Published March 26, 2025 

It’s the last week in March and it’s a great time of year to be a track coach!

There’s a very good chance you have athletes on your team who either didn’t train this winter or had a very inconsistent winter, or, as we talked about in a previous email, they might have been basketball players or swimmers for whom you have to be really cautious with the training in the first few weeks of the season.

It’s tempting to want...

Published March 19, 2025 

I hope the season is going well and that your kids are staying injury-free.

Let's talk about the 1600m...

One of the reasons I love seeing kids run this distance is that the race can unfold so many ways.

From sit and kick races to races where kids run fast from the gun and the winner speeds up just a touch in the last 100m, to a race that starts fast, slows in the middle, then gets fast the last 400m, 200m, 100m.

B...

Published March 12, 2025 

We’re changing gears a bit this week. I’m sharing an article on my site that’s written for your athletes, with tips that you’ll likely agree with.

Here’s the article:

 ​Running A PR in Track: 12 Tips for a Breakthrough Performance​ 

I’ve pasted it below as well.

Next week I'll have a list of tips for you.

I hope the season is off to a great start!

Let’s go!

Jay

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This article is for high school...

Published March 5, 2025

This is a short email about a term we’ve all heard, and likely used ourselves: the “rust buster” race.

The rust buster is the first race of the year, one where both the athlete and coach have low expectations. The rationale is that the athlete hasn’t raced in months and that they need to “get a race under their belt” before they can chase PRs.

I’ve used this term for many years, and for younger athletes and athletes new...

Published February 26, 2025 

The official outdoor track season started on Monday here in Colorado. Let's go! 😀

Today I want to talk about one of the most important things you can do this outdoor track season to ensure that in April and May your kids are running PRs and running to their fitness level.

If you don't read the rest of the email, please make sure you do the following:

When you have a break in the weather and it's nice, make sure yo...

Published February 12, 2025

It’s mid-February, and most coaches have a variety of athletes that they are trying to help.

You’ve got some athletes that started running in December and have been fairly consistent over the holidays and all of January. You’ve got other athletes who will be joining you later this month or in March who are playing winter sports.

Today, let’s focus on the athletes who’ve been consistent this winter and what you can d...

Published February 5, 2025 

📌 KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Simple but crucial: Hard days need to be genuinely hard, easy days genuinely easy
• Post-run work is organized this way: Easy work after easy days, hard work after hard days
• Hard days include: Challenging aerobic workouts, race pace workouts, long runs
• Don't make the mistake of making easy days too hard — recovery matters
• This simple principle prevents overtraining and keeps athletes healthy
...

Published January 22, 2025 

I learned so much from this past weekend's Boulder Running Clinics. It may have been the best one yet, and the 215 coaches from 33 states learned a great deal.

Every year we record the videos of the clinics so that people who can't attend can get all the information.

The videos go on sale this next Monday, January 27th.

I only sell these videos for four days every year.

This year the sale ends next Thursday, Jan...

Published January 15, 2025 

Below, I explain how I assign long runs, why athletes do strides in the last 20 minutes of the run, and how you can "extend the aerobic stimulus."

If these ideas are new to you, you'll want to read below (which will take about 8 minutes to read, yet it's worth it).

But first...

This Weekend's Boulder Running Clinics

It's going to be a fantastic weekend even though it's going to be extremely cold and we'll have a ...

Published November 27, 2024 

One of the most crucial concepts I’m going to share in this newsletter is about extending the aerobic stimulus - a principle that has the power to transform your winter training.

Simply put: if you change your approach to training in December and January using this principle, your athletes are going to stay injury-free this winter and run huge PRs in April and May. Make sure you read the entire newsletter to unders...

Published November 20, 2024 

What an exciting time in the season. My daughter's team is heading to NXR this weekend, while other NXR meets are in the books. And California? They're still getting ready to crown their state champs on that historic course of theirs.

Championships are on my mind today (with the NCAA DI meet on Saturday). Let's chat about state championships, NXN champions, and NCAA Division I champions today.

Here's are some quest...

Published November 3, 2024 

What a treat it was to be at the Colorado State Cross Country Championships yesterday! The energy was incredible, and we witnessed so many outstanding performances. It was truly inspiring to see all the hard work come to fruition on such an important day.

I'm reaching out on this Sunday as I know many of you are likely planning your training for the upcoming week.

While this email is primarily focused on post-state ...