Jay Johnson
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High School Track Coaches - Stop using the term "speed work" and use the term "race pace work" instead. Here's why.
04/06/2025
New page, new photo! 😀
High School XC Coaches - Are you doing strides on the first day of practice?
I shared several PDFs last week with the Michigan Track and XC Coaches Association. All of those PDFs - including six free chapters from my book - are available here: https://www.coachjayjohnson.com/blog/michigan-coaches
The second class I covered a 1600m workout that will help your kids dial in the "fast, faster, fastest" approach to racing. Plus I shared splits that can get kids to break 2:20 or 2:00. Obviously they need to have the fitness to do this, yet it's important for both you and the athletes to do some "race modeling" in practice.
If you have any questions about this just let me know!
11/01/2025
“The best book for high school distance runners”
Consistency Is Key is a simple and "to the point" book that clearly explains the essential concepts high-school runners need to implement into their training and lifestyle to improve as an athlete.
The book is entertaining, tells great stories, and paints a clear picture of "what to do" to become the best distance runner you can be.
While this book is meant for the high-school reader, adult distance runners, and coaches will learn tremendously from it as well.
- Chris Knighton
“A tremendous resource for young runners, their parents and coaches”
I love this book. Our athletes have responded really well to this book.
Jay Johnson has built a knowledge base that allows him to convey the essentials of what it takes to be a better runner. Without arguing the nuance of workout specifics, Jay speaks to the greater picture of what it takes to improve.
It's a quick read that can serve as a reference to be read multiple times.
Athletes can use it as a guide for asking questions, understanding the full picture of improvement and building base knowledge for training.
Parents can use it as a guide to understanding the demands of young runners and gain perspective on why their athletes do more than just run. Coaches can use this as a guide for developing the base principles of training.
We ordered 50 copies to share with our team and the response has been amazing. It's a great resource for every team.
- Thor Esbensen
