CJJ Media provides the best education for high school runners, their parents, and coaches.
04/17/2026
As you enter the part of the season where the weather is nice, the races will be fast, and you’re ready to PR…
don’t focus on running a PR.
“What? You said I’m ready to PR!”
Beat the people next to you and run down people in front of you. When you compete and focus on racing, the PRs take care of themselves.
Complete!
04/16/2026
I love this concept from
Everyone wants to run the big PR. It’s April and that’s the right aspiration.
But you should also want to keep racking up solid races. The “ceiling” - the big PR - is what we focus on. But if you raise the “floor” - your “I can run this any time I toe the line” - you’re going to run a big PR by the end of the year. Patience and consistency are important words in mid-April.
Thanks for this framework, Steve!
🔑
03/04/2026
High School Track Coaches
Be honest that if kids stay injury-free all season, and are fired up to race every time they toe the line, they will run BIG PRs.
You don’t coach Sinclaire Johnson or Cole Hocker. Their training requires complexity that your sophomore who is talented but didn’t run this winter doesn’t need.
Keep kids healthy and they’ll run fast.
02/23/2026
High School Track Athletes:
The opportunity to compete in high school track is a gift. Don't assume you'll have more fun as a collegiate athlete or as a fast adult road racer.
Focus on the next meet and savor the chance to compete in your school's uniform.
Let's go!
High School Track Coaches: Are you using the term "speed work?"
If so, what do you mean when you say that?
Here's a short intro into why I think that terms isn't particularly useful. I've got a full 13 min video that you can find in my feed where I explain in detail why you need the mental model of "race pace work" when you think about training, if you want your kids to run big PRs this spring.
02/23/2026
High School Track Coaches:
"Coach: Why do you assign strides in the last 20 min of a long run?"
• We want athletes running with good posture when they're tired; strides help with this.
• We need to "Rev the Engine" as often as possible.
• Strides help athletes be mentally engaged when they're tired.
High School Track Coaches: What do you mean when you say "speed work?" There is a better term you can use this track season, one that will help you frame all the track workouts you need to be doing to set kids up to run big PRs.
02/21/2026
High School Runners:
If you are assigned a run, post-run work, a cross-training day, a weight room session, etc., and you fail to do it, be honest that you're not following your coach's plan.
The best athletes do all the assignments.
Make sure you're doing the same.
Let's Go!
High School Track Coaches - A great 800m workout this time of year is Frank Gagliano's Lane Fartlek. Here's why it's much better than long runs for buidling the 800m runner's aerobic engine.
02/20/2026
High School Track Coaches:
We don’t do post-run general strength and mobility because we like it or for the sake of doing more work.
We do it to...
Decreases chance of injury
Which leads to...
Consistency in training.
The key is to value consistency, which makes the “why” of post-run work obvious.
800m Splits to Break 2:20 and 2:00
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The 800m is a positive split race — the best performances at every level come from running the first lap faster than the second, with a 2–3 second differential being ideal.
Break the race into three segments: run the first 200m aggressively, stay relaxed from 200m to 500m, then “compete” in the final 300m.
Practice running race pace — just like coaches in other sports have athletes practice game situations at game speed, your 800m runners must rehearse PR splits in training.
Don’t overcorrect a slower second lap. If the differential is 2–3 seconds, you’re right on; only worry if it’s 5+ seconds.
Early-season splits will have a larger gap between laps — that’s normal. The second-lap fitness comes around by May without changing the first-lap approach.
