Hello, I was wondering what I should do for winter training in between cross country and track? I will have roughly 3 months to train before I have my first track race.
For some background:
I got up to 35mpw over the past summer, held 30mpw in season for xc (yes, I know it's low)
My PRs: 5:30 mile (last season), 11:48 2mile (last season), and 18:36 5k (current season)
I'm also young, freshman in high school.
I understand that my track PRs will be faster than last year, I am in much better shape now then I was during track.
What would winter weeks generally look like for someone of my skill level? How many mpw? How many easy runs and workouts?
Lastly, are there other things I should be doing other than running, such as strength training?
Tues 30 min fartlek or 2 mile tempo (1-1.5 min slow than mile PB)+ 4-6 hill reps about 2-3 minutes to do each with a jog back
Wed easy
Thurs same as Mon
Fri 4-6 mile progression run, starting at easy and finishing last mile or two about Lt pace + 8x30 hill hill reps/jog back for recovery+ 4x300/200/150 @ mile pace w/equal recovery
Sat easy
Sun easy or off
Easy =30 minutes easy, longer if you feel good, but don't go pass 60 minutes except for once a week if you want to push it to 75-90 minutes you can.
Hello, I was wondering what I should do for winter training in between cross country and track? I will have roughly 3 months to train before I have my first track race.
For some background:
I got up to 35mpw over the past summer, held 30mpw in season for xc (yes, I know it's low)
My PRs: 5:30 mile (last season), 11:48 2mile (last season), and 18:36 5k (current season)
I'm also young, freshman in high school.
I understand that my track PRs will be faster than last year, I am in much better shape now then I was during track.
What would winter weeks generally look like for someone of my skill level? How many mpw? How many easy runs and workouts?
Lastly, are there other things I should be doing other than running, such as strength training?
Thank you.
The most important thing would be to run 35-40 mpw consistently for the next three months -- maybe more some weeks if you can manage it and want to. Split it up as you like, but try to run every day that you can.
If you want to add in some training beyond mileage, speed work is the first thing. Once a week or so, get on the track or grass. Do something like 10 x 100 or 5 x 200 with full recovery between. Aim for 95% on the repeats. This follows a good warmup including strides to work up to fast pace.
Alternatively, you could do something like 6 x 30m all out, again with full recovery.
Once or sometimes twice a week, do a progression run, which means start slow, finish fast. How fast for how long depends on how you feel on a given day. "Fast" here generally does not mean to finish all out, though once in a while it can be good for morale. Out-and-back runs are good for this.
I think these are better than so-called tempo runs where you're trying to hit a certain pace, because you want to learn how to manage effort, to distinguish between building strength and burning strength.
Strength training is overrated for young runners, underrated for old runners. That said, doing some probably is good for you. I suggest going simple. Knock out a set of push-ups (with good form) before and after most runs. If you have some place to do pull-ups, do some. You can find more complicated plans, but doing the basics most every day will get you as strong as you need to be for now, and leave you ready to do other stuff if you decide that's for you.
In summary, get out and run every day. And read this thread.
In the NXN thread Craig Virgin said he would answer questions about his high school career, and I decided I would start the thread. So Craig, what did you do differently in training compared to kids today? What do you see as...