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What do you think about this training plan for the summer (Read 111 times)

bacr12


    I plan to run cross country for the first time in my senior year. Ive been running track for a while now.

    These are my mile race times in order:

    5:12

    5:06

    5:06

    4:58

    4:55

    somehow ive managed to pr in evey race. I hope my times will get better in the spring.

    My goal for the 5k is 16:30-50 min by the begining of the seaon.

    my plan for running is here: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/139.shtml

    this is a little more than my mileage now but i will work up to it with this I will also add core on many days

    and strength training including plyo on three days

    DO you think this is good and that i will reach my goal?

    Jon the Freshman


      First things first I'd want a better idea of your running history to consider where you want your mileage to be. That being said with this being your first season you have to understand that xc is going to be completely different from any mile race you've run.  So going off the premise of building into your program mileage wise lets look at what you're doing. Right off the bat, and it may sound a bit harsh, don't do any speed workouts that sound like they could be done on the track. Fast or 5k pace should not happen in the summer. Think of it as the summer miles you run are like money deposited in a bank and you're trying to save up as much as you can, but every time you do some type of speed oriented workout you take money out of savings. Also realize that most often the xc season has the longest season with the highest and toughest number of races plus the championship meets at the end.

       

      So what this all boils down to is this. Everything during the summer should be Long Slow Distance. What you want to be thinking is injury proofing your body. so I personally would remove all the speed or race events from your schedule, and replace them with respective moderate to long run days. That being said if you wish, you can feel free to incorporate strides after long runs usually 8x200m tops building up to a sprint. this can also be incorporated another 1-2 days during the week. Also within the last 4 weeks, heading into the start of the season and the team time trial, You can incorporate light to moderate tempo runs once a week. this would include something that would look like 4x1600 @ 6:00 or a straight 3 mile run in 18:30. you could also incorporate the hill workouts you have mentioned. though I wouldn't do long hills. I would find a long hill and do hill sprints to the same degree as the tempo runs. something like 8x1 min with 3 min recovery jog to the start, but do not do both workouts in he same week. So start around those marks, depending on your fitness, and build into the season. To really build hill endurance, I'd find a loop or area, preferably some mountainesque range, to do a long run on.  This combined with the easy miles you've put in should give you the right amount of base and overall fitness to be prepared for the demands of an xc season.

       

      If you have any questions as to my personal experience I was the 5th man on my xc team my senior year and we came in 2nd at the state meet. My pr in xc is a 16:27 5k 16:20 3 mile 4:40 mile and 10:02 2 mile. I've since graduated and am competing in ultras on my own. It doesn't make me an expert but its what my coach preached and was successful with

      Andrew Wong


        In short, I do not think this plan off the shelf is such a good idea. Just talk to your coach and do a lot of easy miles.

         

        Reasons:

         

        1) This plan is tailored for the runner to build up to one peak race at week 12, which is not really what you are aiming for to begin the season after the summer is over.

        In other words, this plan assumes that your most important race is 3 months from the start of the summer when it is not. Really, what you want is to synthesize what your XC coach will plan to do and make it a 6 month plan. The most straightforward/conventional way to do that is to just run a lot of easy miles over the summer and come in an aerobic monster to build your cardiovascular endurance. The mileage you would hit during the summer would depend mainly on your past history of mileage and your coach's philosophy. In general, 50+ miles/ wk might not be such a good idea before college, depending on your experience and body, but I am no expert on that point.

         

        2) If this is your summer plan, there is too much quality/ harder effort too soon. Usually, you do base building for a few months of nothing but easy runs and then you throw in some fartlek or other similar work, about half way through the summer and build from there. Too much quality too soon can cause your improvement in performance to plateau too soon in the training cycle. When racing time rolls around, you could be flat if you started this at the beginning of summer.

         

        If you are more curious, you should check out some books about running, such as that brain training book from Matt Fitzgerald.

          That's not a good summer training plan for xc at all, for the reasons others have stated. Way too much speed work. You want base mileage, strides, a few tempos.

          Runners run

          bacr12


            Thanks guys ita good now that I know because track is much different than this would be. For track we do a few easy days and then harder workout efforts. I have a few more questions:

            should I take a break after track before running again?

            for the summer should my training just be easy run or can I incorporate tempo tempo workouts?

            and finally what are some other ways to help me get under 17 without straining my body and doing too much?

              Summer training is different from what you will do in season. The summer is all about building the biggest aerobic base you can, so you can better absorb the hard work that's to come once your season starts.

               

              You should probably take a break once spring track ends. This doesn't mean you have to totally stop running necessarily, but you should take a week or two where you do very little running and nothing hard. It kind of depends on how much you're running now and how deep into states/all states  you get and how much racing you wind up doing. There is no stock answer but in general you should take a little time to recover and recharge.

               

              You can incorporate some tempos or cruise intervals maybe once or twice a week but again these should not be gut busters.

               

              The best way to get under 17 will be to build the biggest base you can so that when you start doing hard workouts in xc season they actually matter.

               

              You might want to google "Summer of Malmo".

              Runners run

                Thanks guys ita good now that I know because track is much different than this would be. For track we do a few easy days and then harder workout efforts. I have a few more questions:

                should I take a break after track before running again?

                for the summer should my training just be easy run or can I incorporate tempo tempo workouts?

                and finally what are some other ways to help me get under 17 without straining my body and doing too much?

                 

                Why throw out an arbitray time such as 17 minutes? Given you're a Sr, if  you do the right training over the summer, you might run 17 the first meet of hte season. Then what?  Moreover, you can't compare XC times like you can with track given every course is different.

                 

                The advice others have given is sound. Run as many miles as possible, including a weekly long run. Work on both ends of the speed spectrum (easy running, strides down to sprints w/ full recoveries), and include tempo running. Rather than make them structured repeats, why not just do distance runs with a tempoish effort in the second half of the run?  For example, pick a 8 mile course, that's 4 miles out and back.  Run comfortable the first half, then gradually pick up the pace on the way back. Run controlled by comfortably hard.

                 

                Having said that, there are coaches such as  Scott Christensen that appears to be unconventional. http://www.runnersworld.com/high-school-training/stillwater-system?page=single   I wouldn't recommend this for your first year of XC.

                   

                  You might want to google "Summer of Malmo".

                   

                  But I would not recommend the "Summer of George" program (you can probably ask your dad what this means).

                  Dave