Why We Do What We Do

Cross Country season is our chance as Drury runners to train together as a team and compete as individuals and as a team in fall meets. I believe both our men's and women's teams are strong enough and have enough fast runners to do well at the GLVC meet and also qualify for the NCAA National D2 Cross Country Championships. My goal is to help you run your best at those important meets.

We run long in training sometimes, we run hard in training sometimes and we run short and easy sometimes. All are important components of total running fitness. The 6000m to 100000m races are 85%-90% aerobic, and only a small percentage anaerobic, so most of our summer & fall training focuses on aerobic volume. The aerobic system is substantially more efficient than the anaerobic system so it is important to maximize aerobic capacity, which results in improved cardiac output, increased capillarization and oxygen extraction, slow twitch muscle fiber recruitment and numerous positive metabolic adaptations. The reality is that aerobic capacity takes much longer to develop, relative to anaerobic fitness, which is why we start the summer building mileage. It is not possible to be a competitive cross country runner at the NCAA D2 level without doing the summer training. Shortly after practice starts we'll add more tempo runs and faster intervals to develop anaerobic capacity and improve our ability to buffer the acidity that comes from running without adequate oxygen. In the meantime, we also want to stay as strong as possible(thus, hills & core work) and avoid illness and injury(thus, plenty of sleep, rest, water, stretching and ice baths).

I promise to do my best to give you through the season the proper training and workouts(and the right amount of rest) and guide you to the end of the season so you can meet your personal goals and team goals. I'm looking forward to being with you again as your coach and I am excited about what we can accomplish as a team.

Coach Van Arkel

Pre-Season Practices Start August 20/Reminders

Practice begins Thursday August 20 at 7 am.

-All runners must have all medical forms, including insurance card and a physical approved by a physician, on file with the trainers BEFORE August 20. Signed forms can be mailed to Jon Van Arkel; Drury Athletics; 900 N. Benton; Springfield, MO 65802, or also faxed to Coach Van Arkel(fax# 303-362-7556).

-Housing will be open and runners can move in as early as August 15 by getting your keys from Security.

-Please forward your biographies to Eric Pannell as soon as possible so he can put together the cross country roster.

-I will be at the Fitness Center at 9 am on August 17, 18 & 19 if anyone has forms to turn in or questions.

-Pre-Season Practice Schedule:
Thursday(8/20) 7:00 am 8 miles @ Fitness Center w/ breakfast
Noon Lunch @ CX(optional)
4:30 pm 2-4 mile warmup w/ strength training

Friday(8/21) 6:30 am 10 miles @ Frisco Trailhead w/ breakfast
Noon Lunch @ CX(optional)
4:30 pm Pool/Stretching/Ice Bath
6:30 pm Team Dinner

Saturday(8/22) 6:30 am(women) VO2max test; 6 miles w/ strength training
7:30 am(men) VO2max test; 6 miles w/ strength training

Sunday(8/23) 6:30 am Long Run of 12-16 miles @ Bread Co.(Elm & National)
6:00 pm Picnic @ Van Arkel's

Monday(8/24) 6:30 am 6-8 miles @ Fitness Center
4:30 pm Pool/2-4 miles w/ strength training

Tuesday(8/25) 6:30 am 8-10 miles @ Lake Springfield
4:30 pm Pool/Stretching/Ice

Wednesday(8/26) 6:30 am 6-8 miles @ Fitness Center

During the season plan on practicing between 6 am and 8:30 am and between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm during the week. We will be competing/practicing each weekend until the NCAA meet in November. The only extended break will be September 5, 6 & 7(Labor Day weekend). Fall Break is the weekend of the GLVC Conference Meet.

Coach Van Arkel
417-873-7567

XC Runner Bio's/Roster

XC Roster: All runners, including returning runners, need to forward to Eric Pannell(epannell@drury.edu) answers to the following questions so the Sports Information Office can compiling cross country rosters and include this information about each runner. The sooner we get this done the sooner our online rosters will be completed.


Name: ___________________

Birthdate: ______________________

Height: ___________________

Parents' Names_________________________

Hometown: ___________________________

High School: __________________________

High School Coach's Name:____________________________

High School G.P.A.:_____________________

High School Academic Honors:_____________________

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Intended or Declared Major:_____________________________


If you are an incoming freshman, please list your top high school athletic performances(up to three), any all-state awards, place and time at the state meet, any team, conference, district and academic honors.

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

If you are a returning runner, please list your recent accomplishments or what you feel are your best two or three athletic performances from the past year.

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________


YOUR FAVORITES:

Food: _____________________________________

Restaurant: ________________________________

Musical Artist: ______________________________

Movie/TV Show: _________________________________

Book/Magazine: ________________________________

Hobbies(besides running)_________________________

Pro athlete: _________________________________

Dream job: _________________________________

XC Housing Info

Cross Country runners can arrive and move in to housing as early as Saturday August 15. Check in at the Security Office to pick up keys and Drury ID. The office may not be open, but the students simply need to call an officer at 417-873-7400, and they will meet the student at the office. If a student owns a car, they can also pick up their parking pass at this time (provide license plate number and car make/model). When the student arrives at the residence hall, they need to fill out a Room Inventory Condition Checklist (RICC form) and turn it into their RA (the RAs will stop by and try to meet each player individually when their schedule allows it). Apartment-style residents need to turn their RICCs in to Holly at the Housing Office.

Practice starts August 20 at 7 am at the Fitness Center.

Coach Van Arkel
417-873-7567

Off-Season XC Training(7/19 & 7/26)

The men will be running 80 miles the first week of practice and the women will be running more than 60 miles that week so it is important to gradually increase volume over the summer. From now until practice starts the men should be running as much as or perhaps more than 60-70 miles/week. The women should be running 40-50 miles/week until the beginning of practice. Besides building strength over the summer and getting use to running long, it is also important for us to have an extended period of aerobic base training before we start running harder and faster after the season begins. Continue doing the core strength workouts twice each week and the hill repeats once each week. Most of the week's running can be at conversational pace but still run the hill repeats hard and try to increase the pace on the last half of the Friday run. You may also want to break up one or two workouts each week into two different sessions to help recovery and get your body used to the days we will be practicing twice/day after the season starts.

Sunday(7/19 & 7/26) Long run of 10-14 miles

Monday 7-9 miles

Tuesday 7-9 miles w/ strength training

Wednesday 7-9 miles w/ hill repeats

Thursday 7-9 miles w/ strength training

Friday 8-11 miles

Saturday 4-6 miles or swim/bike


Coach Van Arkel
417-873-7567

Training Shoe Orders by 7/17

I will be ordering training shoes on July 17. Please forward to me the brand, model & size of training shoes you run in by this date so I can order a pair for you and have them available when practice starts. I will be out of state after July 17 for the rest of the month and may not have your training shoes on hand when practice starts if I do not hear from you by then.

Coach Van Arkel
xcountry@drury.edu

Off-Season XC Training(7/5 & 7/12)

Cross country training picks up a bit, with more mileage the next two weeks and a session of hill repeats each week. Women should be running between 40-50 miles/week. Men should be running 50-60 miles/week. The long run can be from 70 to 90 minutes at a conversational pace. During the week add a set of hill repeats(6-8 repeats up a 150-200 m hill at 3k race pace with a recovery jog back down) and do at least two core/strength training workouts. These should consist of crunches, pushups, dips and planks(up, down & each side with leg raises).

Sunday(7/5 & 7/12) Long run of 9-13 miles

Monday 6-8 miles

Tuesday 7-9 miles w/ strength training

Wednesday 6-8 miles w/ hill repeats

Thursday 7-9 miles w/ strength training

Friday 8-10 miles

Saturday 4-6 miles or swim/bike


Coach Van Arkel
417-873-7567