My coach made us do hardcore strength workout too soon before race

Don't worry about races in September. The rumor may be the workouts will continue but that may change so just do them properly now to get ready for the big races.

In the middle of October, if the strength workouts are still brutal, as a group, start coasting them. If the coach, comments tell them that next summer you all will do similar workouts to be ready but at this point you only have two weeks until the big race and it time to coast and/or you would really rather do them on Saturdays.

A runner shouldn't be doing high intensity endurance focused Crossfit workouts.

If this continues just sandbag it. Those workouts are based on speed of movement and doing things as fast as possible and as many reps as possible. So just slow down and don't put much effort into it and you shouldn't be sore after.

Alan

Somebody should politely ask if having half the team sore from the workout through race day is part of the plan. Maybe these coaches would like to know of your concerns? I doubt they want you kids stressing out and worrying about it. Maybe they will ease off, or recommend how to warm-up to alleviate most of the residual soreness? If the coaches don't respond in a reasonable manner at least you would have that info about them.

Your dad said the most important thing. The races in October are the ones that count. High schoolers all too often worry about times and pr'ing in September. Focus on continuing to get good hard workouts and get ready to run fast at the end of October.

Runningart2004 wrote:

A runner shouldn't be doing high intensity endurance focused Crossfit workouts.

If this continues just sandbag it. Those workouts are based on speed of movement and doing things as fast as possible and as many reps as possible. So just slow down and don't put much effort into it and you shouldn't be sore after.

Alan

Alan...she didn't mention Crossfit..although maybe that's what it was. If it was...you're right...that's the worst thing in the world for a runner.

But maybe it was just a lot of lunges or squats...or something else. In that case...what do you think?

I did the same when I coaches a girls HS team

Every Thursday we did circuit training. The athletes complained that they weren't recovered to race on Saturdays. Mid October we did fewer and fewer exercises and the circuit was dropped by late October. Perhaps your coach has a similar approach, ask him/her.

What kinds of stuff did the coach have you doing?

Like of others have said...maybe just politely let the coach know many of you are very sore. Deliver the info in the interest of giving feedback...rather than complaining. In fact...you could say something like..."Coach...this is not a complaint...just feedback...many of us are really sore...so sore we are worried we will race poorly...etc..."

Your Dad sounds like he knows what he is doing.

I would NEVER drop circuits from a female athlete. It is a fact that many high level women, are performing circuits within days of international championships (worlds, Olympics, etc.) The numbers of sets and reps will evolve over the course of the season, but will never disappear from the program. You do not taper women (girls) like men (boys).

Coach wrote:

I did the same when I coaches a girls HS team

Every Thursday we did circuit training. The athletes complained that they weren't recovered to race on Saturdays. Mid October we did fewer and fewer exercises and the circuit was dropped by late October. Perhaps your coach has a similar approach, ask him/her.

Hormones 101 wrote:

I would NEVER drop circuits from a female athlete. It is a fact that many high level women, are performing circuits within days of international championships (worlds, Olympics, etc.) The numbers of sets and reps will evolve over the course of the season, but will never disappear from the program.

You do not taper women (girls) like men (boys).

Coach wrote:

I did the same when I coaches a girls HS team

Every Thursday we did circuit training. The athletes complained that they weren't recovered to race on Saturdays. Mid October we did fewer and fewer exercises and the circuit was dropped by late October. Perhaps your coach has a similar approach, ask him/her.

Not all circuits are created equal. Since the assistant coach is into Crossfit (missed that when I first read it), these could be Crossfit circuits...in which case, she has a real problem...because Crossfit is the worst thing in the world for a serious runner. If these are running specific exercises or drills, that's another story. The fact that she is so sore is not a good sign.

PTF wrote:

Runningart2004 wrote:

A runner shouldn't be doing high intensity endurance focused Crossfit workouts.

If this continues just sandbag it. Those workouts are based on speed of movement and doing things as fast as possible and as many reps as possible. So just slow down and don't put much effort into it and you shouldn't be sore after.

Alan

Alan...she didn't mention Crossfit..although maybe that's what it was. If it was...you're right...that's the worst thing in the world for a runner.

But maybe it was just a lot of lunges or squats...or something else. In that case...what do you think?

Lunges and Squats are fine....but doing a ton of reps going past failure again and again does more harm than good.

Use bodyweight work to work on mobility and use as a warmup for heavier strength training which will actually improve running economy then transition into plyometrics which will also improve running economy and explosiveness. This run on sentence brought to you by #notanenglishmajor

Alan

You are sore because the relevant muscles have been under utilized. If you are fit your muscles will no longer get sore. It is a good thing that these sore muscles are get exercised more.

Doing crossfit a couple of days before a race is not necessarily a bad thing if the race is unimportant and the race is used as a training run and not to "win".

CrossFit is not the worst thing in the world for a serious runner. Many of the exercises are great for athletes, including runners. The OP never actually says what the workout was. Seems to be another example of a his kid and a parent not having great communication with the coaches. Being sore from a workout in September is not necessarily a bad thing. Obviously heavy Olympic weightlifting could be detrimental to running conditioning but the mere mention of CrossFit it self should not automatically mean that it is bad.

Not enough info to determine if something is counter to the overall training plan.

Kids, TALK TO YOUR COACH. Ask him/her to explain the plan. If they can't then there may be a problem. The LR message board is not really the best place to start.

96Owl wrote:

CrossFit is not the worst thing in the world for a serious runner. Many of the exercises are great for athletes, including runners. The OP never actually says what the workout was. Seems to be another example of a his kid and a parent not having great communication with the coaches. Being sore from a workout in September is not necessarily a bad thing. Obviously heavy Olympic weightlifting could be detrimental to running conditioning but the mere mention of CrossFit it self should not automatically mean that it is bad.

Not enough info to determine if something is counter to the overall training plan.

Kids, TALK TO YOUR COACH. Ask him/her to explain the plan. If they can't then there may be a problem. The LR message board is not really the best place to start.

Yeah...I guess it's not the worst thing. However...while Crossfit has it's good points...one of the biggest negatives is that, over time, it wrecks your running gait. I think it's the lack of rotational and contralateral movements.

Crossfit itself, is not something that I would use. The components of crossfit, are generally fine. But, it is the "for time" BS, and lack of of appropriate rest, that disqualifies it from producing any sort of true speed athlete.

Again, I don't agree with it from a development standpoint... but I give it credit for what it has done for the general population.

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

Well, I ended up getting a PR (on a course that's supposedly one of the hardest in the country) and getting 3rd overall in the race today. Our team won. So perhaps it was much ado about nothing. I was pretty sore warming up though.

A lot of people complained about being sore and the other assistant coach admitted it was too much. So I think they will tone it down. I'm not sure if anyone talked to the head coach.

As to what specifically made us sore: The fast crossfit stuff was weird but I think the things that made us sore was the static stuff where we had to hold a position forever like with one leg bent and the other up (I think it was called a static hold). You can't really "sandbag" or fake that part either. It's obvious if you stop. I was trembling.

I do tend to still do some things too hard but I'm better at holding back than last year. Last year as a freshman I raced the intervals and ran my easy stuff too hard. I started strong last year but my times worsened as the season went and I got sick a lot. My dad told me to go easier pace wise this year in practice and I have been steadily improving (plus this year I have been averaging 30mpw much of the summer, which is a better base)

HSers don't post on message boards. So that's a lie. The other give away is you used paragraphs.

So I'm guessing this is for your daughter.

Anyways, your "Dad" is right. Listen to him and stop posting here.

CWRP wrote:

HSers don't post on message boards. So that's a lie. The other give away is you used paragraphs.

So I'm guessing this is for your daughter.

Anyways, your "Dad" is right. Listen to him and stop posting here.

Stop posting here? how rude.

There are plenty of HSers here on the high school sub forum which is where I directed this post.

Paragraphs are usually a no-brainer to use. We learned that in grade school, where some of us paid attention. You obviously must not think much of our generation, but some of us are semi-literate :).

Your coach has you doing iso holds/ static holds to develop strength. I don't recall cross fitters training like this. Your coach seems to know what he's doing as does your dad. Hopefully you and your teammates will buy into your coach's training. Communication, trust and belief in your training and yourself are crucial for you to be your best.

CWRP wrote:

HSers don't post on message boards. So that's a lie. The other give away is you used paragraphs.

So I'm guessing this is for your daughter.

Anyways, your "Dad" is right. Listen to him and stop posting here.

+1