Long Runs for High School Runners: How to Keep Kids Injury-Free

00:00.24–00:02.23 High school cross-country coaches, it's

00:02.24–00:04.67 June. Let's talk about the long run.

00:04.68–00:07.35 Okay, I want you to hold two different

00:07.36–00:09.31 things at the same time.

00:09.32–00:11.31 I want you to say the long run in the

00:11.32–00:14.43 summer might be the most impactful thing

00:14.44–00:16.51 you can do to build the kids aerobic

00:16.52–00:17.47 engine. If you don't know what the

00:17.48–00:19.19 aerobic engine is, we talk about it in

00:19.20–00:20.75 Consistency's Key. I'll probably come

00:20.76–00:22.99 back to the book later. We know that a

00:23.00–00:25.59 high school cross-country race, 95% of

00:25.60–00:27.15 that energy is going to come from the

00:27.16–00:29.87 aerobic metabolism. So, we're going to

00:29.88–00:31.79 look at the long run as possibly the

00:31.80–00:34.03 most impactful thing you can do over a

00:34.04–00:36.23 7-day or 10-day period to build that

00:36.24–00:38.03 aerobic engine.

00:38.04–00:39.59 I also want you to think that you can

00:39.60–00:42.39 injure kids, you can hurt kids, you can

00:42.40–00:44.19 have kids miss weeks and weeks in the

00:44.20–00:47.03 summer, maybe even have an injury that's

00:47.04–00:48.39 going to last them throughout the fall,

00:48.40–00:49.55 and maybe they miss the entire

00:49.56–00:51.51 cross-country season cuz you screw up

00:51.52–00:53.03 the long run. Now,

00:53.04–00:54.75 as I'm saying that, that's a little bit

00:54.76–00:56.43 It's almost a little bit adversarial,

00:56.44–00:58.67 but and I don't mean it that way, but I

00:58.68–01:00.55 want you to be really honest as a high

01:00.56–01:02.91 school coach that it's up to you to keep

01:02.92–01:04.95 kids injury free, okay? I'm a

01:04.96–01:06.95 50-year-old man who was a high school

01:06.96–01:09.27 runner in the 1990s. We assumed that

01:09.28–01:11.51 injuries were part of the sport. I was a

01:11.52–01:13.63 college runner in the 1990s. We assumed

01:13.64–01:15.07 that injuries were part of the sport,

01:15.08–01:17.03 and it might be for college runners. You

01:17.04–01:18.67 could argue a college runner has to get

01:18.68–01:21.07 really close to that edge, right? Of

01:21.08–01:23.27 figuring out, "Hey, what's the most I

01:23.28–01:25.55 can train and stay injury free?" And

01:25.56–01:27.91 then if you cross that, for me I crossed

01:27.92–01:29.91 it spring of my

01:29.92–01:31.27 freshman year and into my sophomore

01:31.28–01:32.91 year, but then I was able to stay

01:32.92–01:34.39 healthy the rest of my career in

01:34.40–01:35.59 college, right? And that's kind of how

01:35.60–01:37.23 it works. But, if we go back to this

01:37.24–01:38.95 long run idea,

01:38.96–01:40.55 the reason in my cross-country training

01:40.56–01:42.55 system we're doing a long run in week

01:42.56–01:43.55 one,

01:43.56–01:45.07 and we're only doing two challenging

01:45.08–01:46.83 workouts a week, and the long run is one

01:46.84–01:48.35 of them, right? We're only We're not

01:48.36–01:50.23 trying to do three workouts a week, just

01:50.24–01:52.23 two, and we're using the long run as one

01:52.24–01:54.19 of those hard days. So, obviously I

01:54.20–01:57.03 value it. Obviously I think that in the

01:57.04–01:59.47 summer it's one of the most important

01:59.48–02:01.91 ways to build the aerobic engine, but

02:01.92–02:04.99 you need to take the word long out of

02:05.00–02:06.95 what we're calling this workout for your

02:06.96–02:09.47 younger kids, right? If you have a kid

02:09.48–02:12.19 who's an incoming freshman

02:12.20–02:14.27 and they didn't run track

02:14.28–02:15.87 and I'm pausing here, so there's really

02:15.88–02:17.59 something said, right? They didn't run

02:17.60–02:19.59 track, they didn't play another sport.

02:19.60–02:21.67 Let's say it's week three for them and

02:21.68–02:23.79 they're doing a 30-minute long run. They

02:23.80–02:26.75 They went from zero to a 30-minute long

02:26.76–02:28.99 run. That really is a really long run

02:29.00–02:31.67 and it could even be too long for them.

02:31.68–02:33.55 Now, I'm not

02:33.56–02:34.51 I'm

02:34.52–02:35.79 you're either on the other side of the

02:35.80–02:37.35 camera or you're you're on the other

02:37.36–02:38.87 side of this microphone listening to

02:38.88–02:40.63 this or watching this. Obviously, I

02:40.64–02:42.51 don't know your program. Obviously, I

02:42.52–02:44.63 don't know where these kids started. You

02:44.64–02:46.47 might have kids who ran kids who are

02:46.48–02:48.67 going into their junior or senior year.

02:48.68–02:49.63 They've been running with you for

02:49.64–02:51.63 multiple years. They had a great state

02:51.64–02:53.55 meet, ran middle of May, third week in

02:53.56–02:55.87 May, maybe last week in May and they're

02:55.88–02:57.67 they're taking two or three weeks off

02:57.68–02:59.83 and then they're they're doing 60, 70,

02:59.84–03:01.55 80-minute long runs in track. All of a

03:01.56–03:03.47 sudden, a 30-minute run is not a long

03:03.48–03:05.39 run. But, I really want you to look at

03:05.40–03:07.91 that freshman kid or basically somebody

03:07.92–03:09.51 who just finished eighth grade going

03:09.52–03:11.67 into their freshman year as well as the

03:11.68–03:13.87 athlete who's only been running with you

03:13.88–03:15.59 for a year. Let's say they didn't run in

03:15.60–03:18.15 the summer prior to their freshman year.

03:18.16–03:20.27 Let's say they ran fall cross country,

03:20.28–03:21.99 weren't really consistent in the winter,

03:22.00–03:23.95 didn't run much, came out for track as a

03:23.96–03:26.67 freshman. Man, that's an athlete who

03:26.68–03:28.51 really hasn't run that much in their

03:28.52–03:31.07 life. So, coaches, I want and I didn't

03:31.08–03:32.03 know why I'm saying coaches. There's

03:32.04–03:33.35 just one of you. There's me and you

03:33.36–03:34.91 right here. I want you to take the word

03:34.92–03:37.87 long and I don't want you to equate long

03:37.88–03:39.43 with important.

03:39.44–03:42.67 The longest run in their week. And

03:42.68–03:44.35 longest for some kids could be a

03:44.36–03:46.51 25-minute run. Could be a 30-minute run.

03:46.52–03:48.63 Now, here's how I like to progress this.

03:48.64–03:50.63 Let's say you did have a kid where you

03:50.64–03:52.75 felt like their long run should be 40

03:52.76–03:54.75 minutes in week one. The other thing I

03:54.76–03:56.51 want you to say is, "Hey, I'm It's

03:56.52–03:58.39 middle of June now. Let's say they ran

03:58.40–04:00.43 40 minutes this week. What if you did a

04:00.44–04:03.71 progression of 40 minutes, then 42, then

04:03.72–04:08.99 45, then 48, then 50, then 52, then 50

04:09.00–04:10.91 and go on and on and you want to maybe

04:10.92–04:12.83 want to make bigger jumps."

04:12.84–04:15.43 But coach, let me ask you this. If you

04:15.44–04:17.35 go from 40

04:17.36–04:20.03 to 45 the next week,

04:20.04–04:21.59 do the math really quick on what

04:21.60–04:23.47 percentage that was. Okay, I'm going to

04:23.48–04:24.67 let you do the math. I'm going to take a

04:24.68–04:29.11 sip of water and let you do the math.

04:29.12–04:31.99 It was over 10%.

04:32.00–04:33.71 Right? And if that doesn't seal feel

04:33.72–04:35.19 like that big deal, let me ask you, do

04:35.20–04:37.11 you go run? Right? What if we said,

04:37.12–04:39.87 "Hey, you're doing a 10-mile run one day

04:39.88–04:41.55 and then we're doing 11 the next week

04:41.56–04:43.63 and then 12 the next week and then 13

04:43.64–04:45.83 and then 14 and 15." That's a really

04:45.84–04:48.03 that that's just an unsafe way to build

04:48.04–04:51.19 volume. Now, maybe and what I'm trying

04:51.20–04:54.79 to say is if you went 40 to 44 to 48 and

04:54.80–04:56.87 then now you're in now you jump up to 55

04:56.88–05:00.23 or 60. If you go to 40 to 60 too quick,

05:00.24–05:02.67 that's a 50% jump. And again, if you're

05:02.68–05:04.91 a middle-aged runner and you're

05:04.92–05:06.03 you ran in high school, you ran in

05:06.04–05:08.43 college, maybe you still run. I think we

05:08.44–05:10.71 don't understand. This is my thesis

05:10.72–05:12.23 going all the way back to when I made

05:12.24–05:14.15 these DVDs called building a better

05:14.16–05:16.11 runner, building from the ground ground

05:16.12–05:18.15 up. And I almost took almost took credit

05:18.16–05:19.99 for something that wasn't my idea. So,

05:20.00–05:22.35 Mike Smith, not Northern Arizona Mike

05:22.36–05:23.95 Smith, my friend Mike Smith who's the

05:23.96–05:26.35 coach at West Point, he explained to me

05:26.36–05:28.63 that kids aren't running and jumping and

05:28.64–05:30.15 they're not outside and he would always

05:30.16–05:32.59 use the example of playing kick the can,

05:32.60–05:34.35 right? If you're middle-aged, you know

05:34.36–05:36.27 that that game, capture the flag, kick

05:36.28–05:38.19 the can. We didn't have screens, we were

05:38.20–05:40.11 more active. And it for me it was just

05:40.12–05:41.87 as simple as I rode my bike to the

05:41.88–05:44.07 tennis court, played tennis, then I went

05:44.08–05:46.71 to basketball camp. So, I I lived in a

05:46.72–05:47.83 neighborhood where we couldn't play

05:47.84–05:49.23 those games, but I was moving all the

05:49.24–05:50.31 time.

05:50.32–05:52.63 When I went from somebody who was

05:52.64–05:54.75 running 30 mi a week in high school to

05:54.76–05:57.95 then running 14 mi on Magnolia Road,

05:57.96–06:01.07 what, 6 months late 5 months later?

06:01.08–06:03.47 And then with and then 12 months later

06:03.48–06:06.39 was running 80 85 mi a week in singles

06:06.40–06:08.87 and didn't get hurt, I basically had a

06:08.88–06:10.95 strong chassis. Obviously, we talked

06:10.96–06:12.95 about that and consistency is key. We're

06:12.96–06:14.35 talking about building the aerobic

06:14.36–06:17.63 engine. But, our chassis were stronger

06:17.64–06:20.07 back in the 1990s. If you if you're in

06:20.08–06:22.51 your early 40s or late 30s, your chassis

06:22.52–06:25.31 was stronger in the 2000s. These kids

06:25.32–06:27.19 now,

06:27.20–06:28.87 especially if they haven't played other

06:28.88–06:30.39 sports, but even if they have played

06:30.40–06:32.07 other sports, they're just not as

06:32.08–06:34.63 strong. No their bone structure, they're

06:34.64–06:36.59 just not as strong. So, you give them

06:36.60–06:38.19 all this volume and you're you're

06:38.20–06:40.63 thinking, "Hey, 40 to 60, that's not

06:40.64–06:42.27 that big a jump. That's what I did as an

06:42.28–06:43.43 athlete." Now, you have all these kids

06:43.44–06:45.07 hurting you can't figure out why. It's

06:45.08–06:46.31 because you're not progressing them

06:46.32–06:49.27 slowly. The story with the 40-minute

06:49.28–06:52.75 runner, you can get to 60 or more.

06:52.76–06:53.87 But, the other thing I want you to

06:53.88–06:55.83 consider is this. Kids aren't running

06:55.84–06:57.15 long runs fast enough. One of the

06:57.16–06:59.03 biggest reasons my my cross country

06:59.04–07:01.63 training system works is we don't just

07:01.64–07:03.79 we don't just run for 40 minutes or 50

07:03.80–07:05.75 minutes or 60 minutes on that long run.

07:05.76–07:07.67 We get going. We're getting after a

07:07.68–07:09.79 little bit. Now, not the same mentality

07:09.80–07:11.83 we had at running CU during the Running

07:11.84–07:13.59 with the Buffaloes days. It's not that

07:13.60–07:16.03 intense, but here's how we might do a

07:16.04–07:18.19 50-minute run. We're going to take the

07:18.20–07:21.59 first 25 to 30 minutes conversational

07:21.60–07:24.15 enjoying our friends enjoying chatting

07:24.16–07:26.51 with our friends. Now, from the from the

07:26.52–07:29.23 30-minute mark to the 15-minute mark,

07:29.24–07:31.55 we're going to do four to five strides,

07:31.56–07:33.87 maybe 20 seconds, maybe 25 seconds.

07:33.88–07:36.15 We're going to build up to 5K rhythm and

07:36.16–07:38.91 we're going to run that rhythm, okay?

07:38.92–07:41.03 Now, they can take as much time as they

07:41.04–07:43.35 need till the next stride. So, it's not

07:43.36–07:44.75 We're not stopping and doing strides.

07:44.76–07:46.83 We're doing strides in the long run.

07:46.84–07:48.47 That That's a wrinkle to my training.

07:48.48–07:50.07 You can get all this training for free

07:50.08–07:52.03 depending on what platform you're walk

07:52.04–07:53.31 watching this on. There'll be a link

07:53.32–07:55.27 where you can get it for free. Now, if

07:55.28–07:57.55 you think about it, if you sped up from

07:57.56–08:01.63 minute 30 to 30 minutes and 25 seconds,

08:01.64–08:03.71 when you go back to easy run pace, you

08:03.72–08:06.31 actually don't slow down a ton. And you

08:06.32–08:07.75 And you're just feeling good. Your legs

08:07.76–08:09.19 are moving. Obviously, you've been

08:09.20–08:10.51 running for a while.

08:10.52–08:12.23 So, it becomes what some people might

08:12.24–08:14.55 call a fast finish long run. Some people

08:14.56–08:16.55 might call a progression long run. Now,

08:16.56–08:18.55 it's really two chunks. It's that first

08:18.56–08:20.59 30 minutes and that and then that last

08:20.60–08:23.31 20, but the pace increases. Now, the

08:23.32–08:25.23 athlete is doing that, going back to

08:25.24–08:27.03 their 40-minute run. Now, they build up

08:27.04–08:29.23 to the 50-minute run. I would argue by

08:29.24–08:31.47 the time they're at 50 to 55 minutes in

08:31.48–08:33.63 my system, they're running a really

08:33.64–08:35.79 high-level aerobic workout. And if

08:35.80–08:38.11 you're listening to this saying, "Hey,

08:38.12–08:40.11 you 40 minutes is not long." We've

08:40.12–08:42.19 already thrown that idea out the window.

08:42.20–08:43.99 It's the longest run. So, for this

08:44.00–08:45.67 athlete, it's appropriate. And you're

08:45.68–08:47.11 saying Jay saying, "I might only

08:47.12–08:50.67 progress them from 40 to 42, 42 to 45,

08:50.68–08:54.39 45 to 48, 48 to 50." So, if my math's

08:54.40–08:56.39 right, we got We went from 40 to 50, but

08:56.40–08:58.59 it took us 6 weeks. And what I do in the

08:58.60–09:00.47 training is I usually keep them

09:00.48–09:02.27 sometimes at one of those numbers in

09:02.28–09:04.91 week four to five. So, we might stay at

09:04.92–09:07.15 48 two weeks in a row. So, maybe it

09:07.16–09:09.15 takes us even longer. But if you're

09:09.16–09:12.35 doing this right, the longest run of the

09:12.36–09:13.59 week,

09:13.60–09:15.11 now and I think we can call it a long

09:15.12–09:17.47 run for some kids if it's 50 minutes,

09:17.48–09:19.99 is really up tempo, right? And they're

09:20.00–09:22.55 getting that wonderful aerobic stimulus.

09:22.56–09:23.79 And then another thing we do, we'll talk

09:23.80–09:25.75 about this in another podcast, video,

09:25.76–09:27.27 whatever you want to call this thing,

09:27.28–09:29.31 then we'll quote extend the aerobic

09:29.32–09:30.71 stimulus. We're going to go straight

09:30.72–09:32.39 into our post-run work. We've got to

09:32.40–09:34.35 strengthen the chassis. What did we just

09:34.36–09:37.11 say? We said these kids are weak,

09:37.12–09:38.67 right? Their body's weak. So, we got to

09:38.68–09:40.27 get We've got to do the post-run work.

09:40.28–09:41.31 You already know that. If you're

09:41.32–09:43.63 watching it If you're 12 minutes into

09:43.64–09:45.15 this, you know you need to do post-run

09:45.16–09:46.39 work. You might not know what you need

09:46.40–09:48.79 to do. We'll talk about that later. But,

09:48.80–09:50.47 there's a way you can go straight into

09:50.48–09:51.51 it.

09:51.52–09:53.47 Outside my window here, it's 90° in

09:53.48–09:54.79 Denver. It's going to be even hotter

09:54.80–09:56.31 today.

09:56.32–09:58.55 It When it's warm outside, they've done

09:58.56–10:00.07 this 50-minute run. Heart rate is

10:00.08–10:02.35 elevated. They can get a quick drink of

10:02.36–10:04.07 water, go straight into the post-run

10:04.08–10:05.79 work. Maybe you've seen the Sam videos.

10:05.80–10:07.27 We do some things that are harder than

10:07.28–10:09.55 Sam, but it will Core-X. If you've seen

10:09.56–10:11.51 Core-X, that's what we're doing. Heart

10:11.52–10:13.51 rate is now elevated, and we call that

10:13.52–10:15.59 extending the aerobic stimulus. Because

10:15.60–10:17.55 we had the aerobic stimulus at the end

10:17.56–10:19.59 of the run, we barely took a break to

10:19.60–10:21.43 get that swig of water. Now, we've gone

10:21.44–10:23.55 straight into post-run work. If we had a

10:23.56–10:25.75 heart rate monitor on them, a chest

10:25.76–10:28.63 strap, which we don't need, but if we

10:28.64–10:30.55 had that, we would say see heart rate

10:30.56–10:33.15 staying high the entire time. Okay, that

10:33.16–10:34.43 was a lot. Tried to give you a lot of

10:34.44–10:36.07 value here. Sorry, I clapped in front of

10:36.08–10:38.15 the mic. That might have been bad. So, I

10:38.16–10:39.67 don't know what this is. Oh, and I

10:39.68–10:41.11 haven't introduced myself. My name is

10:41.12–10:43.67 Jay Johnson, and I help high school

10:43.68–10:45.75 coaches with training. We're starting

10:45.76–10:47.31 something new here called Next Mile

10:47.32–10:48.87 Recruiting. It's going to be awesome. It

10:48.88–10:50.91 is not a recruiting service. One of the

10:50.92–10:53.23 things, if you read the webpage, I

10:53.24–10:55.67 highlight that recruiting services and I

10:55.68–10:58.27 just have to say this, they are scams.

10:58.28–11:00.63 And to think that you can hire somebody

11:00.64–11:03.79 to get a student athlete a scholarship

11:03.80–11:05.51 or to get them on a team where they

11:05.52–11:07.15 haven't run fast enough to be on that

11:07.16–11:09.55 team, is just absolute garbage. If you

11:09.56–11:11.23 coach for a while, you know that.

11:11.24–11:12.59 Unfortunately, parents don't know that.

11:12.60–11:14.83 So, this is for parents who need to

11:14.84–11:16.15 understand the recruiting process.

11:16.16–11:17.67 Often, I'll talk about these things.

11:17.68–11:18.91 I'll talk about my cross country

11:18.92–11:21.19 training systems. I'll talk about Next

11:21.20–11:22.91 Mile Recruiting. But, what I wanted to

11:22.92–11:25.99 do with this first video is to be clear

11:26.00–11:28.79 that I don't have a cadence about around

11:28.80–11:30.59 how I'm going to do these. I'm doing one

11:30.60–11:33.47 today because I was getting a coffee and

11:33.48–11:35.23 I thought man, here we are mid-June

11:35.24–11:36.83 people are screwing up how they think of

11:36.84–11:38.47 the long run. They think that the term

11:38.48–11:40.99 long should always apply to the run and

11:41.00–11:43.83 I'm saying for that younger kid, 20, 25,

11:43.84–11:45.99 30 minutes is long. That's plenty long.

11:46.00–11:47.79 For the 40-minute kid, let's progress

11:47.80–11:49.63 them easily. They might only get to 60

11:49.64–11:51.31 minutes but may and they might even not

11:51.32–11:52.95 even get to 60. They might only get to

11:52.96–11:55.51 55 but they're going to be hustling.

11:55.52–11:57.67 They're going to be have a high level

11:57.68–12:00.03 aerobic workout once they get to that 50

12:00.04–12:01.03 range.

12:01.04–12:03.35 I'm going to try and do this so you can

12:03.36–12:05.59 absorb this and learn from this in any

12:05.60–12:08.11 platform. So both visual and audio, you

12:08.12–12:09.67 can listen to this as a podcast, you can

12:09.68–12:11.95 watch the video. Right now, I'm working

12:11.96–12:14.07 on next mile. I'm helping coaches who

12:14.08–12:15.31 bought the cross country training

12:15.32–12:17.39 system. So actually the easiest thing

12:17.40–12:19.19 for me is just to upload the video to

12:19.20–12:22.35 YouTube. So if you're basically I don't

12:22.36–12:23.99 know how quickly I can do the audio. I

12:24.00–12:25.87 need some help with that. But yeah,

12:25.88–12:27.71 we're going to do this. It's just going

12:27.72–12:29.51 to be it

12:29.52–12:31.51 I'll always try and keep it concise.

12:31.52–12:34.23 I'll always try and keep it off on topic

12:34.24–12:36.11 and it won't be highly edited. So if you

12:36.12–12:37.71 don't like this, if this isn't your cup

12:37.72–12:39.79 of tea, that's fine. Thanks for tuning

12:39.80–12:42.47 in and then obviously people say

12:42.48–12:44.63 subscribe. That's great because you're

12:44.64–12:46.71 I'm going to pop up in your feed. I'm

12:46.72–12:48.43 absolutely going to interact with

12:48.44–12:51.27 comments if they're an honest question

12:51.28–12:53.43 where somebody's truly looking for help.

12:53.44–12:55.43 Statements, often times people make

12:55.44–12:57.63 statements. I'm not going to engage with

12:57.64–12:59.31 statements. The algorithm would like it

12:59.32–13:00.83 if I engage with statements, right?

13:00.84–13:03.31 We're all getting baited into to

13:03.32–13:05.27 interacting with people online. I don't

13:05.28–13:06.83 do that. That's a waste of my time. But

13:06.84–13:08.59 if you have an honest question saying

13:08.60–13:11.39 Jay, why don't you do a long run where

13:11.40–13:13.79 it's 20% of weekly volume, I'll

13:13.80–13:15.19 absolutely answer that question. Why

13:15.20–13:17.31 don't we hold off on answering that

13:17.32–13:19.63 until somebody asks it in the comments.

13:19.64–13:22.35 Okay, thanks for tuning in. 16 minutes.

13:22.36–13:24.71 A time I could not run for 5K right now

13:24.72–13:27.55 which which somewhat embarrassing and

13:27.56–13:29.87 there is now it's a time where low 16

13:29.88–13:32.03 minutes is a time where probably

13:32.04–13:34.79 hundreds if not a thousand female

13:34.80–13:36.39 runners can run that on the track for

13:36.40–13:40.24 5K. Okay. Bye-bye.