Need help on long distance training?

Question

Right now I am a Sophomore in high school. Been on the track and XC team for 2 years.

What is a good workout plan for long distance?

I want to improve my time for Cross Country. My best time is 21:14 and I want to run the 3 mile in 19 minutes.. what is a good workout plan for this to get me to speed up?????????

please help..

Answer 1

do calf and thigh workouts

Answer 2

ya u need to speed up alot! no offense just my 2 mile time is 10:27 and im 12! go run a mile hard then a mile jog get a 1 min break then do that again and do that 3 or 4 times cause that will build speed(the hard miles) and distance(8 miles if u do it 4 times) then do alot of sit ups cause u use ur stomache alot while running!

Answer 3

Looks like there are 2 questions.

Here is a how to get your miles up. Slowly integrate longer runs. If you run 3-4 times a week focus on one day, perhaps a saturday or sunday and use those as your long run days. If you are running 4 miles on your long run day then next week do 5, then 6, 7 and so on. Once you get to double digits start working in weeks that are half the distance. For example: one week run 10, next week do 5. Following week do 12, next week do 6 and so on. The weeks where you run half the long distance allows your body to recoup but still maintain high mileage.

As for speed. Start to incorporate some hills. If there are no hills around you, use stairs or bleachers (be careful of injury). An incline on a treadmill will also work. If none of those are available, then start increasing the speed of your middle miles. If you are running 5 miles at an 8 minute pace then do the first 2 at 8 min then do mile 3 and 4 at 7-7:30 mins and the final mile at 8. This can work for most of your runs. You can also focus on laps around a track. First lap medium, second lap medium to high, third lap high, fourth lap medium and so on.

Hope that helps. I keep a runner's blog if you are interested. I usually have some good tips and stories. See below