Cross Country and Track
my son christopher’ s first race was the following:
33:56 Jun 6 2006 Handicap Summer Series 5K - #1
and at the liberty frosh/soph invite (less than two years later) he ran 10:45 for 3200 meters.
his splits were 75,81,82,82,83,83,83,81, and 77. he went thru the 1600 in 5:20 which is almost his pr.
he has been training old school, with lots of high mileage weeks. a month ago, he ran a half marathon in 1:26 and he is now training to run a marathon in may.
he hopes to go sub 3.
last summer, i started having christopher run a very challenging course at the panorama bluffs. it isnt even 4 miles long but it will kick your …
we will be running it around 7 pm tonite, we meet at the bottom of the panorama bike path. come join us if you like.
Freshening Up
During the last one-and-a-half weeks, you should try to freshen up by lightening your training so as to
build up your reserves mentally and physically for the coming important competition. Some call this
“Super Compensation” and other words. This is important and the time for this freshening up should be decided by the individual through trial and error methods as individuals differ in this respect, though usually 10 days is about right on the average. You should train every day, but easily. The fast training should be small in volume and the longer runs should be at very low efforts.
When the main competitions are reached, it is important to realize that you have trained for the race. You
should not continue to train hard as many athletes make the mistake of doing. It is necessary to keep fresh
and sharp. You cannot be fresh and sharp if you are doing hard repetition training, etc. Therefore, a typical
training week during competition season would go something like this; Saturday - race, Sunday - long
easy run, Monday - a few sharpeners, Tuesday - sprint training or leg speed, Wednesday - race at a club,
Thursday - jog, Friday - leg speed, etc. Reserve your energies for your races.
Just train enough to keep your condition to a good level. Your races will indicate your general condition,
they are all you need in hard work.
Every morning except upon days for your long run, you should go for your morning easy runs, as this
helps keep your blood pH level high and makes your recovery better. It also continues to further develop
general cardiac efficiency.
Without being too specific, this is basically the way to approach training for the middle and longer distances. As long as the exercises used daily are evaluated and you decide that the training to be used is
what is required, then you are sure to start to gain a fine balance in your schedule and get the results you
desire. You can train hard and not succeed unless the training is approached in an intelligent way.
Co-ordination and Sharpening
After these first four weeks of track training, another four and a half weeks period should start with the aim to coordinate all the training that you’ve so far done. Now that speed. stamina, and the anaerobic capacity to exercise are more or less developed, it is necessary to have you running smoothly though-out your competitions without apparent weak spots showing in your running. Even though you may have fine stamina and speed, it does not necessarily mean that you can race well and to your best potential. If you give your body certain exercises to do often enough, then your body will adjust and manage them efficiently. The same can be said about running over distances, If you have the basic condition and run over certain distances often in a controlled way, you start to improve in performances. So at this stage of training, there are these aspects to consider:
It is necessary to do some anaerobic training, only at this time you need to drop the volume and increase the intensity. In other words, if you run, say 400 meters twenty times, it takes a long time and you get very tired with the training. Whereas, if you run five laps around the track by sprinting fifty meters in every 100 meters, floating the other 50 meters, in all twenty sprints; you will also be very tired, though in this case it will only take about 7-8 minutes to complete the exercise, if you are a mature person. This is called sharpening, or putting the edge on the knife of anaerobic capacity training; and this way we can get into racing shape without seeming to pull the good condition down.
At this stage it is usually best to use this training once every week, say. upon Monday.
On Tuesday, a time trial could be run over or near to the distance being trained for. When training for the 5000 meters and 10000 meters, it usually pays to use 5000 meters for your time trials with the occasional 10000 meters. When training for the 800 meters and 1500 meters (1 mile), it often pays to use under distance time trials; such as 600 meters for 800 meters, and 1200 meters for the 1500 or mile. This is because the speed involved causes larger oxygen debts and recovery sometimes takes longer. From the time trials, you can observe weaknesses in your running. You can also have someone record your lap times during the run and you can see where you may have slowed down. It is then necessary to use the appropriate exercises to strengthen the weaknesses that are apparent. This is where the training is mainly coordinated. For instance; if you could run the early part of a time trial easily and were tired near the latter stages, it would be advisable to run in over-distance races or time trials the following week. On the other hand, if you found the pace a little difficult throughout the run even though you were running strongly near the end and not overly tired, then it would be wise for you to run under distance races or trials during the next few days.
All athletes are different in their reactions, so you would have to be a little experimental in the later stages
of training to determine exactly how to co-ordinate the training. But the trials (and development races) will give you the necessary information very well.
On Wednesday, sprint training should be done and a club (team) level sprint race or two competed in.
This means the long distance runners too. A middle distance race could be used as well.
On Thursday, you could do any training that you consider necessary from the information found out from the time trials; however, it is also wise to work at pace judgment, two to four times at the speed that you intend to race at. You can also do more sharpeners if you think that you require this training.
On Friday, leg speed can be done over 120 meters, say four to six times after warming up and exercising.
Saturday can be open competition day with you looking for the best competition available. The races during this period are considered development races; since you are training hard and are tired to a degree, it is not possible to give your best effort. These races should be over- and under- distances, according to your needs and considering your time trial reactions.
On Sunday, the usual long run should be taken at a leisurely pace.
since christopher ran almost 3 miles at the lee adams open, i let him have a shorter long run on sunday. he did an hour instead of the usual 90 minutes.
today was the first day of a new phase of the da plan.
2/11/06 to 3/10/06
3. Anaerobic Training (4 weeks)
Monday: Sprint training.
Tuesday: Repetitions.
Wednesday: Easy fartlek 1/2 to 1 hour
Thursday: Repetitions.
Friday: Relaxed striding (fast and easy).
Saturday: Repetitions.
Sunday: Aerobic running 1 to 2 hours.
christopher repeated the first workout he ever ran today. he ran 4 times 660 yards. the loop is at yokuts park and he runs from the bench near the 99 freeway around the first bench (a hairpin turn) across from the playground and back.
the first time he did it in june 2006, he averaged 2:48 (8:24 pace) per lap. today he averaged 1:48 (5:24 pace) per lap. a very nice improvement.
2/11/06 to 3/10/06 3. Anaerobic Training (4 weeks)
Monday: Sprint training.
Tuesday: Repetitions.
Wednesday: Easy fartlek 1/2 to 1 hour (jogging and striding or sprint training).
Thursday: Repetitions.
Friday: Relaxed striding (fast and easy).
Saturday: Repetitions.
Sunday: Aerobic running 1 to 2 hours.
today christopher and airey ran at the bluffs. they ran up the fire road three times and also raced up bako’s alpe d’huez.
on sunday, at 1 pm they are going to do a 90 minute run (at matt pace) on the bike path. we will be meeting at the bike path parking lot across the street from csub.
come join us if you want.
LydiardSnellOriginally uploaded by andynoise.
Arthur Lydiard
RUNNING MAN
Arthur Lydiard invented jogging. The method of building up physical fitness by gradually increasing stamina is a simple one, used by millions of men and women worldwide as part of their everyday health and fitness regime. It was used to train New Zealand’s greatest track athletes, and helped propel New Zealand to the top of world middle-distance running.
