Runnin' Raiders:
I hope everyone is doing well in this frigid weather. The next few days will be on the treadmill, as it really doesn't make sense to run outside with windchills way below zero. I commend all of you that have been getting in the work on the treadmill, as it's certainly not always the most fun!
Surveys
I loved reading through all of the 2025 D-Crew surveys. Using your responses, I've put you into training groups based on your goals. Most of you have a reasonable range of goals, so you're basically in the group that aligns with your goals. If you see your name in a faster group than your goals, it just means I believe in you more than you believe in yourself.
If you don't find yourself in a training group it's because you didn't complete the survey. However don't fret, as there is a link to the survey in the training group page.
A couple of notes:
Training groups are for your personal training intensities; ie. how fast you should run in workouts.
Personal training volumes, or the minutes you run, are based on your grade, which you'll see in the daily training plan. You want to get as good as you can at each level of "minutes" and then bump up the next year. It's not good for your long-term development to skip steps on this ladder.
A primary function of being a good teammate is to make your groups better, so always do your best. We are not competing against one another; we're using each other to rise to the top.
Mileage
The number one KPI (key performance indicator) for HS kids is consistent weekly mileage. The trajectory of your running career will change when you start meeting these mileage goals for consecutive months.
Below you'll find a general guide for weekly mileage. Some of you may need to add a 30' AM run or two to meet your goals. You can run these "doubles" any day of the week.
The most important thing is to be CONSISTENT. You have nearly a 100% chance of injury when you're on an up and down teeter-totter of mileage or if you start from nothing and then try to jump in with your peers that have been training.
We log all of our mileage on Strava. This is a good tool for you to be accountable to yourself and your team.
Boys Mileage
* you may need to double to reach your weekly mileage targets
Sr- 50-55
Jr- 45-50
So- 40-45
Fr- 35-40
Girls Mileage
* you may need to double to reach your weekly mileage targets
Sr- 45-50
Jr- 40-45
So- 35-40
Fr- 30-35
Here is what consistent mileage looked like for the youngest Sub 4 miler in US history (Simeon Birnbaum)
Start Now
If you haven't started training consistently, I would recommend starting right after you read this! Your goal will simply be to run everyday and follow the workouts as much as you can, but with less volume. Increase volume by 5-10 miles each week until you get to the level for your grade. You'll feel terrible right now, but I'd rather get that heavy-legged fatigue out now than having it with you in April when you're trying to race!
Every day counts
There isn't a hierarchy of days that are more/less important; every day matters.
Our training is designed to improve all areas crucial for success. EVERYONE has individual strengths and weaknesses in different areas, so always do your best on each aspect of training. In ANY workout we do, you're either enhancing a strength or improving a weakness.
Here's a brief description for some different types of work we do and how it's designed to make you a better runner.
Mini-bands
injury prevention
movement prep/ muscle activation
Walking Drills
exaggerated range of motion to prepare for the run
naturally lengthen stride
Wall Drills
dynamic movement to improve the range of motion of muscles, tendons and fascia
how you get rid of funky stride patterns
Mileage (Easy & Moderate runs)
the foundation of long-term distance running success
responsible for all of the peripheral adaptations that helps runners generally improve
increased stroke volume, a greater network of capillaries, more mitochondria, etc.
Aerobic Power Development
physiologically the most predominant system for performance in events lasting longer than 90 seconds
Tempo, LT, CV (5k XC pace) and VO2 (3200m pace)
Essential for distance running success
Physiological intensities (not necessarily associated with race paces)
Speed Endurance
1600-800 and 400m race speeds, rhythms and efforts
mathematical paces
don't need a lot of this work
sprinkle in early and then focus on later in the season
Speed/ Hill Sprints & Plyo
improve your max sprint speed
can recruit this during the final kick in a race
raises your "floor" (ie. 100-200-400m speed)
Strength, Core & Rope Stretch
much of this work is designed for injury prevention
sometimes we use this work to accelerate recovery
strength training can improve running economy (use less energy per stride)
Timeline
As for a timeline, we are just a couple of weeks out of the official start of the track season and ONLY 40 days out from the first meet. There are about 36 training days in there, so not much time.
If you have hopes of making the bus for the Howard Wood meet in Sioux Falls trip or the State Meet later in May, you have to be in great shape early so that you can run marks that get you into these meets. You will have very limited chances for racing before Howard Wood, in particular, so if that race is a goal, you better get in gear!
40 days until the West River Developmental Meet
46 days until Douglas
53 days until the Queen City Classic (Spearfish)
59 days until Track-O-Rama
67 days until Pierre
Who will re-write the Stevens Top 10 Lists this season?
Each year, we want to shake up these record boards and add new kids to the list. I think we have about 5-6 kids on this year's team with the potential to be among Stevens' best ever.
Additionally, we have grade-level Top 10 Lists
Filter your grade
All-Time Top 10's (Stevens)
CBG's (Community-Building Groups)
Thank you for everyone that volunteered to be group leaders. We'll talk about these the first week of practice as one of the functions of these groups will be to integrate new kids to the D-Crew.
That's it for now! Looking forward to the season and seeing everyone when we officially get rolling!
Coach Coy