Coaching in a Championship

SeasonJam

ie Kirkpatrick, Edina High School (Minnesota)

A small change…

Coaching in a Championship Season

Preparing fortheCham

pionship Season

Edina High School Profile

•Large high school (~700 per grade)•Very affluent •Studentshighly engaged

inallactivates

•7th-12th grade cross country program w

ith about 140 boys in 2016•Top athletes generally train year round•In season training volum

e typically 45-60 MPW

•Imm

ediate training grounds mostly asphalt &

concrete with som

e rolling hills

Edina High Boys Cross Country Program

Structure

Head Coach

VarsityHead Coach &

2 assistants

Junior VarsityLead coach &

2 assistants

Middle School

Lead coach & 1

assistant

~25athletes

Expect CCto

betop

extracurricular priority

Determined m

ore by dedication that ability

~60 athletes~55 athletes

Areasofconsideration to maxim

ize Cham

pionship season performance

•Selectingcom

petitions•Approach to non-cham

pionship races•Approach

tocham

pionshipraces

•Risk factors (and mitigation strategies) forpoor perform

ance•Training progression –

2013 season as an example

•As a general theme, w

e don’tmake big changesto

ourapproach to training and racing as the com

petitions get “more im

portant”

Selecting competitions –

2017 schedule

DateCom

petitionTeam

sBenefit

Saturday, September 2

Spartan Challenge (Iowa)

Appx. 20Great course, rew

ards patience, practice travel

Saturday, September 16

Heartland Classic (Iowa)

Appx. 35Large field, gets out hard (w

ork on discipline), travel

Saturday, September 23

GriakAppx. 55

Large, deep field, great NXR cohort

Tuesday, October 3

Chaska LionsAppx. 30

Fun, local meet –

not always on schedule

Friday, October 6

Halftime M

ile2

FUN

Thursday, October 12

Lake Conference Championship

5W

ednesday, October 25

Section 6AA Championship

15Saturday, N

ovember 2

Minnesota State Cham

pionship16

Sunday, Novem

ber 10N

XR Heartland (South Dakota)Appx. 40

Saturday, December 2

NXN

(Oregon)

22

Approach to non-championship races

•Stress process/execution over results•If needed, experim

ent early and learn from m

istakes•Asm

uchas possible, don’t spend too m

uch emotional energy

•Practicew

hatwe

willbe

doinglater

•Travel to races -they are “business trips”

•Stay

inhotels

•Do

pre-meetsatthe

course

Approach to championship races

•Do what w

e have already done.

2013 NXR Heartland M

ile 1: 12th(322 points)

Mile 2: 3

rd(167 points)Finish: 1

st(106 points)

2013 Griak1k: 19

th(587 points)3K: 4

th(301 points)Finish: 2

nd(192 points)

2013 NXN 1k: 22

nd(621 points)2k: 21

st(412 points)3k: 12

th(304 points)4k: 8

th(250 points)

Finish: 10th(263 points)

Risk factors / Mitigation strategy for poor

performance

#1 priority is getting to the starting line healthy and happy

•Risk factor 1: Injury•

Active Pre-habstrategy

•Erroron

theside

of caution•

Strongconnection to athletic trainer

•Risk factor 2: Illness•

Flushots

•Prioritizing sleep

•Avoid hard efforts if an athlete is sick (m

inimize duration)

•Regular rem

inders to wash hands/don’t share drinks/etc

(comm

on sense stuff)

Risk factors / Mitigation strategy for poor

performance, cont.

#1 priority is getting to the starting line healthy and happy

•Risk factor 3: Fatigue / being on downw

ard trend•

Extra rest following hard efforts

•Prioritizing sleep

(again)•

Reductionofothersources of stress

•Stay

ahead on academics

•Don’tintroduce

“new”things

•Risk factor 4: Thinking you have to reinvent the wheel

2013 Edina Top-7 Profile

Athletes2013 Cross Country 5K

2013 Track PRs

2012 Cross Country

5KM

att Lumbar, Senior

15:424:24, 9:30

16:12Logan Ram

let, Junior15:48

4:28, 9:5816:02

Jon Shirley, Sophomore

16:014:39, 9:59

16:31Henry Jessen, Senior

16:174:45, 10:08

17:12David Ellenberger, Senior

16:024:49, 10:17

17:28Luke Lum

bar, Senior16:42

4:49, 10:1916:21

Sam Thom

as, Sophomore

16:324:57, 10:31

17:28

•2ndM

N State meet, N

XR Heartland Champions, 10

th

•Still improving after 5 m

onths of training

General them

es in training progression

•Stress continuous improvem

ent over “peaking”•Typesofw

orkoutsaresim

ilar all season with som

e tweaking &

slight reduction in volum

e•Very

feww

orkout where athletes “go deep”

•More

recoverydays after races / w

orkouts later in season•

More

“combination w

orkout” later to continue hit all desired paces

2013 Training and Racing ScheduleM

ondayTuesday

Wednesday

ThursdayFriday

SaturdaySunday

August 12, 201370-80 m

inutes hilly terain5-8 x K @

LT + 4 x 200

10 Miles M

edium &

Short Hills

8-12 x 400 @ 5K

recoveryAlum

ni Race(2-m

ile race)

August 19, 201370-80 m

inutes hilly terain18-24 track tem

po & Short

Hills 10 M

iles Medium

& Short

Hills 7 -10 x 600 @

5Krecovery

12-13 miles flat dirt trails

August 26, 20132-3 x (2K, 1k)

10 Miles M

edium &

Short Hills

6 x 800 @ 5K

Pre Meet

Irish Invite(2-m

ile race)10-11 m

iles flat dirt trails

September 2, 2013

70-80 with last 40-50

moderate on hills

10 Miles M

edium3-4 m

ile track progression + 300s

recoveryPre M

eet (run course)Spartan Challenge

September 9, 2013

11 Miles M

edium

10 Miles M

edium

20-25: Track Tempo

recovery4 x M

ile @ 5K

75-85 Minutes -rolling hills

September 16, 2013

10 x 50010 M

iles Medium

5-7 x K @

LT + 4 x 200

recoveryPre M

eet (run course)Heartland Classic

September 23, 2013

10-11.5 miles w

/ 3-4 x 1.5 m

iles @ ST

9 miles easy

3 x K @ LT

+ 4x400, 4x200recovery

Pre Meet (run course)

Griak

September 30, 2013

10 Miles M

edium

7 x K @ 10K

+ 4 x 20060 m

inutes easy11-12 M

iles w

/ Last 3 Progressive on track

recovery10 m

inute tempo run + 10 x

500

2013 Training and Racing ScheduleM

ondayTuesday

Wednesday

ThursdayFriday

SaturdaySunday

October 7, 2013

3 x K @ LT

+ 4x400, 4x200recovery

Pre Meet

Lake Conference Cham

pionshiprecovery

10 miles hilly terain

October 14, 2013

10-11 Miles

w/ Last 2-3 Progressive on

trackrecovery

2K + 6-8 x 5009 m

iles medium

recovery4 x K + 5 x 300

October 21, 2013

1K + 7 x 200Pre M

eetSection 6AA

Championship

recovery9 m

iles medium

10-11 Miles

w/ Last 2.5 Progressive on

track

October 28, 2013

2K, 500, 1K, 2 x 500recovery

3 x K + 7 x 200recovery

Pre Meet (run course)

Minnesota State

Championship

November 4, 2013

10 Miles w

/ last 2 Progressive on track

8 miles m

ediumrecovery

3 x K + 7 x 200recovery

Pre Meet (run course)

NXR Heartland

November 11, 2013

OFF

10 Miles M

edium

recovery11-12 M

iles w

/ Last 3 Progressive on track

recovery7 x K

+ 4 x 200recovery

November 18, 2013

10 Miles M

edium

2K + 6-8 x 500recovery

Mile Tim

e Trial vs Wayzata

recovery11-12 m

iles easy

November 25, 2013

3 x K + 7 x 200recovery

Pre Meet

Turkey Trotrecovery

recovery10 M

iles w/ last 2

Progressive on track

December 2, 2013

8 miles m

ediumrecovery

3 x K + 7 x 200recovery

Pre Meet (run course)

NXN