Saturday morning coaching notes, in about four minutes.
Written for high school cross country and track coaches by someone still standing on the line in November. One article, one coach’s note, one cue you can use at Monday’s practice. Nothing else.
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What actually lands in your inbox
No mystery. Here’s a real issue, start to finish.
The warmup step most coaches skip
Most high school warmups build heat but never touch race pace. Two 150s at goal pace, eight minutes before the gun, changes how the first 400 feels — and it’s the cheapest second-and-a-half you’ll ever find.
We ran rolling 200s Tuesday and I got the recovery wrong. Gave them 200m jog when they needed 200m walk, and the last four reps fell apart. Fixed it Thursday. Writing it down so I don’t do it again in September.
“Relax your hands and your shoulders will follow.” Works better than telling them to relax their shoulders, which just makes them tense up.
Who this is for
Being honest about it saves us both time.
A good fit if you…
- Coach high school cross country or track
- Are building a program, not just running practices
- Want the reasoning, not just the workout
- Would rather read four minutes than forty
Probably not if you…
- Are training for your own marathon
- Want daily emails or a community feed
- Are looking for a plan to follow without adapting it
I’ve been coaching high school distance runners for 25 years — currently a D1 high school cross country and track coach in New Hampshire.
Every note in this newsletter comes out of a season I’m actually coaching. When something doesn’t work, I say so. That’s the part most coaching content leaves out, and it’s the part that would have helped me most as a young coach.
Jason Saltmarsh
USATF Level 2 Endurance Coach · NH Cross Country Coach of the Year, 2018