Despite 32 years of coaching track and field, Michigan coach Fred LaPlante doesn't pretend to have a standard training plan for this time of year.

LaPlante is preparing athletes for the NCAA Indoor Championships, but after months of heavy training, he said it's extremely difficult to draw the line between too much and too little exercise.

Seniors Adam Harris and Justin Switzer and redshirt junior Sean Pruitt are preparing for this weekend's trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.

“It’s different for each guy," LaPlante said. "It’s a psychological thing. It’s an art of having a guy fresh for the race. It’s how much can you do where they still have confidence, but they’re not doing so much that they’re exhausted.”

Adam Harris: 60-meter dash

LaPlante emphasized how important it was for Harris to stay mentally fresh at the Big Ten Championships, where he won the 60-meter (6.62) and 200-meter (20.99) dashes to cap off his late-season surge.

It was a sharp contrast to his previous meet at the Nebraska Husker Invitational. In the 60-meter dash, the event he is running at nationals, Harris ran a time of 6.76 seconds.

“At Nebraska, his mind was somewhere else,” LaPlante said. “But at the Big Ten meet, you knew it was going to be a long day for everyone else, because he was in that zone, and if you were going to beat him, it was going to be pretty unbelievable."

But LaPlante could tell well before the Big Ten meet that Harris would be successful. Harris was named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year and Track Athlete of the Championships.

“You could just sense it from about 10 days out from how he was approaching his business," LaPlante said. "I just couldn’t see him getting denied at the Big Ten meet. He was just focused and wasn’t uptight, either."

LaPlante said he also sees the same focus in Harris for the NCAA meet. It also helps that Harris has been at this stage before, finishing fourth (6.62 seconds) in last year’s national meet to claim his first All-American honor.

“When the lights go on, Adam always knows what to do,” LaPlante said. “He can get focused the right way. He doesn’t get overly up or down.”

Harris said that with his lingering lower back problems mostly cleared up and off his mind, he's ready to unleash his speed in a way that he hasn’t often done this year. Although Clemson sophomore Jacoby Ford holds the nation’s top time at 6.51 seconds, Harris said winning a national championship from the fifth seed was a possibility.

Justin Switzer: Mile Run

Fellow senior Justin Switzer also goes to the NCAA Championship meet to top off his decorated career on the indoor track.

Switzer qualified for the NCAA meet as a sophomore, where he took All-American honors in the distance medley relay and won the conference title in the 1,500-meter run. According to distance coach Ron Warhurst, Switzer’s meet two years ago was mostly a learning experience. Warhurst said this time around, Switzer has a different game plan going into College Station.

“He’s got to be able to put himself in position where he can use his speed,” Warhurst said. “Everybody is going to be quick. Everyone will be fast. It’s the national championship.”

Switzer just won the Big Ten title in the mile run two weeks ago and has changed up his normal routine of running 65 miles per week. He's now running just 42 miles per week as he tries to stay fresh before facing the nation’s top runners.

“It’s all mental. You have a mental approach and a plan and you have to execute it,” said Warhurst, adding that Switzer plans to keep pace with the front four runners going into the final stretch. “I have no question he’s got the confidence. It’s about executing the plan we have.”

Switzer’s 3:58.86 mile time, run on Feb. 6, makes him the eighth seed of 14 runners. He is just a second and a half behind the top seed, Michigan State junior Shane Knoll.

Sean Pruitt: Weight Throw

Redshirt junior thrower Sean Pruitt will be making the trek to College Station to participate in the weight throw.

Pruitt has never before qualified for the NCAA Championships but has enjoyed a spectacular indoor season, headlined by breaking his own Michigan record in the weight throw twice.