No Track Work for Five Months? A Bad Thing?

Training Advice/Discussion 5k/10k

15 years ago 05/21/2008 10:38pm EDT

My last track race is the second week of June. I was planning on taking a week or so off after that and then ramping up for the Cross Season.

Right now I run ~80mpw I'll be up to ~100mpw in July. I still have ambitions for the indoor season (1500/3000s) but the main goal is Cross.

I was planning on having July and August be track free and all on the trails with a regimen of tempos, progression runs, and fartleks. I wouldn't be back on the track till November.

I was warned that I'd lose all my leg speed being off the track for five months but I figure I'll be able to get it back easily enough when it counts.

For the guys who have been through this before: Is five months off the track fine for XC and the indoors or should I still incorporate track work into my base season to keep up the leg speed?

15 years ago 05/21/2008 11:33pm EDT

re: Want a Killer Cross Season

strides a couple times a weeks are probably fine

15 years ago 05/22/2008 7:37am EDT

re: A moderately serious approach

Keep up the strides every week. Building strength takes time and is worth it. But running lots of easier mileage can mess with your top end speed and form. It's not that hard to get back but do a few miles of striders (100-200m) each week and you should be fine.

At the beginning of track every year I would do a 600m time trial to just to see where I was and it always felt really awkward. It took a few weeks (month?) for my form to work itself out again.

15 years ago 05/22/2008 8:36am EDT

re: Pittsburgh Joe

Maybe every 2nd or 3rd week I would do something faster than regular strides.

Either

- 60 meter accelerations where you're at top speed for the last 10 meters

- 40 meter all-out sprints where you jog into the sprint rather than starting from a standstill

These are not truly top speed/all-out. More like the fastest possible speed while staying relaxed. So 95% of top end speed - something like 400 race pace.

15 years ago 05/22/2008 8:58am EDT

re: Want a Killer Cross Season

It's better than fine; it's great.

Getting leg speed back is not at all easy. I can no longer come within 6 seconds of my 400 PR. However, keeping leg speed is easy if you're disciplined about it. Just throw some pickups into your easy runs (10x either 1 min/20 seconds/10 seconds). Like the other poster said, you want to be very fast, but still smooth and relaxed. Take a full recovery between each one.

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No Track Work for Five Months? A Bad Thing?

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