The Peak: Unleashing the Beast (Part 3 of 3)
You can feel it in the air. The humidity of August is a distant memory. There’s frost on the grass in New Hampshire, and the mornings are crisp enough to see your breath during warmups.
It’s Championship Season!
This is the payout. This is why we sweated through the summer and grinded through the mud of the mid-season. But this is also where coaches and athletes often fumble the ball at the 1-yard line. Nerves spike, doubts creep in, and “Phantom Pains” start showing up.
We built the base in Part 1, we survived the grind in Part 2…. In Part 3, we are talking about The Taper, the mental game, and how to make sure your team peaks exactly when the gun goes off.
The Hay is in the Barn
There is an old farming cliché that every runner knows: “The hay is in the barn.”
It means the work is done. You cannot build fitness in the last 10 days of the season. You can only maintain it—or ruin it. At this stage, you are no longer building the engine; you are tuning it.
The Taper Protocol:
- Volume Drop: We are slashing the mileage. We go from 100% volume down to about 60-70% over the final two weeks.
- Intensity Spike: While the miles drop, the intensity stays high (or goes higher). We want the legs fresh, but the nervous system sharp.
- The Trap: Do not let them leave the race in practice. They will feel good because of the extra rest. They will want to hammer the workouts. Restrain them. Save that fire for the course.
The Mental Game: Pressure vs. Privilege
I’ve seen state titles lost before the bus leaves the school because a team was paralyzed by anxiety.
The stakes are higher now—Divisionals, States, New Englands. But if you frame it as “Life or Death,” they will run tight. And tight runners are slow runners.
The Reframing: Tell them: “Pressure is a privilege. What you feel coursing through your veins is not something to be scared of, it’s jet fuel.” But also remind them: It’s just running. The sun will rise tomorrow regardless of the result. You will continue to value each of them and support them no matter what. When they release the burden of “having” to win, they are free to just run fast.
Strategy: Dance with the One Who Brought You
Now is not the time to reinvent the wheel.
If you have a runner who succeeds by sitting and kicking, do not tell them to lead the first mile at States. Sit down with your athletes and review their “Greatest Hits” from the season.
- Which race felt the easiest?
- What strategy did we use?
- Great. Do exactly that again.
Confidence Workout: In the final week, I like to give them their “Favorite Workout.” Not the hardest one—the one that makes them feel like a superhero. A confident runner is a dangerous runner. A Threshold run with some race pace 200s is usually a crowd pleaser.
The Invisible Opponent: The Late Season Flu
You can have the fittest team in the state, but if the flu sweeps through the locker room three days before the meet, it’s over.
As the temperature drops and school stress rises, immune systems crash.
- The Rules: Wash your hands. Take your multi-vitamins.
- Sleep is the Secret Weapon: It’s better to get 9 hours of sleep than to do a 20-minute shakeout run if you’re feeling run down.
- Prehab: Keep doing the core work and the form drills. Just because the mileage is down doesn’t mean the little things stop.
Bonding: Low Impact, High Morale
We need to keep the team tight, but we also need to keep them off their feet. No ultimate frisbee. No hiking. No preseason basketball practices.
Approved Activities:
- The Movie Night: Put on McFarland, USA, or Long Green Line, or Chariots of Fire. There is something about watching runners fight for every inch that gets the adrenaline going.
- The Pumpkin Carve: It’s October/November. Get the team together to carve pumpkins. Make it a contest: “Best Running-Themed Jack-o’-Lantern.” It sits them down, chills them out, and builds that family bond without burning calories. This is an awesome activity when pared with a team dinner.
The Final Send-Off
Hopefully, you are standing at the end of the season looking at a group of young men and women who crushed their “Process Goals.” Maybe the “Outcome Goals” happened, maybe they didn’t. That’s sports.
But if they are standing on that line healthy, sharp, and bonded as a family, you’ve done your job.
Tell them you’re proud of them. Tell them the hay is in the barn. Then get out of the way and let them run. Don’t say too much. You don’t need to hype them up, they know where they are. Just watch your kids run and cheer them on to the finish line.
See you on the podium.
