15 Questions With Doug Soles

Doug Soles is the head coach of Great Oak High School in Temecula, California.  His program is ranked second in our pre-season polls for both boys and girls.  His teams have gone on to podium at NXN as well as set national records on the track. High School Harrier: Great Oak is a newer high school although you've had meteoric success.  When did you realize the program you were developing was going to be national class?

Doug Soles: When I was looking to move from the Palm Springs area in 2004 my goal was to take over a 1st year school and build it into a national championship program. I felt Great Oak had all of the key components to accomplish that (since Murrieta Valley was dominating at that time and GO was going to be very comparable). I was fortunate to get hired and set out with my varsity coaching partner Dan Noble to build a program that could compete with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Early on this was something that got me mocked by coaches with better teams and more experience, but we had a plan in place and felt that as the school moved from 2 to 3 to 4 grades of students and started to have some foundation and history we could really start moving towards competing with the best in the nation. Part of the plan has always been to travel to take on the best teams in the country, which I think is critical. How can you be a national class program if you hide in your area of the country beating up on the same people you have already beaten? We felt it important to search out meets where we would have a great chance at getting beat, and have to learn from the experience. I think that has helped us learn how to compete with the best teams in the nation. None of this was by accident, it has all been part of the original plan. This year we will attend the Roy Griak invite in Minnesota on a course that is very different in style to what we run and we look forward to taking on a loaded field on both sides.

HSH: Your team is known for being the class of the field in both cross country and track.  How do you keep your athletes competing at a high level so long?

DS: Our goal has always been to be the best at both sports that we can be which can be problematic at times. When you are successful in track you can go deep into June or beyond and really eat up a lot of your XC summer base phase. The last couple cross country seasons were difficult because of how long we focused on track and really put us behind for XC which makes it harder to have them ready to compete until much later in the season. This year we got in a much better base which should help.

Our goal with each athlete is to have them running year round with a 2 week break after XC and a 2 week break after spring track. We have a summer program, fall xc, a winter track club, and spring track. On top of that I have a year round 1st period XC class which allows us to condition year round in cooler temps. Keeping them active is critical if you want them to be ready to run well when it matters. All coaches have to find the rhythm of their seasons and learn how to peak their kids for the end to ensure their best performances. We have been able to do that pretty well in the CA season for XC and Track and our kids recognize that if they buy in we will have the ready when it matters.

Track is very different from cross country, but we focus on it heavily and do our best to set track goals that incorporate the team (DMR, 4x1600, etc.) each season. Winning big meets like the Mt. SAC relays against amazing sprints programs is pretty awesome for a distance centric team.

HSH: Your boys team and girls team are both ranked second nationally in our preseason ranking.  How are you able to dedicate enough time to develop two national championship caliber programs at the same time?

DS: We typically run 3-4 groups at a time. Group 4 is a development type group that is for late joiners and kids just learning how to run. Group 3 tends to be for frosh who can run and just need time to develop. Group 2 is JV and developing varsity athletes who are working towards varsity. Group 1 is the varsity group and you have to be fit and focused to be in that group regardless of talent. I’ve moved kids that have finished top 3 in state in XC and track to group 2 because they weren’t ready for the group 1 workouts. You better come in fit and ready or I’m not working with you regardless of how good you are.

As far as genders go, Coach Noble and I coach them together as a varsity group. They tend to run with their same gender, but all the concepts and training are pretty much the same. Our athletes set the goals and we do our best to have them ready to accomplish those goals when the time comes. The boys goal this year is to win NXN, so that will be our main focus this year with them and I think they have a very good chance to be in the hunt for it. They are much better than our team last season and that team placed 6th at NXN so I have faith we will compete for it. Our girls are younger and developing but talented. Their goal is to win State this year and make it 6 titles in a row. Ultimately, their goals dictate what we focus on and how intense we are about certain things. Both teams are focused on being top teams in the nation each year so it isn’t difficult to have both genders going the same direction towards that goal.

HSH: Going off the previous question, what do you do to temper expectations and keep the athletes focused?

DS: I’m not much of a temper expectations kind of guy…I’m always looking for the next thing we can go after or accomplish as a team so I probably have them thinking about their goals pretty consistently. In the early years many people told me I was overreaching and setting the kids up for failure by telling them they would become state champions. Now people want to know how we get them so confident. From the first day we have them we have them focused on becoming state champions. Temper expectations? I want them to shoot for the moon each season and force me to find a way to get them there. If we don’t accomplish the goal, we will put our heads down and keep going after it until we get it.

HSH: Do you believe it to be an advantage or disadvantage to have NXN the week after state?

DS: I think if you plan your season right it can be an advantage to roll right into it. If you don’t plan your season right, you can very easily be toast by NXN. A lot of it goes into when you have the ready, what you have them focused on, and what their goals are. If their goal is to make it to NXN, they won’t run well at NXN because they already accomplished their goal of making it there. Racing at NXN becomes icing on the cake…We focus on getting there ready to compete. Unfortunately, we don’t get a lot of support from CIF to help us rest athletes along the way to be more prepared for nationals so we have to be creative and do our best to have them as fresh as possible come December.

HSH: How much focus do you place on NXN vs state?

DS: I think that depends on the team we have and their goals. Our boys this season have a legit chance at winning NXN and will focus there. We have to win state to have any chance to make it to NXN so we can’t ignore state, but it becomes more of a qualifier than a final destination in this situation. For the girls our focus will be winning state and if we make NXN that is great this year. We will do our best to learn the course with a new group of girls and have them ready for future seasons in Portland.

HSH: Does your team have a motto or mantra?

DS: Our team motto is World Domination, which started as a joke in a team meeting by Coach Noble. He had a funny digital voice in a PowerPoint saying World Domination and it just kind of stuck as something we say with the kids. Nowadays it more means success at all levels for our kids whether it is GO athletes, our college kids, or even some of our kids that compete in the national or pro ranks. Wherever GO trained athletes compete we want to compete at a high level and this saying just kind of fits. We don’t go into a meet wanting to win just the varsity, we shoot to win every race we are in (frosh, soph, JV, varsity, etc.). This leads to us tweeting World Domination when we see our kids winning lots of levels or getting 5 of the 9 spots in the 1600 at CIF Finals, etc. It is meant as a fun way to recognize our kids doing well against quality opponents at all levels.

HSH: Do you have a bread and butter workout that you go to often, or if not, what is a favorite workout of yours for your team to do?

DS: We do all the standard stuff from 5x1000 to fartleks, to tempo runs like most teams...we do 10x60m hill sprints every Monday afternoon during cross country season once school starts and I think they really help build strength and put a little in the bank for the end of the season. They help us prepare for Mt. SAC which can be a critical course for our team when utilized for CIF (won’t be used for a couple years due to construction). We also do a 5,5,5 workout that focuses on getting faster every 5 minutes that I’ve shared many times. The first 5 is at 70% effort, the second is at 80% effort or around their tempo effort, and the last 5 is 85%+ effort which is more of a Vo2 pace (no break between phases). This trains them to run faster and be more mentally tough as the race goes on.

HSH: Can you explain how your team utilizes HIIT and progresses throughout the year?

DS: I look at HIIT training as another component that we need to maximize just like lactate threshold or Vo2 Max. We do a running HIIT 3 times a week and build from 1 minute up to 3+ minutes over the course of the season.  HIITs develop speed, burn fat, help with running at higher paces, develop musculature that can support harder workouts, etc. I like placing my HIITS on recovery days to make sure we get in something fast that really gets their heart rates up on days with slower running. I think it is important to do something fast each day, even on recovery days. It doesn’t have to be long, but you should be challenging your athletes to get better each day. HIITS help them become better athletes, not just runners.

HSH: What part of your training do you think is most important for the success of your athletes?

DS: I think consistently training all components is the key to successfully building runners long term. We don’t really have parts of the year where we aren’t doing all these things. I see training plans where they don’t do anything but aerobic runs for a long period of time, but I think you have to be careful to not develop each component consistently. If you aren’t developing it, it probably isn’t getting better and your athletes won’t be ready when the time comes. I think we have done a great job developing aerobic athletes that run distance races, not distance runners. Consistency is the key. If you have a varsity girl who leaves you to go play soccer or basketball for 3-4 months, you aren’t developing anything, you are just utilizing her talent when you have it. Our athletes are with us year round focusing on getting better at running.

HSH: You've said you keep 50 distance runners for boys and girls for track.  Do you have a similar set-up for cross country?

DS: We usually have 100-110 distance athletes in track combined and 130-160 in XC depending on the year. This season we should have about 150 XC athletes and are working to build our numbers back up a bit. We peaked at 230+ athletes in 2012 for XC and it was a bit too large so we implemented time standards to make the team and start to trim the athletes that weren’t working hard. Time standards work well, but we didn’t feel we needed them this year so we just decided to take all comers. We may reinstitute them in the future if we have a lot of athletes that don’t want to work hard and just come out for the social aspect. To me you should have to earn your spot on the team, and it shouldn’t be something that you can do nothing and stay in the program long term. Athletes that don’t work hard in the fall or the winter tend to get cut in the spring track season.

HSH: I'm a new freshman coming out for the team.  What can I expect my first year in terms of training and racing?

DS: We have about 60 frosh athletes this year (usually 40-80 each season). The majority will start in our group 3 frosh group which runs 3-6 miles a day depending on the workout. Right now most runs are 3-4 mile recovery runs just getting them some base before we start pushing. Usually the hardest part for 9th graders is the warm-up and our core routines we do daily. As they adapt to those items they mileage goes up incrementally. Early season our frosh run 15-25 miles a week depending on their level and build up to 30-35 by the end of the season. Our top incoming 9th graders that did club and ran all summer usually jump straight to group 1 with me where they run similar mileage to group 3 frosh but have higher intensity workouts and are a lot more focused on the varsity goals. Right now we have 4 frosh girls in group 1 and zero frosh boys there. They will move up as they physically and mentally show they are ready.

Racing wise you will race pretty much every time we have one. Experience is critical so we try to race them against 9th graders as much as possible, but will move them up to varsity periodically if they are fast enough. Last year we had 2 varsity frosh boys that could run sub 15:10 for 3 miles so they really broke the curve and have pushed through the ranks faster than normal. Most years we will get a group of 16:30 boys and try to build them from there over the next 3 seasons. It just depends on who comes in and how ready they are when they get to us. Athletes in our program learn quickly that I care more about effort than results. If you aren’t very talented but work hard you will always be someone I’m excited to work with. If you don’t care about getting better, you probably won’t make it to the varsity group. Same goes for track.

HSH: Can you explain the cross country state qualifying system in California for those of us who aren't in the state?

DS: We have quite a few CIF sections that qualify teams to the state meet. We are in the Southern Section which is the largest and most competitive section in the state (and probably the nation). We have to finish top 3 in our league to make CIF Prelims, usually top 6 in CIF prelims to make CIF Finals, and top 7 at CIF Finals to make it to the state meet for Division 1. Usually we need to finish 1st in division 1 to have any chance to make it to NXN from our state meet. Ultimately the goal is to cruise league finals and CIF Prelims, and start pushing at CIF Finals, State, and NXN.

HSH: Do you have any athletes on your team that you believe are ready to make a big jump from last year to this year?

DS: On the boys side, most of them have made pretty big jumps as they were really young last year. Sophomore Gabe Abbes is the most likely to surprise people as he has really improved and should be a top 10 boy at the state meet this year. On the girls side Tori Gaitan moved in this year and is an exceptional athlete. I knew she had great endurance but her leg speed has truly surprised me. She could very easily finish top 3 in the state meet this season for Division 1. She is learning to be a student of the sport and is soaking up a lot each day.

HSH: What advice would you give to a coach looking to turn his program in a national, or even state class program?

DS: The main thing to understand is that it has to be the goal. You have to make some sacrifices to get to that level (Friday frisbee golf probably has to go…), and a lot of coaches don’t want to make those sacrifices. YOU have to be the hardest working person you know!

It should look something like this:

1) Set the goal and put everything you have into accomplishing it.

2) Create an environment where hard work is the norm and is expected by both the coaches and the athletes.

3) Set team goals with the athletes and work towards them together.

4) Stand up to parents when they tell you that you are pushing the kids too hard, are mean, are crazy, are not understanding their kid, are not being fair, etc.

5) Find your athletes that buy into the vision and build around them.

6) Recruit as many incoming 9th graders each season as you can to build numbers and a talent pool!

7) Find a way to get soccer players to choose you over soccer.

8) Look for every opportunity you can find to improve your program (get a pe class, go to clinics, email coaches that know more than you and ask questions, read books, read message boards, ask more questions, constantly update your workouts and keep what works).

9) Stand up to parents again (it happens more than once). Get them to see the team vision.

10) Compete in national level meets.

11) Reflect at the end of the season on your successes and failures with the kids and make improvements going forward. FIND YOUR WEAKNESSES!

12) Repeat until all these things start falling into place.

To get to the next level you need to wake up each day seeing it, working towards it, and outworking everyone you are competing against. That requires personal sacrifices and a lot of people won’t make those. To be great as a coach there really isn’t an off season.

About the rankings coming out this week:

Unlike many rankings which are based on how the ranker feels the teams would finish if all lined up against each other, this national ranking set is designed around the cross country team national championship put on by Nike.  Each region is allotted two places and then four wildcard spots are awarded to regions I think will get them or deserve them.  Therefore, the rankings are based on who would be predicted to qualify at the time of the rankings and how those teams would fare against each other, not who I think are the 22 best teams.  

For pre-season rankings, we only have last year's results to gauge what a team will look like in the fall.  Heavy emphasis on the spring results are how the rankings are derived, although it will be noted that certain teams which are known to focus on cross country (think FM) and not track will not be penalized heavily.  

Each team will have a surety rating.  A surety rating is not how strong the team is compared to the nation.  A surety rating is a rating based on how likely that team is to qualify out of their region, or rather how competitive that team is in their region alone.  Therefore you could see a team with a lower surety rating ranked above a team with a higher one, which simply means it is less likely they qualify but more likely they would place ahead in a head to head competition.  This is not a computer rating, this a “hunch”.  No team will receive a surety rating above 9 until October.

Surety rating guide: 10= qualified; 9-9.5= automatic qualifier almost guaranteed; 8-8.5= should qualify and should be a lock for wildcard spot if necessary; 7-7.5= will require a solid outing to qualify for nationals but very realistic chances and is a strong contender for a wildcard spot; 6-6.5= very shaky in terms of ability to qualify, may be just slightly better than other teams looking to auto-qualify and has no chance to get wildcard bid.