Is it smart to do your own training? How long of a running career would you need to have enough knowledge?

hound dawg: thank you for the input. Interesting that you recommend removing time trials. Since you recommend removing one of the workouts weekly that I have created, should the weekly volume increase? Or does weekly volume not matter that much?

ElGuerroujFan wrote:

bimbap: That is great, that you beat all your old HS prs! I see what you are saying about a GOOD coach, but some of us don't really have that great of a coach. My coaches are great people, with good intentions, but their training (I feel like) is super low mileage (30-35 mpw). Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people addicted to the mpw at the end of the day, but I just feel like we aren't getting the full benefits for cross country season. So, a good coach I can understand. My coach is just okay, though.

CopperRunner: That sounds like what I have in mind, but I don't know if I would ever get that fast! Those are some impressive times! What was sort of a staple workouts you did for the 800m, if I may ask? (800 is my favorite event)

For the 800-Mile, it is essential to touch ALL systems almost equally while training. You need to get your fitness to a place where you’d feel as comfortable racing a 400m as you would a 3k/3200m.

To build speed: Hill sprints, plyometrics, deadlifts, squats, lunges, skipping drills, 50-100m flys.

To build speed endurance: 3-5x100-150m after almost every easy run at 90-95% effort. 6-8x200m at goal 800m pace, 3x400m at faster than 800m pace, 30-45 second hill sprints, 100-200-300-400-300-200-100 pyramid at 800m pace, 3x(400-200-200) at 800-Mile pace, all of these with full rest, the fatigue should come from the intensity of the reps, not the amount of the reps.

To build Vo2Max strength: 200m on/off 2-3 miles, 400m on/off 3-4 miles, 400-800m repeats at 3k/2 mile pace, 3-4xmile at 5k pace, 800m on/400m off for 5-6 miles. Shorter/no rest for these. The goal is to get the HR high for a sustained amount of time, let it come down, only to bring it up again.

To build aerobic endurance: 3-4 miles @30-40 seconds per mile slower than current 5k pace, 5-6 miles @ 50-60 seconds per mile slower than 5k pace, 16-20x400m at 5k-10k pace, 2x2 mile at 30 seconds per mile slower than 3k/2 mile pace,

I hit each energy system once every 10-12 days, along with easy mileage and long runs. If you do it correctly, you should expect to see gains in all of your middle distance running.

Good luck!

~~~ Magical man swag coach Copper ~~~

Copper Runner gave you a great outline to follow. Kudos to him, use what he wrote.

Thank you CopperRunner! This is really great info, I’m excited to start using it in my own training.

Hey, cole. Nice to hear from you, of course I will take CopperRunners advice.

Wishing you good luck this summer. Take it easy at first and just look to run more without getting injured buddy. Keep up the nice work.

As long as you've experienced the building up fitness, plateauing, tapering, and rest. You can experiment. Two a days vs one. Add a small hill. Cross training.

Some things will take extended periods to see which a high school coach supposedly already knows like building up levels of fitness over time, how a teenagers body changes - they've seen runners develop throughout the years of high school. From my experience high school coaches don't share this with their runners but it's not necessarily part of the job.

Generally running more or getting faster is getting fit. The wrestler who runs on his own or even joins the cross country team and doesn't care about his times is training for wrestling not racing.

The important thing about coaching oneself is to have a goal from a starting point and then you can make a plan, adjusting it to suit what really happens like injuries, illnesses like a cold, simply not feeling good, weather.Do you have a goal for cross country season and how does the break fit in with that goal? You can refer this year's plan and results next year when coming up with new goals.

Coaching and running are separate endeavors and the runner who coaches himself is doing two jobs. Coaching is about technical goals, steps to meet the goals, tracking progress. Running is about knowing your own personal goals for running, getting to know your body, competing, adding your own willpower to the equation. It may sound like a lot but it's not when you actually do it.

Whoa dudes, I don't know about CopperRunner's suggestions here ... CR, that's definitely a good approach for the right athlete who would be a good fit. But egf is 15, has been frequently injured, runs a 5 something mile, and is not a speed-based runner (at least, not yet! I ran 13.1 as a HS freshman and 11 flat / 50 flat as a senior, so you never know how things will develop).

egf man, you gotta give it time. If you follow CR's thing for the summer, that will undoubtedly be some very hard training for you. You'll prolly enter XC tired instead of fresh and fit!

No offense CR! I just mean, you know, what works for you at 18+ yo prolly may not be best for egf right now, at this point in his running development, is all I'm saying.

ElGuerroujFan (phone) wrote:

hound dawg: thank you for the input. Interesting that you recommend removing time trials. Since you recommend removing one of the workouts weekly that I have created, should the weekly volume increase? Or does weekly volume not matter that much?

Dude, weekly volume matters. And doesn't matter. I mean like you don't have to plan it too specifically. If you keep at it, it'll take care of itself... Just do easy runs, a long run, a non-hammering-it session (these really pay off over time) like the tempo or hills, add strides twice a week to stay in touch with turnover and you're set man! If you're too tired, slow it down a bit, hammer the one session less, and/or ease up on mileage bro. If you feel good, maybe increase the easy runs and/or long run a bit. Just listen to your body and run baby run