5-week plan to get in shape for high-school cross country?

Question

I have about 5 and 1/2 weeks to get in shape before the whole high school cross country team starts training together. I ran cross country in 7th and 8th grade, and I am going to be a freshman soon. I am also in 8th grade track and our last meet is this wednesday, so I'm not in terrible shape. Can anyone help me design a 5 week plan to help me stay in shape before we start practicing?(:

Answer 1

um, to stay fit and in shape i would suggest that you start out slow and easy. after each run slowly build up your pace and start to lengthen the amount of running. so start off at 3k and then build it up to 5k. run at the least 2 times a week and nothing more than 4 times a week unless of course your really fit and usually train everyday. i used to train twice everyday (morning and afternoon) but only for and hour and a half coz my coach knew when i grew tired.

Answer 2

start out slow and increase as the weeks go on, don't do too much to soon or you will regret it and you will be worse off for the season.

I would run between 3-4 miles a day 5 times a week and then cross train on one day that you aren't running on.

One day a week do some kind of speed workout whether that is running shorter and faster or getting on the track, don't do this until you've been running for 3 weeks or so though or don't push yourself to the limit if you do it earlier.

Answer 3

1.  Each week plan on 5 days of exercise, 2 of recovery.  The last thing you need is a dumb injury like a stress fracture at the beginning of the season.  You're in HS, so your body will recover crazy-fast and you can work out very intensely, but you're not indestructible.

2.  Make sure each week's workout includes speed work, hill work and distance work (they can be combined, of course), and most importantly, cross-training: swimming, weights, biking, etc.  Strength training is something that most XC runners badly neglect...I know I did back in the day.  You'll be amazed what some upper body training can do to your endurance and speed.

3.  Log your total miles for each week, try to increase them by 10% from week to week, but never trade intensity for simple distance.

4.  If you're really serious, make some major diet/nutrition changes starting now too.  That's another opportunity for perfomrance improvement that most runners neglect.