SCHS CROSS COUNTRY SUMMER TRAINING 2008
Welcome to the summer training program. This is a nine week program designed to elevate your mileage slowly and build your fitness so you’ll be able to “hit the ground running” in September. The workouts are not set in stone, you can adjust them to fit individual needs such as vacations, random obligations, illness, and injury. If you follow the plan diligently, you will be faster, and in better shape than last year at the same time (probably ever). The structure should be familiar and easy to follow for returning runners, and a good introduction to the way in which the season will progress for the newcomers. There are three very important points we will stress early and often. 1) Keep a running log of all the workouts you do , with comments about how it felt. This is a good habit to develop because you can use it for reference in the years to come. 2) Whenever possible, avoid running on paved or concrete surfaces, grass or dirt surfaces are much easier on you legs. 3) Get a wristwatch with a stopwatch so you can monitor your pace and training time.
PACES / WORKOUTS:
Harder, more important workouts are emphasized with CAPITALS (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays). The 40 to 45 minute easy runs between them are for recovery ; so don’t push pace at all on those days because you don’t want to burn out. If you have to take a day off, make it one of these, not a hard day if at all possible.
EASY: Recovery pace, not ridiculously slow. Mellow, as you feel pace.
EASY / MODERATE: Relaxed, picking it up to a little faster than easy pace.
MODERATE: The pace you go when you’re on a “regular run.” It’s not hard, just a decent, enjoyable effort.
LONG: You will do one long run of an hour+ every week, usually Saturday. These runs are done at a relaxed pace, no faster than moderate effort. The longs runs will make you strong, both physically and mentally.
TEMPO: About 30 seconds per mile slower than your current 3 mile pace. These runs are to be done on a flat course and the same pace be maintained throughout. “Comfortably Hard” as we call it, tempo workouts are the most important tool for improving your fitness and endurance. Also known as “Anaerobic Threshold Pace,” this run will raise the heart rate at which fatigue sets in. Basically, you can go harder for longer. To get you used to how the season is structured, this key workout is on Wednesdays, like it will be in the fall.
FARTLEK: Swedish for “speed play,” these workouts are for building your ability to vary pace when you need to. Putting on surges to break the competition as well as being able to respond to their attacks is an important part of racing. These workouts consist of timed bursts of near race pace with about equal amounts of easy recovery running in between.
HILLS: These workouts build strength and you will need it with the courses you race. Usually, hill work is done at close to race pace and is a fairly short, concentrated effort. They improve your agility, toughness, and overall strength. We usually do hill work on Fridays.
REPEATS / RACE PACE: How fast you have most recently run a 3 mile race or how fast you plan to run in your next one. In the later part of the summer and during the season, we will do a mile repeat workout at this pace every Monday to get you familiar with your level of exertion in races.
* All these paces can be adjusted with (+) or (-) to notate a middle range effort.
WARM UP / WARM DOWN
You will warm up for at least one mile, although it is better to go with time. Your standard warm up for every run, including races, will be 10 to 15 minutes of easy pace. Follow the run with a quick stretch of major muscles and anything that needs it. For harder workouts the warm up and warm down might be longer (20 mins) and is not included in work out time. For easy runs, your warm up and warm down may be included in your total 45 minute run time. For these runs we will use the last mile or so as a warm down (same easy pace as warm up). After a recovery run, we will do 6 to 10 strides of about 100 meters at a relaxed, moderate+ pace. In addition to that, we will be doing core-strengthening exercises; so “ easy” days aren’t exactly easy, they’re just less difficult than the hard days. Strides and stretching after runs helps prevent injury, so approach it as seriously as any other part of a hard workout. Stretch well after every training session regardless of whether or not you are with the team.
BASE BUILDING - (June 9 – July 6)
Run 30 to 60 minutes easy, as you feel, 3 to 5 days a week. DO NOT exceed tempo (anaerobic threshold) pace. Use this time to build your aerobic fitness base (remember, the better you build your base, the higher your potential). Run on dirt and or grass and with your teammates as often as possible. Keep in mind you have a lot of running ahead of you, so go easy and enjoy it!
WEEK 1 – 4 Days (July 7-13)
Mon – 40 to 50 mins easy conversational pace
Wed – 3 to 4 miles with 6 hills or so, moderate
Fri – 45 mins easy
Sat – LONG, 55 mins+, nice and easy conversational pace
WEEK 2 – 5 Days (July 14-20)
Mon – 40 to 45 mins easy – easy/moderate
Wed – TEMPO RUN – 20 mins @ 30 sec. / mile slower than race pace. Long warm up / down.
Thurs – 40 to 45 mins easy. Weights
Fri – 40 mins moderate with hills
Sat – LONG, 55 to 60 mins relaxed
WEEK 3 – 6 Days (July 21-27)
Mon – FARTLEK – Timed hard efforts mixed with slower recovery of similar time. 4 mins on (hard), 8 off (easy) X 4
Tues – 45 mins easy
Wed – 20 min TEMPO RUN
Thurs – 40 mins easy. Weights
Fri – HILLS – 6 race pace+, 2 mile warm up / warm down
Sat – LONG, 60 mins relaxed
WEEK 4 – 6 Days (July 28 – Aug 3)
Mon – FARTLEK, [5 on, 5 off] X 4
Tues – 40 mins easy. Weights
Wed – 20 min TEMPO RUN
Thurs – 40 mins moderate, feel good pace
Fri – HILLS, 6 race pace, continuous loops. Concentrate on form, technique, and cresting.
Sat – LONG, 65 mins easy
WEEK 5 – 6 Days (Aug 4-10)
Mon – FARTLEK, [1 on, 1 off] X 15. End with 2 off, 3 on.
Tues – 40 mins+ easy. Weights
Wed – 20 min TEMPO RUN
Thurs – 40 to 45 mins easy / moderate
Fri – HILLS, 20 min warm up / down, then 6 to 8 x 200m OR 4 to 6 x 400m depending on incline.
Sat – LONG, 65 to 70 mins easy / moderate as you feel
WEEK 6 – 6 Days (Aug 11-17)
Mon – FARTLEK, [3 on, 3 off] / [1on, 1off] X 5 / [10 on, 10 off] /
[5on, 5 off]
Tues – 40 to 45 mins easy / moderate
Wed – 3 mile TEMPO, 2 mile warm down
Thurs – 40 to 45 mins moderate. Weights
Fri – REPEATS 3 x mile on home course, pushing hills. OR 10 to 12 hill loops, continuous.
Sat – LONG, 70 mins moderate on rolling trails
WEEK 7 – 6 Days (Aug 18-24)
Mon – FARTLEK, 3 mins hard, 3 mins moderate on course, doing 2nd mile twice.
Tues – 40 to 45 mins easy. Weights
Wed – 22 min TEMPO RUN, 10 x 100m strides on grass
Thurs – 40 mins easy
Fri – HILLS, 8 to 10 continuous SC hill loops. OR 6 to 8 loops 204 stairs. or 5 to 7 loops State Park. Finish with 6 mins moderate+
Sat – LONG, 60 to 70 mins easy as you feel
WEEK 8 – 6 Days (Aug 25 – 31)
Mon – REPEATS, 3 or 4 X mile at race pace on dirt course.
Tues – 45 mins easy. Weights
Wed – 22 min TEMPO RUN
Thurs – 45 mins easy / moderate
Fri – HILLS, 6 to 8 x Riviera hill or other hill workout TBD.
Sat – LONG, 75 to 80 mins easy, relaxed. OR “Underground Invitational”
WEEK 9 – 6 Days (Sept 2-8) -START OF SCHOOL-
Mon – REPEATS, 3 or 4 X mile at race pace
Tues – 45 mins easy
Wed – 20 min TEMPO RUN
Thurs – 40 mins easy / moderate
Fri – Pre-Race
Sat – Long Beach Invitational