Thinking About Cross

Hello Team:

For most of us, track season is just winding down, however for others, we are getting ready to embark on training for a sport that we've never done or we haven't done since last November.  I'd like to make a quick post today for you all to look at so you can get the general idea of what we want to do this summer.  I'm going to break things into two basic groups: Those who did track, and those who didn't.

For the kids coming out of track
We can let our legs and minds recovery for a little while before jumping back into our mileage build up.  Some of your seasons have been over for a couple of days, some have been over for a week and a half, some (Emily and Abby) are still going.  When ever your season ends or ended, you all need to keep a couple of things in mind.

Varsity Girls after captuing the TVL title

1. You are in extremely good shape right now.   It would be terrible to waste that fitness and regress all the way back to where you were prior to track.  During your break, stay active.  Do other sports, keep eating well (but don't worry about having a little bit of junk food here and there.)  When you start running again, don't be afraid to do a little bit of quality.  We have gotten to the point where CV intervals are feeling very relaxed.  It wouldn't hurt you to finish your runs 1-2 times per week with 1-2 x 1k on the track at your current, peak, CV shape.   For our top varsity guys, this would mean about 3:35-3:40 per 1000.  For our top girls, it would mean about 4:00-4:05.  All of you can look at Tinman's Running Calculator to get an idea about what kind of paces you should be thinking about running during the summer. We'll start summer practices pretty soon, so until that time, don't worry about any other hard, organized training.
2. Remember, when all else fails, just run. Run a lot.  Run more than you did last summer.  When you feel good, run fast.  When you are tired, run easy.  Don't be afraid to push your long runs out further than before.  Don't be afraid to drop the hammer on long runs either.  Mileage club t-shirts provide good baseline goals, but don't regiment your summers to hit a specific mileage goal.....just run!

Hughson, pressing the pace at TVL Finals

For the kids who didn't do track

Your legs don't need to recover from anything...you need to start running....NOW!  If you have never run before, you don't need to worry about going out and trying to run big miles, just run.  If you can only do one lap around the track, that is all you should do.  You will be surprised how easily your body adapts to running.  Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind as you embark on this wonderful journey with your new team.

1. This sport is not about SPEED as much as it is about being able to EXTEND YOUR SPEED.  If you've run a 6:15 mile in Jr High Track, let's figure out how to extend that speed for another 2.1 miles and run 19:30 for 5k.
2. The purpose of summer running, especially for beginners, is to adapt your body to the pounding of cross country training.  During the fall, you will be asked to do workouts that are harder than you currently think are possible.  You need to build up gradually this summer so that you are ready to do the hard work in the fall.
3. While building your mileage over the summer is the most important thing you can do, you cannot neglect your speed.  For most cross country runners during the summer, speed work will consist of what we call strides.  A stride is a "relaxed" sprint of 60-120 meters.  Don't run your strides so fast that your legs are burning at the end or that you are gasping for breath.  Strides should make your legs feel light and quick, not dead.
4. Do not be too agressive trying to build your mileage right away.  I've had plenty of new runners do great for the first 3 weeks of the summer, then tail off to almost nothing by the middle of summer.  It is better to start very small, with managable distances then gradually build from there.

Let's have a great summer and kick butt in the fall!