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Philosophy on summer training:
Summer training is certainly the hallmark of any good distance program and we are no different. In
the CIF Southern Section we are required to take a 3-week "dead period" in which there is no
contact with the team and coaches. We take our right after the school year gets out in mid-June, so
we officially begin summer practice after the 4th of July. Summer is a time for us to get quality
mileage in. We do not shy away from big miles, but the construct of our training plan does keep it
somewhat limited compared to most. We spend most of our time at our local nature preserve the
Santa Rosa Plateau; which has miles of great dirt trails over all types of terrain (we also have our
home XC course here).
Over the summer we work on threshold training and increasing mileage and overall pace of aerobic
runs. Our threshold training has developed quite a bit over the years, but we have finally "dialed in"
what works best for our environment and us. Due to the rolling terrain around our school, we found
it difficult to do long threshold runs at a consistent pace and HR. What we do now is run repeats on
a 2-mile perfect square around our school. The varsity boys and girls will work up to 4x2-mile with a
3-minute rest interval between repeats. Most others on the team will do 2-3 repeats. Doing them in
this manner actually takes you over the threshold zone, but run properly, the 3-minute rest is
adequate to return to stasis. Our top boys will typically be able to run 4 at sub 11 minutes
(exceptional runners sub-10:30). Our top girls will be able to run 4 sub 13 minutes (exceptional
runners sub-12:30). Beyond that we work on speed development once per week, run fartlek training
over hills (5 minutes at threshold and 3 minutes easy), and build up our long runs. We like to get up
to 90 minutes or more on a single run once per week. Boys will work up to 17 miles and girls 15 miles.
August is our peak mileage month because our competitions begin in September (we begin school in
mid-August). In August we replace our fartlek runs with mile repeats (covered below). We keep this
same basic formula over the season, with changes in volume and intensity.
Key Workouts
The key components of our training are threshold training, speed development, VVO2 training, and
long runs. Threshold training and long runs are covered above. Our speed development is done once
per week year round and has really helped the strength required for speedier running and increased
coordination in our athletes. During the summer, we run 10x400m where we run 100m at top 400m
pace and then run the remaining 300m at conversational pace. This helps us tap into the speed
without sacrificing mileage. We also do dynamic plyometrics on this day plus 3-5 miles for a cool
down. Once the competitive season begins we switch to 10x60m all out sprints with a 2-minute
walking rest in between. This develops "true" speed. We keep up with plyometrics and mileage
afterward. The kids are sorer after this workout than any other.
VVO2 training is the most important workout we do to control where our athletes are at any given
point of the season. VVO2 training refers to running repeats (anything from 400-1600m) at a
percentage of VVO2, which is velocity at VO2Max, which is roughly top end mile speed. We use
charts from Dr. Joe Vigil's book Road to the Top, to calculate the percentages, which we base off of
what we feel the athletes top mile speed will be during spring track. In August we begin with (for
varsity) 5x1 mile at 85% of VVO2 with a 3-minute rest interval. The goal is to get all repeats in the
proper percentage zone within 3 weeks. At specific points in the season we change to 4x1 mile at
88%; 3x1 mile at 91%; 2x1 mile @ 93%; then 1x1mile +1x800 @ 94%. This progression has been
instrumental in controlling our training and peak. Beginning in September we alternate one week
with 800's and one week with miles on the repeats. The 800's are twice the volume of the miles
and half the time minus 3-7 seconds. We allow 2 minutes rest for 800 repeats. We do this workout
once per week.
Mileage Progression
For our Boys Varsity, they will typically average 45-55 miles per week during July; 55-65 mpw
during August; 40-45 mpw through the end of October; then 25-35 during our last 4 weeks.
For our Girls Varsity, they will typically average 35-45 mpw juring July; 45-55 mpw during August;
40 mpw through the end of October; then 25-30 during our last 4 weeks.
Note: all mileage is based on 1 run per day, six days per week. 2-a-days are allowed during the
summer only and some kids run on Sundays which can add up to 10-15 miles per week. This is
completely optional.