How Do You Train an Elite High School Runner?

What changes when you have a superstar high school runner on your cross country or track & field team?

According to coaches Jesse Coy and Eric Dettman, the answer may be much simpler than you think.

In this episode of Coaching Distance, Jesse Coy discusses his experience coaching Simeon Birnbaum in high school and shares insights from Eric Dettman’s coaching of elite runner Ellery Lincoln. The central message is simple: elite high school runners don't necessarily need completely different training- they simply do the same things, but at a higher level.

This episode explores how coaches can train elite athletes within the same team training system while still making appropriate individual adjustments for pace, volume, recovery, racing, and training precision.

The episode covers:

• Why superstar athletes don't necessarily need completely different workouts

• How to train elite runners within a team-based system

• The importance of consistency over "secret" workouts

• Why elite athletes may need more precise training paces to avoid overtraining

• Managing race schedules for high-level high school runners

• Why recovery, sleep, hydration, nutrition, and consistency matter

• Why elite runners should remain part of the team

• How to avoid changing your training philosophy because of what you see on Strava, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube

• Developing athletes for long-term success beyond high school

Eric Dettman shares how Ellery Lincoln trains within the Lincoln High School program, including threshold training, speed development, moderate mileage, team training, and the importance of consistency and execution.

One of the biggest takeaways is that the goal isn't to make training look impressive, the goal is to make athletes better.

If you coach high school cross country, high school track & field, middle-distance runners, or distance runners from the 800m through 5K, this conversation provides practical ideas for developing elite athletes without abandoning the training system that helped them become successful in the first place.

Topics: High School Cross Country Training • High School Track Training • Elite Distance Runners • Distance Running Training • Threshold Training • Speed Development • 800m Training • 1500m/1600m Training • 3200m Training • 5K Training • Training Philosophy • Team Culture • Athlete Development • Long-Term Athlete Development • Coaching Elite Runners

Learn more about Coaching Distance and access the full webinar library, training plans, coaching resources, and training tools at CoachingDistance.com.

How do the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems actually work together—and what does that mean for the workouts we give our athletes?

In this episode, Jesse breaks down the science behind energy system interaction and connects it to the training coaches use every day. He looks at how aerobic and anaerobic contributions change across events from the 800m through the 10,000m, why even short, intense events rely heavily on the aerobic system, and why training for different events has much more overlap than we sometimes think.

Jesse also walks through a lactate curve and his approach to organizing training intensities, from easy running and Sub-T through tempo, lactate threshold, 10K, 5K, 3K, mile, and 800m pace. He explains how he uses these intensities with his athletes and how the Coaching Distance Pace Calculator can turn those percentages into actual training paces.

Finally, Jesse shares a simple analogy coaches can use with their athletes: think of the aerobic system as the gas tank and engine of a hybrid car and the anaerobic system as the battery. One provides enormous capacity, while the other can provide a powerful short-term boost—but at a cost.

Whether you're coaching middle-distance runners, distance runners, or a team that competes across the 400m–5K range, this episode provides a practical way to understand why different workouts matter and how they fit together.

Building Confidence Through Training & Racing with Dennis Newell

"Talent isn't the limiter. Belief is."

In this 75-minute Coaching Distance masterclass, Dennis Newell, Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track & Field Coach at North Dakota State University, shares a practical coaching framework for developing athletes who train with purpose, trust their preparation, and compete with confidence. Rather than treating confidence as a personality trait, Dennis explains how it can be intentionally developed through daily training, race preparation, team culture, and coaching language.

Dennis takes you through his Three Pillars of Racing Confidence: physical confidence, tactical confidence, and mental confidence and explains how coaches can strengthen each pillar through purposeful workouts, progressive overload, race simulations, and consistent training that gives athletes evidence to believe in themselves.

You'll also learn how to:

• Build confidence through consistent training and progressive overload
• Design workouts for success
• Use threshold training, tempo runs, and race simulations to prepare athletes for the demands of racings
• Create effective pre-race routines, visualization strategies, and positive self-talk
• Develop process goals
• Build a team culture that generates confidence, accountability, and athlete buy-in
• Help athletes overcome setbacks
• Conduct post-race reflections

Whether you coach high school cross country, collegiate distance running, middle school track and field, or elite endurance athletes, this episode is packed with actionable strategies to help your athletes perform at their best when the pressure is highest.

If you're looking to improve cross country coaching, distance running training, mental performance, athlete confidence, race strategy, team culture, or coaching leadership, this masterclass is a must-listen.

Link to full episode: https://www.coachingdistance.com/team-2/building-confidence-through-training-and-racing

Training Specificity for Distance Runners: Beyond Race Pace | Coaching Distance Podcast

Most coaches understand that specificity is important—but specificity in distance running is about much more than simply running at race pace.

In this episode of the Coaching Distance Podcast, we explore the three essential types of specificity that every cross country and track & field coach should understand:

• Physiological Specificity – Train the energy systems and physiological adaptations that drive performance.

• Duration-Specific Training – Match workout duration to to the demands of your event.

• Pace Specificity – Learn how to prescribe training paces that prepare athletes for racing without sacrificing aerobic development.

Topics Covered:

• What training specificity really means

• Physiological specificity and energy system development

• Duration-specific training and workout dosage

• Race-pace training and pacing strategies

• Practical applications for high school cross country and track coaches

Whether you're a new coach or an experienced distance coach, this episode will give you practical tools to build smarter, more effective training plans that translate into better performances on race day.

If you're looking for one of the best vintage running books ever written, Winning Running by legendary Oregon coach Bill Dellinger deserves a place on your shelf. Packed with timeless distance running wisdom, it's an essential resource for coaches, athletes, and anyone fascinated by the training methods behind some of the greatest runners in history.

One of the book's biggest highlights is Bill Dellinger's complete 1972 training buildup for Steve Prefontaine's 5,000-meter season. Beyond Prefontaine's workouts, the book also includes training examples for athletes competing from the 800 meters through the 10,000 meters, providing valuable insight into the Oregon System of training.

This article isn't simply a breakdown of Prefontaine's workouts. Instead, it explores the five core training principles that Bill Dellinger believed were essential for designing effective training programs and helping athletes reach their full potential. Decades later, these coaching principles remain just as relevant for today's cross country and track & field coaches.

If you're interested in learning more about the Oregon System, Bill Dellinger's coaching philosophy, and the training methods that shaped Steve Prefontaine and generations of elite runners, be sure to read Steve Bence's article on the Coaching Distance blog:

The Oregon System
https://www.coachingdistance.com/post/the-oregon-system

By now, most of you have probably heard of Marius Bakken's new book, The Norwegian Method Applied: Threshold Training and Intensity Control for Faster, More Durable Running at Every Level.

I loved the book as it gave an in-depth look into the Norwegian Method straight from the godfather of the double threshold training himself, Marius Bakken, MD.

Here are six items I talk about in the video.

1. Interval Length & Paces
2. Protect the Easy Runs
3. Drip Load
4. Ferritin
5. The Golden Zone
6. Double, What?

As always, check out more at coachingdistance.com

Harry Wilson was a coaching genius beyond his time in the late 70's early 80s. The coach of Olympic 800m Champion Steve Ovett, Wilson used a variety of training methods, from all-out speed to high volumes of long repetitions to help Ovett become a champion. What I really like is the range that Ovett displayed, running 1:44 for 800m , 3:30 for 1500m and 13:20 for the 5,000m at a time when the world record was 13:08. I don't like saying it but I'm just going to do it..."iMaGInE wHaT hE WoUld hAVe rUN iN SuPeR ShOEs?!" I am going to add a bunch of Harry Wilson articles to the Training Pages in Groups, so check those out when you visit coachingdistance.com

This episode is a condensed version of the May Coaching Distance webinar focused on the 2026 12-Week High School Cross Country Off-Season Training Plan.

A cornerstone of the Coaching Distance plans is the integration of endurance, speed, strength, skill and mobility. Each of these biomotor skills are important for high school distance runners, even if some of these items are more general than specific. General is good for high school kids.

The rationale behind the off-season plan is building the foundation. Part of "building a base" is the inclusion of all types of training- not just easy running. Many of the training items are "prerequisites" that you'll need for successful workouts and racing later in the season.

This podcast will explore some of the influences included in this particular training plan from the past and present, including Renato Canova, Frank Horwill, Dr. Jeff Messer and Boo Schexnayder.

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