How do you get your team to do its SUNDAY LONG RUN? (NOT a thread about religion!)

I usually get my athletes to run their long runs on Saturday

Either tell runners to run on Sunday (verbally or on a posted schedule) and expect them to do it on their own, or just hold practice seven days a week. That isn't one of the most highly enforced rules in college.

My coach doesnt have us meet on fridays... simple as that. Maybe you could make it saturday... Then we meet on sundays.

In high school my coach would just tell us to do long runs on sundays and those who were dedicated would do them

BYU wrote:

I usually get my athletes to run their long runs on Saturday

Okay, that makes sense if you don't have a Saturday race (and I realize a lot of college teams don't race every weekend). How do you handle the weekends that *do* have Saturday races? Skip the long run that week? (I ask because I know some teams get 15+ miles, total, on meet day.)

If we had a race on Saturday we would just be told to run on our own on Sunday, then do or long run as a group Monday. If we weren't racing that weekend then Saturday was on our own, simple as that.

we take off friday cause it's pre race, and everyone is just expected to run whatever they want that day

Speedwork monday, light tuesday recovery, long run wednesday, recovery thursday, Friday pre-race(if Needed) Saturday(race/hard workout) Sunday recovery

Rinse and Repeat, you only need 3 hard days a week on a 7 day schedule, and if you believe in Tapering skip Saturday or Sunday completely or reduce every workout by a mile weekly until you hit your taper goal.

Become an age-group coach....You can coach 7 days a week and it's a much better program than HS.

The dedicated runners do it on their own, the ones who dont' care son't do it. It is there choice. You cannot coach dedication. You can only tell them what will make them better and hope they do it.

It was the honor system for us. The other team captain and I planned the time and route of the Sunday long run on the way back from meets with the other guys on the team. Coach had weekly mileage goals that varied by individual and class but you usually had to get in the Sunday long run to hit the goal.

A half hour before we agreed to meet several of us would start making the rounds and rousting the others out of the dorm for the run. We always had a decent turnout.

There were no frats at our school and the sports teams were the closest thing to it. We had a great team chemistry and we all still keep in touch and get together for the alumni race as our coach is still with the same school.

The day before a meet was supposed to be an easy 5-8 miles. If you eliminated that Thursday or Friday from the organized practice days, you could have the runners get together for the Sunday long run with the coach present.

BYU wrote:

I usually get my athletes to run their long runs on Saturday

So are you saying that your track and CC meets usually fall on a Friday?!?!?!?!

We long run as a team on Sunday and always have Monday on your own.

AdamLocked wrote:

We long run as a team on Sunday and always have Monday on your own.

Interesting!--so do you go with Tuesday/Wednesday as your harder days (a la Daniels)? Tuesday/Thursday?

This is what would have worked for me:

1) Clearly explain the benefits of the long run.

2) Don't freaking schedule workouts on Mondays if Saturday was a race.

If those two things had happened in high school, I would not have skipped so many Sunday long runs.

Why not just have a recovery day mid-week and also have that be a no practice day?

After being on a xc team my first year of college where I was about 28th runner, I transferred to a school that better suited my level. I had a great race the third meet of the season and was 3rd runner on the team. Being young and stupid, I just did what the other runners were doing which ended up being a 14 mile long run the following day at a pace that was apparently too fast. I didn't run again for 18 years because of the overuse injury that nobody could diagnose.

Be very careful with the long runs, especially after a hard race. Make sure the runners know that they should be very easy and relaxed. There is a time and place for a hard long run and it is not the day after a hard xc race.