XC Training

XC Training:

Hopefully, most runners have had several weeks of easy running after track season and are ready to begin building an aerobic base for cross country. Starting in mid-June we will want to be as consistent as possible with our training. Mileage will be higher later in the summer(50-60 for women/60-70 for men). For now, it is important to run almost every day with a day off once in a while to recover. We have ten weeks until cross country practice begins and we will structure the summer's running into five two-week periods.

For the next two weeks starting Sunday, June 12:

This is an introductory training week. Pace can be easy. Women should now be running an average of 6 miles a day or more, with a long run sometime during the week of 60 minutes or longer. Try to get around 40 miles this week. Men should be running an average of at least 7 miles a day with a long run of 70 minutes. Try to get around 50 miles this week. For now this is exclusively aerobic base training. Eventually we will add hill repeats and strides, but do not do speedwork or track running once we begin the buildup for cross country.

For core strength, at least twice during the week do two sets of crunches(2 x 25-50 repeats) and pushups(2 x 10-15) and planks(hold each position for :30). You can also add 2 sets of hammer curls to the routine if you have access to dumbbells.

In two weeks we will add a few more miles, a couple of specific running workouts and additional strength exercises.

Coach Van Arkel
417-873-7567