This fall, Emry Schwalm’s season has been hard to ignore. Wins at major meets like Liberty Bell, Colorado Pre-State, and Nike Portland have put her at the center of the conversation about the best runners in Colorado.

What makes her rise so notable isn’t where she is now, but the consistency of her breakthroughs. Every season, Emry has made visible progress. But where many athletes level off after hitting varsity-level success, she’s kept climbing.

“The biggest thing is just being consistent with hard effort and putting in work,” she says. That consistency started long before she made it to a major starting line. In fact, her junior year marked the first time she even ran varsity cross-country. Since then, her consistency has remained. Along with her improvement.

Strength in Numbers

Emry's success is made stronger by her team, which happens to be one of the top squads in the state. The internal pacing and support from teammates has helped her thrive. “On easy run days, we're all running like 7:45 pace. And we're all running together every day,” she says. That shared rhythm in training is the same composure she now brings to every race.

She also benefits from the specific strengths of teammates like Caroline Fender, who leads out hard in races and helps Emry find position early. “She paves the way for me to get out. I just kind of follow her footsteps and focus on her ponytail.”

Above is her pace and heart rate data from the 5A Regional meet in Colorado. Emry takes a moment to settle into her pace, but once she does, it's a consistent grind through to the finish. While the competition can match her pace early, she filters through to the front and is the last one able to hold steady. If anyone is strong enough to be in the neighborhood at the end, her kick is able to finish them off.

Elite Training

One of the most telling workouts in Emry’s progression has been the “flux” session: alternating 200-meter intervals at 5K pace and steady efforts. "It tests your overall fitness because you're supposed to maintain 5k pace for 200, then the next 200 for recovery is just slow enough so that you can still hit that next 200 at 5k pace," Emry explains. “It’s four miles total, and you feel like you're sprinting in those last few 200s.”

Data from Emry's flux workout

The workout is split into three sets. The first two are 1.5 miles (six hard 200s, and six steady 200s), and the final set is 1 mile (4 of each). It’s an aerobic challenge with an anaerobic sting. In her most recent attempt, she maintained her 5K pace of 5:30/mi for the faster 200s, and held steady at around 6:00/mi for the 'recovery' 200s.

Her steady heart rate shows how well she executed the workout. The recovery was fast enough that her HR never came back down, but slow enough that it didn't spike during the next fast rep.

Her team repeats this format throughout the year, allowing athletes to see progression clearly. "We've done this workout a few times," Emry says, "and just seeing that total time decrease is super duper exciting."

Mentally Ready

Confidence might be Emry’s biggest leap this season. Whether it’s managing a minor injury, or entering a major meet without nerves, she’s developed an elite mindset that matches her elite fitness. “I feel the best mentally that I've ever felt in my high school career,” she says. She noted that she was less stressed for Liberty Bell this year than a regular invite from years past. The consistent growth has produced both fitness and confidence, a championship-caliber combination.

Emry's training for this season started in mid-July, after a brief hiatus following the track season. With a strong build through early-September, she has settled into a phase with slightly lower load to account for racing. Her Load Impact (blue line) shows clear weeklong cycles with recovery built into the plan.

All along, she's built her base fitness to an all-time high, and her body agrees with the numbers. “I feel the strongest I've ever felt. If you put a hard workout in front of me, I have no doubt I could do it.”

Heading into the postseason, Emry has the momentum and the foundation to make a deep run. She's already built a season to remember. Now she has the chance to finish it as one of the best in the nation.