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.
Maintenance
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.
Progressive
runs should start at easy pace for the first few minutes/miles, but should
gradually increase in intensity until you are running closer to 5K effort
toward the end. The average pace of
these runs should be about a minute slower than 5K race pace. So if you are a 16:00 5K runner you should be
averaging 6:00 per mile on these runs (7:00 building up to 5:00 when you
finish.)
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.
CONSISTENSY: 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: Running should
consume the majority of your training time.
Basic stretching and strengthening should be done before and after
your run for a few minutes. Additional
exercises, drills, and stretches can and should be done at home.
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.
The
General Prep Phase is about 12 weeks:
June
1 to September 1 for Cross Country.
The following
calculations will help you set daily, weekly and overall general prep phase mileage
goals for each season.
•
100
miles/12 weeks = 8 mpw/4 days = 2 miles per day
•
200 miles/12 weeks
= 16 mpw/4 days = 4 miles per day
•
300 miles/12 weeks = 24 mpw/5 days = 5 miles per day
•
500 miles/12 weeks
= 42 mpw/6 days = 7 miles per day
•
600 miles/12 weeks = 48 mpw/6 days = 8 miles per day
•
700
miles/12 weeks = 60 mpw/6 days = 10 miles per day
To help you determine your summer training mileage goals, select and stick to a mileage plan above based on previous training experience and ability level.
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.
