Balancing four seasons

My athletes run cross country, indoor track, outdoor track, and summer track each year.  To some coaches that is an abomination.  Some coaches will say that is too much racing.  I've heard it all.  There is one key factor people don't account for when they hear a kid is racing year round:  the coach isn't trying to peak them four times.

My athletes build their base in the fall and have some fun on the cross country course (although many loathe the longer workouts) and then transition to some quicker workouts, but almost exclusively on grass, for the indoor season.  We have a faux peak, just a slight tapering with a couple quicker workouts the week of state, and then progress onto the outdoor season.  And even for outdoor, we are only doing a hard anaerobic oriented workout once a week.  This will change the final two weeks of the season as my athletes may do two hard workouts on the track in the same week.

And finally summer track isn't oriented the same way the other seasons are.  Fitness is simply maintained while the athletes enjoy summer breaks, and hopefully mature in their racing strategies.  Summer track is the time for the athletes to find out ways to race effectively rather than carry the burden of a state championship on their shoulders.  And it works too.  We have seen almost every athlete progress each season, and through summer track they also maintain their racing senses and can experiment to find out their most effective racing strategy.

Finally, you also need to look at the amount of times we race.  Since the beginning of the school year, one of my top athletes who placed on the podium both in cross country and indoor track has raced in less than 20 competitions in the last calendar year.  That is only one race every two and a half weeks.

Don't believe the hype.  Athletes can race and train year round if they have a strategy and are looking to only peak once or twice a year.  It keeps them in touch with their fitness and their racing skills, and also gives them something to look forward to in the summer.