One mile into the NXN Heartland region meet on Nov. 10, the Edina (Minn.) boys had 322 points. If the race had been only a mile, they would have taken 12th place, more than 200 points behind the winners. But over the next mile, Edina made up 155 points and jumped up to third place. In the final 1.1, they passed other racers in droves; the 3-4-5 runners passed an average of 25 competitors each. Edina won with 106 points to qualify automatically for NXN in Portland on Dec. 7. Logan Ramlet led the way in 15:52.2 to take seventh in the team race. Edina packed their top five runners tightly with a 1-5 split that was only 25.8 seconds. Running Times Top 10 No. 5-ranked Wayzata, also of Minnesota, was second in 135 to pick up the other bid to NXN.

The race bore similarities to how the year has gone for Edina: They started out slow and picked up steam as they went.

“We did not expect this at the beginning of the season,” says Coach Jamie Kirkpatrick, who’s in his 12th year coaching at Edina. The team has only three runners with 3200m track PBs under 10 minutes (9:30, 9:58, and 9:59). But they have developed as the year went on. “Now they’re running with so much confidence,” says Kirkpatrick. The confidence breeds more confidence, not to mention more success. NXN Heartland was the first race that Edina, who is in the same conference, section, and state race as Wayzata, beat the Minnesota state champs all year.

Sadly for Kirkpatrick, he didn’t even get to coach the squad to the win. Due to Minnesota state high school rules, Kirkpatrick can’t coach the team in the post season, which is any meet after the state meet. At the regional, Lance Elliott was at the helm, coaching the Edina XC Running Club to the win. (High school teams have to change their names, in Minnesota and elsewhere, which makes results hard to sift through.)

But beside the name and the squad’s official coach, the team is largely intact. Elliott leads the practice instead of Kirkpatrick. “These are a good group of guys,” says Elliott, “and they just know what they’re doing.”

Kirkpatrick still goes to the meets. It’s not like he can’t say hello to his runners, and he will fly out to NXN to watch. He is confident even with the postseason coaching change. “We’re just doing the same thing we’re doing all year, so me not being there isn’t a big deal,” he says.

As they wait for NXN, which is 27 days after the Heartland region, the Edina boys are keeping up the intensity and even getting in a few race-type efforts. Coach Elliott shared what this week of training will look like with Running Times.

Monday: Maintenance Run
The team will get in 10 miles at a moderate effort on Monday. They’ll keep it at a decent pace (starting just over 7:00 and ending just under). The guys on the team call it a maintenance run, keeping things going. They’ll do core work after the run as well. “I hardly have to say a thing and these guys are all doing core,” says Elliott. “It’s like an assembly line with these guys getting stuff going.”

Their core work is a lot of planks, squats and push-ups, mixed in with other leg work they call a lunge matrix, hip strength and coordination exercises.

Tuesday: Threshold Workout
“At the end of the year,” Coach Kirkpatrick says, “we’re doing similar things, so there’s not much that Coach Elliott has to change. We don’t peak, we try to maintain.” So they keep workouts going at race pace, rarely going faster.

Here is Tuesday’s workout:

Warm-up: 12-15 minutes of easy running, brief static stretching, dynamic/sprint training drills (high knees, butt kicks, a-skip, b-skip, etc.) and 3-5 strides.

Workout:  2,000m at 5K pace, 8x500m at 5m pace, short recovery 

They’ll finish up with core once they’ve cooled down.

Wednesday: 47-Minute Run
“A while ago,” says Elliott, “one of the kids had a really good race after doing a 47-minute run.” The superstition stayed with Edina, because the kids run 47 minutes on their easy days. Not 45, not 50, but 47 minutes. It doesn’t matter the distance, they run for time. They make sure to get in core on easy days, too.

Thursday: Mile Time Trial with Wayzata Boys
The boys will do the same warm-up they do for Tuesday’s workout, but this workout will be a little more fun: They’re doing a mile time trial with the Wayzata team they finally beat at NXN Heartland. Both teams are using it as a way to avoid getting stale between the regional meet and NXN. Says Elliott: “This will also give the guys a chance to bond with their local rival team prior to going out the Portland and both representing Minnesota.” Many of the guys for Edina can probably even get a mile PB if they run well. After the mile, they’ll finish it up with five to six strides.

And yes, they’ll do core. They never miss core. They even made sure to get it in after the Heartland award ceremony. Even after meeting Chris Solinsky.

Friday: 58th Street Run
The Edina boys hold true to tradition and they’ll get in 8 to 9 easy miles through Edina and South Minneapolis on 58th street.

Saturday: Longer Run
A long run effort of 11-12 miles, but at an easy recovery pace. 

Sunday: Easy Day
The boys will get in 6-7 miles easy (around 7:00 pace) for a short recovery run.

Then, with only two weeks to go until NXN, they’ll keep workouts going and even race a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day, which is 10 days out from the big race in Portland. Will they do core after NXN? That’s up for debate.