Mary Kate Anselmini (Ward Melville High; Stanford University) — "Less races means more time between competition, which is nice. It allows you to get in some solid workouts, but also to have enough recovery to make those workouts count."

Eddie Owens (Packer Collegiate; Princeton University) — "It definitely has its pros and cons. Overall, I like it more than racing frequently, since each race means that much more. Also, every one of our workouts pushes me pretty hard, so they take the place of some races in high school. The downside is that when you have a bad race, you've got to wait what feels like forever for your next chance at redemption. It's also been difficult for me to adapt to college cross country racing, but I don't get that many chances to race and figure it all out."

Otis Ubriaco (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High; Iona College) — "So far it has its pros and cons, but I prefer it as a whole. It is nice racing into shape because it's easier to do than intense workouts. But to be a better runner you have to train to get into shape and I don't have to sacrifice a good workout for a dual meet, my least favorite parts of high school."

Tim Luthin (Warwick Valley High; Stanford University) — "As far as this season, I like it a lot. Not racing so much allows me to focus on getting used to training at the collegiate level."

Anselmini — "I did close to 11 miles during a workout the other day — that's over a quarter of my weekly mileage and probably one of my longest days ever."

Owens — "Since going out to Park City to train with the team over the summer, I've reset my personal best for longest run several times. It was 16 miles from the summer before my senior year, before I pushed it up to 16.4, then 17.4 (run with Galen Rupp and Mo Farah!), 18, and finally 19.5. I really enjoy our long runs and I always try to be one the last ones to return, which I usually manage. I'm looking to bust through the 20-mile barrier, but I don't know when that will happen. Probably not for a while."

Luthin — "In high school my longest was around 15 and that has become my usual Sunday long run in college."

Ubriaco — "Fifteen miles. I've done it five or six times in my life. I've never done anything crazy due to a mixture of laziness and lack of interest in running longer than a good long run. Never have seen the point in running insanely long just to say you did. I'll get to say that when I get old and lose all my speed later in life."

Ubriaco — "I take Liquid Iron on my up weeks of training with vitamin C supplements. I have Flintstone vitamins but forget to take them usually. After workouts I do the common Gatorade/PowerBar right after."

Luthin — "I try to grab a chocolate milk or two or three after every run."

Anselmini — "Even as a vegetarian, I don't take any supplements. I think it's really important to get all of your nutrients through the food you eat and Coach Plumer is pretty supportive of that. And other than Gatorade and chocolate milk, no recovery drinks either. I like to keep things as simple as possible."

Owens — "I generally rotate between Endurox and Clif Builder's Bars after workouts. I used both of those in high school, and I haven't really changed too much in that respect. No supplements though. I should take a daily vitamin, but I hate swallowing pills, so I don't."