I ran under Martin in the late 90's but the system is still in place (it's mostly Vigil) ...
First year: You enter the program. Unless you ran close to 9 minutes in high school for 2 miles forget about a scholarship. Most upperclassman have the very limited funds locked in. The school is only 1k tuition for in-state and 4k for out of state students so it's not like you need a scholarship anyway. 1k isn't too high of a price for a chance to run for the best cross country program in the nation (35 Team National Titles - no school has won more in any division).
You get a free pass on the 10 mile time trial. Unless you are a superstar you'll be redshirting and getting humbled on a day to day basis. You just try to hang on. Most run 65 minutes a day with a 30 minute morning bike double. You work-out in "group 3" - slow interval paces (that hurt), less repetitions, more recovery.
Summer:
You understand that there will be 20-25 guys competing for 7 spots. Often times you have kids that were state champions in high school, all-americans the previous year, or foot locker types that miss making the national team or are on the bubble to make it. You would be shocked by the amount of 9:30-45 2 mile kids that turn into mid-25's altitude 8kers in 1 year. Competition for the 5-7 spots is usually fierce with 6-8 guys usually capable of running in that spot (30:45ish 10k types). There are lots of time trials for these spots at the end of the year.
Hurdle one is the 10 mile time trial. It occurs during preseason and is a pretty big deal. Pat Porter still holds the record I believe at 48 minutes although I heard from a friend in town that Mario Macias broke the record in 2005 (ran 28:02 for 10k that year) - I'm not positive on this though.
You need to break 55 minutes to make the team. If you don't hit 55 minutes then you don't wear the uniform. Everyone that runs the standard has a chance to run in at least 2 races (the home meet, the first travel meet).
Season:
The basic plan for an upperclassman is:
Monday - (6 AM, frozen nostrils!) 35 minutes, (2:30 PM) 75 minutes
Tuesday - AM 35 minutes, PM 20 warm-up, 8 mile tempo (start at 5:30's work to 5:15ish), 20 cool down
Wednesday - PM 13 mile run up a mountain, usually very difficult and can get fast
Thursday - AM 35 minutes, PM 75 minutes easy
Friday - AM 35 minutes, PM 20 warm-up, 6 x mile in 4:35 with 3 minutes rest, 20 cool down
Saturday - AM 75-80 minutes easy
Sunday - AM 18 - 22 miles, progression - usually start around 7 mins and by mile 5-7 running about 6:30's, then the last 10 miles or so at 6 minutes or faster
Rinse, repeat. The workouts vary slightly. There are no in season tapers. If it is a race week then you delete the Friday workout and insert a 50 minute pre-race run. That's the only difference, the mileage stays up and the intensity stays up until championship season.
Tapering begins a week before the regional championship. This is also time trial season were the competition gets really fierce. It is inevitable that 7-10 healthy guys, that could be top 3 runners on any other team minus Western or Abiline, will miss making the team. They either quit out of frustration or come back harder the next season making the competition stiffer and stiffer.
This has been going on for over 30 years ... thus, there is always a crop of guys ready to roll. In any given year the 12 man at Adams State could probably make All-American if you removed his 11 teammates from the race.
It should also be established that the season is considered a failure if the team doesn't win nationals. There is really one goal - win nationals. If that doesn't happen then nothing else matters. Everything else is just a stepping stone to the national meet.
Racing:
Summer volume
10 mile time trial,
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Start long speed-work
Everyone runs the Joe Vigil Invitational,
First travel meet (usually a nearby race in Colorado)
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Start faster paced intervals
First "real" meet (Rocky Mountain Shootout or big invite)
Conference (Top 9 runners)
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start taper with fastest speed-work, less reps, full recovery
Regionals (Top 7)
Nationals (Top 7)