Development: Workouts, Mindsets, & Strategy with Head Conn XC Coach Sam Alexander

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Jan 15, 2026

Sam Alexander, head coach at Connecticut College and a former competitive runner, shares insights on athletic development. He discusses the importance of building a broad training base and the balance between various workout types like hills, strides, and tempos. Sam emphasizes injury prevention while improving speed and highlights tailored strategies for both college athletes and adult runners. His experience in coaching offers valuable lessons on progression, consistency, and effective racing strategies, making for an enlightening conversation for runners of all levels.

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ADVICE

Combine Easy Miles With Sprint Power

Include both easy running and maximal sprint work when building an adult runner's plan.
Use hill sprints, strides, and power work to raise speed ceiling while maintaining aerobic base.

ADVICE

Weekly Hill Sprints And Strides

Do weekly hill sprints (e.g., 6x50m uphill with full recovery) to develop recruitment and power.
Do regular strides and finish aerobic sessions with controlled 200s to train top-end speed safely.

INSIGHT

Why Hills And Built-Up 200s Work

Hill sprints recruit more muscle fibers and improve neural patterns via resistance from gravity.
Building into 200m reps at the end of workouts hits a higher max velocity with less anaerobic failure.

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Sam Alexander is the head coach of the men's cross country and track & field teams at Connecticut College (Jason's alma mater!). Sam recently coached the track team to a historically high finish at the New England championships and helped the cross country team qualify for the National Championships for only the second time in program history.

This episode focuses on development - or, how to progress through beginner to advanced stages of running. We discuss:

Athletic development for college runners vs. new runners
The "order of operations" of development
How to build speed and mitigate injury risk
"Fundamental" workouts that build specific skills

Talking to college coaches is always educational because these are the operators, those in the trenches with athletes every day in high-stakes, performance-driven environments. We can learn a lot from Sam!

Resources & Links from the show:

Follow Conn XC/Track on Instagram
Listen to my interview with Conn's prior coach Jim Butler (Jason's coach)
Training Excerpt! See a week of training from college cross country
Connecticut College Men's Track Program info
Develop with fewer injuries!

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