For cross country runners, October is the time of racing in big Invitationals and preparing for the championship meets to follow. For a cross country coach, October is especially stressful because it is the month of capacity training schemes and sequences which are the hardest to master because the training effects are so individualized. Already…
Archives for Cross Country
September Training for Cross Country Athletes
There is no better time in the cross country season then September. Fun invitational meets, hard-core training, an already well-formed team, pretty good weather, and still eager runners all make for a very enjoyable month. For a cross country coach, September training is especially interesting because it is the month of training creativity. Already past…
The 3 Most Important “Fuels” For Successful Distance Running
The ability of skeletal muscle to re-synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP) during exercise and recovery after exercise ultimately depends on the diet of the cross country runner. Today we will focus on the 3 most important “fuels” for successful distance running. Fat and carbohydrate (CHO) provide the majority of the metabolic fuel for ATP re-synthesis, with…
Growth and Development Issues in Distance Runners
Most cross country coaches’ work with athletes that have not yet reached absolute physical maturity and awareness of growth and development issues in their distance runners. Many of these same coaches have teams with both boys and girls on them, which raises the concern of different rates of development. Even coaches that have a program…
Proper Posture in Distance Running
When trying to make cross country runners faster there are no more important variables than proper posture and the characteristics of foot contact on each stride cycle. Foot contact times vary with pace in running. Slow paces show longer foot contact patterns, and increases in velocity show consistent decreases in contact times (Figure 1). …
Cross Country Assessment of the Primary Physical Components
Cross Country Assessment of the Primary Physical Components To improve athletic performance in any sport requires ongoing development of the five primary physical components: speed, endurance, strength, flexibility, and coordination. Balanced development in these five bio-motor skills is sport specific with the training emphasis on each of the five determined by the demands of the…
Endurance as a Primary Physical Component in Cross Country
Endurance as a Primary Physical Component in Cross Country It can be said that a high level of endurance is the most important of the five primary physical components found in a cross country runner. The danger in making such a statement is that it may diminish the importance of the other four: speed, strength,…
Speed as a Primary Physical Component in Cross Country Training
Despite what it is intuitive to the training of cross country runners, absolute speed is a critical primary physical component to five kilometer (k) racing success. Many studies have linked the 40 meter maximum velocity performance in a runner to success in events all the way out to the 10k. Speed generally involves three…
Coordination as a Primary Physical Component in Cross Country Running
The first step in designing training programs for cross country runners is visualizing a clear understanding of the physical components needed for success. Designing distance training schemes without a clear purpose in mind is an inefficient process at best, and at worst is a hodge-podge of this and that from impractical weight room exercises to…
High School Cross Country Training: Positive Team Culture (Part 2)
As infant humans proceed through daily activities in an instinctual manner just like all of the other animal species on our planet. However, instinctual behavior beyond the age of 1 or 2 in humans becomes curiously rare. With the largest proportionally-sized brain in the animal kingdom, humans quickly move from instinct to learned behavior…
Cross Country Training: Developing Positive Team Culture (Part 1)
Cross country running is considered a team sport by those in the know. Because the scoring of the meet is so tied into the efforts of all seven runners on a team it is imperative that a positive and selfless synergy exists between these runners if the team is to be successful. The coach is…
The Healthy Runner Project
Over the last 50 years the training of distance runners has evolved from a process of trial and error testing, to specific event-centered progressions that are deeply based in the scientific method. Exercise physiologists, cardiologists, and endocrinologists, working with training theorists, have provided a wealth of empirical evidence for coaches to use as a resource…