My Off-Season Training Plan for Spring Track 2011 (Read 2393 times)

Chris T, how do you know the coach? Today I had my XC banquet and it seems that I don't have the chance of becoming captain. My coach said the sophomore who was running against me will be captain next year. So when should I start adding tempos and fartleks? In what week is best? (iPod won't let me space out the paragraphs)

 

Sorry about not being captain. I think starting now you can do one tempo work one week and one Fartlek work the next week. Rotate. For tempo work I recommend you do intervals - like 4 X 1 mile w/ 2 min rest at a little slower than 10K effort (1/2 marathon pace). I think this will tame you as many people run their tempos way toooooooooo faaaaasssstttt! The next week start do 8 - 10 X 2 min Fartleks at 5K effort w/ 60-90 sec recoveries.

 

Again, I think that out of all we have told you, you are focusing on when you can do your faster work when I think over the next 9 weeks this is less of a priority BUT there is nothing wrong with staying in touch with some faster stuff once per week as long as you are not "RACING" this work. It is a work out, not a race. Now you have to grow aerobically, not anaerobically!!!!

 

I am assuming you are a sophmore. Take some time. You are maturing and growing as a runner and can improve a lot over the next 3 seasons and beyond. I am a little cautious of jumping you from 25 miles per week to 50 in a short time. Maybe 50-60 will be better for you next year. I see nothing wrong in getting to 40-45 but you are young and need to let your body grow and adapt so you can continue to progress year to year. STAY HEALTHY!!!

Update: I'm currently going to Week 5 of my training. Week 5 will be 40 mpw and a long run of 10 miles next Sunday. Today my long run was 1:30:00 so should I max it out at 1:30:00 or keep building up the long run. The only fast workout i've included so far is a 20 min tempo after a 15 min warm up and 15 min cooldown. This week i'll go on 55 minute runs and in week 6 - 9 i'll probably be adding LT workouts twice a week.

Honestly, there are so many different opinions out there about how to get/ stay in shape, and it's different for everyone.  I would just listen to your coach, assuming she knows her running stuff.  That'll at least take the strain off you having to worry about your planning your training and keep you focused on the workout for the day.

 

Definitely listen to your body, because getting injured before the season even started would suck.  And watch out for shin splints the first few weeks of the season because the workout typically increase in intensity.  Best of luck!

On your miles, a 1:30 long run is fine until at 50 miles per week and then you can go longer. I see no need to do 2 threshold runs in one week in base season.

 

I'm not seeing where the 2 hour threshhold runs came in, but yeah, that's a bad idea.

 

1:30 for a long run on the listed mileage, running HS track distances, is plenty.  The plan listed is good.

 

I'm not seeing where the 2 hour threshhold runs came in, but yeah, that's a bad idea.

 

1:30 for a long run on the listed mileage, running HS track distances, is plenty.  The plan listed is good.

 

Andy,

 

He mentioned he was going to start doing 2 LT runs per week and I mentioned I did not think that was necessary in base building but it certainly isn't harmful. I just worry he will crank on these.

Running 1:30 for a long run as a high schooler is great. You don't need to go any higher. You're likely to burn yourself out going much higher.

 

Winter of Malmo is a great idea. Basically Malmo wants you to run every day -- preferably twice. Then he wants you to do one or two faster sessions per week. His focus is on consistent volume with quality work that won't overdo things.

 

It might be a blessing that you're not the captain. The captain has to represent the values of the coach to a large degree, whereas you can get away with being a bit of a rebel sometimes. You can also focus more on running and less on leading stretches, doing a headcount on the bus, and all sorts of other distractions.

 

So you want to be more involved in things. That's good. Do you feel like a part of the team? Who is the other guy that is captain? You talk about him as if he's not a friend or there is some distance between the two of you. Being a captain doesn't get the team to love you. But, getting the team to love you is the type of thing that moves you up in the ranks.

 

How strictly do you have to follow the coach's workouts in the winter? If there's no easy way out of them, then go with it. You can always add mileage or speed on your own to supplement what you're doing with the coach.

 

You can probably run doubles if you really want to run doubles. Running at 4am might not be doable, but maybe you can run at 9pm before getting ready for bed. All it takes is 30 easy minutes. Other people will commiserate with you about how much that stinks and how realistic it is. But maybe they shouldn't be your role models. Look at the champions who would run outdoors twice per day through the cold dark New England winter, or a Canadian record holder toiling away on a treadmill for hours per day, or a Japanese national team member running the same small paved loop ad infinitum. If you want to realize something closer to your full potential, then you're going to have to give something closer to your full effort. And for every successful runner you can name who is getting by doing singles, you'll probably find doubles much more appealing than the drills, lifting, swimming, or yoga the person is doing for another hour or two of the day.

 

You also need to train intelligently. You're a pretty bright guy, though. We can tell that from the way you type. Maybe you should read some books. Keep an open mind. Don't believe the first thing you read. Considering you like the 1600 distance, you should absolutely read Once a Runner if you haven't yet. There's your motivational book. There are a million other training books. Use them as guides, but not bibles. It's almost Christmas. Amazon.com would be happy to oblige any Christmas requests you may have for specific training books. If you have money to blow on books, send me a private message and I'll give you recommendations.

 

Keep reading message boards and the Internet. For every 99 pages of crap, there's 1 page of useful information. Once you learn how to filter the rubbish, you'll get a lot of knowledge for the 1% and entertainment from the other 99%.

 

And make a running log available to us so we can be proud of your progress as we see it happen.

 

Andy,

 

He mentioned he was going to start doing 2 LT runs per week and I mentioned I did not think that was necessary in base building but it certainly isn't harmful. I just worry he will crank on these.

 

OK... I was reading "2 hr threshhold runs", not 2 LT runs per week.

 

Doing two, hour-long threshhold runs is still overkill.  Now if we are talking two threshhold runs of a reasonable distance, say 4 miles (2 mile warmup, 4 miles threshhold, 2 mile cooldown) this would be acceptable even during base phase.  While there is always the risk that someone will go overkill on such runs, if done correctly this is a great way to go.  I am a mileage fan but a healthy dose of tempo work during base phase is a good thing, not a bad thing.  Going overkill and racing it is another issue.