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…
Archives for distance workouts
A Test for Aerobic Capacity
There are many tests available for coaches to use in assessing the track and field and cross country athletes aerobic abilities on their teams. Throws coaches commonly use the over-head backward toss of the shot, jumping coaches use the three-legged bound, and distance coaches use the Kosmin Test; all in an attempt to predict future…
Speed and Ancillary Training in the Distance Events
Perspectives. Distance run training geared toward the development of energy system efficiency, cardiovascular fitness, and buffering capabilities is the foundation of any good distance program. Yet, there are several other forms of training that are applicable to endurance training, serving a specific purpose that can enhance performance, increase the effectiveness of other forms of training,…
The Tempo Run
The tempo run is a valuable training unit component that should be found in the microcycles of both middle-distance and distance runners, including cross country athletes. The name is derived from a musical term that refers to a recognized “rate of speed”. The rate of speed, or tempo, used in training distance runners is the…
Cold Weather Considerations for the Runner
Distance running at any temperature generates metabolic heat production inside the athlete, even with cold weather running. The chemical conversion of carbohydrate and fats to ATP is only about 35% efficient, with the remaining 65% lost as heat in the complicated bio-chemical processes inside the cell. While this seems like a lot of lost heat,…
Heat Considerations for the Runner
There are a number of environmental considerations that will affect the effort and performance of the cross-country runner. One of the physiological results of running at any speed is an increase in internal heat production which is due to an increase in the metabolism of the athlete. If the environmental conditions are kind, the athlete…
Maintaining Fitness throughout the Championship Season
The championship season in high school cross country can be a long and drawn out affair in the United States. The time period between state sectional meets and the Footlocker Championship race can last up to eight weeks for some runners. Maintaining fitness, both aerobic and anaerobic, is critical to racing success, yet energy systems…
Cross Country Training: Managing Your Phases & Periods
By now almost every cross country coach in America has had some contact with the basics of training theory. This is quite a contrast from the 1980’s when only the most diehard coaches were familiar with the works of Tudor Bompa and others from the Eastern Bloc that had first organized sport training into chunks…
How to Plan Summer Training for Cross Country Runners
As the track season winds down in the spring, distance runners enter a time that sport scientists call the transitional phase in the annual plan. More specifically, it’s the time where summer training for cross country becomes the priority. Track is an unusual sport in that there is no one time that all of the athletes…
Cross Country Training: Workout Recovery Protocols
Workout recovery practices can be placed in three domains when discussing training for cross country runners. First there is the recovery that takes place between interrupted bouts of work in anaerobic or VO2 max training. In most cases this is some sort of incomplete recovery that takes pace for 1-10 minutes with the exact time…
Winter Development in Cross Country Training
Exercise physiologist like to reduce athletic performance ability to five physical skills that are a product of the athlete’s genome, age and cross country training development. Coaches have accepted this reductionism viewpoint and have described these five skills as “bio-motor” skills. While the word bio-motor has no true scientific definition, both coaches and physiologists understand…
Race Strategy and Tactics for the Endurance Events: 800 – 5000 meters
In track and field and cross country, the race is the assessment tool that endurance coaches use to determine the present day fitness of their athletes. Race performance is a complex cumulative blend of various physiological variables as well as known and unknown factors that hinder or help race performance on the psychological side of…