The road to a state title is a marathon, not a sprint—and the Hoover (Alabama) girls basketball team, recently featured in Eastbay’s Preparation Nation series, is well ahead of the pace.

The Buccaneers ran the equivalent of four marathons before the season even started.

Hoover isn’t short on confidence, having won three of the last four Alabama state titles. However, the thought of running 100 miles during pre-season workouts was beyond belief for some of the players, according to coach Tiffany Frederick.

For the pre-season training program, Frederick and her assistants chart every stadium stair, hill run and lap around track until the ultimate goal of 100 miles is achieved.

Frederick says, “We’re getting these kids to believe the unbelievable. Now, is a state championship possible? Yeah, it’s possible, because they never thought they would ever run 100 miles and jump 10,000 jump ropes.”

The only question left is whether any other team will be able to keep up with the Bucs.

Frederick says, “We tell our girls at the end of the third quarter, look at their faces. They’re tapped out mentally and physically. How hard can you grind, because mid-third and fourth quarter, we’re going to run you off the floor.”

See how other elite high school teams prepare at Eastbay’s Preparation Nation.