📌 KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A stride = quick, short, controlled sprint (70-150m) faster than race pace but not all-out
• Two reasons for strides: (1) Make 5K pace feel comfortable (2) Practice speeding up/changing gears
•  Three common mistakes: Not doing strides Day 1, no progression planned, fear of "peaking early"
• You will NOT peak too early by doing strides the first day of practice
• Progression: Start with 4x20sec at 5K effort → build to longer/fa...

 📌 KEY TAKEAWAYS

•  The Car Analogy: Build the aerobic engine, strengthen the chassis, rev the engine with strides
• 5000m cross country = 95% aerobic metabolism — build that engine year-round
• "Metabolic changes occur faster than structural changes" — chassis work prevents injuries
• High school runners need chassis-strengthening work EVERY day they run
• Practice structure: Dynamic warm-up → Workout/run → Strides → Post-run strength (no break...