Should Your Kids Run A "Rust-Buster"?

Published March 5, 2025

This is a short email about a term we’ve all heard, and likely used ourselves: the “rust buster” race.

The rust buster is the first race of the year, one where both the athlete and coach have low expectations. The rationale is that the athlete hasn’t raced in months and that they need to “get a race under their belt” before they can chase PRs.

I’ve used this term for many years, and for younger athletes and athletes new to the sport, it’s super useful. But I don’t think it’s the right concept for your athletes who’ve been training hard the past 2-3 months.

Let me explain.

If They Revved the Engine This Winter…

If your kids did all the “engine revving work this winter,” then they are neuromuscularly prepared to run a solid 1600m or 3200m.

Specifically, kids who’ve been with you since January should have completed a substantial amount of work at those paces, as well as at 800m pace. Those same kids were likely doing a steady dose of challenging aerobic workouts, so they have a solid “aerobic engine.”

If the athlete has a big engine and has done plenty of strides at 800m pace, then 1600m rhythm and 3200m rhythm will feel slow, and therefore they can run a solid race in their first meet.

Will this first race hurt? Yes. Races hurt.

Will they PR the first race of the year? Probably not, though several coaches who use my system have emailed this winter excited to share the stories of kids who opened up the season with a PR indoors.

But are they ready to handle 1600m and 3200m pace – which is slow compared to the 800m pace they’re run multiple times a week for months? Absolutely!

Plus, because they’ve been training for months – doing weekly long runs and challenging aerobic workouts – they likely have the mental fortitude to endure races that are only a few minutes long.

“Yikes…I Think We’re Behind!”

If your kids aren’t running strides 3-4 times a week, and haven’t progressed to 800m pace strides (and ideally 400m pace), then yes, they’re behind.

What do you do in this scenario?

You should write out a progression of strides that’s safe and, as soon as possible, get them running 800m pace strides (and then you’ll move to 400m pace running, which can first be done with 150m In-n-outs).

To be clear, you must write a safe progression of this work. You can’t have kids do 6x150m at 800m pace tomorrow if they’ve done zero strides at 3200m and 1600m pace as of today.

Progression of Strides PDF

Here you go – just download this PDF for a safe progression that takes kids from running 5k rhythm tomorrow to running 800m rhythm as soon as possible.

“My Kids Have Done Strides All Winter. What Race Should They Run?”

The answer is simple: what are they neuromuscularly prepared to run?

If they’ve only done strides for a couple of weeks, and most of them are at 1600m pace or last season’s 800m pace, then it makes sense to put them in the 1600m or 3200m. They’re ready for those paces.

Often coaches have a 1600m runner in the 800m in the first week or two of the season. This isn’t the best idea if the athlete hasn’t done a lot of strides at that pace, and hasn’t run some of those strides faster than that pace (i.e., 400m rhythm).

Typically, kids who have trained all winter have a decent aerobic engine, and they’ve done some amount of chassis building work.

What they often haven’t done is all the “engine revving” work. Assuming they can focus for eight laps, a male 1600m runner may be best served running the 3200m in their first race.

“But I Thought You Weren’t a Fan of Young Athletes Racing the 3200m?”

You’re right – I’m not.

I think the vast majority of your freshman and sophomores – who want to both run well this spring and run well this fall – are best served by focusing on the 1600m and 800m.

Focusing on the longer races for upperclassmen is great, but to run great 3200m races as a senior an athlete does not have to have specialized in that event as a freshman.

So for your freshman and sophomores, I’d have them run a 1600 meters and have them be really conservative for the first 800 meters.

As Niwot coach Kelly Christensen talked about in this video on the mental skills needs to run the 1600m, this first race is a great opportunity for kids to focus on the “third lap problem.” The entire video is a great resource for your athletes, but you can fast forward to the 42:20 mark to hear from Kelly.

You know immediately what that is—the pace settles on the third lap.

So tell them to:

Run two conservative laps
Really bear down and don’t let the pace settle on the third lap
When they get to the fourth lap, try to go "fast, faster, fastest" for the 300. That’s faster down the back stretch, faster on the second curve, and fastest for the last hundred meters.

Keep your expectations low with the splits for the last 300m as it'll be hard for them to shift gears in the first race.

But do have high expectations for kids to mentally be able to do this. Again, if they've trained this winter and done challenging aerobic workouts - in the cold, dark months - they can push hard the last 300m.

If You Have Strong 1600m Runners This Spring...

One of the fun things about the 1600m is this:

If you have five solid 1600m runners this spring, you will have five solid 5k runners this fall.

There are too many examples to choose from to show that this is the case. One that comes to mind is Timo Mostert’s American Fork Boys program, who has the national record in the 4x1600. They’re one of the best cross-country programs year in and year out, and they also run fantastic 1600s.

Let’s return to the key points of today’s email:

If you’re not doing strides with your kids, then use this progression of strides today. You may need to alter your training a bit the next three weeks to get in this work, but trust that taking things out to accommodate this progression is going to lead to faster times – and fewer injuries – in April and May.

If you have kids who have been consistent all winter, have them race with the expectation that they’re going to compete to the best of their ability and they may run faster than you might guess. I just wouldn’t put them in the 800 at this first meet, and I would have them in the 1600 or the 3200.

I hope your season is off to a good start!

Take good care,

Jay

PS...

“Best purchase ever! Especially for a newbie distance coach!!” - new Track Training System coach

March 5 is not too late to learn the system and set your team up for its best April and May ever.

Just reply to this email if you’re on the fence and have questions.