Highschool coach seeking training advice

I don't like a medium long before a workout

I like for an unimportant race week:

Monday - alternating 5k, 10k, 'steady' (marathon)

Tuesday: very slow recovery

Wednesday: tempo / threshold intervals + 200s at mile (probably 4)

Thu: recovery

Friday: easy

Saturday: race

Sunday: recovery long

Then no workout on Monday but one on Tuesday

I should also mention that this is for 5k. The race isn't "important" but we can't hold official practice on sundays so sundays are sort of out of the equation.

by the way, i am coachjrmd on another device haha

so what would be the ideal way to organize the week with the types of runs i posted?

Do you have more than one athlete?

Nah its a one person xc team

MO: Longer run day

TU: Easy + strides

WE: Workout #1

TH: Easy

FR: Easy + strides / Premeet

SA: Race or Workout #2

SU: OFF

VO2 is the least important thing there. If you want shorter/harder/quicker reps, best to tack them on to Workout #1 or do some glorified strides instead of your standard 80 - 100m + stand around sesh on the Tuesday.

Sometimes you can have success with tacking hills or 200's or something like that after a race but it depends on your team and if you think that's feasible or worth it.

Hey coach get a real job.

you suck balls.

haha. You’ll never get a woman with such a lame profession. Haha

Your athletes will end up both burnt out and injured. Ridiculous program. No recovery whatsoever.

That’s exactly my point. Then the plan might not be the same down to the mile for everyone.

yes

then what should i do? skip the tempo on race weeks? not do a medium long? 85% of this is recovery/easy mileage i don't understand you're point can you explain?

by the way, not all weeks are race weeks, most have long runs instead

For example, here's a non-race week I planned:

M: Medium Long
T: Workout - 7x1k@3miRP
W: Recovery
T: AM Double Easy PM: 20-minute tempo
F: Easy
S: Long Run S: Rest Day

And the next week, which is a [not important race] week:

M: 6x800@3miRP
T: Medium Long
W: AM Double Easy PM: 20-minute tempo
T: Recovery
F: Easy Pre-race +strides
S: 5k Race

Is this good?

They have 3 hard efforts including 2 at VO2 max effort on race week. This is going to burn them out. Cut out the 6x800 workout on race week, move the medium long to Monday, easy day Tuesday. If you really feel the need for them to do something faster, have them tack on some 200’s at the end of the tempo or some longer strides on one of the easy days.

Uneducated high school coaches obsess over VO2 Max, don’t give their kids enough recovery and burn them out. You need to do your research. It’s a disservice to your athletes who are putting in a lot of work to give them less than an exceptional training plan.

What are the fitness levels of the athletes you are coaching? If your athletes are advanced, a 5k Saturday, Sunday rest, and Monday MLR is very doable. If they are novice though, that MLR becomes a workout itself. If you stack too many hard efforts close together you will start to stagnate.
Similar, 7x1k at 5k pace isn't going to happen for most novice high schoolers. A better workout would be something like 3-4x1 @8k + 4-6x400 @5k.

Personally, I would think of every 14 days as a cycle and try to fit in 1-2 races, 3 workouts, and 1 longer run. Everything else would be recovery. Most kids will improve a lot just off of easy aerobic mileage.

Just buy the books of the top coaches: Vigil, Daniels, Soles, Newton. Never stop learning.

Lol high schoolers do stuff like eat skittles for lunch, it doesn't matter what days you do anything. Why are you putting three above average efforts in a row?

I think it's a dumb idea. What is the benefit of a 9 miler on a recovery day for a kid running 50 mpw? The goal is to be RECOVERED going into the race.