High school summer training summary

5:05, 10:55 incoming sophomore

my goal over the summer was really just to stay in shape, nothing serious. once summer training started I was hitting 40 mpw for 2-3 weeks, then went on vacation and everything went downhill from there. might've gotten a 30 mile week in but unsure. overall, I think I'm in decent shape and am really looking forward to school starting Monday so I can start scheduled practice again. i could really use some more fartleks and tempo runs so start building up that speed.

A quick summary would be that I averaged 50.5 a week, did one tempo workout and one short sprint workout every week, except I skipped the sprint workout on the last week because of shin problems.

I think in hindsight my training was pretty good, i definitely feel like I improved and am fairly confident moving into xc season. However, I did make one mistake, and thats not enough longer, slower runs. I basically got in a routine of doing a short 30-35min fast run every single day. During xc season my goal is to lengthen that out to 45-50 min and run it at a more comfortable pace.

I was fairly consistent for a few weeks that were like 26, 33, 37, 41, 44, 46. I ran 7:15-7:30 pace for most of my runs with occasional doubles and weekly tempos that were 3-4 miles at 6:20-6:30 pace. After that, I went to a summer camp and everything went downhill. My training has been 27, 13, 15, 15, 16.5. Chest congestion, fatigue, and hot/humid weather have had me gasping for breath on most runs, and I rarely actually finish one beyond 2-3 miles. I have one more week before practices start and a little under a month until my first meet. Hopefully I'm not totally screwed, but right now it's not looking good at all.

Prs=4:35 (1600 not mile) 9:52 (3200 not 2 mile) and 16:24. Incoming sophomore.

Began my sunner training using a month to build up to 40 mpw then started threshold and subthreshold running. Got my long run to 10 miles (about 75 minutes). I really take the tempo (threshold) runs on the easy side, usually hitting around 6:05-6:15 on good trails. I have gotten a couple good structured fartleks in, getting down to about 5:50 pace on hilly courses.

Sadly I hurt my knee last week so all my training has been transfered to a pool for a little while, but I think I can keep up my fitness. Good luck to everyone in xc!

Well, I'm a coach. I'll post kind of how things went in a general sense.

Track PR's of top 5 prospective guys (cc pr's for 5k if they have one). The Number designations are based on where the top 5 projects right now based on how summer went.

#1 4:52 (split), 10:12, 16:52 (16:53 @ Woodward) - Senior

#2 4:50, 10:50, 18:33 - Junior

#3 4:56, 10:22 - Sophomore

#4 5:03, 10:37, 18:09 - Junior

#5 2:10, 5:06 - Junior

Weekly mileage averaged low 40's with #1 being in mid 50's to low 60's and #3, #4 having relatively poor summers. #5 is a CC rookie but ran decently in the 400/800 last spring. He started the summer at 35 and finished at 50, plus he stubbed and dislocated his toe on a bed post at our camp so he's had a bit of a set back recently. #2 has had a great summer and has averaged right around the team average.

Our weekly training went something like this

M: Some sort of interval training. Mostly longer intervals at pretty relaxed paces, 1 time we did more of a rep type of session.

T: Kids ran on their own

W: Tempo session

Th: Long day. (usually 8-10.5 miles based on the kid)

F: Kids ran on their own

S: Some kids would meet and run hills

Sun: Many kids would take this day off

Every day we met, we would do some series of drills and core, trying to work on total body fitness. For the younger, less expereinced runners, this was the focus of their summer training, building general strength so that their bodies are ready for more volume of running in the fall.

Our team's summer mileage can be found here

http://hughsoncc.blogspot.com/p/2015-mileage.html

. These are the self reported weekly mileage totals for the summer (we are finishing week 10 today, 8/9). I keep a 100 day total and award T-shirts early in September, so you'll notice there are 4 weeks left on the spreadsheet.

I probably should have included my goals

Girls team, full of young, kind of talented, very inexpereinced kids - We should be competitive in league and might place in the top 5 of our section meet. If a wunderkind emerges to give us 5 solid girls, we could be top 2-3 in the section and potential league champions....or we could fall apart. This team will be an adventure.

Boys team - Pretty confident in top 4 (although #3 from above didn't attend one practice this summer, he ran well on his own for most of the summer then kind of fizzled for the last few weeks. He's got talent so should be OK.) If I had one more established runner that had put up both decent track times and big training numbers this summer, I'd be feeling pretty confident about our chances in the Sac Joaquin Section. As it stands, #5 is a bit of a question mark for us. Right now my projected #5 is still getting dropped on tempo runs at a fairly moderate pace. I've got another wild card type of kid who only ran 5:22, 11:16 on the track last year, but has been putting in a very good summer. He may step up for us. Whoever it is that steps up will need to be below 17:30 if we are going to do anything special team wise. I feel that our top 4 could all run under 17 minutes on a course such as Woodward, so getting one more guy close to them could net us a really good result.

Do kids not run mileage anymore?

Freshman year my first two weeks of running went: 1-6:00, 1-6:00, 2-13:00, 2-12:20....then my first practice I ran 5:35 mile. Ran 40s during XC season going from 20:05 to 18:13. That winter ran 60s, ran 4:52 first track meet in the 1600 then down to 4:37.

Summer mileage peaked around 70s, ran 17:35 soph xc. Winter mileage again in the 70s ran 4:27.

Summer mileage peaked 80s, ran 16:16 jr XC. Winter mileage peaked 80s, focused on 3200m ran 9:38.

Summer mileage peaked 80s, ran 15:52 series XC. Winter mileage peaked 80s, 9:32.

Offseason was always the same...whatever miles I could handle with twice weekly faster runs. Summer brought a weekly track series and some fun and crazy relays (2x12x200, 2x8x800, etc)

Alan

The kids running mileage don't have the time or energy to overshare their training or coaching tips on letsrun.

Solid all around, this was a more successful thread than I thought it would be.

fast as you can wrote:

The kids running mileage don't have the time or energy to overshare their training or coaching tips on letsrun.

True. I ran in high school before the Internet. There was no running online to second guess everything. There was no garmin gps. You had a few loops you repeated trying to beat your best time. Your mile markers were estimates but they were the same estimates each time you ran them.

Alan

Going to be a freshman in HS with PRs of 5:01 and 18:10 (about to be demolished).

My summer did not go as I had hoped, but I still became stronger aerobically. I averaged 36 miles per week, while I had hoped to be well over 40. I started at 34 miles for my first week and progressed to around 45 by the 4th week, before getting injured in the middle of July. Luckily, my injury only lasted a week and I was able to close off the summer with weeks of 36 and 43.5 miles. My plan was to do one tempo run a week, but I had to end several tempo workouts early and only ended up running three tempo runs (4 miles @ 6:13, 5 miles @ 6:09, and 4.4 miles @ 6:10). Most of my runs were just normal, easy-paced runs at 7:15-7:20 pace and recovery runs at 7:45-7:50 pace. Towards the end of the summer my team started doing some harder workouts, such as 5 x 1000m at 2 mile effort on grass, 8 x 270m hill sprints, and 8 x 1 minute hard on grass.

Anyways, our first official practice is on Wednesday and I am pumped for my first cross country season.

Sweet, our 1st practice is Wednesday also. Do you happen to be from Illinois?

If I could have the temerity to butt in on your thread. Good luck to all, BTW.

Several principles have impressed me recently, and have moulded my approach this last XC season Down Under.

1) It is not just about number of miles per week.

2) You need a balance of 'quality' and quantity.

3) The program needs to be cover all bases, be consistent, and sequenced properly.

4) No matter that you are young and fit, and think you move normally, some form of screening of fundamental movement patterns is essential. Even superb athletes can have weaknesses and imbalances they never knew about. Just because running is a linear activity and seems easy, many things could be amiss without being obvious at all. For example, the 'Functional Movement Screen' (FMS) is reliable, valid, easy-to-do, and has evidence in preventing injuries. Find someone qualified in it, and get it done. Then, they will give you 'corrective exercises' to improve movement (before strength). Guys who know this stuff will also be excellent at guiding you in bodyweight exercise. If you can't handle your own body, don't do weights. Then, how about kettlebells. Lots of fun.

5) As usual, and following on from 4), please learn how to sprint. There is no distance where speed does not kill, as they say. A sprint coach will not turn you into a sprinter, of course, but will help your form, running economy and efficiency, turnover etc. The emphasis of these last two points is on being a better athlete, not just a better runner.

TDodd22 wrote:

Sweet, our 1st practice is Wednesday also. Do you happen to be from Illinois?

Yes, I am from Illinois. I'm assuming you are too? It would be cool if we happened to race each other at one of the big invitationals.

Just want to give a (not so) quick example of what I mean. Gotta say, not attempting to bignote or pretend to be a master coach or anything. I understand that this effort was the result of individual attention, without the distraction of a big squad. But it does illustrate that attention to detail, and progressing different and interlocking strands of training in a logical order, can produce outstanding results. You may not be going to the Olympics, but you want to stay healthy, challenge yourself, and improve.

Turned 17 this year Male

Strength: OK speed. PR earlier this year (end of our track season) were 53, 1:57.5, 4:01.5 (1500). Good kick. Has always shown capacity to absorb endurance training. However,.....

Weakness: Relatively poor stamina and endurance-hadn't kept up with it in last two years. Struggled in XC last year for 10th. 3000m was 9:02 around same period as above times.

Solution: Over time did the following things.

1) Increased volume. In end did 5 weeks of 80-odd km, 2 of 70+km, 4 of 60+km, and rest in 50s.

2) Long run got up to 90min, which was 18km through undulating bushland.

3) Introduced strong continuous aerobic efforts. Remember, subthreshold, 'marathon' pace, or 'steady state run' on McMillan's calculator, all mean moderate effort. You get almost all the benefit of true, harder tempo runs. You can progress them from steady state to tempo to tempo intervals as the season progresses.

4) Ensure enough 'easy' paced running-slower but not jogging. Of course, run as slow as you need to for recovery, when appropriate.

5) Did 10k pace 'cruise' intervals every week of preparation period. Got it to 8x1km with 200m (1min) jog recovery. Absolutely awesome stamina work for someone with at least a smattering of IIA fibres, and does not tax the system too much. It is the glue that joins the training paces above and below 10k pace. More than likely improves vVO2Max and running economy. I think they made the strong aerobic runs easier to start doing (he was not mentally prepared for them), being in interval format, and essentially a stamina workout itself.

6) As season went on, 10k pace long intervals progress to 5k, and some 3k, pace. This is obviously required, but seems a lot easier when you've drilled in that 10k pace stuff.

7) Continued to do sprint training twice a week.

8) Made sure he 'raced' the distance enough. Had neglected (avoided) that in the past, probably because his training had been inadequate to be confident over 6km.

9) Did the stuff in my previous post, which did reveal subtle issues that could have resulted in injury eventually. They have been corrected, and he has a sensible BW exercise schedule. Plus regular massage. And doing well at school, BTW. Also has used Brooks PureConnect for years. Not for everyone, but they're a good compromise between cushioning and weight.

Result: Actually, and somewhat surprisingly, won State XC, putting 4 seconds into the next guy over last 200 or so metres.

That was a massive result for him, and bodes well for next track season.

Sorry to take so long, but it's so important to get this stuff right, and there so many ignorant, stupid, and dangerous coaches out there, that I felt like making what I hope is a useful contribution.

Going into senior year. PRs of 4:09 in 1600 and 8:53 in 3200. Started first few weeks of summer (~June 20th-July 10th) with 15-20 mpw in 5 days. Now I'm at 20-25 mpw for the past 4 weeks with the exception of last week when I felt some hamstring pain and had to back it off to about 9.5 miles in 2 runs.

Going into freshman year of college and got told by the coach that I'd have a cross country "tryout" but that I'd most likely be placed on the team anyway to train with them as I'm more of an 800 specialist so not that much of a cross runner.

With that being said I had my best summer of my life with about 60 miles a week (peak is 70) and 4 mile tempos at 5:30-5:40 pace. Hopefully I can impress the coach in the next couple weeks and could potentially make top 7.

My practices don't start for another few weeks so my summer isn't done yet, but so far I have definitely built a much better base than I've had before. I have built up to around 50-60 mpw (last 2 lower due to only being able to run 5 days). I am generally running 8 miles daily, sometimes 11 if I double, with an 10 or 11-mile long run and a tempo session each week. I tend to run 6:10 pace on tempos, 7:15-7:20 most of the time on easy/long runs, with some faster and some slower (tired/ for recovery mostly).

Some key workouts were the tempos:

3x1 mile with 1 minute rest at 6:14 avg. pace

4x1 mile with 1 minute rest at 6:09 avg. pace

2x2 mile with 2 minute rest at 6:13 avg. pace

2x2 mile with 2 minute rest at 6:15-6:20 avg. pace (tired legs)

Others were two 10K races in 40:28 earlier during the summer, the later one in very hot and humid conditions as well as a 10 mile long run at 7:14, an 11-mile long run at 7:19, and an easy steady 7 mile run at 6:45, planned easy but pace came easily.

I have been very happy, as I peaked early a bit during track due to too many all out workouts during the winter and early season and going too fast on runs. I've been more cautious (very few workouts) and gone a bit slower just to prevent early peaking. I have run lots of miles, mostly in singles, and felt great overall. Super excited for the season to start.