What is your opinion?

Training Advice/Discussion High School

7 years ago 10/20/2016 8:07am EDT

I have something to throw out there looking for opinions. How much running do you need to do to maintain fitness. My daughter ( Junior ) is about to finish up cross country in the next 2 weeks, and she wanted to take the indoor season off this year and do the school play. She is a miler/2 miler, and will be running outdoor track in the Spring. How much will she need to run in the next 5 months to make sure she at least keeps her fitness and doesn't go backwards. My thought's were 3 days a week, a long run (60 minutes), an easy run (40 minutes), and alternating a Tempo/Fartlek run for the 3rd day. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

7 years ago 10/20/2016 10:18am EDT

re: Sevgwv

7 years ago 10/20/2016 10:20am EDT

re: Sevgwv

Opinion?

Let her be a kid.

7 years ago 10/20/2016 10:20am EDT

re: Sevgwv

How much is she running now?

She will lose some speed if she doesn't do any kind of speed work. That is OK though but I would throw in track work or fartleks once a week or so.

7 years ago 10/20/2016 10:35am EDT

re: Sevgwv

It's a hard question to answer, because the more she runs the better off she'll be. I'm not saying she shouldn't do the play - obviously, she should do what she wants - just that the more running she manages to squeeze in the better prepared for track season she'll be. Whether three days a week is enough to maintain her fitness really depends on how fit she is - the fitter you are, the more you have to do to maintain that higher level.

The other thing is, if she is only running three times a week, she can probably hit all three of them pretty hard if she wants to, and be better off for it. For example, you could modify your schedule to a long run (60 minutes) at a steady-state type effort (instead of easy), replace the easy run with intervals or hill sprints of a similar total mileage, and keep the fartlek/tempo.

Finally, I wouldn't recommend a rigid schedule. Maybe it's better to leave her to her own devices. That way she can recharge mentally after what might have been a tiring cross country season, and also feel like she owns her own training in a way that she might not if you are giving her lots of guidance. Obviously you know your own daughter better than any of us could, but that is what would have been good for me at that age.

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