High School Training Critique

Looks very impressive. Also looks like you would have several runners at sub 2:00; 4:00 (1500) and 8:40 (3k) If you don't, and if in fact yor best guys are 2:02, 4:10 and 9:00, then it is way too much. It is definitely too much for girls.

another canuck wrote:

Looks very impressive. Also looks like you would have several runners at sub 2:00; 4:00 (1500) and 8:40 (3k) If you don't, and if in fact yor best guys are 2:02, 4:10 and 9:00, then it is way too much. It is definitely too much for girls.

So folks should wait until they are fast to start training to be fast?

the prs of the 4 guys i would be testing this on would be.

1:56.2/4:22

1:57.3/4:24

1:59.1/4:30

1:59.6/4:39

I agree, it looks like a decent plan and we do something similar. We have a few boys and one girl that can handle something like that. For the rest of the team I cut things down like have them run 600 of the 800 or things like that. You need to be flexible, their is not one program that works for everyone and you know what will work for your team.

That is a nice looking team. Your milers are behind where they might be, but very few schools boast 4 sub 2runners, so congratulations.

You might want a bit more race specific workouts in the final taper, such as 2x500m in 1:12-1:15 or my favourite for milers- 400-600-400 at race pace with 90 sec rest

looks pretty solid but id throw in some longer intervals...

why no repeat miles? 2ks may be much for 5k training but during the vo2 max sessions id definitly throw in sessions of 3-4 repeat miles at 5k pace, similar effect to the 1000s and 800s but makes you a lot mentally tougher

3 workouts per week is ridiculous, especially for HS kids.

Looks like you have been reading all the books and want to overdo it.

3 workouts a week IS ridiculous; unfortunately, it's common practice!

New coach on the block: Remember that a race is, training-wise, the equivalent of a very hard interval session. Take that into consideration. Three workouts a week is a lot, especially for high schoolers. Remember, these guys will be in new territory as far as mileage. I'd stick with 2 workouts a week most of the season.

And I'm not too keen on the idea of cruise intervals for 7 weeks straight in the summer. Just let them run, keep 'em off the track.

I completely agree 777, 3 workouts is nuts.

I go with 1 long run with a tempo effort, 1 workout (in the fall it is either hills or threshold) and 1 race which is often just another threshold effort. Maintain it all fall if you plan on racing Indoor and Outdoor. The fall is the strength period.

3 workouts+high mileage (presumably run too hard)=burnout

or if you're lucky just stagnation

I'm going to defend new coach. First of all, to all you detractors, have you consistently produced better results and/or failed with 3 workouts?

To new coach- its not clear, are you taking over this team for the first time? If so, their results last year were pretty good so you shouldn't alter what they did too much. If you coached them last year and are wanting to try something different, then go ahead.

I don't think they'll burn out because of the workouts, but I agree that the summer looks too structured.

Good luck and report back next year.

Unfortunately with young runners, you don't know that you have gone over the edge until it is too late.

I continue to see coaches put up a larger number of intervals. At such a young age I find 7 x 800 pretty tough. If your not careful, kids like to slam everything. 3 strong efforts a week isn't bad its just on how you set them up.

Early on, cruise intervals and hills are great. The first workout of the week could be one or the other. example 4 x 6-8 minutes "strong" (dont give them distances, this gets them thinking) other weeks the 8 x 300 hills looks good.

The second workout of the week could be a threshold run of 3 to 5 miles. make sure they don't race it, but feel good. Every now and then make the threshold all up hill. obviously slower but builds strength and keeps them from becoming stale. These can be done through out most of the season.

The final workout can be the long run with a quickened pace at the end IF THEY FEEL GOOD.

When you get into Vo2 I feel that you could get away with doing them every other week, especially when racing. Maybe 5 x 800 or 3 x miles. Latters work well too. When you dont do vo2 may do shorter reps with plenty of rest. 6 x 400s

Towards the end of the season I find that maybe shortening the threshhold to say 3 to 4 miles but picking up the last mile or so slightly works well. And towards the peak (3 to 4 weeks remaining) threshold can be done every other week and maybe a few 300s to 600s at mile pace can be done on the track. On those weeks the first workout could go back to cruise intervals but a bit less of them.

Tapering is an individual thing. Some do well with barely any cut in mileage, some do. When a coach gets to know each of their athletes, you kinda play it by ear.

Finally no training is set in stone. Never stick to something if it doesnt seem to click. gwt to know how they are feeling, Maybe they can handle more, and mabe they can handle less.

Sorry to ramble so much, but just some thoughts. Since I dont know much about your athletes, it could be the worst plan ever.

Good Luck.

Regardless of how you train your athletes, I would recommend a conservative approach. Coaches want to get the most out of their athletes; however, restraint is sometimes in the best interest of a young athlete. Being freshly out of high school and now in college, I remember how quickly fatigue set in due to a lack of physical maturity. Puberty wasn’t that long ago… IMO, protection is best during tender years. Worry about aerobic development, “superstardom” will come in time.