Training To Be Your Best: April 28th-May 11th

So here we are two weeks away from the end of the track season for the school year.  Some of you will go on to compete at several post season meets and I hope you got there following this training guide!  As this year comes to a close, I hope you learned a lot about training and racing from the training guide I have been posting from the beginning of cross country.  For those interested in following the training guide for summer track/summer cross country base, just email me at vpprotraining@gmail.com to get in on the emails for the summer.  If you would like to ask questions or share success stories about your training, feel free to email me as well.

This week I am posting the training for the final two weeks of the year leading into the state meet.  Remember, if your state meet is at a later date just adjust the training backwards from the state meet listed with this guide for May 10th.  The last two weeks you should focus on feeling crisp in races and workouts and plan a good strategy for the state meet.  Get plenty of rest and eat healthy and now that it is getting warmer, hydrate!

Monday- 8x400 @ 1600 race pace with 200m jogging recovery.  Full warmup.
Tuesday- 35 minutes easy, 8 strides.
Wednesday- 25 minutes easy, 8 strides
Thursday- Regional Championship
Friday- Full warmup. 30 minutes easy, 8x strides
Saturday- 3x1200 @ 3200 race pace with 400 meter jog.
Sunday- Off

Devyn Keith of John Curtis (4:16/9:17 Soph. year) receives a medal at the state championship his freshman year.

Monday- 2x1000 @ 1600 race pace with 20 minutes standing recovery.  Full warmup.
Tuesday- 25 minutes easy, 8 strides
Wednesday- 4x300 @ 800 pace with 8 minutes standing recovery.
Thursday- 35 minutes easy, 8 strides
Friday- 25 minutes easy, 8 strides
Saturday- State Championship
Sunday- Off

Legend:
Warm Up- A few minutes jogging, dynamic stretching, a few strides
Easy- A pace you can handle and have a conversation at the same time. Relaxed.
Tempo Run- A distance run at a pace of 5k race pace plus 30 seconds per mile.
Ins and Outs- Striding the straights and jogging the turns on the track
Strides- Not a sprint! Simply a short pickup of 50-100 meters at around 1-2 mile race pace. Full recovery.
Sprints- Not a stride! This is near maximal effort (while maintaining control of your body). Form is crucial in this type of running.
Progression Run- Training done at progressive pace that increases throughout the run. Begin at an easy pace and finish at 5k race effort or so for the last few minutes.
Fartlek- A run of varied pace for varied time which can be anywhere from an easy jog to hard sprinting.
Hills- Not all out sprints, good paced effort around 5k race effort. Can be anywhere between 100-400 meters long.
Workout A- 10-30x pushups, 10-30x prisoner squats, 10-30x lunges, 10-30x crunches, 30-60 seconds of planks on each side and the middle, and 30-60 seconds of Australian crawl.
Workout B- 20-40x step ups, 5-20x tricep pushups, 30-60 seconds of bridging, 10-20x dips, 30-60 seconds of pedestal, and 30-60 seconds of scissor kicks.
Pacing Calculator from McMillan