Critique my Summer Training

Sorry, but this is terrible.

1.) YES, vary days more. Some faster, some slower. Some longer, some shorter.

2.) Your long run needs to be longer relative to the rest of your days. It should be roughly 25% of your weekly mileage.

3.) One day each week throw in a tempo. A few weeks later add in cruise intervals. Look these up on here if you don't know what they are

4.) building your mileage slow is good, but you're building it at a snail's pace. You can go a little quicker, not 7 miles per week more every MONTH.

5.) don't give yourself such a wide range of goals. Set one, and stick to it. You will mess yourself up fluctuating between goals. I've ruined seasons doing this

6.) peak your mileage in August and then lower it a little and hold it through the season

7.) follow this advice and you'll be set

thanks for the feedback For Number 1. I agree with you. I just have been trying to build up my endurance because normally I run 2-4 miles every day and I really want to work on my endurance. It's just not thereI think my long run needs to be longer. I'll be running 3-6 miles with a long run of 8-9 in late June and early July. So when I get my normal runs up to 5-7 with a long run of about the same in late July- Early August. The tempos will only be about 3-5 miles. (Does that sound about right?)For my goals. They are just to run consistently and reach a pr by the end of the season. (And to maybe train with the varsity team)Could someone give me an ideal build up (not snails pace but not one that will lead to injury)

Sorry m, but you're off again

Yes, your long run needs to be longer. Don't keep your long run the same throughout the summer and just sprinkle a few miles onto easy days throughout the summer. You are thinking about it more cookie cutter than it is. You want to build your normal/easy days and long run simultaneously. You will not see a big benefit doing the same long run throughout the summer. Also, if you start out doing 9 mile long runs with 3 mile easy days, that is just disastrous and makes no sense. One more thing, do tempos based on time, not distance (the best tempo imo is 20 minutes). If you want more mileage do a longer warm up and cool down.

Ok, so that is my criticism. A progression could look something like

This week

M 4 easy

T 6 medium

W 5 easy

T 7 easy

F 5 with pick up in the middle

S rest

S Long run 9

Next week

M 5.25 easy

T 7 medium

W 6 easy

T 7 easy

F 6 with pick up in the middle

S rest

S Long run 9.75

Week after next

M 5.75 easy

T 7 medium

W 6 easy

T 7.5 easy

F 6.25 with pick up in the middle

S rest

S Long run 10.5

That would put your weekly mileage at about 35, 39, 43. Don't forget to take a "down week" once a month (run 2/3 or 3/4 of a normal week to let your body recover more and absorb the higher training load). Run most of your mileage comfortably and focus on form

Thanks.

I felt like these easy 3 milers were useless because I'm trying to work on endurance and That's almost the distance of the race. So i feel like anything easy that's less than 4 miles (if based off distance instead of time) are a bit useless

But I don't know if I should be doing these long 9 mile runs if I'm struggling with them. (I'll have to them eventually so why not this summer) I know they shouldn't be just another easy run. I've heard that you should start off easy and then pick it up the last few miles. So I think I'll do that.

The longest run I've ever done is about 6 miles.

I do agree with the down week. If I'm running about 30-45. Then i should bring it down to 20-25

Jruns wrote:

Thanks.

I felt like these easy 3 milers were useless because I'm trying to work on endurance and That's almost the distance of the race. So i feel like anything easy that's less than 4 miles (if based off distance instead of time) are a bit useless

But I don't know if I should be doing these long 9 mile runs if I'm struggling with them. (I'll have to them eventually so why not this summer) I know they shouldn't be just another easy run. I've heard that you should start off easy and then pick it up the last few miles. So I think I'll do that.

The longest run I've ever done is about 6 miles.

I do agree with the down week. If I'm running about 30-45. Then i should bring it down to 20-25

Those easy 3 milers are not useless.

Your long runs should be easy pace; it is the duration of the run that turns them into more of a workout. Long runs with a faster finish are something you would do only later (like maybe next summer) once you're strong enough to run forever.

But the consistency is the most important thing. Get out and do something every day. If you're tired, slow down or run a little less. If you're feeling good, run a little more.

Exactly.

Even if you're just doing easy 3 milers for 5-6 days a week, That's pretty good. It's mostly about consistency. Which is one of your goals. Yeah you want to vary your days more but it's consistency that matters.

I made the mistake my Freshman and Sophomore of year of not being consistent. I would go 2-3 days without running and that is something I regret. I did not learn until my Junior year (the year I broke for the first time 18 and went on to run a 16:10 at state)

A lot of the time Guys will go out of town and will lose motivation because they don't have anyone to push them. If you're struggling with consistency, talk to your coach

+1

Throw in some bio mechanical work, like ankle ROM and lateral stability. As you advance, you may want to try polarized training.

Jackson Powell wrote:

Throw in some bio mechanical work, like ankle ROM and lateral stability. As you advance, you may want to try polarized training.

+1

I would suggest adding in strides and/or hill sprints twice a week.

If you've never done hill sprints before, they would be short, maximum intensity sprints up a hill that would only be 6 to 10 seconds in duration. You would want to be fully recovered between each sprint so your recovery between each would be 2 to 3 minutes.

Strides would be slower, but still at a fast speed, like 800m to 1600m race pace.

Ideally, either the strides or hill sprints would be the day before your tempo run and be after the run for that day.

Finally, you should include some variation in your day to day intensity, such as running at a moderate pace. This would be more taxing than a regular easy day, but not so much that you would need to recover like you would with a hard workout.

Example:

Mon. 6 miles easy + 6x8-second hill sprints

Tue. Tempo Run

Wed. 6 miles easy

Thr. 7 miles easy/moderate

Fri. 6 miles easy + 6x100m strides

Sat. 8-9 miles long run

+1

last week

Monday 7/10: 4 miles

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 6.5

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 4 miles

Saturday: 3 miles

Sunday: 3 miles

This week

Monday: Sick Off

Tuesday: 3 miles

Wednesday: 3 miles

Thursday: 6 miles