Recovery Habits That Separate State Qualifiers From Everyone Else
The difference between good high school runners and state qualifiers usually isn't talent. It's what they do away from practice. Here's what I look for in the athletes I coach.
The First Two Weeks of Cross Country Season: What I Watch For As a Coach
The first two weeks of cross country season decide more about your fall than most runners realize. Here's what I'm watching for with every athlete I coach.
What Is Lactate Threshold Testing and Why It Matters for High School Runners
Most youth athletes train by feel. We use data. A tiny blood sample from the fingertip tells us more about your fitness than any generic training plan ever could. Here's what lactate threshold testing actually is and why it matters for high school runners.
Summer XC Enrollment Is Open: Your 10-Week Roadmap to an August Breakthrough
Cross country races are won in July, not October. The aerobic engine you race on in the fall is built during the unglamorous summer weeks of consistent, progressive mileage. The work that happens with no meets, no crowds, and no one watching.
That's exactly why summer is so easy to waste. Without structure, most runners either do too little (a few jogs a week, no progression) or too much too soon (jumping mileage, getting hurt by July). Both roads lead to the same place: a flat, frustrating fall season.
The Rising-Senior Summer Recruiting Checklist: What College Coaches Want to See by August
If you're a rising junior or senior who wants to run in college, the summer before your season is one of the most important recruiting windows you'll ever have. Most athletes don't realize it's even happening and they waste it.
I've sat on both sides of the recruiting table: first as an Indiana high school state champion trying to get noticed, then as Head Coach at IU Indianapolis deciding which athletes to pursue. Here's the checklist I wish every recruitable runner used over the summer.
The #1 Reason Indiana Runners Get Hurt Every Summer (And How to Avoid It)
Every August, the same thing happens. A motivated runner spends all summer training hard, shows up to preseason camp in great shape and within two weeks is on the sideline with shin splints, a stress reaction, or a cranky Achilles.
It's heartbreaking, and it's almost always preventable. After years of coaching at the NCAA level and working with high school runners across Indiana, I can tell you the cause is rarely bad luck. It's almost always the same mistake.