Is it better to take a break immediately after XC season, or try to hold your XC fitness through early indoor?

“Heaven forbid you take any time off” -Katelyn Tuohy

“Take a break. Literally no one outside of the arctic circle cares about indoor.” -Everyone else

Take a 2 week break. You are a distance runner, not a sprinter. Your fitness will not decline.

Continue to strength train, and do some cross training. Also, do your running drills every day, to maintain fiber memory.

But don't do any workouts, long runs or tempo runs. No running period.

Just take a good 2 week break.

If you are training properly and not injured why would you need time off?

The lack of competitions is enough of a stimulus change

The current trend is away from “periodization” and toward “train an ability then maintain that ability”

Have a couple of easier weeks, no hard interval sessions, long runs or intensive hills or anything similar. Relatively easy milegae and gentle fartleks only! If the X country season was very competitive you need a bit of a break mentally before you can be expected to "get up" for another competitive period but you should not stop running altogether. Why would you not want to do something that you, presumably, enjoy?

The best plan for cold altitude schools is stress XC and indoor then forget outdoor.

.............. wrote:

If you are training properly and not injured why would you need time off?

The lack of competitions is enough of a stimulus change

The current trend is away from “periodization” and toward “train an ability then maintain that ability”

Only average, middle of the pack, slow twitchers who never podium will follow this current trends "maintain" bullshite advise.

If you are coming off a successful xc season where you actually achieved a goal of state podium or nxn/FL and the REAL peaking required of such, take a break. ...up to 2 weeks is enough unless nursing injury, then more.

"Current trends" bs will eventually leave you injured.

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If the team tapered for the end of XC season, that is similar to taking a break, legs get fresh, and if performances were good, keep it going. Those kids who ran poorly at the end of the season will need a 'break'.

Kids will like the change in training toward indoor type work, but coach them ... make them take their foot off the accelerator, they should not grind the workouts, there is a long way to go until outdoor championships, keep them on track for your/their goals and the training needed to get there. Too many kids push it too hard right after the season, while too many others take more time off than needed and start back too slowly, both can end up preventing them from reaching goals. Whatever produced success, keep it going. I've seen good XC seasons become good indoor seasons, which became great outdoor seasons. The problem with too many runners is that after success they think they have to ramp it up even more. Let the body adapt, natural physical maturity and another year under the training belt will provide most of the success.

Different things work for different people.

Some runners are able to finish cross in November, move right into winter-base training, and still post outstanding race times in December--just based on the race-specific conditioning that's "held over" from xc. Their racing in December does nothing to compromise their base-building for the late indoor season and the outdoor season.

Other runners really feel that, as soon as cross-country has ended, they need a week or two of light or zero training.

Another factor to consider: For college runners, indoor/outdoor is essentially one long season. Many teams from the Northeast are taking their Southern/Western spring-break trips for outdoor competition on the same weekend that indoor nationals are held.

By contrast, many high school runners have an indoor season that ends in February (if they have much of an indoor season at all), and an outdoor season that doesn't get serious until well into April. They get several weeks between the two seasons to "decompress."

You know, what I've found works well is to take a 2-4 week break from running and hit the weights! My bench press last year went up 100 pounds, and you all know the rule, with every inch your tricep increases in size your 5k time goes down a minute.

Compromise.......tell kids they have 2 weeks off but if they really want to come to practice

by all means do but you're only going to run 3 miles easy per day.....

Ronnie Swoleman wrote:

You know, what I've found works well is to take a 2-4 week break from running and hit the weights! My bench press last year went up 100 pounds, and you all know the rule, with every inch your tricep increases in size your 5k time goes down a minute.

+1

Not taking a break is going to lead to injury and an injury plagued career. Mark my words. Lots of case stories supporting this. You just can't realistically peak multiple times in a short time frame unless you're on drugs. If you have to ask this question, then you or somebody you know are probably just not experienced and knowledgeable enough in training and science to avoid injury, even though you might be young, passionate, egoistic and hardworking.

LaMonee_Ball wrote:

Not taking a break is going to lead to injury and an injury plagued career. Mark my words. Lots of case stories supporting this. You just can't realistically peak multiple times in a short time frame unless you're on drugs. If you have to ask this question, then you or somebody you know are probably just not experienced and knowledgeable enough in training and science to avoid injury, even though you might be young, passionate, egoistic and hardworking.

I think my question is being misunderstood. I'm not asking if teams should take a break or not. Timing of the break is the point of discussion that I'm trying to raise. I did not suggest that anyone peak more than once in a cycle.

Go ahead and read my original post, then we can discuss.

training cycle wrote:

LaMonee_Ball wrote:

Not taking a break is going to lead to injury and an injury plagued career. Mark my words. Lots of case stories supporting this. You just can't realistically peak multiple times in a short time frame unless you're on drugs. If you have to ask this question, then you or somebody you know are probably just not experienced and knowledgeable enough in training and science to avoid injury, even though you might be young, passionate, egoistic and hardworking.

I think my question is being misunderstood. I'm not asking if teams should take a break or not. Timing of the break is the point of discussion that I'm trying to raise. I did not suggest that anyone peak more than once in a cycle.

Go ahead and read my original post, then we can discuss.

Want to see some NCAA names dropped? Whoopie, big xc finish, Whoopie let's be outstanding in indoor track soon in December. Oh surprise injury and injury plagued career. There have maybe been two exceptions I can think of: Chris Solinsky, Galen Rupp, Jenny Barringer (now Simpson). You're (or your friend or athletes who you are asking for) timing is still bad unless you are the next great superstar. NCAA programs are just like faceless greedy corporations, using their athletes with impunity.

the break is for your head, academics, social life and to do laundry.

take 2 weeks.

break from what?

why would you take time off if you are not injured? you ran 5ks not marathons. what kind of training for 5k requires time off.

Perhaps you stop doing the most intense workouts. But OFF?

If you are doing the kind of training that has you injured or mentally fried from 5ks, then perhaps you should rethink the training plan altogether.

How on earth does it make sense to get yourself into very good shape, then just take time off and start back at zero?

Can't tell if you're trolling or not, but that's pretty funny. You obviously have no perception of the sport and how training works if you are actually serious

Consistent, healthy, long term training is the best way to see improvement. No extreme modulations.

It goes against every training principle to reach a high level of fitness and then take time off.

Again if you have run yourself to a point of injury and need time off, then the training was wrong.

If you run yourself to a point that you need a mental break, then the training was wrong, or you’re not a real runner.

Giving away fitness for no reason is illogical.

Shoot, in the south the absolute best training weather occurs immediately after XC season concludes.

The best training programs have subtle modulations not drastic.

How many days off do you take per week? Should be none in most cases.

I don't know if it's the best plan but it is fun to go on a running vacation. By that I mean that you just go out and run about 2 or 3 miles each day for several weeks.

Some high school kids are competing from January to December. Even for college or professionals this is wrong. At the very least you need a mental break from it.

I really do not see any reason why taking 2 months off after cc would be wrong if you live in a northern state and will not be running track until mid-March. Take off November and December and start up in January. (In many states you run cc and track races during November and December. That is Captain Insano!)

When I was in high school you could not get me to be inactive for two months. But either take the running vacation or play another sport such as basketball. Lydiard was against weight training especially for the upper body. The only time they used weights is when they did not have hills. (Increasing your triceps size might work for the first few inches if you are very scrawny! You need muscle in your core and lower body, not dead weight.)