Building Confidence Through Training & Racing with Dennis Newell

"Talent isn't the limiter. Belief is."

In this 75-minute Coaching Distance masterclass, Dennis Newell, Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track & Field Coach at North Dakota State University, shares a practical coaching framework for developing athletes who train with purpose, trust their preparation, and compete with confidence. Rather than treating confidence as a personality trait, Dennis explains how it can be intentionally developed through daily training, race preparation, team culture, and coaching language.

Dennis takes you through his Three Pillars of Racing Confidence: physical confidence, tactical confidence, and mental confidence and explains how coaches can strengthen each pillar through purposeful workouts, progressive overload, race simulations, and consistent training that gives athletes evidence to believe in themselves.

You'll also learn how to:

• Build confidence through consistent training and progressive overload
• Design workouts for success
• Use threshold training, tempo runs, and race simulations to prepare athletes for the demands of racings
• Create effective pre-race routines, visualization strategies, and positive self-talk
• Develop process goals
• Build a team culture that generates confidence, accountability, and athlete buy-in
• Help athletes overcome setbacks
• Conduct post-race reflections

Whether you coach high school cross country, collegiate distance running, middle school track and field, or elite endurance athletes, this episode is packed with actionable strategies to help your athletes perform at their best when the pressure is highest.

If you're looking to improve cross country coaching, distance running training, mental performance, athlete confidence, race strategy, team culture, or coaching leadership, this masterclass is a must-listen.

Link to full episode: https://www.coachingdistance.com/team-2/building-confidence-through-training-and-racing

Training Specificity for Distance Runners: Beyond Race Pace | Coaching Distance Podcast

Most coaches understand that specificity is important—but specificity in distance running is about much more than simply running at race pace.

In this episode of the Coaching Distance Podcast, we explore the three essential types of specificity that every cross country and track & field coach should understand:

• Physiological Specificity – Train the energy systems and physiological adaptations that drive performance.

• Duration-Specific Training – Match workout duration to to the demands of your event.

• Pace Specificity – Learn how to prescribe training paces that prepare athletes for racing without sacrificing aerobic development.

Topics Covered:

• What training specificity really means

• Physiological specificity and energy system development

• Duration-specific training and workout dosage

• Race-pace training and pacing strategies

• Practical applications for high school cross country and track coaches

Whether you're a new coach or an experienced distance coach, this episode will give you practical tools to build smarter, more effective training plans that translate into better performances on race day.

If you're looking for one of the best vintage running books ever written, Winning Running by legendary Oregon coach Bill Dellinger deserves a place on your shelf. Packed with timeless distance running wisdom, it's an essential resource for coaches, athletes, and anyone fascinated by the training methods behind some of the greatest runners in history.

One of the book's biggest highlights is Bill Dellinger's complete 1972 training buildup for Steve Prefontaine's 5,000-meter season. Beyond Prefontaine's workouts, the book also includes training examples for athletes competing from the 800 meters through the 10,000 meters, providing valuable insight into the Oregon System of training.

This article isn't simply a breakdown of Prefontaine's workouts. Instead, it explores the five core training principles that Bill Dellinger believed were essential for designing effective training programs and helping athletes reach their full potential. Decades later, these coaching principles remain just as relevant for today's cross country and track & field coaches.

If you're interested in learning more about the Oregon System, Bill Dellinger's coaching philosophy, and the training methods that shaped Steve Prefontaine and generations of elite runners, be sure to read Steve Bence's article on the Coaching Distance blog:

The Oregon System
https://www.coachingdistance.com/post/the-oregon-system

By now, most of you have probably heard of Marius Bakken's new book, The Norwegian Method Applied: Threshold Training and Intensity Control for Faster, More Durable Running at Every Level.

I loved the book as it gave an in-depth look into the Norwegian Method straight from the godfather of the double threshold training himself, Marius Bakken, MD.

Here are six items I talk about in the video.

1. Interval Length & Paces
2. Protect the Easy Runs
3. Drip Load
4. Ferritin
5. The Golden Zone
6. Double, What?

As always, check out more at coachingdistance.com

Harry Wilson was a coaching genius beyond his time in the late 70's early 80s. The coach of Olympic 800m Champion Steve Ovett, Wilson used a variety of training methods, from all-out speed to high volumes of long repetitions to help Ovett become a champion. What I really like is the range that Ovett displayed, running 1:44 for 800m , 3:30 for 1500m and 13:20 for the 5,000m at a time when the world record was 13:08. I don't like saying it but I'm just going to do it..."iMaGInE wHaT hE WoUld hAVe rUN iN SuPeR ShOEs?!" I am going to add a bunch of Harry Wilson articles to the Training Pages in Groups, so check those out when you visit coachingdistance.com

This episode is a condensed version of the May Coaching Distance webinar focused on the 2026 12-Week High School Cross Country Off-Season Training Plan.

A cornerstone of the Coaching Distance plans is the integration of endurance, speed, strength, skill and mobility. Each of these biomotor skills are important for high school distance runners, even if some of these items are more general than specific. General is good for high school kids.

The rationale behind the off-season plan is building the foundation. Part of "building a base" is the inclusion of all types of training- not just easy running. Many of the training items are "prerequisites" that you'll need for successful workouts and racing later in the season.

This podcast will explore some of the influences included in this particular training plan from the past and present, including Renato Canova, Frank Horwill, Dr. Jeff Messer and Boo Schexnayder.

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