Returning from Midland, as late afternoon light faded to darkness, some of the boys and I, sitting toward the front of the bus, were talking quietly about our successes at the league championships, where both teams won. As we wound down the mountain from Lake Cachuma, Chevy mentioned that a friend of his had improved dramatically over the summer on training that emphasized speed over distance. As we played with this idea, Andrew suggested harder and faster training during the summer would be productive. Daniel thought that we should build more intensity into our running next fall. Having listened quietly to the conversation, I responded that we could probably do some more speed work during the summer months and start speed training two or three weeks sooner next year. As the talk continued in this vein, somewhere east of Santa Barbara I had the thought that this is exactly the conversation I want to hear at this late stage of a demanding cross country season. These boys want more — more speed, more distance, more running. Their love of the sport is vibrant and fresh and that is exactly what I want.