Three Pieces of Advice for Mid-May
Published May 14, 2025
I know this is a busy time of year, so today’s email is short - 2.5 min read time.
I’ve got one piece of advice for your athletes and two pieces of advice for you.
Here we go…
A Piece of Advice for Your Athletes Running At State
Simply run the time you ran to get to the meet, and you’ll beat a lot of people who are ranked ahead of you.
And if you can run an “A-” race - not an “A” race or an “A+” race - you’re going to beat even more people. You don’t need a heroic day to leave the meet excited and proud.
Soak up this experience and simply race to the best of your abilities.
Finally, if you need one word that captures all of this, here it is…
“Compete!”
I've posted this on Instagram and Threads if you want to share this with your athletes.
Now a piece of advice for you...
They'll Emulate You
As you head into a big meet, remember this advice I received during my first month as a junior college coach from the most successful coach at the school—the baseball coach:
“For better or for worse, they’re going to emulate you.”
You want your athletes to be calm, confident, and ready to execute the race plan.
To make that happen, show them that same calmness, confidence, and belief in the plan when you speak to them.
It’s simple but not always easy, especially when you’re just as excited as they are about the race as they are.
Be Mindful of Tone and Posture
Pay attention to your tone and how you carry yourself. Speak with confidence and stand tall. It might feel like a lot, but as my college coach would say, “The hay is in the barn,” meaning there isn’t any more training you can squeeze in.
You can’t change their fitness at this point but what you can do is reassure them that they’re ready for a great race, which will allow them to race to their fitness level.
If you have athletes competing this weekend or in the next couple of weekend, I’m wishing you all the best.
And if your athletes’ season is already over, there are two articles you can share with them today. I’ll cover them in more detail in future emails.
Final Point
Make sure you get some time off from the team before you start meeting them for summer training—at least two weeks, if not a third or fourth week.
Will they run on their own without you? That’s uncertain. What’s absolutely crucial, though, is preventing your burnout in late September because you’ve been meeting with them all summer long.
I’ve spent the last few days updating the videos in the XC Training System. While I like the Tuesday workout*, Friday long run plan, the longer I do this, the more I encourage coaches to do a Monday workout, Thursday long run plan.
Why?
It allows you - and the athlete’s families - to have a three-day weekend every week. It also allows you and the family to pack up the car after practice on Thursday and head to the lake/beach/mountains/forest for a long weekend.
Your committed kids will run on Friday and Saturday. If you’re fortunate to have an assistant, they could meet them on Friday - and take other days during the week off.
The bottom line is you must carefully monitor your energy levels from May through November, and acknowledge that even the most dedicated coaches have limits.
That’s all for today.
Let’s go!
Jay
PS - Regarding workouts in the summer...
The best teams in the country - and the best teams in your state - are not doing repeat 400s as workouts in the summer.
But to think they’re not doing farleks, progression runs, threshold runs or similar workouts is naive.
The days of "building a base" with "long slow distance" runs, followed by some half-hearted static stretching, are over...assuming you want to be competitive in your state this fall.
Check out this free article if you want to know what the best programs are doing to keep their kids injury-free and to ensure that their teams run their best three meets of the year at the last three meets of the year. This includes the workouts that "build the aerobic engine" and will lead to fantastic races in the fall.
Jay Johnson
