The Right Post-season Training

Cross-country postseason plans depend on where your athletes are in their season. Some still have state championships ahead, while others are preparing for NXR.

What All Great Training Systems Share

Here's something I've noticed after 25 years of coaching and working with programs at every level:

The most successful training systems all include structured pace work, progressive overload, and systematic development. These approaches - whether built around zone-based training, or lactate threshold protocols, or VDOT formulas - have helped countless athletes reach their potential.

But here's what separates good programs from breakthrough programs in October and November:

The ability to adapt when it matters most.

The Race Pace Reality

At the end of the season, especially for athletes prepping for NXR, there's one thing that makes all the difference:

Race-specific preparation.

I can't tell you how many times I've worked with kids between their state meet and NXR who've had excellent seasons - structured training, solid progression, all the fundamentals in place. They ran well during the season, but weren't quite hitting those breakthrough performances we all know they're capable of.

After just a couple of weeks making targeted adjustments, they ran their best race of the season at NXR. Obviously they didn't gain meaningful aerobic fitness in this time. Rather, they were better prepared to run race pace when it counted.

The changes were super simple, and the results were kind of amazing.

First, we had them groove the race pace they'd need to hit at that big meet. Lots of volume at race pace to get them comfortable running that pace.

Second, we had them speed up at the end of workouts - following the Fast, Faster, Fastest approach I discuss in Consistency Is Key.

That's literally it.

This is exactly what they need to do in a race, right?

Maintain a solid pace, then find another gear.

These kids had fantastic aerobic engines - that wasn't the problem. The issue was that they'd gotten comfortable running at one pace. Their bodies needed to learn how to shift gears when fatigued.

The good news? This is actually pretty easy to fix with just a handful of workouts.

So if you have kids running another race or two this year, design workouts where they groove race pace for 80 percent of the workout, then speed up the last 20 percent of the workout.

The Feel-Based Approach

Here's another pattern I've seen across many training systems:

When athletes spend most of the season hitting assigned paces for the engine building workouts - threshold runs, long runs, CV reps or cruise intervals - something interesting can happen. When kids can't hit those prescribed paces, they either force it (running mini-race effort) or slow down. Either way, they end up feeling like they failed that day.

High school is tough enough already. On days when school is challenging, or when a friend is rude in the hallway, the athlete may not be able to have a great workout. We don't need to add extra pressure about hitting specific times in workouts that are just supposed to be building their aerobic engines.

Building the Engine

You can build an amazing aerobic engine with just five key workouts:

• Long runs
• Fartlek runs
• Progression runs
• Aerobic repeats
• 30-90 fartlek

These all teach kids to run by feel, which is absolutely crucial for cross country.

Here's an article that explains each workout in detail

If you didn’t do these workouts this fall, no worries - you can do them this winter, and then embrace running by feel for the next cross-country season.

Looking Ahead to Track

For those of you already thinking about track, there's one document you absolutely have to check out: the progression of strides.

I keep seeing coaches make two big mistakes with strides:

1. They skip them in week one.
2. They don't progress kids to 800m and 400m rhythm work soon enough.

I know a coach whose combined program wins state titles in the fall and track titles in the spring, as well as individual championships in both seasons.

When we shared a meal, he told me that if there is one thing a coach should implement from my approach to training it's the progression of strides.

Progression of Strides PDF

The Championship Season Difference

Here's the thing about training systems - starting with a structured, proven approach is absolutely the right move in your first years of coaching. Tons of successful coaches build their foundation this way.

But the best coaches know when it's time to add race-specific sharpening, especially during championship season. The structure gets you 90% of the way there. These final adaptations get you the last 10%.

Your NXR Game Plan

If you've got athletes heading to NXR, here's your game plan:

1. Focus on race-specific pace work right now.
2. Get them practicing Fast, Faster, Fastest within the race pace workouts.

They've put in the work all season building their engines - now it's time to sharpen those racing skills.

Trust that they have big aerobic engines and they don't need more of that work as much as they need work that'll have them comfortable at NXR race pace. They've built that aerobic base - now let's help them do something special at NXR.

Time to make it happen!

Essential Reading for Post-Season Planning

Break Between XC and Track

NXR-Brooks-Running Lane plans