Off-Season Training Tips

Off-Season Training Tips:

1. Be sure you have good supportive running shoes with plenty of cushioning. You will run many miles over the summer, so you may need to get some new trainers.
2. Get lots of sleep and rest between hard workouts.
3. Stay hydrated. Drink water all day long and drink some kind of sports drink/fruit juice(maybe even chocolate milk) after a run.
4. Run on soft surfaces as much as you can.
5. If you are sore, back off. Don’t run thru sharp pain. Ice those areas that are sore.
6. Do core strength work(crunches, pushups, curls, etc.) at least twice each week.
7. Run hilly courses as often as you can.
8. Follow the hard/easy training cycle. Do recovery runs or cross train between hard runs or long runs.
9. Do a long run(around 90 minutes) at least once a week.
10. Be consistent.

Specific off-season training suggestions will begin in June. Plan for 2 different five week training cycles(June 4 thru July 8 & July 9 thru August 12) with mileage climbing during each five week cycle. We’ll do similar five week training cycles during the cross country season(August 13 thru September 16 & September 17 thru October 21).

Coach Van Arkel(417-873-7567)
xcountry@drury.edu