Partial List of Events/Invites *
. Week 1 – June 14 - June 20
. Week 2 – June 21 – June 27
. Week 3 – June 28 – July 4
. Week 4 – July 5 – July 11
. Week 5 – July 12 – July 18
. Week 6 – July 19 – July 25
. Week 7 – July 26 – August 1
. Week 8 – August 2 – August 8
. Week 9 – August 9 – August 15
. Week 10 – August 16 – August 22
. Week 11 – August 23 – August 29
. Week 12 – August 30 – September 5 (Wildcat XC Relay/Vaquero Invite/Wolfpack Invite)
. Week 13 – September 6 – September 12
. Week 14 - September 13 – September 19 9/18 - (Woodbridge Invite/Mt. Carmel Invite)
. Week 15 – September 20 – September 26 (South Bay Invite/Stanford Invite/Mission Hills Night Invite)
. Week 16 – September 27 – October 3 (Saints Small School Invite)
. Week 17 – October 4 – October 10 10/5 – Lincoln Dual Meet (Central Park Invite)
. Week 18 – October 11 – October 17 10/12 – Christian Dual Meet (So. Cal Invitational)
. Week 19 – October 18 – October 24 10/19 – Clairemont Dual Meet; 10/22 - Mt. SAC Invite
. Week 20 – October 25 – October 31 10/26 – Crawford Dual Meet
. Week 21 – November 1 – November 7 11/2 – Madison Dual Meet
. Week 22 – November 8 – November 14 11/9 – Central League Finals
. Week 23 – November 15 – November 21 11/20 - CIF San Diego Section Finals
. Week 24 – November 22 – November 28 11/27 - State Championship Meet – Fresno
* The meets listed above in parentheses include invitational meet possibilities for the upcoming
season. Not all invitational meets/special events are listed here. Central League dual meets
will be held on Tuesdays for the 2010 season. Note that there could be changes to the dual
meet schedule reflected above, depending on various factors. The actual invitational
schedule, along with any changes in dual meet dates, will be determined at a later date.
Why You Should Keep a Training Log
There are several important reasons that a runner should keep a training log. Tracking
workouts helps to ensure that an athlete is making progress towards his/her goals. For
example, if an athlete sets a goal to run 500 miles over the summer, a log can help to
motivate the runner to stay on track to reach that goal. A log is also a place to record
both good days and bad, and to memorialize important personal achievements.
However, perhaps the most important reason to maintain a detailed training log is
because it can be a helpful tool that enables an athlete and coach to evaluate “what is
working”, and when it is time to make adjustments. Information such as changes in
resting heart rate (see below re: waking pulse rate) and sleep patterns can also provide
clues as to whether an athlete is becoming fitter/stronger, or is instead in need of a
break.
Record information about your workouts in your training log every day. Make it a habit,
just like brushing your teeth.
Why and How to Record Your Morning Pulse Rate
It is a good idea to check your resting pulse rate every morning before you get out of
bed. Most people can check their heart rate by pressing their middle and index fingers
firmly to their neck in the crease to either side of their windpipe, up under the chin.
Count the “pulses” for 60 seconds to get your resting heart rate per minute (BPM, or
beats per minute). Of course you can always count the beats for 30 seconds and
multiply by two to calculate your BPM. It is important to check your pulse rate before
you get out of bed or move around. Ideally, you should be able to turn your head slightly
to see a clock or watch on your bedside table. Your routine should be the same every
morning. The heart is a muscle, and over time, as an endurance athlete trains, it gets
stronger and becomes more efficient at pumping blood. As its efficiency increases, fewer
beats are required for the heart to do its job. However, certain factors such as fatigue
and illness can cause a rise in an individual’s morning/waking BPM. For instance, let’s
say that you have been recording your morning/waking heart rate in your training log,
and it is typically 49 or 50 BPM. However, one morning you wake up and it is 55 BPM
(about 10% higher than usual). This could be an early warning sign you are getting sick,
are unusually tired, or just need to back-off a little in your training. In any event,
monitoring your waking/morning pulse rate is one way that you can “listen to your body”
and make adjustments to your workout plans, especially if your BPM remains elevated
for more than a day or two.
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Record the Number of Hours You Sleep
While it may seem obvious that your performance will suffer if you don’t get enough
sleep, sometimes it is easier to spot patterns when you record information about the
hours you sleep in a log. For example, your log might show might that on most nights
during the summer you managed to get nine hours of sleep, and that on most days you
felt “great”. Then, after the start of the school year, your log starts to show that frequently
you only slept for about seven and a half hours a day, and that there were more days
when you felt poorly or fatigued before and after your workouts, even though you hadn’t
changed your mileage or the intensity of your workouts. This information could help you
realize that maybe your body needs more sleep (i.e., closer to the nine hours a day you
got during the summer). Also, feeling sleepy all the time, or a sudden change in sleep
“needs” – sleeping for 10 hours when you usually feel great with eight - may be a sign
that you are overtraining or need to make other adjustments to your routine.
The training log has a Weekly Summary page for each week of the season. At the end of
each week you should use this section to summarize what you did over the past seven
days. However, there is one thing that you should complete in the Weekly
Summary section at the very beginning of each week, and that is to a write down a
goal for that week. The goal can be something simple, and might focus on training,
competition, or something else you would like to accomplish. For instance, you might
write that your goal one week is to “finish in the top 10 at the invitational race next
Saturday”, or “to do strength training on three days during the week”, or “to complete one
run of at least seven miles this week”. At the end of the week, there is a place to record
whether or not you accomplished your goal, and space to write down any general or
specific comments about the week you just completed.
Invest in a Good Pair of Running Shoes
Get a good pair of running shoes. A good pair of shoes sometimes makes the difference
between spending time in the training room and running injury-free. You can purchase
good shoes at many sporting goods stores, but two local stores, Road Runner Sports
and Movin Shoes (see links below), are primarily “running specialty” stores. The people
that work at these stores may be a little more likely to help you find the “right” shoe than
someone that works at a general purpose sporting goods establishment. These stores
also carry running apparel, watches, etc., and you should be able to get a 10% discount
at the time of your purchase by mentioning that you are a member of the CHS Cross
Country Team.
http://www.movinshoes.com/locations.html - Movin Shoes - 3 area locations
http://www.roadrunnersports.com - Road Runner Sports – Kearny Mesa store and online
The Importance of Proper Nutrition
As endurance athletes, distance runners ask a lot of their bodies. Proper nutrition is
essential not only to provide the fuel/energy needed to run a race or workout, but also to
provide the building blocks the body requires to properly recover from strenuous efforts.
On top of that, high school is a time when teenage bodies are undergoing significant
changes. Poor nutrition can lead to fatigue, illness, injury, poor performance and a host
of other problems. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that a high school cross country
runner maintain a proper, well-balanced, diet in order to provide his/her body with the
building blocks and energy needed to stay healthy and perform at its best. However, not
only does a distance runner need to eat the “right stuff” (more of the healthy stuff and
less “junk” food), but he/she also needs to make sure that adequate caloric intake is
maintained. The fact that the nutritional requirements of high school distance runners
are significantly more substantial than those of your average teenager can’t be
overemphasized.
The Importance of Proper Hydration
Cross country runners perspire a lot. Adequate fluid intake is essential, especially during
the hot/dry months of summer and early fall. It is important to drink enough water
throughout the day to stay properly highlighted. If you wait until you are thirsty to drink,
you have probably waited too long. After particularly hard/hot efforts, sports drinks
(“Gatorade”, “Powerade”, etc.) can help to replace the electrolytes lost through
perspiration, although you may want to consider diluting these products with equal parts
water since most are more concentrated than they need to be. Also, products such as
“Smart Water” are electrolyte replacement alternatives to sweetened sports drinks.
How Much to Run Over the Summer
As Coach Green has said many times, cross country championships are won in the
summer, not in the fall. How much you run over the summer depends on many
factors, including the number of years you have been running, whether you have been
regularly participating in another/complementary sport (like soccer), and whether you
participated in track in the spring. Where you start your summer training is an individual
thing that should be determined based on conversations between you and your coach.
Most of the top varsity boy cross country runners in the county will complete at least 500
miles during their first 12 weeks of training for cross country, starting in mid-June,
although a handful of elite athletes may cover between 800 and 1,000 miles. The top
varsity girls will generally run somewhat less, although at least one top program in the
county uses a 500 mile training target for their top female runners, and there are a
handful of nationally ranked local female high school runners whose mileage probably
approaches that of the elite males. On the CHS girls team, there may be a few varsity
runners that will complete 400 – 500 miles from mid-June to mid-September. To be
ready for the more intense training and racing that will take place in fall, in most cases,
CHS girl cross country athletes should expect to complete a minimum of 250 miles over
the 12 week period from mid-June to mid-September. However, as previously indicated,
how much running you do should be based on an ongoing dialog with your coach.
Among the things to keep in mind with respect to your summer training:
1. We divide the season into several training phases, and most of the early summer
is spent working up to a mileage base that will prepare you to handle the more
strenuous workouts and racing in the fall.
2. How quickly you increase your mileage depends on your experience and current
level of fitness. Those that recently completed the high school track season and
took just a couple of weeks off may return to their previous training level fairly
quickly. On the other hand, those that are new to high school cross country, or
who didn’t run track, or who just finished a long layoff require a more gradual
mileage build-up in order to avoid injury. Each runner should work with his/her
coach to develop an appropriate training plan.
3. In order to perform your best during the fall competitive season, by the middle of
the summer, you should probably be training at least five days a week. Many of
the varsity runners will train six days a week.
4. This point is for the cross country runners that also play club soccer. A soccer
practice or game should generally be considered a running workout. Several
studies have attempted to determine how far a soccer player typically runs during
a match. One male midfielder was tracked during a World Cup game, and the
study concluded that he completed about a 10K (6.2 miles) during the 90 minutes
he was on the field. Similarly, published information indicates that the average
heart rate for one member of the women’s national soccer team was charted at
185-190 BPM for an entire 90 minute soccer game (an extraordinary statistic),
although the same source states that perhaps a more typical heart rate would be
in the 150-170 BPM range. Suffice it to say that while studies may indicate that
“only” about a 10K is covered during a competitive 90 minute World Cup soccer
match, if the heart rate data is anywhere close to accurate, the distance covered
tells only part of the story because a typical 10K training run might elevate the
heart rate for only a little more than half that duration, depending on pace.
Accordingly, in most cases there really isn’t a formula that you can apply to
accurately equate a soccer game/practice to a cross country workout. There are
just too many variables in soccer – stopping, starting, sprinting, jogging, walking,
standing and even positional differences (e.g. - midfielders run a lot more than
forwards or defenders). However, to help you roughly estimate the mileage you
cover when playing soccer, we suggest that you divide your approximate playing
time by a factor of 16. For instance, if you play 80 minutes in a soccer game,
that would equate to 5 miles (80 ÷ 16 = 5). You can use a similar formula for
practices, but you’ll need to eliminate any time you spend sitting, putting away
goals, or listening to your coach to determine your “playing time” (which you then
will divide by 16 to estimate mileage). While a soccer player may not complete as
many miles (counting calculated soccer practice/game “mile-equivalents”) as
some of her/his non-soccer-playing cross country teammates, especially during
the summer, much of the running she/he does do in soccer will be of a higher
intensity or will result in an elevated heart rate for a longer period of time than a
cross country teammate running the same number of miles. As a result, things
sort of even out. For those that play club soccer, the intensity/length of your cross
country workouts will be determined largely by what you have done in recent
soccer practices/games. Too many hard days - be they soccer, cross country, or
both, can be counter-productive, and may lead to injury. Accordingly, it is very
important that you communicate with your cross country coach about what you
have done at soccer so that your workouts can be coordinated appropriately.
5. By the end of July, try to ensure that three training days each week are set aside
to complete the following “key workouts”:
. A long run consisting of 20% - 25% of your weekly mileage (e.g. – if weekly
total will be 28 miles, this run would be roughly 6 to 8 miles). The run should
be completed at a comfortable/easy pace. Completing the distance is more
important than running fast.
. A tempo or threshold run where 20 minutes of the workout is at a
“comfortably hard” pace. You should do at least a mile warmup before you
start the tempo/threshold effort, and at least a mile cooldown afterwards.
. A run where you include a component to develop strength or speed – hills,
stairs, running in soft sand, or something similar.
The remaining running days each week should consist primarily of aerobic or
easy/recovery running, although including six to eight 100 meter strides at about
800 meter pace on one or two of these days is a good idea. Note that for those
of you that play soccer, it may be that some weeks your soccer activities will be
such that your running days should be primarily devoted to aerobic/recovery
efforts since, in one form or another, you may have completed the objectives of
the “key workouts” in soccer practices/games. Again, it is very important that
those that play soccer communicate with the cross country coach to make sure
that their combined training load remains reasonable.
6. Take advantage of the group training opportunities that are available to you
during the summer, including:
. Over much of the summer there will typically be once or twice weekly team
runs, in many cases where we go across the bridge to get in a long run or
work on hills. Near the end of the summer, we may meet more frequently.
Check your email, the team website and the team message board frequently
for info.
. Consider going to a few San Diego Track Club Tuesday evening workouts at
Balboa Park. They meet at Sixth and Laurel and get going at 5:30 PM. Hill
workouts start mid-July. See the CHS team website for more info.
. One of the most popular San Diego area high school summer running groups
is the Patrick Henry Summer Running Series. These runs are scheduled at a
different location each Saturday, and begin at 8:00 AM. Different groups run
anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes at easy to moderate paces. A link to the
weekly schedule can be found on our team website.
. Organize your own group and run with your teammates. After a long day at
the beach, it is sometimes hard to get out there and run on your own. Better
yet, get your group out there to run first thing in the morning. Sometimes that
is the best way to make sure you get it done.
. For those that would like to attend a summer running camp, ask your coach
for more information. West Coast Road Runners holds a two day running
camp in Poway on July 8th and 9th. For more info, follow the link on SD
Track Magazine:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1515402/2010XCDistanceCampFlyer.pdf
Supplemental Training and Cross Training
A top American distance coach, Jack Daniels, PhD, spends quite a bit of time explaining
the “Specificity of Training” principle in his book Daniels’ Running Formula. In short, this
principle states that the system you stress during exercise is the one that stands to
benefit the most from your efforts. This essentially means that in order for you to get
better at an activity, you need to do that activity. And so it follows that you need to
spend considerable time running in order to be the best distance runner you can be.
That said, supplemental, non-running activities, have a place in a distance runner’s
training program. While at first this might seem to violate the “Specificity of Training”
principle, the operative word here is “supplemental”.
Supplemental, or “cross training”, activities can help a distance runner in several ways.
For instance, aqua jogging, cycling or time spent on an elliptical trainer can help a runner
maintain or improve cardio vascular fitness at times when it isn’t desirable (e.g. – already
run enough miles that week) or possible (e.g. – in the event of injury) to run. Likewise, an
appropriate strength training routine can help a distance runner avoid injury and develop
“core strength” that may make it easier for the athlete to avoid injury and maintain proper
form on hills and during the later stages of a race. Similarly, swimming can help with
flexibility and strength, and some runners find that time spent in the water helps them to
recover faster from hard running efforts, thereby enabling them to get back on the
roads/trails/track sooner.
If a healthy runner is limited by time and has to choose between doing a scheduled run
and doing a supplemental activity, in most instances, the run is the better of the two
alternatives. However, especially during the summer pre-cross country season training
period, incorporating scheduled supplemental workouts into your regular routine can be
both enjoyable and beneficial.
Running is more of a “whole body” sport than most non-runners realize. Therefore, it is a
good idea to make time to incorporate strength training into your routine at least two to
three times a week, especially during the summer. You don’t have to belong to a gym,
although that is certainly one option if you have a weight room available to you. Note
that the kind of strength training that will make you a better runner isn’t the same as what
a bodybuilder would do. It should be obvious that bodybuilders generally aren’t very fast
cross country runners. The kind of exercises that will help you to be a better runner are
those that make your “core” stronger, and those that build overall muscular endurance
and flexibility. Three strength training options for you to consider are as follows:
1. Running Times General Strength Exercises, by Coach Jay Johnson. This is a
progressive five-phase program. Detailed lists of the exercises in each of the
first three routines are included in the pages that follow. There are a couple of
great things about this strength/flexibility training option. First, while the idea is to
complete these exercises on a daily basis, it takes only 5 to 10 minutes to do so.
Another great thing is that Running Times magazine has posted five videos
online at http://runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=16625where Coach
Johnson explains in detail how each exercise is properly done while one of his
top athletes demonstrates by actually going through each routine in “real time”.
Coach Johnson also has another video explaining what he calls a “Back Routine”
at http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&video_id=8172. The series of
core strengthening exercises demonstrated in the Back Routine video is similar
in some respects to those found at the Running Times link referenced above.
These exercise routines do not require any special equipment.
2. Alberto Salazar’s strength training plan (copy also included in the pages that
follow) also focuses on building core strength, leg power, and on improving
flexibility and openness in key muscles. As with the routines described above,
this one does not require any special equipment..
3. For those that have access to a weight room (such as the one at Coronado
Family Gym), the coaches can give you specific information about developing a
circuit routine to help you efficiently develop strength-endurance in key muscle
groups. Such a routine might involve doing one to three sets of 10-12 different
exercises, with 12-15 repetitions for most of the exercises (although you might do
more repetitions if you only have time to do one set of each exercise on a
particular day). Very little rest is taken between each set, and between one
exercise and the next. This kind of workout might take 20 to 40 minutes,
depending on the number of exercises and sets performed on a particular day.
While a case can be made for performing the exercises listed in Johnson’s and Salazar’s
routines on a daily basis, weight room work such as that described above in the third
strength training option should generally be limited to only two or three days a week, on
non-consecutive days. If done consistently, each of the three routines can help to build
a stronger, more injury-resistant runner, although the first two options are better for
improving flexibility and range of motion. It may be that a combination of the three
routines works best for you. However, since you have only a limited amount of time to
train, especially during the school year, and because the most important training time
you spend should be spent running (that old Specificity of Training principle), your
strength training routine must be one that helps you run better/farther/faster, and not one
that takes-up time that could be better-spent running.
Important Links and Places to Get Info and Stuff
The most important link: http://islandertrack.com/ (you are here).
This is the team website. Coach Green posts lots of important info here, so check the
page frequently. The site has many important links, including:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/162917/ - Team message board
http://crowncity.com/sdtrackmag/ - Link to SD Track Magazine website (which
Coach Green maintains)
http://athletic.net/ - This is where you can track your performances and those of
other runners all over the county and country. At the end of the season, print a
copy of your personal performance page and stick it in this training log notebook.
http://www.dyestatcal.com/ - The internet home of California High School
Cross Country and Track and Field
http://www.runnerspace.com/ and http://www.flotrack.org/ - Videos and a lot
of other info related to high school, college, pro and running/training/racing
There are also links to several other interesting/important websites, past results, and
pictures on this site's main page. Take some time to see what is here.
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Final Thoughts
As with many things in life, to be a successful distance runner, you must have discipline,
dedication and be self-motivated. If you want to be the best runner you can be, much of
your training will be done on your own, especially during the summer. Unlike many other
sports, in cross country, there typically won’t be a coach standing on the sidelines
watching your every move and yelling at you to run faster or work harder. Usually you’ll
have to push yourself. Be consistent in your training. Take pride in your workouts. Ask
questions. Communicate with your coach. If you do your best, whether or not you ever
win a race, you’ll be a success.
I will act now. I will act now. I will act now…………….. I will walk
where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will
act now, for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the
labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure
will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I
delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is
the time. This is the place. I am the person.
-Og Mandino