Critique my coach’s summer plan

Not terrible, but I'm not sure the special endurance is necessary assuming you are gearing up for XC and you're not a true 400/800 runner or something. If the workout isn't hard though it might not be bad, but if it's a real tough grinder it's probably too much.

The max speed stuff seems like a waste of time since I’m training for 3 mile races, should I skip it or is there a benefit to doing it for xc?

Bump

Gbngs wrote:

It goes supmething like this:

Mon- Special endurance (basically 200s, 600s, 400s, etc)

Tues- recovery

Wens- recovery or max speed (40 meter all out for example)

Thurs- rec

Fri- tempo

Sat- long run

This looks like a great plan for mid-winter track and field. Maybe 800 or 1500m specific. I'm not convinced it's a great plan for XC preparation. I don't see how your coach can periodize off of this. Where do you go from here? How do you shift into race-specific sessions? Where is your aerobic foundation work?

Tbh I can’t answer your questions cause I’m the athlete not the coach.

Salad Bar wrote:

Gbngs wrote:

It goes supmething like this:

Mon- Special endurance (basically 200s, 600s, 400s, etc)

Tues- recovery

Wens- recovery or max speed (40 meter all out for example)

Thurs- rec

Fri- tempo

Sat- long run

This looks like a great plan for mid-winter track and field. Maybe 800 or 1500m specific. I'm not convinced it's a great plan for XC preparation. I don't see how your coach can periodize off of this. Where do you go from here? How do you shift into race-specific sessions? Where is your aerobic foundation work?

How is it hard to periodize from this?

Seems like the OP is getting aerobic foundation work every week on tuesday, thursday, saturday, and every other wednesday.

Its so vague a description you could go plenty of directions, it certainly wouldn't be hard to use this basic description as the foundation to a solid plan. Looks like the coach is doing an outside in approach to training, focusing workouts early in the season (or preseason) towards the outside ends of the training spectrum (Tempo and very fast work) and as the season starts and progresses putting more and more emphasis on race specific paces.

Personally, I'd be a little concerned about what type of 'special endurance' you're doing. I'm guessing the 400s and 600s are at mile-ish pace, which would be more intense a workout for this phase of the season than I'd be interested in. If they're at 3k/5k paces at super short rest you're either not leaving a ton of room for progression, or at longer rest they'd be so easy it doesn't really move the needle.

Hopefully plenty of those max speed sessions are on hills.

Terrible for XC, especially in June.

It depends on what effort the special endurance is at. Canova’s system has a habit of extending the special endurance sessions into specific sessions later. So, it’s entirely possible that what he is giving us is his coach having him “touch” on race pace through the year. Anyone who doesn’t see the good in this program is frankly ignorant of modern training and probably gets caught up the training zone models that has weighed down the western training environment for so long. Your coach sounds like he is doing good stuff.

The all-out sprints will allow you to handle faster then race pace reps (necessary to be economical) later in the season, or even hills. The tempo will probably stay in place and it rarely ever stops becoming useless so it’s best to develop early and never stop. The special endurance is allowing you to touch on race pace without it being so specific to where the session impacts you. That way the transition to full blown race specific workouts is a smooth one.

Long run after a tempo can be rough, but you did mention that the raw speed day is also sometimes a recovery day. Besides, alactic work is easy to recover from if done right and kept short enough. What he is doing is not very typical of most current programs. The funnel model of periodization is the best way to prepare a runner though and hopefully he follows through with it the right way throughout the season.

Yes, your coach gave you a good program. Now shut up and follow it or transfer.

Thanks for all the replies. Now I’m wondering if It’s best to spend 3 weeks or so running easy runs and aerobic workouts (tempos, fartleks, progression runs) on my own and then running with my team or should I just jump in with my coaches plan?

Xxxtentation wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. Now I’m wondering if It’s best to spend 3 weeks or so running easy runs and aerobic workouts (tempos, fartleks, progression runs) on my own and then running with my team or should I just jump in with my coaches plan?

It seems like too many workout days for summer training, especially in June/July. Personally I'd just do one workout per week (nothing too difficult) plus regular strides and a long run. I can get in close to peak fitness off of just that!

Should focus on mileage mileage...if getting ready for Xc...then indoor outdoor.

No speedwork needed...

Read Arthur lydiards books...

Recovery three days in a row? JV level training here. Train to run varsity

Yeah that’s why I’m skeptical, cause last year everyone ran their best times at the first few meets and than didn’t touch them until regionals and sectionals.

"Personally, I'd be a little concerned about what type of 'special endurance' you're doing. I'm guessing the 400s and 600s are at mile-ish pace, which would be more intense a workout for this phase of the season than I'd be interested in. If they're at 3k/5k paces at super short rest you're either not leaving a ton of room for progression, or at longer rest they'd be so easy it doesn't really move the needle."

? I was planning on running alternate week speed workouts---

Week A speed workout- 6 x 400 sprints, working up to 8-10, with walk lap in between

Week B speed workout-3 x1200 at 3k pace (playing around with pacing, getting a feel for what is best pace)

Week C find a race to run

for next 2 months with hills on other workout day and easy runs and long run in between. I read Summer of Malmo so was planning if tired skipping/cutting, if feeling good going for a double short run (Malmo says it is good habit/helps recovery) is that too much? My MPW is only around 25MPW right now. Thanks for help.

Gbngs wrote:

It goes supmething like this:

Mon- Special endurance (basically 200s, 600s, 400s, etc)

Tues- recovery

Wens- recovery or max speed (40 meter all out for example)

Thurs- rec

Fri- tempo

Sat- long run

Why does your coach abbreviate Wednesday as Wens?

If this is for a long sprinter (400./800m type) , or low-milegare speed type 800/1500m runner this this could be appropriate base training.

Way too many recovery runs (recovering from what?) that should be aerobic conditioning at the slowest and aerobic steady state (high aerobic effort running just below the anaerobic threshold).

Not seeing Aerobic Power development (vVO2 max, work done at CP, 10k, 5k or 3k race pace) type work here which for my thinking should by the Wed workout. The max speed work can be done on Mon with mixed effort intervals or move to Fri and then do tempo on Sat and LR on Sun.

This is how I would set up the cycle:

Mon - SP1 (2400m volume @ 800m race pace) or SP2 (3600m volume @ 1600m race pace) for Anaerobic Power development

Tue - 5 mi Aerobic Run

Wed - VO2 max work (CP, 10k, 5k or 3k race pace) Aerobic Power development (6k to 10k main workout volume)

Thu - 5 mi Aerobic Run

Fri - Max Speed work (300m total volume @ all out) + 4 mile run after or Speed Endurance

Sat - 3-4 mi Tempo

Sun - Long Run (start at 7 miles and work up to 12 mile, Increase by 1 mile every 3 weeks)

This should be about 30-40 miles per week worth of training.

I agree with keeping the short sprints in there. Maybe even short slightly uphill ones if it works.

Program looks more like something I would see from a collegiate 1500/5k athlete staying fresh between seasons, though.