XC Training for New Athletes

Published June 2, 2026

Hello!

The Summer XC Kick-Off Series started yesterday with the main article and a free 9-page PDF. If you missed that, make sure to click here​ to read it.

Today I’m going to share more of the exact training that’s in my paid XC Training System for free.

Sharing this gives me a chance to both help you with some free training plans that you can use right away, while also giving you a taste of the depth of training materials inside the full XC Training System program.

And in case you didn’t see yesterday’s email, the ​XC Training System program is open for registration now​, with the added bonuses of getting 10 free copies of my book Consistency Is Key: 15 Ways to Unlock Your Potential as a High School Runner, as well as my Mental Skills Course and the Craft of Coaching Course for free. More on this limited-time deal later this week...

Let’s talk about training – sound good?

We both know that you’ll have kids come out for the XC team who have either (a) never run before or (b) have never done a sport before XC.

In both cases, you know that keeping these kids injury-free is crucial.

That's what I’m sharing today – a training plan that will both keep them injury-free and allow them to have a great first year of XC.

What’s The Plan?

• Get the kids moving in all three planes of motion with the warm-up
• Run strides on day one and make this the focus of the first few days of training
• Deemphasize running for distance - yes, you’ll have them run less than you have in the past - but instead you’ll get kids fitter than you have in past summers when you...
• "Extend the aerobic stimulus" with post-run strength and mobility that comes immediately after the running.

The traditional “send them out for a run after doing some static stretching” isn’t going to work. Fast forward a few weeks into training and the chance of injury is high.

Ready to check it out?

Alright, I hope you enjoy today’s training. Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s article because it’s a solid mini-course in itself: Middle School XC Training. I’ll share 12 weeks (!) of training that will set your middle school athletes up for a great fall XC season.

This is going to be a great summer for your program!

Let’s go!

Jay

PS – By the way, the ​XC Training System (XCTS​) is available now.

And as an extra special bonus, I’ll ship you 10 copies of my book Consistency Is Key: 15 Ways to Unlock Your Potential as a High School Runner to you for free, plus I’ll add the Complete High School Runner course and the Craft of Coaching Course to your training library when you enroll.

These three bonuses go away this weekend. Get all the details and sign up for the XC Training System ​right over here​.