Hi Coach ,

Whether you're coaching indoor, outdoor, or cross country, your distance runners need more than just aerobic fitness. They require a training approach that balances speed, endurance, and race-day specificity.

That’s exactly what Coach Houston Franks—longtime Division I coach and current Director of Track & Field/Cross Country at LSU—focuses on in his course, Training Different Types of Milers: Speed vs. Endurance. Below are three key takeaways from his system that can help you train your distance athletes with greater purpose and precision.

1. Understand the Type of Miler You’re Coaching

Coach Franks starts with a question: Are you coaching a speed miler or an endurance miler? The answer should shape the structure of your workouts.

Both types need aerobic development and race pace work, but one athlete may benefit more from tempo efforts and long aerobic runs, while another might need more attention on turnover and anaerobic work. Identifying their physiological profile helps you make smarter decisions with intensity, volume, and workout spacing.

Profiling a Miler

2. Make Long Runs Count

Franks is clear: long runs aren’t just mileage—they’re quality. While not fast enough to be a workout, they aren’t slow either. Long runs in his system are purposeful and often placed after a recovery day, not immediately after a race. In Coach Frank's experience, especially for male athletes racing long-distance races.

That slight shift in scheduling has helped his athletes hold form better in races and absorb training more effectively over the season.

Long Runs

3. Use the Training Week as a Flexible Framework

Ideal workout spacing—like Tuesday/Friday or Monday/Thursday—is often dictated by class schedules, not coaching preference. Franks adapts with a 14-day training cycle that builds in VO2 work, tempo sessions, and long runs in a way that checks multiple physiological boxes without overloading the athlete.

A longer tempo run with a full warm-up and cool-down might replace a traditional long run, giving you both aerobic volume and thres hold stimulus in a single session.

Example Cross Country

Coach Frank’s approach blends structure with flexibility, rooted in years of coaching experience across high school, college, and elite-level athletes. His methods offer a clear framework you can adapt to your team’s unique schedule, race calendar, and athlete profiles. A big thank you to Coach Franks for sharing his perspective and these free clips from his 'Training Different Types of Milers: Speed vs. Endurance' course.

Never get out-coached,

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