As a high school social science teacher, I was surprised at colleagues who would lament that they did not get to the period in history their class required. I encouraged them to “work backwards”. Figure out where you need to end up, then decide how long you need for each period or unit you need to cover before that. Adjust to make it all fit!

When I began developing my training for my Cross-Country teams, I realized that the same principle definitely applied. You need to plan the start of your training by counting backward from the projected end of your season or goal race. This allows you to place the workouts necessary in the different phases of your training in the correct sequence across your season.

For example, if you are ending at end of October and you plan on starting mid-June then you have a twenty-week training cycle. Then decide how many weeks for each of your phases, base, stamina, speed and peak that your philosophy requires. This can be done backwards as well. Perhaps three weeks for peak, four weeks for speed, five weeks for stamina and that leaves eight weeks for base.

The post Planning Your Cross Country Season? Work Backwards appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

I coached high school cross county over twenty years before settling on the right combination of workouts that brought our teams a lot of success (top 3 California and top 20 in nation). I went to many clinics and talked with many coaches to try to find the right system. However, I ran into a standard trap that I hope you can avoid. Too many cooks, spoil the coaching pot.

What I mean by this is that you cannot mix and match several different systems and approaches. I did that for too long and I think my teams suffered from the lack of clarity in approach and too much conflict among the workouts from different systems.

Once I decided to create my own system based on my philosophy, understanding of workouts and what I believed would work best for my athletes at my school, we became much more successful.

So take the bold step of being your own expert!

In my book, Coach Run Win I explain this transformation in detail. Check it out at here at www.coachrunwin.com

The post Too Many Cooks, Spoil the Coaching Pot appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

Here is an explanation of how to put your training plan together

PHASES OF TRAINING

By Coach Ken Sayles, author of Coach Run Win

When I first started out as a runner and then as a coach, I had NO IDEA what workouts to do and especially when to do them.

In this article I will take you through the phases of a training cycle, the key workouts in each and the amount of time each phase should take.

A season or training cycle has four phases–

Base Phase

Strength/Stamina Phase

Speed Phase

Peaking/Tapering Phase

Some coaches and authors describe the phases in terms of a pyramid. On the bottom is, of course, the Base Phase. It is the longest phase, and it’s necessary to support the other phases that build upon it. You cannot just skip to speed workouts.

Each of the other three phases are built on top of one another, forming the pyramid.

Base Phase

Assuming a training cycle of 20-24 weeks, base phase lasts about eight to ten weeks. Certainly, with appropriate concern for mileage buildup, this can last as many as twelve weeks, if the types of workouts do not become too intense. This phase is all about miles and minutes. The key workout is the long run, and second in importance is the medium run. All paces are aerobic. There can be some hills incorporated in the runs.

Strength/Stamina Phase

Strength and Stamina phase lasts six to eight weeks. The key workout here is the tempo run. The long runs continue and even peak in mileage during this phase. Hill workouts are incorporated once a week, and speed development workouts are used following the tempo workouts. This period can overlap with the start of racing, so the challenge is to find time in the schedule to get all the workouts in. Races are a form of speed work. Look at them that way amid weekly or monthly planning. A runners total mileage per week probably peaks during this phase.

Speed Phase

Speed phase lasts four to six weeks. The long run may be shortened or excluded all together. This is when traditional race pace workouts are done. The mileage per week should be declining as you are likely into racing mode.

Peaking/Tapering Phase

I have talked with many coaches over the years, and we all agree: this phase can be a mystery. There are many theories and much research done about what a runner should and should not be doing to taper. I will share my approach with you and why I choose to do it this way. I like about three weeks to taper. Mileage can come down perhaps 25-35 percent from peak. There are no long runs and no tempo runs. The speed work must be high quality and low quantity with longer rests. Some authors and researchers suggest a radical reduction in mileage; others support a very minimal change in mileage. My approach strikes middle ground. The key is to maintain the intensity of workouts and watch rest and recovery so that runners do not become stale. Distance runners like to run! Whether it is physiological or psychological, I have found that too much tapering is not good for runners.

Planning Your Training Cycle

A word about the mix of workouts. Much has also been studied and written about the right mix of types of workouts. That is, what percentage or how much mileage should be devoted to each of the types of workouts in each phase. During the Base Phase, almost one hundred percent of the running is aerobic. In the Strength/Stamina Phase, about 80–85 percent is aerobic, and 8–10 percent is tempo, with 2–3 percent speed development. During the Speed Phase, 70–75 percent is still aerobic, but 10–15 percent is speed, and 2–3 percent is speed development and tempo. Finally, in the Peaking/Tapering Phase 60–70 percent is aerobic, 15–25 percent is speed, and 4–6 percent is speed development.

In conclusion, there are four phases to a training cycle and I have explained they key workouts and amount of time spent in each phase. For more information on the types of workouts see my article on types of workouts at my website www.trainrunwin.com.

While you are there grab a copy of my award-winning book, Coach Run Win.

The post Phases of Workouts appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

Types of Workouts

By Coach Ken Sayles, author of Coach Run Win

When I was beginning my running career and then as a new coach, I was unsure of what workouts to do and when to do them.

In this article I am going to help you understand the different types of workouts you can do to improve your running and racing. I’ll explain how and when to do them in your training cycle or plan.

Long Run:

This run is typically done once a week and constitutes the longest distance done by a runner during a week. The distance itself varies depending on the experience, skill level, and week of the training cycle. For beginners, early in training, it could be three to five miles, and for more experienced runners, it may be six to seven miles. The distances go up a mile or two each week over the first half to two-thirds of a training cycle. The long run becomes deemphasized when peaking and tapering begins. The length of the longest run depends on the race being trained for.

The pace varies, of course, by experience and goals. The simplest explanation of pace is that a runner should be able to carry on a conversation for the duration of the run and not lose their breath. If out of breath, especially early, they are going too fast.

The purpose of the long run is twofold. Physically, it builds more mitochondria cells, which transport oxygen and blood to the muscles. More mitochondria mean more oxygen and more endurance. This physical build-up is a necessary steppingstone to other workouts and other phases. Mentally, it develops toughness and confidence in runners. The longer they go past the racing distance whether 5k or half-marathon, the more confident runners can be in being able to complete that distance.

Medium Distance Run:

As the name suggests, this run is more in the four-to-seven-mile range with a time of thirty-five to fifty-five minutes. The pace is like the long run. It could be a bit faster as long as it remains conversational for the runner. The purpose is also like the long run, both mentally and physically. This run is often done midweek, especially early in the training cycle.

Recovery Run

This run is done in the minutes immediately after the completion of a hard effort, often a speed or tempo workout. The day after a long run can also be a recovery run. These runs can vary from two to four miles and are also at conversational pace. The reality is that right after a particularly hard effort, the ideal pace might be a challenge. I always felt that if athletes could stay within fifteen to thirty seconds of the ideal recovery pace, they were doing fine. The times here may range from fifteen to thirty-five minutes.

Tempo Run:

This is the run in my training cycle. I attribute much of my success as a coach to this one workout! Tempo Runs occur weekly for six to ten weeks, depending on experience and race being trained for. You may see this workout done in a variety of ways: two-mile intervals, continuous twenty-to-thirty-minute runs, one-mile intervals, or 1200 meters. I prefer 1000 meters. It is a very manageable distance both physically and mentally. It can be done in a confined area. Runners can start out with three or four x 1000 with between 1:00- and 1:30-minute rests, depending on ability and background (more on calculating this later). Eventually, runners advanced to eight to ten x1000.

The pace is key. The paces are twenty-four to thirty seconds a mile over three mile/5k race pace over 82–87 percent of max heart rate. The rest between each 1000-meter interval is short to prevent full recovery, which is the desired training effect. The purpose of the workout is to increase the anaerobic or lactate threshold of the runners. Done at correct paces over two months, this workout allows runners to race faster and longer and do shorter speed workouts with less rest and more volume at higher paces.

Traditional Race Pace Workouts

Here, I am referring to a variety of workouts characterized by working at, or under, three-mile/5k race pace. Examples include 4×1 mile, 6×800 and 12×400, with equal rests. These workouts are hard and a couple of days of rest/recovery are necessary afterward. I have come to believe from research and experience that these workouts are productive for five to seven weeks but probably not much more, especially if you race frequently. They become too tiring.

In conclusion, you now know the key types of workouts to incorporate into your plans and when and how to do them.

For more detail on how to create a training plan and to calculate paces see my website, www.trainrunwin.com and my award-winning book, Coach Run Win.

The post Types of Workouts appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

Few people leave on a road trip without knowing where they are going. Most people use a map or maps on their device to help them get there. Similarly, coaches and athletes benefit from specific goal setting during workouts. I don’t believe it is enough to tell an athlete, “run 70%”. What does that mean? As a coach I give specific goal times to runners for each and every workout. The athlete’s performance is then recorded on the workout goal sheet.

On another article on this site, Determining Training Paces, I discuss my adaptation of Dr. Jack Daniels VDOT training system. This provides specific goals for each athlete in each workout. Those goals are based on the runners’ current level of fitness. As you will see in the sample, I write the goals down ahead of time and provided to the runners. Coaches, injured athletes or others then record the times actually run by each athlete. The results can then be analyzed, and future goals can be adjusted accordingly.

I regularly emailed or posted the workout goal sheets showing the results of the workouts. This helps athletes be accountable. Hopefully it inspires them to do their best.

Sample Workout Goal Sheet

The post WORKOUT GOAL SHEETS appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

When planning for the State Meet, a cross country coach needs to do several things. First, study the race results for past years. Note what race times it takes to get to the State Meet from your qualifying races. In California this would be the section finals. In some of the ten California sections there is also a preliminary race. Second, study the race results for each of your seasons scheduled races. You will be working backward, studying each of your races until you arrive at the season opening race. The point of this exercise is to understand what your team must do each week of the season to place themselves in contention for the State Meet. See this spreadsheet https://coachrunwin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/State-Meet-Goals.xlsx for an example I used with my team for the 2018 season. It is based on the results of the 2017 season when we did make the California State Meet for the sixth straight year.

What to consider in setting your goals to get to the state meet?

You as the coach need to be clear about how much you can progress from meet to meet. Each race is different. There may be different terrain and different weather. The weather of course can vary year to year. What you are trying to do is to realistically determine the times your team needs to run at each meet. Look at results of past races. What do they predict about how one week will compare to the next?

Setting up the workouts to achieve your goals of getting to the State Meet

Once you have established your season long, race by race goals, plan the workouts that will get you there. In Chapter 3 of my book, Coach, Run, Win, I explain how to plan your workouts from end of season to beginning. I also provide complete day to day explanations of the workouts used by our team in 2017. In the book, I explain my adaptation of Dr. Jack Daniels VDOT training system. This allows for very accurate, science-based predictions of how workout results translate to race times.

The post Planning for the State Meet appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

Establishing a strong base of miles run in the summer prior to a fall cross country season is an important precursor to sucess. I have discussed this principle in Coach, Run, Win and in other articles on this website. Summer Workout Plan I believe that a good practice for any high school cross country coach is to keep track of the summer miles athletes run.

There are several reasons for this. First, if you as a coach, are requiring attendance, it is a good record keeping device. Second, you may require runners to run a certain number of miles to be on the team or qualify for special camps. Keeping track of summer miles ensures accuracy and accountability. Third, requiring and documenting miles run has a defensible safety and preparedness aspect. Athletes are more likely to be injury-free, safe and healthy for the first race if they have logged the required base of miles.

How to Keep Track of Summer Miles

I am including a sample of a worksheet I used to document summer miles run. As you can see, it includes daily totals, weekly totals and a comparison with previous years for veterans. Daily totals include any warmup and/or cooldown. Additionally, the “other” column is where I logged miles run away from team practice. Often in the summer, athletes had work, school or vacation conflicts. I believed that as long as they were getting the miles in, I wanted to document them.

The post Keep Track of Summer Miles appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

This article presents an overall approach to setting up and implementing a summer workout plan. https://coachrunwin.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Summer-Workout-Plan.xlsx The examples here were for a high school cross country team. At a team’s Newcomers or pre-summer meeting, establish clear guidelines establishing your expectations as the coach. Explain how much you want athletes to run. Indicate how far and how fast they should be running. If you will have requirements for how much they need to participate, make those clear.

Rules Considerations for participation in the summer

Make sure you understand any rules that your school, region or state may have regarding participation in the summer. These vary widely across the country. As a coach, you need to then communicate these clearly to athletes and parents both newcomers and veterans. For example, I was not allowed to lead practices for a prescribed period early in the summer. Athletes could organize and meet on their own. Usually, captains would set this up without my direction or participation.

Tryouts and the summer workout plan

If you as a coach are going to use summer participation as a criterion for team selection, make that clear. If you are going to hold tryouts during the summer workout plan, make sure you have made the standards for selection clear. I did not hold a tryout. What I did, was to “require” a certain minimum participation in terms of practices attended and miles run. I coached females primarily and found that there were too many examples of athletes who developed over time. Had I implemented a tryout, they may not have made the team. I would have lost the chance to have valuable contributors to the team. Additionally, many of them would have missed out on a great opportunity to be a part of the program.

The post Summer Workout Plan appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

For a Fall Cross Country season, begin in the summer with the earliest workouts, recording distances, times, and paces for each athlete. Once you have two weeks of workout recorded, begin to individualize the workouts. Use my “Training Paces on One Page” table 1. It is my adaptation of Dr. Jack Daniels Table, “Training Intensities Associated with Current VDOT”.

TABLE 1 training paces based on vdots

Jack Daniels wrote Daniels Running Formula, in which he presents his VDOT system. Dr. Daniels is a renowned exercise physiologist and coach. He measured, tested, and studied thousands of runners over many years. His research combines heart rate, VO2 max, and other measurements of fitness to arrive at his VDOT system. His scientific studies provide an accurate way of telling athletes how fast to run in any given workout. This maximizes their individual development. Daniels’s work has taken the guesswork out of determining at what paces athletes should run. Instead of saying, “run at 80 percent” or “run hard”, it is possible to give each runner a specific pace that matches their current abilities.

For more on Dr. Daniels and VDOT calculation:Jack Daniels’ VDOT Running Calculator | Run SMART Project

How to individualize and determine training paces

After you have gathered the initial data about distance, time, and pace, find the average pace of those runs in the E pace column on my “Training Paces on One Page” table (Table 1). Then look to the far left and find the VDOT associated with that pace. This is the athletes initial VDOT. Do this for each athlete. Continue to record data for all subsequent workouts and adjust the VDOTs as training progresses.

For any given workout, from long run, to tempo workout and speed sessions, find the pace indicated for a given workout by simply looking at the VDOT and moving across to the workout column. For example, an athlete, with a VDOT of 50, doing Tempo 1000’s, look under T paces 1000. The pace indicated is 4:14. I would prepare a goal sheet for a workout, with each runners’ goals listed. Record the results and use to adjust VDOTs and goals for future workouts.

The post Determining Training Paces appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.

The tempo run has been THE workout in my training system. I attribute much of our teams’ success to this one workout! Tempo runs occur weekly for 8 to 10 weeks, beginning around the sixth week of the 23–24-week season cycle. You may see this workout done in a variety of ways; two-mile intervals, one-mile intervals, or 1200-meter runs. I prefer 1000 meters. 1k is a very manageable distance both physically and mentally. As a result, it can be done in a fairly confined area making it easy for the coach to monitor. I would have runners start with 3-4 of these with 1 minute to 1:30 minute rests. The ideal rest is 1 minute. Eventually top runners complete 8-10 of these.

Pace for the Tempo Runs

This is where they science comes in. Dr. Jack Daniels, Running Formula explains the science behind the tempo run. I adapted his key charts into one page for ease of use. The chart shows how to pick out the correct paces for most runs including these intervals. The tempo run is about 24-30 seconds over 5k race pace. The rest between each interval is short to prevent full recovery. That is the desired training effect as explained by Dr. Daniels. These workouts are usually done on Monday.

Purpose of the workout

The purpose of the tempo run is to increase the anaerobic or lactate threshold for runners. That is the crucial barrier between when a runner goes from aerobic running to anaerobic (without oxygen) running. Done at correct paces as indicated in the chart, this workout results in runners who are able to race faster and longer but still not become depleted. This workout usually proceeds race pace speed work and allows those workouts to be done at faster paces with less rest and more volume.

For additional information

Tempo Runs | Runner’s World (runnersworld.com)

The post Tempo Runs appeared first on Ken Sayles | Coach, Run, Win.