Explore Rylee Blade's journey to a high school national championship in the 5,000m at Nike Outdoor Nationals. Plus, the training data that took her to the top.
By Derek Dalzell - COROS
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Every season starts somewhere. For most, it starts on the first day of practice. But for others, the true work begins in the offseason.
Then there's Rylee Blade. Her dreams ahead of the 2024 track season began on the eve of her 2023 season finale. On June 16 of last year, Blade was in Eugene, Oregon to compete at Nike Outdoor Nationals.
She raced the 2-mile the next day, and then the mile after that.
However, it was the race she didn't run that may have been the most impactful. On that Friday night, she watched the 5,000m championship and was hooked.
At that point she knew: The national title in the 5,000 meter at Nike Outdoor Nationals would be her target in 2024.
Product Worn: COROS PACE 3
Analysis Tool: COROS Training Hub
For More: The COROS article.
Creating A Season Plan
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No dream is realized without a plan. In today's age, data is king and so after setting her sights on the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) 3,200m state final and the 5,000m at Nike Outdoor Nationals, Blade and her coach built a plan.
"My training load was a little bit lower than normal just because I dealt with an injury at the beginning" Blade said. "And then once I got healthy, probably around the end of April, we started going up a little bit and focusing a little bit more on the training. And then, going into CIF finals and stuff, we kind of did what was working, and kept it a little bit lower."
* Rylee Blade's training status graph, showing her overall season plan for 2024
COROS Education: Base Fitness is a 42-day average of your daily training load. Training load takes into account the volume and intensity of each session to quantify the stress on your body. |
After the CIF Championships, the training focus shifted to the 5K, bringing her training load back up.
"For my workouts and stuff, they're maybe a mile or two miles longer than my 2-mile workouts." she said. "So that's probably why it went up a little bit."
Throughout the season, Blade steadily increased her base fitness while managing fatigue levels. This metric is key for all athletes, as it reflects their ability to handle increased training loads over time. Blade reached her peak fitness at the most critical point of the season, demonstrating her optimal preparation for the 5K at Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Of course, no plan is perfect without making adjustments.
Blade was able to leverage resting heart rate data from her COROS Pace 3 watch every morning to ensure her body was ready to train. Blade explained: "If it spikes, then you might be fighting something before you even know, or you're kind of like you might be overtraining a little bit. So I feel like that's something that helps me to either pull back or just know that my body is trying to fight something."
Tailoring Workouts To 3,200m And 5,000m
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With her target races at different distances, Blade's mid-season transition from 3,200m to 5,000m workouts was the strategy.
This shift involved increasing her workout volume slightly and tailoring her sessions to meet the demands of the longer distance.
The event-specific training was a critical factor in her success.
Before CIF: 1,600m, 400m, 400m, 800m, 150m
See above. This workout was done in the weeks leading up to the CIF state finals, and was designed for the 3,200m. It consisted of a mile at 5:04 pace, two 400m reps at 1:11 & 1:10, an 800m at 2:24 and then a quick 150m rep to finish.
The effort put her heart rate into the threshold zone, which mimicked what she would feel in a race.
After CIF: 4x800m, 4x400m, 1x150m
See above. After shifting her focus, Blade's first 5K workout was 4x800m, 4x400m, and a 150-meter rep to finish. This workout was a mile longer and was paced slightly slower.
In this workout, her 800m reps started at 2:35 and then cut down to 2:30, while the 400m intervals were cut down from 1:12 to 1:08. Her heart rate was still in the threshold zone, continuing to target the same race-like demands.
Becoming A Nike Outdoor Nationals 5K Champion
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On June 12, race day had arrived.
Halfway through the race, Blade was in a two-way battle for the lead. With one mile to go, it was her time to shine.
"I was able to kind of simulate those workouts and be able to push myself in the later half of the race" she said.
In the final minutes of the race, Blade opened an insurmountable gap on her competition. Blade said this of her defining move: "I was kinda trusting my fitness and my threshold to kind of carry me through the last K and just try and finish strong and not let anyone catch me in that last lap."
Ultimately, Blade's fitness carried her through to a finish in a winning time of 16:18 as she was crowned a national champion in the 5,000m.
The road ahead looks promising for the rising senior, as she has one more year to build on her high school legacy.
Blade is a member of COROS NextGen, a program which aims to work with elite high school athletes as they push their boundaries as the next generation of distance runners in the U.S.
Collectively, the program has won over 25 state championship titles in 2024 as athletes across the country gain better insights into their training, and ensure their fitness is where it needs to be at the right time. For any high school athlete chasing their best, go to www.coros.com to learn more on products, training tips, and insights from athletes of all levels.