Salty Talks
Training science for high school XC and distance coaches, minus the fluff. Real athletes, real data, and the methods behind 31 state champions from a USATF Level 2 coach who’s still on the track every day.
Three episodes live now · New episodes weekly through the XC championship season
The full season. Built like a training block.
Sixteen episodes, released weekly, sequenced to match your season: build the athlete through summer, develop and protect through the early season, then race and peak straight into the championship weeks.
31 State Champions: What Actually Works
The moment at Derryfield Park that changed how I coach, and why 31 state championships came from everything around the workout, not the workout itself. What Joe Vigil’s Adams State dynasty teaches high school coaches, and the three things that separate programs that win once from programs that win for decades.
How Many Miles Should a Freshman Run?
The number is the wrong question. Why volume rarely breaks freshmen (intensity does), why running age beats the birth certificate, why strides are mandatory, and how to build mileage with step cycles instead of the outdated 10% rule.
How Josh Kerr Broke the Mile World Record on 70 Miles a Week
3:42.66. The first human under 3:43, on 65 to 70 miles a week, two workouts, no doubles, and no lactate meter in sight. Why consistency beats volume, why a 1500m runner should train like a 5K runner, and what the blueprint teaches every coach.
How Katelyn Tuohy Trained
A pure case study: the real training data behind one of the greatest high school distance careers ever. What her mileage actually looked like, what most coaches get wrong about it, and what you can borrow for your own athletes.
Running in the Heat Without Wrecking the Season
Dew point, not temperature, is what’s cooking your athletes. How to adjust paces by the numbers, when to pull the plug on a workout, and why coaches who push through August heat pay for it in October.
The 4-Year Burnout Crisis
Why so many promising freshmen are done by senior year, and why “more miles always” breaks them. The Zone 2 case for training slower to race faster, and the numbers that back it up.
Coaching Female Runners: RED-S and What Coaches Miss
The topic most coaching resources skip. What RED-S is, the warning signs that show up in training data first, real calorie needs for female distance runners, and how to develop athletes without breaking them.
The Speed Reserve Nobody Talks About
Your 5K runners are slow because they can’t sprint. The contrarian case for speed development in distance runners: what speed reserve is, why it caps race performance, and how to train it without stealing from the aerobic work.
The Pre-Race Warmup That Actually Matters
Timed for the first meets: the warmup sequence that primes athletes to race instead of leaving their best miles on the infield. Plus how it connects to 5K race strategy, because execution starts 45 minutes before the gun.
The XC Workouts That Actually Build a Championship Engine
Three high-ROI sessions — the threshold run, a VO2 max interval workout, and a race simulation — that build a championship-ready engine without overtaxing a high school runner’s limited recovery.
Why Even Splits Are a Myth: 5K Race Strategy
Even splits sound smart and cost you races. How to use flush pacing, why the first mile decides the last, and how to train runners to deploy their fitness tactically on championship day instead of blowing up early.
The “Michigan” Is Not for You: Why Famous Workouts Backfire
The pro workouts that go viral are built for pro recovery. Why copying elite sessions breaks teenagers, and how to steal the intent of a famous workout without the injury bill that comes with the exact prescription.
Sleep Is the Cheapest PR: Recovery for the Championship Push
As racing load peaks, recovery is the whole game. Why chronic sleep debt quietly wrecks seasons, the ratio Josh Kerr lives by, and the team norms that turn rest into a scheduled skill instead of an afterthought.
Reading the Course, Racing the Hills
Championship courses reward the runners who rehearse them. How to read a course, where to spend and save on the hills, and why Derryfield finds out who really did the work. Course-specific racing for the meets that matter.
The Taper: Peaking for the Meet That Matters
Championship week starts two weeks out. How to cut volume without losing fitness, why most coaches taper too little or too late, and how to bring a team to a sharp point on the one day the season is decided.
Team Culture and the Championship Mindset
When the racing is built, the season comes down to belief. The culture that carries a team through championship week, the mindset that separates the ready from the anxious, and the Vigil lesson that started this whole show.
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