What is a good workout plan to get in shape for cross country?

Question

I am going into my sophomore year at my high school and I want to get under 19:00 minutes on the 5K. I usually do about 7-8 miles a day at a 7:30 minutes pace for 5 days a week. Is this a good plan? Any better ideas?

Answer 1

that is a really good routine but i think personally that you should put some speed training in there.  what you're doing right now is a distance work out.  try 2-3 times a week doing speed training.  you can do anything from running hills to running 1000's or even 400's.  

Answer 2

I just ran an 18:30 in the 5K and last year in my first season of cross country I ran a 21:00 as my best. Our coach trains us as follows.

Monday: Tempo run. 3 miles at 6 min, 6:10, 6:20, 6:30 pace some guys even at 5:30 or lower, but it depends on you capabilities (I'll suggest 6:30 for you). We do 10 min warm up and 25 min cooldown. Or if not tempo run we do mile repeats (run mile rest for 1-2 min, repeat 3 times) The pace is anywhere from 5-6 minutes depending on your fitness because of the rest I do them at about 5:40 (I will suggest 6 min for you but push yourself).

Tuesday-Thursday: 55 min runs wich are about 7-8 miles

Friday: The same as monday

Saturday: 75 min run which is about 10 miles

Sunday: Off yes!!!

Also make sure you mix in plenty of hills because you will encounter them in races and you want to be prepared.

Eat healthy, plenty of water more then recommended because your a runner not a normal person.

Also I suggest 100 pushups a day and 200+ crunches.This type of training will work. A sophmore on our team began running with us 2 months ago and ran a 21 in a his first 5K he's already down to a 19:30.

We also have a guy running high 15's two guys low 16's 3 guys in the 17 range and the remainder of our team under 20. So trust me this type of training if commited to will work in due time. Does your team train over the summer together? If you have anymore questions just ask me.

Answer 3

first off if you can do that you should be able to run under 19 minutes, unless of course you're not incorporating any intervals or sprints in you're runs.. you can't just work on endurance..good luck mate

Answer 4

http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/smartcoa...

or if that doesnt work go to runnersworld.com scroll down until u see "smart coach" on the bar on left end of the screen. it should be near the bottom under tools. there answer few questions and create ur plan.

also try training wit ur high school team. my  team has summer practices. and make sure u run ur plan through ur coach or someone "expert" to make sure ur not overdoing it.