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.
I am a high school coach designing next years xc weekly schedules. I am curious if this schedule race week looks right. The main thing is the medium long:
Monday: vo2
Tuesday: medium long
Wednesday: continuous tempo
Thursday: easy
friday: easy pre race
saturday: race
sunday: shakeout
is it ok to have a medium long of 9 miles between workouts? Weekly mileage is 52
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.
I think it would help to determine what effort a "medium long" run is at. A VO2 max workout is going to be the toughest one to recover from. CV pace on a race week might be more appropriate as the needed recovery from that type of workout is typically shorter than a V02 Max workout. 9 miles on an easy day for elite high schoolers isn't necessarily a problem...the effort just needs to be moderated. Training through early season meets can pay dividends in the championship season.
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.
our top five ran an average of 15:05 for 3 miles
If your top 5 were averaging 15:05 you wouldn't be on here having LR try to create a training plan for you.
15:15* But I have made my own training program, I am seeking advice. By the way, 5 days to recover from a 6x800 workout is plenty in the early to mid-season?
My biggest critique would be doing training work on race week at race pace. Considering the race itself is a workout you want to work for a different adaptation during your second workout either faster or slower. Otherwise, it looks manageable.
The other thing people are alluding to, and they are right is you can't effectively have everyone on the same plan. I have 30 runners who are basically working off 3-4 different schedules and there is also differentiation between athletes training at the same pace according to their maturity, training age, and injury history.
You should work on your summer plans first after seeing your athletes through the winter and spring. Then see how it goes and get specific during pre-comp and comp phases otherwise you might just be spinning your wheels for most of your athletes right now.
My biggest critique would be doing training work on race week at race pace. Considering the race itself is a workout you want to work for a different adaptation during your second workout either faster or slower. Otherwise, it looks manageable.
The other thing people are alluding to, and they are right is you can't effectively have everyone on the same plan. I have 30 runners who are basically working off 3-4 different schedules and there is also differentiation between athletes training at the same pace according to their maturity, training age, and injury history.
You should work on your summer plans first after seeing your athletes through the winter and spring. Then see how it goes and get specific during pre-comp and comp phases otherwise you might just be spinning your wheels for most of your athletes right now.
Thank you for the constructive feedback! I will attempt to work on summer base logs and implement alternating faster-slower workouts on race week!
so what would be the ideal way to organize the week with the types of runs i posted?
Well, if then kids race a 5 k every weekend there is no need for maxVO2 interval. The great Ron Clarke used to train this way with often a race to substitute a maxVO2. Instead a smart perfect week could look like:M: 50-60 min easy steady Tu: lactate threshold interval 5-7 miles total at about half marathon pace ( you have to calibrate it out from the shorter races to be sufficient for the kids) We: 50 min easy pace Th: 60-70 min easy pace. Fr: 20-30 min very easy jog Sa: 5 k race. Su: Day off . Good luck with your kids! The Magician 🧙♂️🇸🇪🙏