Wayzata Boys Cross Country: With the End in Mind

1. Wayzata X-C: With the End in Mind Bill Miles Wayzata High School Mnpreptrack.com 612-220-8455 billmiles78@hotmail.com

2. Overview • With the End in Mind • Competitive • Philosophical • Overview of our program • Our Training • Tactics • Our Philosophy

3. Wayzata Boys Cross Country Wayzata is in Minneapolis’ western suburbs. Wayzata High School has about 750/grade. Cross Country is a Grade 7-12 program. The boys & girls programs are separate. We have ~ 200 boy athletes (~80 in Gr. 7 & 8) We have eight coaches (5 paid). Three at the Middle School and five at the High School. There are two other volunteers who coach the team for the Nike Regionals & Nationals. Our season starts in mid-August & we offer a summer program. Most of our athletes run track in the spring.

4. Training the Athletes • Keep it simple stupid and keep it sound stupid = KISS2 • I was a high school history teacher- not an exercise physiologist so my science is either bogus or stolen or both… • Given equal ability the more fit athlete wins. So we need to get more fit. • All things being equal the athlete with more gas in the tank with a kilometer to go wins. So we need to get to the 4K as efficiently as possible.

5. Principles & Practices • Hard – Easy • We work hard at recovery • Aerobic, Threshold, MV02, ,and Running Economy workouts (systems or training zones) • Phases (Major focus and introduction- an appropriate time for each ‘system’, but all are touched regularly throughout the season) • Don’t try to do too much or try to be too smart. • We want to be at our best late in the race, late in the season, and late in our career.

6. Principles & Practices, cont. • I like my JV team to race once a week, my Middle School Team at least once a week and my varsity to race once every two weeks. • We try to get two hard workouts in each week. Our long runs are not judged to be hard, but we try to respect them with recovery. • We get a long run in every ten days or less. • No one workout is essential. We pull or hold kids out all the time. • No workout is unimportant. We want to accomplish something significant every day.

7. Principles & Practices, cont. • We encourage them to take a day off every other Sunday. Some take off more, some less. • We practice six days a week. Twice a day Mon. thru Fri. from mid-August to mid-October. • We run on soft surfaces as often as we can. • We finish all non-repeat days with 6x70 yard barefoot strides on our football field. • We do 30+ minutes of yoga twice a week from June through August and once every two weeks in September & October.

8. Principles & Practices, cont. In every two week training cycle, we try to touch each ‘training zone”. Earlier (August) and later (mid-October) in the season, we emphasize threshold work. September and October we emphasize MV02, ,and Running Economy work. Races are our best MV02, workouts. We always jog during rest between repeats.

9. Training Zones & Workouts • Aerobic- we run 40 to 65 miles a week Our middle schoolers run up to 30 mi/wk. • Long Runs are 10 to 14 miles. • Medium/Recovery runs are 6 to 8 miles. • Taper runs are 2 to 3 miles. • Morning runs are 20 minutes. • All runs are to be at comfortable pace and we mock those that try to race the workouts- but some still do.

10. Training Zones & Workouts • Threshold • 6 to 8 x Cruise 3:00 runs (loosely use Daniels formulas) on the 3:45 • Tempo runs of twenty minutes in the midst of a 7 or 8 mile run • Progressive run of 5 miles (stepping down in 15 second increments- e.g. 6:15, 6:00, 5:45, 5:30, 5:15) in the midst of a 9 mile run. -continued

11. Training Zones & Workouts • Threshold, cont. • Oslerian pickups- 3 to 5 x 3:00 (1st minute at 10K pace, 2nd minute at 5K pace, 3rd at 3K pace) with about 3:00 of running between each pickup in the midst of 8 to 10 miles • Long Cruise- in the summer or early fall we will run 3x6’, or 3x8’, or 3x10’ at Threshhold on the track with 90 to 120 sec. recovery. • Occasionally we will run a mixed workout w/ both running economy & threshold.

12. Training Zones & Workouts • MVO2 (all with equal recovery) • Races • 3 or 4 x 1600 or 5 or 6 x 1000 • We tell them to run them as hard as they can so that the last is as fast or faster than the first. • Recovery is about equal so the 1600s will be on the 10:00 or 11:00. The 1000s will be on the 6:00. • If we have a group strung out, we will have all stop on the 5:00 or 3:00 rather than the 1600 m. or 1K.

13. Training Zones & Workouts • Running Economy • Typical running form drills before all races and before all MVO2 and 400 workouts. • Stride-outs after recovery & distance runs. • Two day taper - 10 x 200 on the 1:45 at 5K pace. • 10 to 12 x 400 at 3200 race pace on the 3:30 or so. • Each member of the group leads at least one. After leading they will jog the next 400. • The group is to stay within a second or two of each other. Fast outliers will start a second or two later and work their way up to the pack. • We switch direction we run the loop in the middle.

14. Training Zones & Workouts • Other thoughts • In the summer, we run long once a week, we run hills once a week, and we run threshold on the track once a week. • In the winter, (the athletes that are not cross country skiing, swimming, etc.) will run long once a week on their own and run a very slow (but massive- up to 20x400 @ 4K pace or slower) 400 workout once a week on their own starting in January. (Use open gym space/time in a soccer dome.)

15. Training Zones & Workouts • Other thoughts, cont. • We always tell them that whenever they finish a workout they should feel as though they could do one more of the repeats or run a couple more miles. We are looking for long term and gradual development. • The goal is to stay healthy so that we can have months of continuous training to build on. • The goal is to never run the best ‘race’ of the year in a workout.

16. End of the season Late in the Season, I talk about “Touching” each zone or activating each system. I’m afraid of losing what we’ve gained, so we’ll be sure to hit each type of workout at the same pace or intensity as before. However, since we’re trying to freshen up, each workout is at only about 2/3 the volume. So rather than 12x400, it’s 8x400. “The Hay is in the barn” about 3 or 4 weeks out from our last meet. We feel that we can race near our best beginning two weeks into the taper and if we’re lucky we can hold it for up to another two or three weeks.

17. End of the Season, cont. We never talk about peaking- to me that suggests there is a day, a moment that is just right and if you miss it… Instead, we talk about the Championship phase of the season.

18. Planning the schedule Meet in June with my varsity assistant coach. Place the Meets on the calendar. Then work forward to Griak by plugging in key workouts. Then work backward from the State. Then beginning in August, change things up on a weekly & daily basis as we try to read the athletes’ response to the workouts.

19. Weeks 1-3 August 10, 2014 11 AT3 x 10' 12 medium 13 Long10-12 miles 14 medium 15 taper4 easy 16 RaceAlumni Meet (2 mi.) August 17, 2014 18 medium 19 AT2 x 12', 8' 2' rests 20 medium 21 FartlekBaker loops 22 medium 23 Long12 miles August 24, 2014 25 RaceSC Apollo (first 3200 AT for Varsity- then ran hard for 1800m) 26 medium 27 AT3 x 6' 1' rests 28 medium 29 taper 30 RaceMarshfield Columbus (5K)

20. Weeks 4-7 August 31, 2014 1 Long12 miles 2 medium 3 Reps10 x 400, on the 3:00 4 medium 5 taper 6 RaceTime trial (3200) September 7, 2014 8 AT5 mile progressive 9 medium 10 taper 11 RaceRochester Mayo (5K) 12 recovery 13 Long13 miles September 14, 2014 15 8’ AT, reps3 x 300, 8' AT, 2 x 300, 8'AT, 1 x 300 16 medium 17 medium 18 Int.4 x 1600, equal rest 19 recovery 20 Long12-14 miles September 21, 2014 22 Reps12 x 400, on the 3:30 23 medium 24 Osler. 3 x 3' pickups, 3' recovery 25 10 x 200 race pace, on the 1:40 26 taper 27 RaceGriak (5K)

21. Weeks 8-10 September 28, 2014 29 Long12 miles 30 medium6 miles 1 Int.5 x 1000 hard @ Gale Woods 2 medium 3 AT5 mile progressive, Luce Line 4 OFF October 5, 2014Long12 miles 6 medium 7 Reps10 x 200 race pace 8 taper 9 RaceLake Conference (5K) 10 recovery 11 Reps12 x 400, on the 3:30 October 12, 2014 13 AT6 x 3:30, 45" rests 14 medium 15 taper 16 RaceTime trial (3200) 17 recovery 18 Long12 miles

22. Weeks 11-12 & 13 Note: The Postseason Coaches took over on November 2. November 2, 2014 3 medium 40', yoga 4 Long 10 - 11 miles 5 Reps 8 x 400, on the 4:00 6 medium 7 Reps 10 x 200 race pace 8 taper 9 NXN Heartland Race October 19, 2014 20 Reps10 x 200 race pace 21 taper 22 RaceSection 6AA (5K) 23 recovery 24 medium6 - 8 miles 25 10 x 400 fast, on the 3:45 October 26, 2014 27 Long10 miles 28 AT6 x 1000, 90" rests 29 medium 30 Reps10 x 200 race pace 31 taper 1 RaceState Meet!

23. 2015 Nike Training* *Note that these weeks are from a different year from the rest. • November 15th • 16th Recovery Run • 17th Off • 18th Long Run (12 miles) • 19th Medium + Strides • 20thOslerian Pick-ups • 21st Easy • November 22nd • 23rd 8 X 400 @ Mile Race Pace • 24th Medium Run • 25th Easy Run • 26thTurkey Trot 5K • 27th Recovery Run • 28th Long Run (10 Miles)   • November 29th • 30th Medium Run • 1st 4 X 1000 @ AT Pace • 2nd Easy Run + Strides • 3rd 10X 300 at Nike Campus • 4th Course Preview • 5th NXN CHAMPIONSHIPS!

24. Ancillary • strides • sprint drills • core • hip & back routines • upper body & partner stretching • yoga • ice baths • foam rollers

25. Routines Abs (40 sec. per) Crunches Elbow to knee (RL) Elbow to knee (LR) Toe touches Push-on-through Leg raisers Obliques (R) Obliques (L) Hip raisers Bicycles Crunches Planks Upper Body Dips Pull-Ups Push-Ups Back Maintenance Alternating Supermans x 10 Prone Double Arm Raise x 10 Prone Straight SL Lift x 10 Prone Army Crawl x 10 Seated Bicycle x 30 seconds Straight Leg Circles x 5 (2 ways) Good Mornings x 20 Seated Bicycle x 30 seconds Superman shoulder squeeze x 10 Flutter kick with arms x 30 sec. Exaggerated crunches x 10 Cat-Cow x 10 Hip Mobility Donkey Kicks x 10 Scorpions x 10 Clapping Pushups x 5 Donkey Whips x 10 Iron Cross x 10 Clapping Pushups x 5 Fire Hydrants x 10 Side Plank + Leg Lift x 5 Clapping Pushups x 5 Trail Leg x 5 (forwrd/back) Lateral Leg Swing x 10 Linear Leg Swing x 10 Pushups x 15 Partner Stretching Quad on bench Hamstring on ground

26. Tactics Even pacing is most efficient. Can lose the race in the first half mile, but cannot win it in the first half mile. They don’t give lap money in XC. + Get splits & places at each K in races. + Preach, preach, preach. + Practice running even, both within reps & sets

27. Philosophy • Every kid is important and how they train and act is important. • By joining the team they are entering into a social contract with their teammates & coaches. • They will give their best and honor their team and sport. • We will respect and accept them and help them become the best runner and person they can be.

28. Philosophy, cont. It does not matter how fast they are, what matters is that they are working to become as fast as they are capable of being. Races are very serious and race sites are sacred. Screwing around is a distraction and will not be tolerated. Practices are important and we get the work done first, but have fun along the way. If you’re not five minutes early, you’re late. If you’re late you have disrespected everybody who was on time.

29. Philosphy, cont. • We love to work. • Take pride in our consistent work. • I tell them their suburban mommies can’t buy them more mitochondria or a higher MVO2 or increased muscular efficiency- they’ve got to earn it. • Talk about real self-esteem. • The kids I want in our program- get it. • We act with class. • It matters how you treat others and the Golden Rule is a good place to start. • Win with grace and modesty. Do not pout.

30. Philosphy, cont. • It is about intrinsic rewards, not extrinsic. • Cross Country is important, but their faith, family, and academics are more important. • Their girlfriend, job, video games, college visits, & dental appointments are not more important. • It is expected that they will have to quit if our practices are going to regularly interfere with their family obligations or their academic performance. • It is expected that I will remove them from the team if they miss three practices for unexcused reasons (girlfriend, job, dental, etc.)

31. Philosophy, cont. Anybody who has the guts to step up and race is our hero. We never criticize each other’s efforts or results or our own efforts or results. We accept that the result we got is the best we could do that day. If we don’t like it, get more fit for the next race or try a different tactic. We pride ourselves in taking care of the little things- cooling down, doing drills right, restoring carbs & fluids immediately after a race/hard workout, picking up after ourselves, etc.

32. Philosophy, cont. We understand that our actions (positive or negative) are going to reflect on ourselves, our family, our team, our school, and our sport. We appreciate that being a member of the Wayzata Cross Country Team is a privilege and not a right. We believe that the lessons we learn in Cross Country are going to make us better spouses, parents, sons, friends, neighbors, employees, bosses, citizens… people

33. Motivating – Keeping the athletes “If you want fun and games go out for golf, if you want sweat & puke you found a home.” Ward Schuster

34. Be Yourself • Stoic or Emotional • Serious or Prankster • The scientist or the common man • Develop your own personality

35. We Laugh • Interviews • St. John’s Games • Banquet • Teasing • Website • Booklet

36. I Preach • Priorities – XC better not be #1! • Intrinsic-extrinsic • Us-them /Pride • They’re special • Fitness

37. I care about them They are not my scorers, they’re my kids. I let them know how much I respect them. I let them know how proud of them I am. The #1 man doesn’t need high fives as much as your #7 man needs hugs. But I give both to everybody that has the guts to race. Sometimes a good kid needs a kick in the butt or to know how disappointed you are.

38. Get the Support of the Parents • Treat their kids fair and with respect • Parent’s Guide & Pre-Season Powerpoint • Priorities • Hold their kids accountable • Communicate

39. Recruiting-Getting the athletes • “It does not matter how good a jockey you are, you‘re not going to win the Kentucky Derby on a jackass.” Len Horyza • But I don’t always know who the thoroughbreds are and if Coach Griak had only allowed thoroughbreds on his team, I would never have had the wonderful experiences I had. • We recruit all and try to treat all with respect. I’d rather coach a team of hard working plodders than a team of self-centered, “entitled”, or lazy talents. • Critical to have the majority of them for at least four years.

40. Gather the names • Interest surveys • Middle school phy-ed teachers • Referrals from other athletes • Elementary school xc-meet • Summer clinic • School sign-ups • Newspaper announcements

41. Contact the Kids • Initial letter • Follow-up phone call • In the halls • School announcements • In the community • Never give up, but never be desperate. • Every kid matters- regardless their ability.

42. Win or at least act like winners • Put them into situations where they can be successful • Races are sacred (inviolable) events – testing and exploring • Nobody has permission to be a distraction • It is about the team • Races are joyous events – celebrating the effort • Do things the right way.

43. Retirement

44. Questions?