2nd Year HS Coach - Updated Training Plan

High School Running

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 1:19pm EDT

I made a post on here last year laying out my in-season training plan for my high school cross country team going into my first year of coaching. We had fairly good success with it as our girls won their first conference title in over a decade and the boys made big improvements (a team that was dead last in the regional the previous year).

This summer I actually was able to give them a full summer training plan and we're getting moderate participation for it. This is actually a big win since in the past there would be 1-3 runners that would maybe go for a few runs in the summer, so getting 10-15 of my group out for summer run club has been a step forward for the program.

Summer training is a 10-week period for our team this year and was laid out as:

-First 4 weeks just aerobic running, with long runs starting week 3.

-Last 6 weeks aerobic running + Monday long run + Wednesday hills or fartlek + Friday threshold run or progression run

I have the team broken into 4 groups based on experience and here is what they have been building to for weekly duration

- Group A: 400'

- Group B: 350'

- Group C: 300'

- Group D: 250'

We'll be going into our season which will be 11-12 weeks long and this is the following layout with schedule I have planned. I'm curious what feedback anyone might have.

Week 1

Monday: (AM) Midnight Madness (co-practice/run with soccer team) - Aerobic Run [60' / 55' / 50' / 45'] + (PM) Aerobic Run [30' / 25' / 20' / 15'] + Wicket Drills & Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [55' / 45' / 40' / 35'] + 6x Fly 30 + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Wednesday: (AM) 15' warm up - 1-1 Fartlek [12x / 10x / 9x / 8x] - 15' Cool Down + (PM) Aerobic Run [30' / 25' / 20' / 15'] + Hip Strengthening/Stability

Thursday: Aerobic Run [50' / 45' / 40' / 30'] + 4x 150m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Friday: 15' warm up - 1K repeats @ anaerobic threshold interval pace w/ :90 rest [6-7x 1K / 5-6x 1K / 4-5x 1K / 3-4x 1K] - 15' cool down + Core/Abs

Saturday: Aerobic Run [55' / 45' / 40' / 35'] + 4x 100m strides at 1600 pace

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 2

Monday: Long Run [85' / 75' / 65' / 55'] + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [60' / 55' / 50' / 45'] + 6x Fly 40 + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Wednesday: (AM) 15' warm up - Anaerobic threshold run [24' / 20' / 18' / 16'] + 6-8x ~100m Hill - 15' cool down - Hip Strengthening/Stability + (PM) Aerobic Run [30' / 30' / 20' / 20']

Thursday: Aerobic Run [50' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 4x 150m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Friday:INVITATIONAL MEET (First meet of the season, relatively big invitational, run at night under the lights, fun way to kick season off)

Saturday: Aerobic Run [60' / 55' / 50' / 45'] + 4x 100m strides at 1600 pace + Core/Abs

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 3 (School starts)

Monday: Long Run [90' / 80' / 70' / 60'] + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 7x Fly 30 + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Wednesday:INVITATIONAL MEET (Quick turnaround to second meet of the year, just a good opportunity to see some good competition and help some of the younger athletes race into shape, likely sit some of the older/more experienced athletes)

Thursday: (AM) Aerobic Run [25' / 25' / 25' / 20'] + (PM) Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 4x 200m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Friday: 15' warm up - 1 mile repeats @ anaerobic threshold interval pace w/ 2' rest [4x 1M / 4x 1M / 3x 1M / 3x 1M] + 4-6x ~200m Hill - 15' cool down - Core/Abs

Saturday: Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 5x 100m strides @ 1600 pace

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 4

Monday: 20' warm up + Progression Run [35' / 30' / 25' / 20'] + 6-8x 200 w/ 90" rest @ 1600 + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [55' / 45' / 40' / 35'] + 7x Fly 40 + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Wednesday:CONFERENCE JAMBOREE #1 (First of 3 conference meets, this counts towards 25% of team's conference finish)

Thursday: (AM) Aerobic Run/Shakeout [30' / 25' / 25' / 20'] + (PM) Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 4x 200m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Friday: 15' warm up - Anaerobic Threshold Run [26' / 24' / 22' / 20'] + 6-8x ~150m Hill - 15' cool down + Hip strengthening/Stability

Saturday: Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 5x 100m strides @ 1600 + Core/Abs

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 5

Monday: Long Run [90' / 80' / 75' / 65'] + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 8x Fly 30 + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Wednesday: 15' warm up - 1K repeats @ anaerobic threshold interval pace w/ 90" rest [7-8x 1K / 6-7x 1K / 5-6x 1K / 4-5x 1K] + 6-8x ~200m Hill - 15' Cool Down + Hip Strenghtening/Stability

Thursday: (AM) Aerobic Run/Shakeout [30' / 25' / 25' / 20'] + (PM) Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 5x 150m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Friday: Aerobic Run [50' / 40' / 35' / 30'] + 6x 100m Strides @ 1600 + Core/Abs

Saturday:HOME INVITATIONAL (Invitational on home course, very difficult/hilly course)

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 6

Monday: Long Run [90' / 80' / 75' / 70'] + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 8x Fly 40 + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Wednesday: 15' warm up - 400m repeats @ 5K w/ 75" rest [14x / 12x / 12x / 10x] - 15' cool down + Hip Strengthening/Stability

Thursday: (AM) Aerobic Run/Shakeout [30' / 30' / 30' / 20'] + (PM) Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 5x 150m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Friday: Aerobic Run [50' / 45' / 45' / 30'] + 6x 100m Strides @ 1600

Saturday: 15' warm up - 1 mile repeats @ anaerobic threshold pace w/ 2' rest [5x 1M / 4x 1M / 4x 1M / 3x 1M] - 15' cool down + Core/Abs

Week 7

Monday: 20' warm up - Progression Run [30' / 25' / 25' / 20'] + 5-6x 100m Hill - 20' cool down + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [50' / 45' / 40' / 35'] + 6x Fly 30 + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Wednesday:CONFERENCE JAMBOREE #2 (Second of 3 conference meets, counts towards 25% of final conference standings. Hosted on our home course)

Thursday: (AM) Aerobic Run/Shakeout [25' / 25' / 20' / 20'] + (PM) Aerobic Run [55' / 45' / 40' / 35'] + 4x 150m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Friday: Aerobic Run [45' / 40' / 35' / 30'] + 5x 100m Strides @ 1600 + Core/Abs

Saturday:BIG INVITATIONAL (Large/semi-important invite in which we'll see a lot of the teams from our regional and gauge where we are at. Flat/fast course will offer opportunity for some big PRs after running 3 straight tough courses)

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 8

Monday: Long Run [90' / 80' / 75' / 70'] + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 8x Fly 40 + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Wednesday: 15' Warm Up - 2x 600 @ 3200 + 2-3x 1200 @ 5K + 2x 600 @ 3200 - 15' cool down + Hip Strengthening/Stability

Thursday: (AM) Aerobic Run/Shakeout [30' / 30' / 25' / 20'] + (PM) Aerobic Run [60' / 50' / 45' / 40'] + 5x 200m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Friday: Aerobic Run [50' / 40' / 35' / 30'] + 6x 100m strides @ 1600 + Core/Abs

Saturday: SMALL INVITATIONAL (Fun set up for a small invite, good opportunity to run relaxed on a fast course before stepping into championship season

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 9

Monday: Long Run [80' / 70' / 65' / 55'] + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [55' / 45' / 40' / 35'] + 8x Fly 30 + Weight Room + Explosive Plyos

Wednesday: 15' warm up - 800m repeats @ 5K [7x / 6x / 6x / 5x] - 15' cool down + Hip Strengthening/Stability

Thursday: Aerobic Run [55' / 45' / 40' / 35'] + 5x 150m Gear Shift Strides + Weight Room + Quickness Plyos

Friday: 15' warm up - Anaerobic Threshold Run [20' / 18' / 16' / 14'] + 6x 200m @ 1600 w/ 90" rest - 15' cool down + Core/Abs

Saturday: Aerobic Run [50' / 40' / 30' / 25'] + 5x 100m strides @1600

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 10

Monday: 15' warm up - Progression Run [25' / 20' / 20' / 15'] + 4x 100m @ 800 - 15' cool down + Wicket Drills + Hurdle Mobility

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [40' / 35' / 30' / 25'] + 5x Fly 30

Wednesday:CONFERENCE FINALS (Conference finals meet, counts towards 50% of final conference standings. One of 2 big goal races for the team

Thursday: Off/Rest, Our conference final meet is 90" away on a week night, so this is to ensure the team recoups from the event

Friday: Aerobic Run [50' / 40' / 35' / 30'] + 4x 100m @ 1600

Saturday: 20' warm up - 1 Mile Time Trial - 20' cool down

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 11

Monday: 15' warm up - 400m & 200m repeats @ 3200 and 1600 respectively w/ plenty of rest [4x 400 + 8x 200 / 4x 400 + 6x 200 / 4x 400 + 5x 200 / 4x 400 + 4x 200] - 15' cool down

Tuesday: Aerobic Run [35' / 30' / 25' / 20'] + 5x Fly 40

Wednesday: 15' warm up - Descending Farltek (All 4-3-2-1 w/ matching rest, start at AnT pace and finish at 3200 pace) - 15' cool down

Thursday: Aerobic Run [30' / 25' / 25' / 20'] + 3x 200m Gear Shift Strides

Friday: Aerobic Run [20' / 20' / 15' / 15'] + 4x 100m strides @ 1600

Saturday: REGIONAL FINALS (The other big goal race, both teams have a shot at qualifying to the state finals, but will be underdogs to do so)

Sunday: Off/Rest

Week 12 (State Finals week for individuals or teams that qualify

Monday: 15' warm up + 1 mile @ anaerobic threshold interval pace + 8x 300m @ 3200 - 15' cool down

Tuesday: Aerobic Run + Strides

Wednesday: 15' warm up - 20' progression run + 4-6x 100m Hill - 15' cool down

Thursday: Aerobic Run + Strides

Friday: Aerobic Run + Strides

Saturday:STATE FINALS

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 1:56pm EDT

re: Coachy McCoachFace

Looks good to me overall.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 2:04pm EDT

re: citius5000

citius5000 wrote:
Looks good to me overall.

Looks like death to me. Do you really expect your team to maintain interest? Ugh.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 2:40pm EDT

re: Coachy McCoachFace

i think it's great to see this sort of passion from a new coach. taking the time to think the season through and how training ought to be is an important exercise.

that all being said, this is essentially mental masturbation. i used to do it a lot too don't get me wrong.

too much precision being used with the distances and number of reps, when the reality is they are just arbitrary nice pretty round numbers being employed.

looking at week 10 - 12 specifically, i can see you are falling into the trap a lot of new coaches make at the end of the season; taking away the long run and significantly reducing overall volume. this usually leads to runners feeling very fresh, tons of bounce in their strides, lots of confidence, they feel awesome the first half mile of the race and then it all starts to unravel and the athletes think after the race they just didn't want it enough or some such cliche nonsense.

would recommend keeping the long run all the way through the last week, keep the overall volume up all the way through the last week too, just slightly reduce the volume of intensity the last two weeks. another major benefit of keeping things essentially the same with overall volume is that the kids will feel "normal" and their bodies will stay in the same cycle they've been accustomed to. when you cut the volume it can throw a lot of things off outside of running, like sleep, diet, emotional state, etc.

the electricity of conference finals and the state meet is what has the potential to bring out the kids best efforts, not tapering.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 4:47pm EDT

re: Coachy McCoachFace

I like that you are planning and thinking

but I am a firm believer in taking it one day at a time.

my best season ever (2 years out of college) happened when I had no training plan and just listened to my body.

I took rest when the body said I needed rest and I ran fast when the body said go. I never even planned a single workout. You could ask me before I was heading out the door what my workout was going to be, and I wouldn't be able to tell you...because it all depended on how I felt.

another interesting thing about training this way was - I had no expectation. I was perfectly fine if one day I was steady stating at 5:20 pace and then next workout it was 5:45. That is a big drop off. Normal person would be upset/frustrated. I was just going with the flow.

For years I tried to replicate that training season, but made one big mistake: I was now trying to copy that past and stop listening to my body. I expected to be able to run a certain pace right from the start (forgetting that - that is not how it worked the prior season).

Right now my training volume is good, but I am trying to not get caught up on hitting a certain number of miles each week, Just let it happen.

example:

90, 120, 116, 74, 110 = these are my last 5 weeks. Why so up and down = because that is what the body allowed me to do and that is the single most important thing I can tell you. Let each athlete listen to their own body and they (yes, they) actually decide how many repeats to run and how fast etc. not some preplanned scorecard. If you try this, you will be surprised by the results.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 5:10pm EDT

re: Coachy McCoachFace

A pretty good plan. Not exactly how I would do it but to each their own. For my personal taste I would change:

1. I wouldn’t do long runs 2 days prior to races or run an hour before any race or lift the day before. I get “training through” for some but the potential for injury isn’t worth it for me.

2. I would be careful not to overdo it when you have two races in five days. Just my personal thing.

im not with the other poster and you can let high school kids run by feel with no plan. Most would opt to do the very minimum.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 7:27pm EDT

re: rfgte

Plan looks good coach!

This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 8:06pm EDT

re: rfgte

I think every good coach has a plan whether or not its all typed out. And we all make adjustments as needed as we go along. I am a coach that always types it up and then as I change things for weather or whatever it might be I make notes. So i can refer back to past years. Generally i have it in my head and I only break it out when im writing down a change.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 8:54pm EDT

re: citius5000

citius5000 wrote:
I think every good coach has a plan whether or not its all typed out. And we all make adjustments as needed as we go along. I am a coach that always types it up and then as I change things for weather or whatever it might be I make notes. So i can refer back to past years. Generally i have it in my head and I only break it out when im writing down a change.

I with you. I always have a plan, but I write mine out. I’m constantly changing it though depending on how things are going and how the team is doing in training and races.

2 weeks ago 07/15/2024 8:56pm EDT

re: coach ewe

Are you taking the team to NXR?

Even if the kids can't make it into an elite race, it's a great atmosphere and they'll love the free beanies/flags.

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