Abstract

The author has developed what he calls the "golden rules of high school cross country". His teams never, ever, race tired by "training through" meets. Competition is the time to be at one's best, not handicapped with leg fatigue from hard workouts the day before meets. Young runners need to build ego strength and confidence from their racing experiences. Racing them tired makes them learn to dread racing because they are hurting from the gun - and not just from over the last one-third of the race. The runners are usually "dynamically" undertrained. They are kept fresh by hard workouts only twice a week - Tuesdays and Thursdays. The easy days always include four plyometric drills (high knees, fanny flickers, skip bounding and toe walks - two sets over 20 yards) and lots of gentle strides on the grass. That's the "dynamic" part. Hard days usually cover three miles of repeats. Outstanding runners occasionally will do as much as four miles worth. Most of the interval workouts emphasize longer repeats (880 yards to mile) run at just anaerobic threshold (80 percent to 85 percent effort). Most of the workouts are run "water-fall" style, with the pace picking up the closer the runner gets to the end of the workout. This helps the younger runners learn to avoid going out too fast and teaches them to expect to go faster the closer they get to the end. The most important thing the runners are taught is the wisdom of running slowly on the easy days. Recovery days are for getting in shape after the hard days tear ther runners down. However, the best way to learn to really run is to compete in races. This is the learn-by-doing method. Schiffer