Unioto Track and Cross Country MS Program Building, Culture, and TEAM Training

Who I am as a coach ●Matthew Paxton ●Unioto High School ●Mathematics Teacher (Algebra 1 and Calculus) ●USATF Level One Coach ●MSEd. with Athletic Coaching Leadership concentration from U. of Rio Grande 2009 ●Started Coaching in 1994 as an assistant ●First Head Coaching job in 1997 ●Started at Unioto in 2001 ●Former SEOTCA President and current OATCCC District 12 Rep.

Contact Info ●Facebook (Matt Paxton UNIOTO) ●(740) ●14193 Pleasant Valley Road ●Chillicothe, OH 45601

Who I am as a runner ●I love to run and coach! ●3 100 mile Ultramarathons in 2012 ●4:48 indoor 1600 and 16: in 2008 ●Still running in the 18s and training about 45 miles per week ●Currently looking for a new challenge..

Who We are ●Chillicothe (S-Central Ohio) ●Small DII with one MS (6-8) Appalachian ●Staff of 1 for CC and 5 for track (both genders 7-12) ●Head Track and CC Coach, but train all distance (5- 12) year-round (7-12) or in season (5-6) ●We have football, volleyball, soccer, golf, and tennis in the fall. Only baseball and tennis in the spring but AAU is going strong! ●I have coached boys here since Prior to this, we had no varsity league titles in CC and none in 20 years in boys track. We had never made it out of district in CC

What we have done ●Since then, we have won 14 of 15 league titles in boys cross country ●12 of 14 league titles in Boys track ●State MS DII Girls 800 champ (2015), boys 4x800 champs (2015), Boys 1500 Champ (2013). 5 boys under 5:00 in last 3 years. 3 Girls under 5:35 in same time period. ●We had 4:36 boy in 2009.

Who We are ●Our girls program was integrated in ●Last year we set our school and league record in the girls 4x800, girls 3200 and girls CC. ●7 girls have broken our pre-2011 school record in the (12:09) Including an 11:17 and an 11:25 last year. ●In the last 2 years, we have won 2 League CC, 2 District CC (the first in school history), and 1 Regional CC (the first in school history). ●We made state for the first time ever this fall and are hoping to get even better next year!

My intent today ●No Science (you have those resources) ●Share what we have done to build a program with limited numbers, money, and staff ●I know there are multiple ways to do this, this is MY way and this has worked for US. ●Building a PROGRAM that starts in Elementary and builds through 12 th Grade! ●Emphasize that MS is part of a bigger picture (as is distance)

Part I. Develop CULTURE ●Leadership is key. Develop a LEADER ●Get one to buy in (at least) ●Share plans ahead of time with leaders ●I don’t assign, they decide ●Year-round we are either conditioning or in season. I supervise some, the leaders supervise some. ●Some do other sports, some do not. I encourage it especially in MS

Part I. Develop CULTURE ●It is THEIR team. I guide them, but they decide what they want and make decisions to get there. ●They OWN IT. ●Once one or a few have success initially, They share that with their younger teammates. ●NEXT, to OWN IT, they have to recruit others to help THEMSELVES out.

Recruit ●Once first group of leaders is trained, they have to build team first and foremost. This is as important as their own running ●Their success is measured by our team success ●Track and Cross Country are TEAM Sports! ●MS kids want to be involved in something. Promote yourselves.

Recruit How do we Recruit? ●Recruiting lists and leader meetings to discuss Publicize your sport! Wear medals to school Get the athletes on announcements Wear Jackets Wear Shirts Local Media Flyers

Recruiting Every Minute is an Opportunity Lunch, Before School, After School, between classes, they are talking and representing their team. ●It has to become WHAT THEY DO when they see a classmate especially when the classmate recognizes a performance ●If you love it, they will love it If they love it they will share it

Recruiting What coaches can set up and do to help recruiting In the LONG Term. ●Go to lunches to sign up ●Send out Conditioning and Practice times on all media available ●Go to OPEN HOUSE ●Give teachers a t-shirt to wear ●Get other coaches on board and SHARE with them

Day to Day ●Leaders feel responsibility for operations. I ask them what we are doing. I treat them like BIG people! ●We have a season plan with strength, Cooldowns, mileage, volume of all workouts and paces done at least a week ahead and usually a season ahead. ●It does get modified! ●Announcements, Strength, Workout, Cooldown STRUCTURE ●Champions attitude ●INTEGRATE the other event groups and the grades.

Day to Day ●Everything is group based. The strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf ●You cannot practice pack running without a pack! ●TEACH Race strategy and emphasize its use in practice. Assign (or better, have them assign) different leaders and kickers for workouts.

Day to Day Chain of Command ●Encouragement and Responsibility for your groups and others (younger) ●Everyone has responsibility for encouragement and everyone has some job and responsibility as a teammate ●Sliding expectations for leadership and personal responsibility ●Race Day is all THEM

What I Provide Season Plan Strength, Workouts, Pace Chart, Mileage charts Pacing groups, Meet Schedule, Practice Schedule Plan of the Day and Week Remind Social Media (We have a facebook page) Coaching I can’t do my job if the chain of command is broken I want to focus on the stuff the leaders CANNOT do for themselves from a coaching perspective

Feedback Daily reporting of mileage and splits through social media, text, or face-to-face (preferred), logs? GPS Watches? They have responsibility for workouts & reporting We all look for progression on workouts Keep it POSITIVE when possible Include your varsity! They look up to them It gives the varsity a sense of ownership especially the younger ones

Feedback Whenever something is done, try to involve leaders Did leaders check on them? Do they know what they are doing and are they making sure others do too? Best way to really learn is to teach. Have them teach each other.

Resources Buy some training books and look online! Recommendations: Daniels Running Formula Road to the Top – Vigil Training for Cross Country – Hazen Running to the Top, Running with Lydiard – Lydiard Science of Running - Magness Brad Hudson, Renato Canova (letsrun.com), Scott Simmons, Bill Dellinger, Nokes, Livingston, Pfitzinger, Gambetta, the list goes on!

Resources Clinics and Correspond (ask questions) Letsrun.com USATF Coaches Education USTCCCA Academy College Classes Pick others brains!

Fun Things Practice at different venues Plan a camp or two Flashlight runs Team breakfasts and dinners Varied start runs Divide into teams and do workouts Prediction runs Get varsity involved

Year Plan (the nuts and bolts) We condition or practice year round. We plan for 2 peaks per year. We Build BASE from season to season We start at 15-20mpw and add 10 miles per year No one goes over about 30 Each season we evaluate Speed volume is based on mileage volume We go HARD/Easy all year In base period easy is high aerobic We work progression whenever possible We run 5-7 days a week

Year Plan (the nuts and bolts) We do 5-8 mile long runs but maintain groups! We do 3-6 hard days but maintain groups! We run 7 day cycles early then 14 day cycles in season We use Long runs, easy runs, Steady State, Tempo, 5k pace, 1600 pace the most. These align to Daniels paces pretty well. We run LESS speed in MS. We REALLY build base. We do a lot of SS and Tempo for speed.

Year Plan (the nuts and bolts) We do use other paces and transition between paces for progression. We use short hills, hills circuits, hill repeats, steady state and tempo in the base period. The base period lasts until the first meet We add Intervals, reps, ladders, etc. during the competition period (less than varsity) We shorten recovery and increase speed in comp period We do not exceed 10% of base mileage for any workout Tempo or faster (usually 8% interval and 5% Rep)

Year Plan (the nuts and bolts) We aren’t as worried about groups when running hard, but do cooldown together We do Active recovery nearly always We never stop moving except on Economy development We always check out with leaders and coaches MS does not do nearly the speed that HS does, but we do a lot of SS and Tempo. We run % of peak mileage during Comp period.

Year Plan (the nuts and bolts) We never go away from an energy system, we DO shift emphasis We use our races as speed work. Most weeks we get in a race, a long run, and a hard workout Some weeks we race 2 times (rare) They need experience, but also need to train. As they get older (especially HS) they race less

Year Plan (the nuts and bolts) The last 3 weeks. Supplemental training is reduced Recovery is SLOW at the beginning especially Volume of hard work is reduced. Frequency is Maintained. Mileage is reduced up to 5-10 miles/week

Year Plan (the nuts and bolts) Reset with two weeks off after season Start back with base phase

Big Picture of Training Kids will improve on pretty much anything when they start As they progress, training makes a difference more and more Given 2 athletes in REASONABLE shape (they have a base and coach has SOME idea of proper training) Biggest factor is buying in Confidence is more important than training or ability Toughness is more important than training or ability Ownership is more important than training or ability

Big Picture of Training Other things to keep in mind. Everyone is an individual, some can train through, some cannot. Instant vs delayed gratification Team Goals are at least as important as individual goals Positive Environment

Thanks to: My wife Brianne Coach Greg Fraunfelter Coach David Fields Coach Rod O’Donnell Coach Bob Willey COUNTLESS other coaches who I bother constantly for training and team advice.

Contact Info ●Facebook (Matt Paxton Unioto) ●(740) ●14193 Pleasant Valley Road ●Chillicothe, OH 45601