the post-run routine.

Extending the Aerobic Stimulus

This concept - extending the aerobic stimulus - is arguably one of the most important things you can understand about effective training.

When you extend the aerobic stimulus properly, you’re getting athletes the fitness benefits of much longer runs while reducing the pounding on their legs. It’s how we keep athletes injury-free while still building powerful aerobic engines.

You can watch a concise 19-minute video where I explain how to extend the aerobic stimulus here (I'd say it's a must watch if you've read this far).

Why This Matters for Your Team

Every year, I work with coaches who are frustrated because their athletes seem stuck. They’re hitting their mileage targets, but they’re not seeing the breakthrough performances they want in October.

When we examine their training, the issue is almost always the same: they’re measuring the wrong thing. They’re counting miles instead of measuring total training stress. They’re not accounting for the cardiovascular work happening during strength exercises or the aerobic benefit of a proper warm-up.

The Real Training Stress

An athlete who runs 35 miles per week but does this approach - with dynamic warm-ups, immediate transitions to post-run work, and extended aerobic stimulus - is often getting more training benefit than an athlete who runs 40 or even 45 miles per week with traditional methods.

The first athlete is spending more total time with an elevated heart rate, strengthening their chassis, and practicing the skill of working hard when already fatigued. All of this translates directly to better race performances.

Being Honest About Where You Are

Back to that coach who questioned paying for training guidance - I’m grateful they were honest about where they are. But if your team has more injuries than you think you should have, or if your team isn’t running their best races of the year in October and November, it’s worth taking the time to read the testimonials from coaches who are having success.

The coaches who join the XC Training System aren’t paying for basic information they could find for free. They’re investing in the sophisticated, season-long progression that takes athletes from summer base building through championship racing.

They’re getting the exact workout sequences, the troubleshooting feedback for when things don’t go as planned, and the modifications needed as athletes get fitter and the races get more important.

Most importantly, they’re getting training for the most important 75% of the season that requires the most sophisticated approach - the weeks when you’re balancing race pace workouts with recovery, managing athletes through championship season, and making the small adjustments that can mean the difference between a good season and a breakthrough season.

The Bottom Line

Minutes over miles. Total volume over running mileage. These aren’t just semantic differences - they represent a fundamentally different approach to training that can transform your program.

When you start thinking about volume as the complete training experience, you’ll find you can provide more training stimulus with less injury risk. Your athletes will get fitter faster, stay healthier longer, and peak when it matters most.

If you’re curious about how this approach works over a complete season, or if you have questions about implementing these concepts with your team, simply shoot me a reply. Mid-season is not too late to learn these systems and change the trajectory of your team’s season.

Let’s go!

Jay

P.S. - There are only 54 days left until official state-sanctioned practice here in Colorado.

And in just 87 days, kids in my state need to be ready to run at one of the most important meets of the year.

So the question for you today is simple: Do you have the right training to be ready for kids to be running fast in 87 days?

​This can make all the difference.