7th grade track athlete wrote:
Hi, I am a 7th grader going into 8th grade and will be running XC in the fall.
I would like to train hard during the summer and hopefully be competitive during XC season.
To run well in the fall, what kind of workouts should I be running? How many miles should I be putting in? Thanks.
Do this. Most days, just go out and run whatever you feel like. 2 miles, 3, 4, 5, whatever. Keep it easy, except once a week or so, pick up the pace over the course of the run and finish fairly fast.
Once a week, do sprints. Alternate these two workouts. One week, find a moderately steep hill, grass if available, that takes you 10-20 seconds to climb. Sprint up, walk down. When you're fully recovered, do another. Start with 2-3, and work up to 10. Warm up 10 minutes or so, jog 10 minutes after.
Second week, do more or less the same thing on flat grass.
At your age, it is perhaps more important to work on your ability to sprint. Endurance will come with time.
If you decide that you want to stick with it and get better for HS and maybe beyond, learn to be consistent in your training. A steady diet of 2-5 mile runs will take you a lot farther than a week of training excitement followed by a week of nothing.