Coach Messer, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions from the Colorado Coyotes Youth Running Club. You’re probably one of my favorite coaches to listen to via podcast, and I thank you as I have learned a ton! First, can you tell us about yourself?
First, I thank you for this wonderful opportunity to collaborate, share, and thus to collectively engage in order to enhance the education of both coaches and student-athletes.
I always learn through such interactions; accordingly, I feel very genuinely privileged to address your questions and consequently to extend my continuous learning through the process of reflection and writing.
Second, I emphasize my most heartfelt wish that you, your student-athletes, your club stakeholders / members, and all related family / friends are not only healthy but also safe as we continue to face a historic pandemic.
I am blessed to serve as both faculty in exercise physiology for the exercise science department at Mesa Community College, Mesa, Arizona and an assistant coach for boys’ cross-country / track-&-field at Desert Vista High School, Phoenix, Arizona.
I have twenty-two (22) years of coaching experience. The majority of my head coaching endeavors involved previous tenures with girls’ cross-country / track-&-field at Xavier College Preparatory, Phoenix, Arizona and the aforementioned Desert Vista High School.
My formal education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree (Economics, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut), a Master of Business Administration degree (Duke University, Durham, North Carolina), a Master of Science degree (Exercise Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona), and a Ph.D. degree (Exercise Physiology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona).
We are in a unique time with COVID-19 and most states have canceled high school spring sports, Colorado has not officially, but it seems inevitable. What type of training are you advising your high school xc runners to be doing in April & May, while most of us hope for a fall xc season?
Our current training foci include a primary emphasis on aerobic power development and a simultaneous, secondary (albeit ever-present) focus on speed development, running economy enhancement, improved mitochondrial quality (as distinct from quantity), and running-specific resistance training.
What’s your opinion on the current state of youth running, in particular middle school to high school runners? What are coaches now doing better than before and what things are coaches still doing that should change?
My intuition is that the current state of youth running is positive, progressive, and, in general, student-athlete-centered. That same intuition and corresponding experience lead me to conclude that youth coaches are (again, in general) increasingly focused on ongoing education that yields a foundation for continuous improvement as a coach, mentor, and educator. I sense that one area for potential caution is with respect to prioritizing short-term development of pre-high school (and, periodically, high school) student-athletes. My instinct is and preference would be to uncompromisingly, unequivocally focus on long-term student-athlete development. Such a focus requires, however, the previously-referenced commitment to self-education.
You talk a lot about long term development for high school runners. This is obviously easier for boys than girls. I observe a lot of girls who run their top times as freshman and sophomores and struggle to regain that form. What’s your approach to coaching girls so that they can improve each and every year and not end up frustrated due to lack of progress?
I have been blessed to coach wonderful, former student-athletes such as Haley Paul (Washington State University), Kari Hardt (Arizona State University), Tara {Erdmann} Welling (Loyola Marymount University), Jessica Tonn (Stanford University), Sarah {Penney} Whipple (University of Oregon), Kate Penney (University of Arizona), Jenna {Maack} Aguinaga (Arizona State University), Baylee Jones (Georgetown University), Amanda Davis (Northwestern University), Madi Bucci (Point Loma Nazarene University), and Dani Jones (University of Colorado) in addition to many other former student-athletes who have transitioned from interscholastic running to intercollegiate running.
Common themes that emerge from reflecting on my coaching experiences with those amazing young ladies include 1) an absence of intentional focus on short-term outcomes yet a relentless focus on short-term (and longer term) process 2) moderate, overall daily / weekly / seasonal / yearly training volumes and 3) exposure to various training modalities (speed development, for example,) that hopefully contribute to comprehensive preparation for subsequent college / university competitive running experiences.
With your PhD in Exercise Physiology you take a more scientific approach to running than most coaches. I’m curious if you spend much time explaining the science to your athletes or do you just develop the workouts and keep it simple?
I commit relatively minimal time to explaining the physiology and biochemistry that underlies our training program design and execution. Occasionally, I will have a student-athlete whose intellectual interests merit an exploration of such physiology and / or biochemistry. I am most definitely pleased to engage in related conversations. Much more common, however, is a desire among student-athletes to simply understand the foundational purpose of a training session in order to assimilate a broader connection to the overall structure and progression of a seasonal training plan.
You’re a big proponent of the long run. What day of the weeks are your runners typically doing the long run? What’s the progression of the long run look like for a talented girl from her freshman to senior year?
We execute the vast majority of our long, aerobic runs on Saturday mornings. The absence of obligatory Saturday academic commitments has proven to be very consistent with the extended practice duration that typically accompanies a long, aerobic run. In general, a freshman girl might execute a season-culminating long run of 45- to 80-minutes consequent to developmental level. By comparison, an experienced, varsity student-athlete might execute a season-culminating long run of 65- to 100-minutes. Again, the specific duration will reflect not only developmental level but also musculoskeletal capacity.
During the cross-country season what’s your philosophy on your top runners racing most weeks? It’s fascinating to me how some coaches will sit their top runners more often than others to allow for larger blocks of training but on the flip, racing is what kids enjoy the most. You also have coaches who have their athletes’ race, but advise them not to go all out, which is something I think is extremely difficult for a high school runner to execute.
Our varsity group student-athletes will typically compete in six (6) to seven (7) races per cross-country season. Younger, less-experienced, non-varsity student-athletes might compete as many as seven (7) to nine (9) times per season. My experience is that somewhat more frequent competitive endeavors afford a very robust learning opportunity for young, less-experienced student-athletes. In general, varsity student-athletes benefit from longer “blocks” of uninterrupted training that are integral to not only specific physiological adaptations but also allied psychological preparation for highly competitive cross-country racing.
Can you touch upon strength training for young runners, what type of lifts do you encourage and how often should high school runner’s strength train?
I very respectfully submit that it is not obligatory for high school (endurance) student-athletes to engage in weight-room-based resistance training. Body weight-based resistance training, for example, can not only amplify foundational muscular strength but also provide an excellent context for the movement pattern specificity and velocity (of movement) specificity that I believe should be embodied in all sport-specific resistance training. I correspondingly submit that there is good evidence within the broader sport science literature that movement pattern specificity and velocity (of movement) specificity demonstrate greater relative transfer to performance than relatively more general, non-specific resistance training.
Weight-room-based resistance training can certainly contribute to enhancing endurance performance potential.
Irrespective of whether such resistance training is conducted within the confines of a formal resistance training setting (i.e. a weight-room) or external to such a setting, physiologically-based and evidence-based principles should embody all program design.
You had the privilege of coaching Dani Jones in high school? Can you talk about her development through high school? Was she able to progress and get faster each year?
Coaching Dani Jones was one of the most distinct, impactful blessings among the many incomparable blessings of my prior head coaching endeavors.
Dani is an amazing young lady. She is an exemplary leader. She is both well-liked and highly respected by teammates and coaches. Moreover, she is a highly-achieving academic performer who embodies all the finest qualities of a true student-athlete.
Dani did improve continuously throughout her high school running experience; that improvement is a direct and specific testament to her commitment, resilience, mental and physical toughness, and her unequivocal, relentless pursuit of absolute excellence.
Prior to my transition to Desert Vista High School as the head coach for girls’ cross-country / assistant coach (distance) for girls’ track-&-field, Dani had run 5:03.8 (freshman track) and 18:25 (sophomore cross-country) for 1,600-m and 5,000-m, respectively.
Dani’s 1,600-m progression included 4:51 (sophomore), 4:43 (junior), and 4:39 (senior).
Dani also ran 17:24 (junior) and 16:42 (senior) for 5,000-m.
Final question, in your years of coaching, how have you developed and changed over the years?
I have honored an enduring, personal commitment to the primacy of continuous learning by attending approximately sixty (60) cross-country / track-&-field clinics during the last fourteen (14) years. Irrespective of whether I am strictly a clinic attendee or I serve as a clinician, such experiences are unquantifiably valuable as I seek to continuously improve as a coach, mentor, and, most importantly, educator.
One of the primary growth areas for me throughout the last twelve (12) to fourteen (14) years, in particular, has been with respect to appreciating the defining importance of continuously developing a selfless, empowering, and student-athlete-centered team culture.
I can reflect on seasons in which I feel that I have contributed positively, consistently, creatively, and insightfully to advancing such culture.
By contrast, I can very candidly admit that there are select prior seasons in which I retrospectively understood that I did not provide the leadership, teaching, and support that is so critical to optimizing team culture.
If I were to ever have the personal flexibility to re-engage a head coaching pursuit, a corresponding, defining commitment would be to intentionally evolve, sustain, and continuously improve each and every team’s unique culture.
I thank you for the wonderful opportunity to intentionally reflect and transparently share throughout this question-&-answer exchange.
I hope and trust that you would call upon me if I can ever offer any future support for you and your student-athletes.
