- - -
By Matt Goeckel (COROS)
On December 7th, 2024, Charlie Vause became the Nike Cross National Champion with a victory over the nation's best high school cross-country athletes. Throughout the season, Charlie used his training data to monitor his fitness, manage his recovery, and arrive at NXN as prepared as possible. This approach resulted in Charlie achieving his best form at the right time, highlighting the importance of data in high school athletics.
Product Used: COROS PACE 3
Accessory: COROS Heart Rate Monitor
Analysis Tool: COROS Training Hub
A Strategic Training Plan
Charlie and his coach had their sights set on NXN from the start, timing his peak for the early-December meet. Looking back at his data on the COROS Training Hub, you scan see the execution of the plan over the course of the season.
Above: Charlie's Training Status Graph Throughout The Season
The above "Training Status Graph" allows athletes to see their change in fitness throughout the course of a year.
With a heavy training load in the late summer and early fall, Charlie raised his base fitness prior to his first big meet. After that, the load began to decrease, indicating he was well recovered and ready to use the fitness that he banked early in the year.
Charlie's plan included a longer, more gradual taper over several weeks. "We planned it pretty far out," he said. "We started cutting and then we do like a back and forth. So we'd have a week at 60, then the next week would be at 50, the next week at 55 and then 45. So I guess it was kind of a longer taper."
The undulating downward trend proved to be just right for Charlie, as he felt his best at the end of the season.
Above: Charlie's weekly mileage, tapering slowly over the final 6 weeks.
Better Than Before
Aside from adjusting the paces and number of reps, Charlie's workouts were very similar to years prior.The thing that separated this season from the rest was his attention to detail.
"I think that made a huge difference," he said. "The nutrition side, rolling out, stretching, ice bathing. You know, all those little things that add up." Charlie also noted that he'd also been more consistent with his sleep, and more conscious of staying off his feet after hard workouts. This emphasis on recovery led him to the recovery timer on his PACE 3. "I look at that a lot and think of the kinds of workouts that I'm gonna do. I gauge a lot of my mileage and things I'm trying to achieve in a week off of that."
Above: Recovery timer widget on the COROS Pace 3
The Opportunity
Charlie finished as the 5A Runner-Up at the New Mexico State Championship, and claimed an individual spot at NXN with a 3rd-place finish in the Southwest Regional.
The regional meets, also known as NXR, feature the best from several states. With only 5 spots available in each region, the individuals are limited to a select few at NXN. While Vause wasn't one of the favorites, any individual qualifier could be considered a contender.
Nike Cross Nationals is held in Portland, Oregon, where rain is common this time of year. As chance would have it, the forecast called for heavy rain and temperatures in the low 40s. The course would likely be muddy and slippery. Even on a dry day, the numerous hills and corners at Glendover Golf Course challenge the nation's best runners.
Prepared For The Storm
With the stage set the way it was, perhaps no athlete was better-suited for the NXN conditions than Charlie Vause.
"I have had a lot of experience, throughout all the time I've done cross country, running in terrible conditions," he explained. "When I lived in Ohio, I would have at least one guaranteed race like that every season. I think having experiences like that, especially at a younger age, just cemented it in my mind that I can go out there and still execute a plan, rain or shine."
To add to his mentality, he viewed the circumstances as an advantage. "I was taught by my excellent coaches that these conditions are the best conditions, because you can be tougher than everyone else. When the weather's like this, guys start to shut down."
On the chance that a few others shared his mentality, Charlie had one more advantage up his sleeve. "We train a lot of hills here in New Mexico, and not the fun kind. We're talking long hills, pretty steep at parts, and then sand. Loose sand, like you're running on the beach."
He had trained in conditions with hills and loose footing, a rare combination that, as chance would have it, were the exact conditions of the championship course.
The activity details in the COROS Training Hub allow athletes to go more in-depth to review specific data points and how they performed throughout the entire activity.
In the hill workout above, Charlie completed three sets of five hills. Each rep was about 250 meters long. For each repetition, he would charge to the top, jog a loop back to the bottom in under two minutes, and immediately start again. Between sets, he took a three-minute rest before hitting the hill again.
He completed each rep in about 52 seconds, which produced an effort-pace of 4:38/mi.
The Last Workout
In the week leading up to NXN, Charlie completed a final tune-up workout. The session included five by 1000m at 5K pace, with a 3-minute break in between. After that, there were a few 200m reps to finish off the workout.
During the first four 1000m reps, Charlie clocked 2:58, 2:55, 2:52, and 2:52. He was running the workout with a teammate, and he had a unique idea for the last rep. "I had him start in front of me, and I visualized. I had a roster of guys that I knew I'd be competing against, and I would just imagine him as any of those guys."
In the end, he caught his teammate on that final rep, clocking 2:41. He thought to himself, "If I can do that now, I can do that in Oregon in 4 days' time." Should the race come down to the final kilometer, he'd be ready.
First To The Line
When the gun finally went off, Charlie was not at the front to start off, but was never lost in the pack, either. He sat around 12th place for much of the first half of the race, before making a move to join the lead pack.
"I caught up into that group, and I positioned myself in 5th. I felt really good, and I felt relaxed, like, I was controlled, like, I wasn't working too hard. And I just had a had this moment of stillness when I was running behind these guys, and I was like, I could win this. I have to go for it now."
The lead pack of six battled over the next several minutes. There were a few points where the elements came into play - the leader, Caden Leonard, slipped and fell going around a corner, causing the other five to stumble. Moments later, Vause and Tommy Latham got tangled up at the 4-kilometer mark. Charlie stayed on his feet, though, and just like he'd imagined four days earlier, he was in position in the final kilometer.
Vause put on a move to open up a 15-meter lead with half a mile to go. The course's final challenge was a pair of steep terraces, which he handled with ease. Down the homestretch, his lead was insurmountable and he crossed the line as the Nike Cross Nationals Champion.
Charlie Vause is a member of COROS NextGen, a program which aims to work with elite high school athletes as they push their boundaries to become the next generation of elite distance runners in the U.S.
Collectively, the program has won 18 cross country state championships 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, head to www.coros.com to learn more on products, training tips, and insights from athletes of all levels.
