by Larry EderWell, Labor Day is over and most cross country programs around the country are starting up. Nearly sixteen thousand high schools, and 500,000 high school boys and girls will run cross country in the fall of 2013! Numbers will be up, once again, for the seventeenth straight year!
Week 10: Early Racing Begins
Your first real race will be a revelation. You should be able to handle the distance, but perhaps your pace will be slower than you expect. You’ll recover quickly, so that you’ll be racing fit in 3 to 5 races.
Monday: Warm up; 45-50 minutes easy running; 8×150 yards relaxed strideouts on grass, jogging back to the start after each, no rest between; cool down.
Tuesday: 1-mile warm up, 20-minute tempo run, 1-mile cool down.
To determine your tempo run pace, add a half-minute to your present mile pace for a 5K. So if you can run 18:30 for a 5K now, that’s a 6:00 pace. Add 30 seconds and your tempo run pace is 6:30 per mile.
Wednesday: Warm up; 45-50 minutes easy running; 8×150 yards relaxed strideouts on grass, jogging back to the start after each, no rest between; cool down
Thursday: 1-mile warm up, 8 hill repeats (run 200 yds uphill, turn, jog downhill to start. Repeat seven more times, no rests); on the flat at the bottom of the hill, try for 8×150 yards as easy strikeouts, jogging back to start, no rest between; 1-mile easy cool down.
Friday: Warm up; 45-50 minutes easy running; 8×150 yards relaxed strideouts on grass, jogging back to the start after each, no rest between; cool down.
Saturday: Easy warmup, 5K race for high school/4 miles for college.
Go out well, but pick it up each mile, with 800 meters to go, see what you can do.
Sunday: Long, easy run, 65Â-70 minutes, on grass or dirt with friends. Keep this on soft ground, and run relaxed. If you are sore from Saturday, then, really slow it down, and consider, if there is any pain, cutting it back.
