Summer Training

Off Season Training for Long Term Success

PURPOSE: The purpose of summer/winter training is to prepare your body for the stress it will experience when you race in the Fall/Spring.  The purpose is not to enter cross country or track season ready to run your fastest race of the season, but to be fit enough to compete at your first few meets without getting injured.  Then we can work towards peaking at the end of the season.  Rather than worrying about specific splits or paces at this time in your training, it is best to focus on intensity (effort), consistency, and gradually increasing your training volume. 

INTENSITY: Every run should be a challenge.  You should be able to hear and feel yourself breathe.  You should feel your heart pulsating and pumping blood throughout your body.  If you do not feel this way when you run, you are not running hard enough. 

Base runs should be 1:30 to 2:00 per mile slower than your current PR 5K pace.  For example, if you run an 18:45 5K (6:00 mile) you should not be running your easy runs any slower than 8:00 per mile.  This means that you should not be training regularly with other people who run 25:00 for 5K (8:00 mile) because their “easy” pace should be several minutes (9:30 – 10:00) per mile slower than yours.

Strides are 20 – 30 second bursts that should be done at a sprint (85-95%) pace.  Strides help build running turn-over and efficiency.  When doing strides, it is important to focus on form and cadence (180 strides per minute).  Strides can be done either after a run is completed or in the middle of a run as a fartlek in which you stride out and then return to your regular pace to catch your breath and then stride again.  They can also be done on hills – surge the up-hill or surge the downhill.  The key is simply to let your body run as naturally as possible.   

CONSISTENCY: Now is the time to begin the habit to run six days a week.  When the season starts we will be training hard all week and then racing on the weekends.  Your body needs to prepare for this by training six days a week.  The sooner you start the habit, the sooner you will be ready to perform well at Saturday meets and the less likely you will be to get injured when the racing starts.

VOLUME: Running longer at a sustained effort increases endurance.  Distance should never be sacrificed for intensity.  The goal is to gradually increase both the distance and intensity of your runs.  Taking a gradual approach will enable you to increase your intensity and your volume simultaneously without risking injury or over-fatigue.

EXTRAS: Make sure you stretch afterwards everyday and roll out.

Each mile that you run, each interval you complete, each core/gut workout you endure, each hour you sleep, each cup of water you drink, each drop of sweat that you spill, each healthy food that you eat, each positive thought that you think, each goal that you set and achieve, each PR that you run is an investment - a coin in the bottle - that you can count on and use when you need it most - at the end of the season. 

Click to access the training schedule

3rd to 4th Year Summer Training Schedule

2nd to 3rd Year Summer Training Schedule

1st Year Summer Training Schedule

All of our training and racing is geared toward one course, one race, and one day each season – the WIAA Cross Country Championships in Pasco WA.