Objective: To properly train for the upcoming season while enjoying oneself.
Eat, Run and Feel Well = Being Well
General
EAT and EAT WELL
Please eat, you need to eat food so that you get the energy to workout. Increasing exercise requires increase food intake.
The best performance (race) car goes nowhere without fuel (energy). You are no different.
Stretching and core workout should be done 7 days per week. Click on XC Stretches for specifics.
Keeping running log would be great (and helps with knowing when to increase training)
Running
Maximum of 6 days a week of running/exercise (1 day/wk no workouts)
1 day of the 6 days can be non-running day but must exercise (raising heart rate) for at least 45minutes (e.g. bike/walk with parents, hoop game, etc)
4 types of running days (Purpose is reason you are running, Pace is how fast you are running.)
LSD day (long slow distance at conversational pace)
Purpose: To run longer, increase endurance (called aerobic capacity)
Pace: Can carry on conversation using short complete sentences (conversational pace) [60sec slower than 5K pace]
Run, Pickup, Run RPR day (some people call it tempo or interval)
Purpose: To run faster at a constant pace (and longer) (called anaerobic threshold)
Pace: Warmup/cooldown: conversational pace, Pickup: Can't talk or can in short bursts [5k pace]
Speed or strength SOS day
Purpose: For speed, all out sprint while keeping running form. For strength, run stronger
Pace: For speed or strength, all out or trying to keep your breath
Keep on Running KOR day
Purpose: To keep running but also to give body a chance to recover from above 3 running day
Pace: Slightly faster than conversational pace, Rule: Less miles little faster, more miles little slower
The summer running program is based on 5 running days per week cycle
Two types of runners, Experienced (have run on team for at least one season) and Inexperienced (not run on a team for one season or you are a freshman)
Experienced: If you are not running 5 days per week now, add one new running day per week until 5 days. For the new days, you are doing KOR or LSD day workouts only
Inexperienced/freshman: If you can't run 3 miles for LSD, do not do any above workouts until you can run 3 miles. If not running 5 days per, add one new day per week. New days are shorter run days. Increase milage by 1/2 mile per week until 3 miles. If you can run 3 mile and are running 5 days per week, see below for increasing workouts.
Increasing workouts:
LSD - Assume start out at 3 miles. Increase 1/2mile per week. Maximum miles: 8miles (inexperienced:6miles/10K)
RPR - Assume start with 1mile warmup/cooldown, 1mile pickup. For pickup, increase 1/4 mile each week, every other week increase speed by 10sec. (inexperienced: start with 1/2mile pickup, alternate weekly increase in distance then next week increase speed)
SOS - Assume all SOS workouts are 3-4miles in length. For speed, you will do telephone ramp-ups (one telephone pole set up to sprint, sprint for 2 telephone poles, one back down to conversational pace). Experience: start with 1 ramp-up per mile add 1 new one per mile each week for a maximum of 3 ramp-up then add speed per week. Inexperienced:Maximum ramp-up is 2 per mile and no more than 3miles. For strength, add hills to run (sprint all hills).
KOR - Assume start out at 3 miles. Experienced: Alternate weekly between increasing mileage (by 1/2 mile) and increasing pace (faster by 10sec). Inexperienced: Do same as experienced but do not go above 3.5miles (just increase speed).
Example of Running Schedule
The following is just an example, you can make your own but can't have RPR or SOS on consecutive days